First half-hearted snowfall and what seems like good health news

Well the weather has certainly changed since the beginning of this year.  The guaranteed mild days have disappeared to be replaced by getting up in the morning to a frozen windscreen and even frozen locks on the Land Rover.  I have had to park facing the other way so that the driver’s door is protected by the house.  Lidl were selling foiled windscreen protectors for only €1.99 so I invested in one to make it easier to leave the house before the sun has a chance to defrost the glass.  This morning we had our first snow.  It was a little half-hearted and only managed to lie for any length of time on the large flower bed which is protected completely from the low sun at this time of year.

 

I’ve moved the bird table, which needs a bit of repair work, back to its usual winter position, just in front of the sitting room window in a direct line from my chair, so 

that I can watch all the visiting feathered friends without any effort at all.  

Any scraps that they flick off the high table fall to the terrace and the seven chickens I now have loose in the garden take advantage of the unexpected bounty.

This afternoon there have been lots of blue tits, a robin, a couple of chaffinches and two magpies.  I usually wave my arms about to frighten off the magpies but, close up, their plumage is beautiful and so smart. 

Last week, after I responded to an advert placed on Facebook, I had a Dutch girl, looking for peace and quiet to do some writing, living here for five nights in Small Cottage.  She left on Tuesday having written 110 pages – so it was a successful stay.  This cottage is now undergoing its annual redecoration in time for the next guests.   I have my first guests, for one night only, in Middle Cottage next week – things are starting early this year.

Since my last posting I have had a meeting with my referring Consultant, Dr Le Bihan at Guingamp.  He did an internal examination after which he said that he felt very positive and therefore I should too.  Obviously I await the Petscan end of March/early April, followed by my appointment with Dr Bruno Lamazec on 7 April, when I will get the final results of the scan.   The Radiotherapy Centre has moved premises – it is now located in a newly built complex which comprises  several different clinics in Plérin, St Brieuc so I’ll have to go looking for it next time I’m in the area so I know where I’m going on the important day and am not late.

It’s only ten days now until my grandson, Charlie, is nine years old.  I can’t believe how quickly the years have gone by.  He is such a lovely boy and will certainly grow into a wonderful man.  When my daughter, Libby, asked again him what he wanted to do for his birthday he said he wanted to go and see Grandma!  No wonder I love him so much!    Brittany Ferries are playing their usual game of treating their customers with disdain and not running any boats to the West Country until March, so it would be necessary for them to drive to Portsmouth and take the route to St Malo, so not likely to happen as a much longer drive and voyage unfortunately.

I’ve been trying to stick to one of my New Year’s Resolutions which is to use food from the freezer, particularly protein, instead of buying fresh fish and meat.  I have so far had the first roast lamb joint from one of my own beasts – absolutely delicious, chicken, sausages, prawns and pea and ham soup.  The problem is that the chicken carcass produces stock which then needs freezing and I also made soup from the prawn heads and shells so the freezer fills up a little bit again.  It will be hard to empty even one of them – I have four …

One of my Christmas presents was a sort of hot water bottle.  It doesn’t use water and it doesn’t need filling.  It has a short lead which plugs into the mains and then into a small socket in the surface of the fleece-like surface.  It never has to leave my bed and if I wake and feel cold I can plug it back in for ten minutes to regain a good temperature.  It’s definitely a good thing.

My Land Rover had a hiccup back in October when I was in Cornwall.  There appeared to be a problem with the rear suspension – I’d already had a new compressor fitted in June 2014.  Having carried fifteen cement sacks in the back for my oldest son’s new garden structuring and conservatory foundations an alarm started to sound.  However, since I’d been back in Brittany it hadn’t bothered me again and I’d assumed things were ok.  My son was here at Christmas and he said there was definitely a problem with the back end being far too low.  I finally gave in and went to my Land Rover garage where they  gave me the bad news that it needed another compressor – unbelievable!  I left €486 poorer but with the suspension feeling much more normal.  Not a good start to what was going to be an economical January.

I love my woodburner.  I know I'm always saying that, but I do so enjoy being warm and cosy and can't imagine what it would be like to have central heating and no flames and direct heat.



I haven’t got any Workaways booked in yet this year but am hoping that I will be getting some more of these wonderful helpers during 2016.  I have though, already organised my Housecarers for my next visit to the UK.  Another New Zealand couple – hopefully they will be able to shear the sheep while they’re here, I’m glad to say my electric shears have been sharpened and are ready to go.  It looks as if my Housecarers from October last year will be able to return for a similar period this year – always good to have returners and be certain that everything will be in good hands.

Three things I like:

1.   Hearing that friend has been declared "in remission" with his cancer.
2.   Getting a box of truffles for New Year from the children of my neighbour.  

 

3.   Seeing the mimosa which is blooming locally - I never remember seeing it anywhere else except in Brittany.  There are so many trees up on the north coast, but this is here.



What a gorgeous happy colour!