Time at a premium, and a beautiful entirely unexpected gift!

Busy, busy, busy!  That's me lately!  We've been very busy working on the house and the work is well and truly coming on now, especially the kitchen. It still needs painting and tiling but is now organised enough for me to have proper baking sessions!  I never thought that day would come!  Today's efforts are two loaves of bread (mind you, that didn't stop at all no matter what state the house was in - we just don't like shop-bought bread, not even here in France!), and one Victorian sponge. I suppose I should take some photos but there's already a piece out of the sponge - maybe next time!

The Husband and I have been helping out at a nearby farm, an English-run pork farm which breeds Gloucester Old Spots and Berkshires, and produces the most fantastic meat - including things that we just can't buy here, like proper bacon, sausages to die for, sausage rolls, and so on.  We've not been helping with the meat side of things (although one particular chicken seems to have taken a fancy to the Husband!) but with a barn they are converting into a proper English tearoom/cafe.  On Saturday, they are opening the tearoom and having a Christmas Fayre and Farmers' Market, something we are all looking forward to.  It's been a lot of hard work sorting everything out in time, but I'm sure it will be real success. The couple who run the farm deserve it to be - they work incredibly hard all the time.

We spent the day there yesterday - it was freezing cold and pouring with rain but we worked hard and soon warmed up. Well, apart from our feet!  Today, I'm posting photos of the sunrise we had first thing yesterday morning - I would never have believed the weather would turn so bad after such a promising start!

I know they say 'red sky in the morning, shepherds' warning' but, a month or so ago, this sunrise would have heralded a lovely sunny day.

No proper pictures from the farm yet but I will take some on the big day. For starters, here's one of the back end of Sausage, the pet pig!

She was in a sulk because she wasn't allowed in the barn while we worked!  She's safe, by the way - this is one pig that will NOT be turned into sausages!




I was feeling a little down recently - mainly to do with missing the family, especially now that Christmas is just around the corner, and being fed up with living on a permanent building site knee-deep in dust.  The lovely Chalky of Chalky's World (see my blog list on the right) very kindly sent me a package. It was a complete surprise and a very lovely thoughtful one, too.  Here's a photo

Thank you so much, Chalky; it was so thoughtful of you and really did cheer me up!






Thanks for reading!