https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/FrenchLeave/Day-to-day living in a corner of Francehourly12000-01-01T12:00+00:00https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/FrenchLeave/545419Bonjour, cher Lecteur, When I lived in the Loire, and especially after my husband left (he was not much on our four footed friends), I was surrounded by animals. In the late '90s and until about 2004, I had goats. I started on a small scale, just to keep my paddock clear of brambles and...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/FrenchLeave/545242My son has called, saying he's coming over here on holiday late in July. So I have a new deadline to get me going painting the bedroom and bathroom he uses when he's here. I have been concentrating this month on doing things that do not cost a lot of money. I don't know about you, but rising...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/FrenchLeave/544802Bonjour, cher Lecteur, Vogue left a really nice comment on how "handy" I am with DIY, and it's true, I've really learnt over the years to do anything. My ex-husband was really good at it, and made a tremendous difference to our place in the Loire, which we bought in 1976. It was an enormous...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/FrenchLeave/544448Bonjour, cher Lecteur, The weather is quite lovely, and I'm not able to take advantage of my terrace. It's all cluttered up with pots of dead plants waiting to be replanted afresh for the summer, with plastic tubs from trees I've planted out in the garden waiting to be taken to the dump, plastic...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/FrenchLeave/544206Bonjour, cher Lecteur, It's raining, a heavy, steady downpour, so no gardening today, apart from a few seeds sown early this morning to catch the free water from the sky which will set them on their way. It's a day to wander round a garden centre and see what's on offer. A dangerous occupation:...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/FrenchLeave/543989Bonjour, cher Lecteur, You really know summer is on its way when you hear the hum of mowers in late afternoon. Here in Brittany, the nights seem very moist, and we have to wait till the afternoon for the sun to dry the grass sufficiently to be able to put the mower over it. We have had a week...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/FrenchLeave/543749Bonjour cher Lecteur, It is now almost too hot to garden. I went out at 10am this morning, and dug about a square metre of vegetable garden, but it is getting more and more difficult because the grass has grown knee high and it's back breaking getting the turf up. Anyway, I did enough to plant...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/FrenchLeave/543512Bonjour, cher Lecteur, As I said, I'm starting a new vegetable plot in my town garden in Quimper. I have not got very far, because the garden has been abandoned and it is so difficult getting through the weeds and long grass to de-turf and dig. Actually it's the de-turfing that is back-breaking...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/FrenchLeave/543331Good morning, dear Reader, Brittany is known for its damp climate, but actually the weather forecast is usually wrong (isn't it always?) and I smile as I drive along on my way to the beach, in brilliant sunshine, to hear that it is raining all over my area. But the last two days, as France baked...