Gathering

This morning we decided to get wrapped up and head out to gather some foliage and greenery from the local forest for my Christmas wreath we are going to make. Brian had sorted out a rucksack to collect it in so we put on our walking boots and set off. As we got just outside the village, the sun came out, and we soon realised we really did not need our hats and scarves. It was a beautiful day. It really didn’t take long as the forest had an abundance of beautiful moss and foliage, various textures, shapes and colours. We were also rewarded with finding some pine and fur trees, and an assortment of berries and cones. We are now looking forward to bringing them together and making the wreath.

But for today, I think all we need now is a cup of tea with toast and honey in front of the fire.

A stone’s throw

The stonemason from Sogepierre, where we have ordered our worktops from, sent over some pictures today of our new worktops and sink, they have started to cut them out ready to be fitted at the end of next week. It does seem a while since we ordered them, but now I’m thinking it will be well worth the wait. It will be great to finally have some proper worktops and a sink with hot running water.

The two companies that merged in 2013 to become Sogepierre have had quarries and factories in the Burgundy area since 1875, and have been quarrying Burgundy limestone traditionally since then. The equipment used now is nothing compared to how it used to be done but the processes are effectively still very much the same.

It’s nice to be able to buy a quality product that’s been quarried and produced by a traditional, local artisan only a stone’s throw from our home. It’s like buying into a bit of history and supporting a local producer at the same time.

Toasty feeling

This is the view from our bedroom window this morning, taken by Brian. Loving the sight of seeing a crisp white layer of frost across the garden, whilst we enjoy the warm toasty feeling of the house. It really feels like winter has moved in. You can see the sun just starting to come up on the trees at the back of the vines, now experiencing those short days of winter. They have all turned brown, having fallen asleep for the year.

I do not know why, but it made me start to feel Christmassy. We will get out over the next couple of days to forage for some moss and foliage for our Christmas wreath we are going to make. I’ve got the wire and base so just need to start getting creative.

Enjoying a kip

It has been rather frosty these last few days, getting down to zero °c at night. However the days are bright and sunny. Lily has found a nice spot on the top floor by one of the windows where she can enjoy the sun and have a wonderful daytime snooze.

Today, we have been unpacking some boxes. We have only really just started to get round to those boxes that were not on the ‘we need them open’ list. It’s nice discovering items that you’d forgotten about, some though you just think ‘I’m not sure we still need that’. There will need to be a visit by us to the Emmaus (charity shop) at some point, to drop stuff off, not to buy more – not just yet.

Next stop…

We had been discussing the look of the pot rack for a few weeks. Should it or should it not …be mounted on a piece of wood?

When Brian removed the top from the cabinet for the sink to be fitted we realised this was exactly what we would use for the back of the pot rack. Today was the day we planned to put it up. It was all a bit tense as the rack itself was heavy, and we were adding on the mahogany back board. So we needed a way to hold it in place whilst Brian drilled the holes.

First Brian secured it to the mahogany board, which he’d already prepared by rubbing it down with some wire wool and white spirit and coating it with a layer of wax. He then needed me to confirm I was happy with the height and could reach it. Initially we used a couple of support poles, but these were not stable enough for when he wanted to fix the screws in. So we assembled a stack of boxes, some wood, and a table to reach the perfect height for us to rest the pot rack on before screwing it into the wall. Worked perfectly.

It’s an old luggage rack off an SNCF train – I just love repurposing items. And using the mahogany worktop as the back plate works perfectly with the rest of the kitchen. It really is looking like the kitchen I had imagined it to be.

Bhajis or not

I knew one of the things we would miss when we moved to France is a curry night. Ever since we were together we have enjoyed going out for a curry and it has always been a favoured choice for going out with friends as well, so I wanted to make sure we would still get those flavours and tastes and be able to enjoy that hot spicy kick of eating a curry.

Last night I decided to make us a madras style vegetable curry, I was using the last of the veg in the fridge, a courgette and green pepper with a few fresh tomatoes. I allowed it time to steep in its juices and spices, so didn’t rush the cooking. I thought some bhajis would also go well with it, however I’m not sure they were proper onion bhajis. They came out a bit heavy and dense. The recipe had suggested I shallow fry them in coconut oil, I think next time I will try and deep fry them for hopefully a crispier texture. That said they were all eaten.

A rather delicious curry night.

Light work

I’d had an idea for the kitchen with regard to the lighting. You may have realised I do like an eclectic look. I wanted to have three lights in one of the corners to light up over the old stone sink. I had collected together three very different lights to use which would complement each other and hang at different heights. Today was the day our electrician came to complete the look for me.

