The year is only eleven hours from finishing as I write this in front of the woodburner at St André. I arrived back home on Thursday morning with my daughter and grandson who will be here until their ferry sails from Roscoff on 2 January 2017. As I was going to be away I didn't do decorations inside but did have my usual two pallet Christmas trees hung in the driveway.
Amazingly, I was driving back from St Nicolas du Pélem, just before Christmas and found a Christmas tree in the middle of the road. I turned the car around and just about managed to get the majority of it into the Land Rover with the back door open. My housecarers decorated it and placed it in the garden opposite their cottage. They took care of everything here while I was away and did a good job - all animals are fine and they even lit the woodburner in my house ready for our arrival - double brownie points!
I went over to Cornwall for Christmas, the first in the UK since I moved here in 2006.
One lunchtime, with Libby and Charlie, we ate at a new Mexican restaurant, Chiquito in Truro. There were sombreros for diners to wear during the meal.
I stayed with my son, Matthew, and the weather was mostly dry and bright. We spent Christmas Day at Brett's parents home, here are Matthew and Brett while we were playing Jenga.
One lunchtime, with Libby and Charlie, we ate at a new Mexican restaurant, Chiquito in Truro. There were sombreros for diners to wear during the meal.
I stayed with my son, Matthew, and the weather was mostly dry and bright. We spent Christmas Day at Brett's parents home, here are Matthew and Brett while we were playing Jenga.
On Boxing Day, Val and Colin came back to us for lunch, Breton prawn cocktail, duck, spicy red cabbage, petit pois, roasted butternut squash and dauphinoise potatoes, followed by lemon meringue pie and Christmas pudding with cream.
We were joined by others later for food and drinks. No Christmas would be complete without Quality Street of course ... We seemed to have four or five days in a row spent drinking quite a lot with various friends coming round, ending with a party the night before I came back home.
The ducklings that were born in October have grown and nearly have all their adult plumage now.
Earlier in December we had our Writers' Group Christmas lunch at Le St Antoine in Plemet. The food was excellent and we had a great time. We enjoyed it so much that we are planning to go back in April for our normal meeting and also to celebrate my 70th birthday.
I missed a couple of the competition bowls matches this year due to hospital appointments but managed to make this one, doubles, and Daryl was my partner. At the start of the last end of the final we were only one point behind but Martin and Linda played too well for us and we were runners up. It was a good day with a good selection of buffet food provided by members.
My most recent Workaways, a young French man, and then an older Italian, worked hard clearing up for the winter months. Amongst other tasks, apples were collected and stored, individually wrapped in newspaper and the log delivery was neatly stacked away. Luckily my Breton neighbour is my log supplier so I should always be ok for nipping round for a wheelbarrow of logs if necessary.
They and my neighbours, Christian and Paulette, helped collect some attractive pieces of carved stone which had been dumped as waste in an area used by the local stone mason. Not sure what I'll do with them, but they were too nice to leave.
My baking has been going well and I now bake bread every other day. I think it's the buttermilk which helps the rise. In our Brittany supermarkets there are usually seven different types and I use this for the liquid necessary topped up with a little water.
And, lastly a photo taken by a previous Workaway, Bill, of my village from the other side of the calvaire, he posted it on Facebook and I've nicked it ... hope you don't mind, Bill.
Three things I like:
1. Coming back through my door when I've been away - there's no place like home.
2. Catching up with friends and family when I'm back in Cornwall.
3. Settling down in the warm, with the cats on my lap and computer table, in front of the woodburner when it's dark and chilly outside.
I WISH A HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!
