M.

We have confit of duck still that I made last year and I have breasts and legs to make more for this year. The fat is ready to go. We have enough food in the larder for many many months and about 9 months worth of gas. I was bought up in a very poor household and that has stuck in my head – without my Grandmother I would never have had an evening meal as she slipped my Mother a banana or egg before my Grandfather could see. My Grandma had no money but her store cupboard was always full of the simple basics. I try to follow her example. I don’t use much tinned or pre-prepared food and the veg patch is going strong. We had a Chinese meal tonight with our own home grown Pak Choy.

The retirement age rules will come in and they have to. I even think the law is passed. While the Brits and the French try to share their large purchases (like aircraft carriers) we are deep in it in any country. I am making the best of it – my bad news was the surgeon I had an appointment with this evening is off sick for a month and I now have to wait another month ‘keeping me gob shut’ and no alcohol. I am sure that will be a relief to many.

We have our wood stacked and the two log burners already going. So I am sitting pretty warm and happy. We have enough Earl Grey until next summer so the winter can just ‘bring it on’.

As an aside I spent 3 months from the middle of December to March in Portugal this year and it makes a French winter seem almost idyllic – we even had an earthquake in the middle of one night.

Well I am going to start watching some teaching videos. I am too old to waste time wondering when or if something will happen, all I know is if they make it up here they will be too exhausted to do much damage

Adiós Amigos – oh just for Chris – Merry Christmas

We too are expecting power cuts this winter, so every week now I have been building up my store cupboard with tinned and packeted food, but my freezer is full of frozen meals I must get through quick.

I have a stock of candles and two oil lamps (That I bought in St Céré a few years ago) so I’m prepared for the worse.

Students not yet working, worrying about their retirement? Not a bit of it.

When questioned, they pointed out that the later the retirement age, the more people would stay in employment. Which, in turn, meant fewer people would move up the promotion ladder. Which, in turn, meant that fewer people would be employed at the bottom of the ladder!

Ah… such is education… bless!

I would like to tell you of another rather unusual shop in Aynac. It is the hairdressers. Now I go on a regular basis for Sergio to do something with my ‘barnet’ or hair in the better parts of the UK. Now 7 years ago, in a not very important town in the UK I paid £80 (which included a 20% BNI discount) for a worse cut and colour than I get for €43 with Serge. He is a stylist extrodinare and when ladies like me of a certain age see the large expensive cars halt outside the shop and women who look like Paris models walk in and almost in tears say they have come because they cannot ‘do a thing’ with what looks like perfect hair to me – he soothes them, comforts them and gives them all the books to look through while he does the next quick dry cut on an 80+ year old lady who he makes an equal fuss of.

Me he spends 2 hours with (I have far too much hair with a will of its own), hides the grey and sends me out looking years younger. They come from kilometres away for his fantastic attention.

Not only that but if you happen to be in there when Mr Balbarie of Rocamadour Cheese fame (AOC accredited) comes in, you can buy your cheese on the spot. We found salted crackers in Aldi tonight and had cheese and crackers – fresh cheese never been in a fridge and salted crackers. Only in this little rural part of France. Yes Aynac does have a real AOC Rocamadour cheese maker – but he is nearer heaven or Aubiac by quite a few kilometres.

Why do I live here, because I love my bit of heaven that happens to be in France.

Di – The Fool on the Hill