We’d had to have a couple of wooden circles cut for two of them to sit on, not a usual job for him, but he embraced the subtleties of what we were looking for, which helped provide a secure fixing to the ceiling. I absolutely loved the look once he’d finished, the light they provide throws interesting shadows across the kitchen.

He then put the mirror and lights up in the new downstairs cloakroom. We had bought them separately, both really delicate and complimenting the look. The lights are made of individual glass dowels, held together within a chrome casing.

We have a glass and chrome shelf which we’d taken down from the old bathroom, so tomorrow I will see if I can find that to put up as well, if it looks right that is.

Something nouveau

It’s the third Thursday in November, and that means it’s the first day they can sell this season’s Beaujolais. It’s been just weeks in the bottle as the harvest would have been around mid August. I can remember when I first worked in London in the early 90’s, it was a big event to get into the office do a couple of hours work, then go for an early lunch to enjoy a bottle of ‘nouveau’ on the day it’s released. I’ve never been in France on the 3rd Thursday in November to enjoy a bottle, so today we grabbed the opportunity – if somewhat encouraged by Lee-Anne, a friend who lives in Châtillon-sur-Seine – to go to the supermarket and buy a bottle. In London, I can honestly say I’d never been that impressed, my experience was that it was a wine with little character at inflated prices. Oh, and superb marketing techniques promoting it.

But after some careful consideration, as I was not up for the bottle costing 2.45 euros, we pushed the boat out and plumped for a top of the range bottle at 5.25 euros. And I have to say it was rather delicious. We had it with a charcuterie platter with gherkins and remoulade to accompany, and finished off with a piece of very gooey, ripened Epoisse, which oozed with a strong spicy taste – all very delicious.

Spiced apple cake

We had a very slow start to the day, although I was conscious I needed to get the second coat of hard wax oil on the stairs, our plan for the day was really about catching up on bits of admin and doing our french lesson. The morning went well with lots of little wins, and after french we both went outside to finish off oiling the stairs.

when we came in I decided to bake a cake. We still had some of the ‘acquired’ apples left over, so I decided to make a spicy apple cake. The recipe I had used sultanas. I had bought some in readiness for the mincemeat, in case I decided it needed them, but I thought I could use them for this instead. However, I was still 50g short, so I added some walnuts I had. I must say it was rather delicious.

The full recipe less the walnuts is here. I did think this would make a tasty light Christmas cake, I would change it slightly by soaking the sultanas in some brandy to give it that Christmas kick. A simple decoration or just some holly leaves with a dusting of icing sugar would finish it of nicely.

It’s all coming together

The day started well. Brian has been practicing his toppings on our cappuccino’s and they are really starting to take shape now.

The main aim for the day was to get the staircase finished, and get the first coat of hard wax oil on.

Firstly, Brian needed to tidy up a couple of the ends to the steps, which he did by sanding, then he just needed to fit the last two steps at the top of the staircase before he handed it over to me to coat with the hard wax oil. I need to paint two coats on before the temperature drops below 10°c, as that affects the stability of the oil, the forecast is showing that to happen on Thursday. As soon as Brian had completed them, and we both had admired his achievement – which is simply amazing – I brushed the stairs down and pushed to get the first coat of oil on.

Tomorrow morning I will get the second coat on, so Thursday we can walk on them proper.

Sunday Roast

I thought we should really give our new oven a test run on a roast dinner before Christmas Day. So I bought a small, local organic chicken to try out in the conventional oven. Brian smothered it in butter and rosemary and doused it in a good slosh of wine. We covered it up with tin-foil and let it cook gently at 180° for about an hour. I then added the potatoes, parsnips and carrots to roast in the juices. After about half an hour, we drained the wine and chicken juices off to make the ‘jus’ – by reducing it by half – and returned the chicken to the oven to crisp up the skin before resting it. At that point I turned up the heat to finish off the roasties, before serving up along with some choux (sprouts).

For dessert I had cut some of my ‘acquired’ apples up, which Brian mixed with some lemon juice and apricot jam to make a quick apple tart.

The whole dinner was delicious. Carrots tasted like carrots, apples like apples, chicken like chicken – great produce all cooked so simply, yummy.

Day 16

We have never spent more than a long weekend here this time of year, so never really knew what the days would be like. We have been pleasantly surprised. Yesterday morning, after we’d done a few jobs in the house, we sat in the garden enjoying our morning coffee. The roses were still blooming and making the most of the warm day.

