Bonne Annee a tous! I know it is almost the end of January now, but I hope 2010 has started well continues to be good to you all. We have had a very mixed start to the year, with some good things happening - & some not so good things too!
I’ll get the “bad” things out of the way first! Our gite visitors over New Year went from bad to worse, complaining all week & using & overloading the electricity supply to the point where it blew the disjuncter completely at the end. We were really pleased to see them go at the end of the week. But it didn’t stop there, as she complained to the advertising site too! Fortunately they gave us the right of reply so after a very sleepless night – I hate this kind of thing – we sent our version of events off & I’m pleased to say the site decided not to publish her complaint. Needless to say we won’t be taking a booking from her again! It’s the first time we have ever had any trouble with our guests & I hope it will be the last. Just to balance things up a bit our B&B visitors over New Year were a lovely young couple who thoroughly enjoyed their stay.
We spent a miserable New Year’s Eve & Day really, at home, partially in the dark – this was the night the electricity gave up the ghost! Just to restore our faith in human nature though, all the electricity problems have now been fixed by our nice young neighbour, Benjamin. After that start to the year we reckon that things can only get better!
January has been really cold here – as it has in the UK too I understand. We have had several coverings of snow & very low temperatures – especially overnight. We have all of our “anti-cold” measures in full swing – curtains at the doors, shutters closed & fire on early etc, to keep the house cosy – all of which work thank goodness. We have not been stuck with the snow (yet!) but it did take us all day one Sunday to dig the cars out. The problem is that the snow plough can’t get round the corner at the end of our drive so ploughs to there & leaves a nice snow wall for us to clear. After the last episode though, Geoff has at last opened his wallet a little(rare event) & bought a proper snow shovel so hopefully the next time will be easier!
We have had some more visitors this month too. My Twitter friend who lives near Clermont came to see us & ended up staying overnight which was nice. I enjoyed her company very much & she gave us some good tips to help us train the wayward hound. So Bounty is now in full “clicker” training – a method of rewarding good behaviour with a clicker device & small treats – with a good deal of success so far. We still have bad days (like this afternoon for example when he did a disappearing act whilst out for a walk) but he does seem more responsive & a lot calmer now. If only the clicker would work its magic on Geoff…..!!
The other visitors are my cousin & his wife who are here now & staying with us for a week. We are having a great time with them & they are enjoying seeing the homestead & the lovely Auvergne at long last. They have gone skiing this afternoon, so I hope Super Besse is proving enough of a challenge for them, as they usually go to the Alps or the States to ski. Geoff is hoping to go skiing with them on Monday – I hope they will be able to keep (sorry - put)up with him! Tomorrow we are taking them to the Foire de St Paule in Issoire where I know Joy will love all the mimosa that will be for sale everywhere. I’m not so sure that they will appreciate the tripe which is the traditional meal of the day though! We’ll see!
Last Sunday we went to the Red Cross’s Gallette de Rois do. This is the social event, done each year in January, where everyone gets together to eat slices of gallette (a traditional pastry with frangipane filling), chat & get the reports of the last years activities. I was coerced to sing again – but this year had gone prepared with some words! My warbling of The Skye Boat Song, Blow the Wind Southerly, & Summertime all went down well – even if they didn’t have a clue what I was singing about! However the piece de resistance was a rendering of Swing Low Sweet Chariot – dedicated to all the French rugby fans! Naughty or what!!
The summer bookings & enquiries have started to arrive I’m pleased to report. I’m always relieved when I get the first ones into the diary! If any of you are thinking of coming this summer, now is the time to make your reservation! The other good news is that Geoff has two new clients for his English teaching & hopefully another one starting in February. This is all very good news as at last we can see some light at the end of the tunnel financially. Last year at this time, we were seriously worried that we were not going to survive here in the long run - this year, although still not wonderful, looks a lot better already.
On that upbeat note I will end for now. I have a trip booked back to the UK in February to visit my mother & the family so all the details about that next month.