We needed to go into Bar-Sur-Seine to buy a SIM card, the one we had ordered from Lebara had not arrived, so we were going to endeavour to buy one from a Tabac. Brian also wanted some more ‘exploding’ screws to hang up my pot rack. That’s the only way I can describe them, you push them into a pre-drilled hole in the plasterboard, and use a kind of ratchet gun to make them flip out and bite onto the other side of the board, making a very strong hold. So we filled out our forms/permits to travel and ventured into Bar-Sur-Seine. The shops we needed were both open, and there was no-one around, so great for us. So as not to miss the opportunity, I also nipped into the boulangerie to buy some bread.

When we returned the sky was still blue, and the sun shining, so we decided to go for a walk up through the forest at the far end of the village, across the fields, then down past the ‘point de vue’. In France the rule is you can have one hours exercise outside the house per day, but you need to stay in the vicinity of your home – thankfully we have some beautiful walks right on our doorstep.

Dillon

This week one of our beautiful cats, Dillon, who featured as ‘the cat that lost his miaow’ lost his own little battle, and is now sleeping peacefully. We had saved Dillon, and his sister Lilly, from Battersea Cats and dogs home nine years ago. They were seven years old and had been found locally, abandoned by their owners. We had not gone looking to adopt two cats, but after some encouragement by the helper we ventured into their pen to say hello. Dillon – whose name then was Dill, which didn’t seem to suit him, he was definitely a Dillon – immediately came up to me, miaowing for a cuddle. I sat down and he jumped on my lap, purring his little head off. Lilly was up for escaping, and pushed past Brian to venture out, only to realise it was a big world out there so promptly nestled around his legs for protection. We already had Boo, and really didn’t think we could take on two more cats, but on the journey home we knew we had to rescue them. So Brian called the shelter and we agreed we would be back the following day to collect them.

Dillon miaowed the whole way home, we were so worried he was upset but realised, after time, he chatted to you constantly. I do so miss that miaow.

Sunset

Last night the sun was bringing a warm late Autumn glow across the vineyards, this lasted just minutes before the sun set for the day, and we closed the shutters in readiness for the chilly evening.

Today, Brian had been ensuring the drawers in the mahogany cabinets we had bought for the kitchen were running properly. As they were old and well used, they had been worn down by time, so he filled the right hand runner with a strip of oak to lift it slightly, it did the trick. He also filled the fronts of one of the other drawers with a small slither of wood before staining it to match the unit.

For the unit to the right of the cooker Brian needed to remove the wooden top and add a piece of oak for the worktop to fit onto. This needed to be just the right height so the worktop is even with the one on the left of the cooker. Once it was shaped he stained the front with two types of wood stain and then lacquer to protect it. He also needed to fix it to enable the drawers to still work once the stone worktop is fitted. I will use the gap between the unit and the wall to store trays.

Christmas country living

This week I went to a Christmas wreath making workshop. Well, ‘went to’ may be a bit of an exaggeration, I watched it virtually in the comfort of the salle à manger, enjoying a freshly made cup of black, Earl Grey tea. It was organised by the Country Living magazine, and Mon Amie ran the workshop – two delightful ladies who run a flower shop with workshop facilities out of a barn in Leicestershire.

Their work all looks very natural. The Christmas wreath they showed ‘me’ how to make used the moss based technique, which involved wrapping wire around moss applied to a copper wire frame before attaching the foliage, flowers, and fruit. It really did feel that it was me they were showing, despite it being a virtual workshop, it actually felt really intimate.

We are both really looking forward now to getting our kit, and foraging for some foliage to get creative.

I’ve included a link to the mon Amie website if you are interested in looking at more of their work or web shop. I had a peep, and love their linen aprons they wore in the workshop. They looked really good in them.

The Case of the Missing Shutter

At the back of our house we have one shutter that is missing. So when we were renovating the other shutters on that floor we decided it would be right to get one made up to fit. It will provide more privacy, security and help preserve heat loss in the winter but also help to keep the house cool in summer. Over the last few weeks M. Galice and his carpentry team have worked on making us a new shutter to fit our window, and of course they have painted it. Today they came to hang it.

It has made a really positive difference to the look of the window from inside the twin room, which is part of the Jeroboam, and it also finishes off the look from outside – it always felt like something was missing.

Now I just need to sort out the curtains in there.

Mincemeat

300g of dried fruit, sultanas, raisins, apricots, cranberries, cherries, mixed peel (whatever you like or whatever you have in your store cupboard)

zest of one orange

juice of one lemon

100g of brown sugar, I used dark brown, and actually added another tablespoon as it was a bit tart.

one/two apples depending on their size. Chop them finely and leave the skin on.

1/2 teaspoon each of mixed spice, nutmeg and cinnamon

75ml of alcohol. I used brandy, but you could use a flavoured brandy or sloe gin, or even whisky or Grand Marnier

50g of melted butter, unsalted

Mix everything together, taste it to check you like the seasoning, then spoon into a couple of sterilised jam jars. I’m storing it in the fridge. You can make this a few months in advance to give it time to mature. But as long as it has a few weeks it will be fine.

Apples and pears

I do love a mince pie at Christmas, and although I will not miss the wall of boxes of mince pies Sainsburys had stacked up at the entrance last year, I will miss not being able to buy a box or two or even a jar of mincemeat. However, I’m sure nearer to Christmas there will be lots of other scrummy tarts and pastries to eat and enjoy.

Not to miss out on the beloved mince pie I decided we needed to make some mincemeat. I scoured the cupboard as I thought I had lots of dried fruit in their, however I could only find raisins, there were no sultanas. So as not to falter at the first hurdle I decided I could add some soaked sultanas when I make up the pies if I think they need it. I gathered everything else together then realised we were missing some apples. Hmmm, not going too well. I went to share my news with Brian, he was outside addressing the real ‘apples and pears’. He saw my disappointment so he suggested we both take a break and go for a walk. What I hadn’t realised was,the walk was to go and get the apples. Just across the road from us as you walk up into the vines there is an apple tree next to the path, Brian had remembered me picking an apple to eat on one of our walks, so he was hopeful we could find a few still on the tree to solve my shortage. Soon we had half a bag full of sweet tasting odd sized apples, I only needed two.

Scrumping apples

Here’s his progress today on the ‘apples and pears’, cut both stringers and fixed them into place.

Cheers

We are just over a week now into our confinement, it’s been another warm November day, so we’ve busy in the garden tidying up the fallen leaves, trimming the last bits of lavender, and pulling a few weeds from the courtyard. However, as soon as the sun goes down the temperature falls, so I’ve lit the fire and Brian is preparing our gin and tonics. I must say enjoying the days pottering, getting our jobs done, then relaxing in the salon with the fire and a drink, whether it’s a cup of earl grey tea, a glass of bubbles or a g&t is an absolute delight.

Brian needed to take the top off of the second mahogany kitchen cupboard today to prepare it for when the stone worktops arrive in a couple of weeks. He was a little concerned he would have trouble removing it, so wanted to look at it just in case it was going to take a while to adapt it, but actually it didn’t take him long and he soon had a plan on what he needed to do to have it ready for the stone.

Ooh, looks like my drink’s arrived. Bon soirée.

Orange *****

With lockdown well and truly in place in France we have started to order more items via the internet. Well, we are trying to. We hadn’t Realised that pretty much everything you do online needs you to provide a French mobile number and, because we still have our UK contracts running, we haven’t moved over to a French one yet. ‘Simple’, I hear you say, ‘just set one up’. Exactly what I thought, and thought the simplest way to do this was to add it to our broadband and landline facility via Orange. One of the excellent services from Orange is that they do offer an English speaking helpline. So I contacted this to discuss our options. I spoke to an extremely helpful lady about needing a French mobile added to our account, however, she proceeded to discuss how to fix the issue we didn’t know we had on our landline, by suggesting we needed a new livebox, which, apparently, I would need to go and collect from a local Tabac. We went through what was needed, confirming that there was no cost to us. When I then asked again about the connection for a mobile she advised she was not able to help me and I needed to speak to someone in their commercial team. That is when things started to fall down. I rang them, but nobody answered the phone. So, not to be deterred I went online and spent some considerable time deciphering the best deal via the Orange website. I picked one out for us and progressed to applying for it, only to find the last (necessary) field in the application was ‘Please supply a French mobile number’. Was that not what I was applying for?!

After reading the application half a dozen times, and coming to terms with the fact I was not going to make this happen without a French mobile number ( I’d even ticked the box ‘Do NOT have an existing number’), today I have applied for a ‘pay as you go SIM’ from Lebara, which is only active for a month. Once we have that I will go back to Orange and order again.

The upside to all this – because there is one – is that our internet speeds have gone through the roof. Brian tells me that our upload speed alone is now 36x faster than it was a week ago.