Hot chocolatey mornings

"It's the first day of autumn! A time of hot chocolatey mornings, and toasty marshmallow evenings, and, best of all, leaping into leaves!"*

Okay so there aren't many dropped leaves yet, they're not even really turning red. You can see a change in the colour on some trees but I think we're still a couple of weeks off. Finally after a very dry summer we have had a reasonable amount of rain, enough for mushrooms and fungi to spring up everywhere. The weather has been cooler, much to the relief of Mortimer who can once again enjoy longer walks.

Our evenings are getting chillier now so we've had the pellet stove going. Across the two houses we have three, no four, types of heating. The main house has oil fired central heating and a log burner whilst the barn has the pellet stove and some electric underfloor heating in the two en-suites. Much as I love the romance of the log burner I really appreciate the cleanliness, efficiency and speed of the pellet stove. I come upstairs in the morning, press a button and it starts instantly. By the time I've showered and am back upstairs for breakfast everything is toasty. Our local Gamm Vert had an offer on the pellets at the end of the summer which we arranged for delivery last week. Because the store is in the village the guy trundled them down to us on his little forklift and helped us unload them into the sous-sol. Such great service!

We came back from holiday with renewed energy for the renovations. I finally finished the pointing in the entrance hall and Andrew completed the re-wiring. Last Monday was crunch time as our electrician came to install the main board. It took him most of the day to connect it all but he did it and there were no errors. Andrew was particularly pleased when the earth rod registered 84  (apparently this is very good) The re-wiring has been such a huge job, so many decisions had to be made as to the position of sockets, switches and lights. Some of the rooms didn't even have all the walls so Andrew had to build these too. I can't begin to tell you the admiration I have for him. By the time we reached Monday evening we both felt de-mob happy.

We decided that we would spend the rest of the week doing some long overdue planning, well apart from a celebratory lunch. The electrical work has been such a huge part of the renovation project that we hadn't really set a structure as to the next stage  I'd already started the window renovations but that is slightly weather dependent. The next big job is plumbing but fortunately this can be broken down into more manageable mini-projects. We started by reassessing two of the en-suites and have made a couple of tweaks that will improve them. I've spent time researching bathroom fittings and orders have been placed for showers and basins, and my oh my do we have some fancy basins! 

Currently the house hot water is supplied by the oil heating system but that only had to do one bathroom and two sinks (kitchen & laundry). Once we've finished we will have a kitchen & separate utility, four showers, one bath and five basins. Not only would the boiler not produce enough for all of this but oil is a very expensive option in France so we are fitting two electric heaters known as 'ballons'. The en-suite with the bath is at the far end of the house so Andrew has decided it can have it's own. Siting of this has been a bit of an issue but, because we've had time to think properly, Andrew has come up with a cunning plan which actually improves three rooms.

This week we've got back to physical work again with Andrew tackling the two ensuites over the garage. We'd decided to give them both underfloor heating but the floor level (I use the term level very loosely!) was causing quite a headache. It's oak floorboards straight onto the joists, beautiful but so irregular and impossible to tile over. The decision was made to take these up, they will be re-purposed, and then lay a new base to take the heating mat and tiles. Another advantage to this is we can stuff insulation under the floors. Sounds like a simple plan but as with all old houses it's not proving to be quite so straightforward, at one point I was levering a wall up so that Andrew could add extra joist supports.

Yes that is the garage below

I'm back on window duty which gives me more time to think about the room designs as it's a fairly mind freeing job. I'm still on the hunt for vintage lighting as my needs seem to grow. I worked out we have a total of 17 rooms that need lights. Now a couple of them are just loos (although one of these will sport a chandelier) while others are more complicated, I think the sitting room has three separate lighting circuits plus there will be floor lamps. I'm doing quite well at the moment though with another chandelier and a pair of fancy wall lights added to my stash.

Of course autumn life hasn't been ignored. Our menu has changed, my new (old) oven dish has proved perfect for roasting vegetables. Soups have replaced salads and Andrew has already had one duck confit making session (it's the season for inexpensive duck in France). I have some figs that need to be made into jam and am even beginning to think about the Christmas cake.

So that's it, I think we're all up to date now. As always you can follow/friend us on Facebook or if you just want the pretty photographs then we're here on Instagram.

*Winnie the Pooh - Pooh's Grand Adventure

A Sunday walk

One of the joys of our area is the number of well marked footpaths and walks. We have several that begin in the village and are graded from the easy to a tad more challenging. We are just inside the Parc Naturel Régional de Millevaches which has some spectacular scenery and great hikes and cycle paths. Yesterday however we were taken in a different direction by friends and went to Aubazine for 'Le Canal aux Moines, l'Ermitage et le Cromlech du Puy de Pauliac' walk.

Village walks

Aubazine is about a 30 minute drive from us and in a beautiful setting, centred around the 12th century Cistercian abbey. As a side note the convent in Aubazine used to run an orphanage and it was here a 12 year old girl arrived and spent 6 years learning to sew. Her name? Coco Chanel.

The monks were responsible for the Canal des Moines, started in the 12th century as a way of diverting water from the Coyroux stream to provide fresh, running water to the abbey. 1.5 kilometres long, the canal is partly hewn from rocks and partly built. Despite yesterday's damp and grey weather this section of the walk was very popular.

The start of the canal

Standing between the canal and river

I confess I didn't realise the significance of some of the rocks that we passed, only finding out this morning that they were a neolithic stone circle consisting of 59 menhirs, so apologies for the lack of photographs. I did however recognise the hermitage, now semi-ruined buildings but still beautiful and in a tranquil spot. Part of the walk is on the Chemin de St.Jacques de Compostelle and we saw plenty of the distinctive cockle shell route signs.

L'ermitage

L'ermitage

The walk also went through the Puy de Pauliac quarry, now closed but at the peak of production in the 1930's it supplied paving for the streets of Paris, Lille, Bordeaux and Toulouse. The Puy is at 524 meters and is great viewing point, even in the misty weather!

Artwork in the old quarry

Puy de Pauliac viewing point

The view was lost on Mortimer!

If anyone wishes to do the walk, details can be found here. You do need to be sure-footed, particularly around the quarry area as there are some quite steep steps cut into the stones as well as a lot of pebbles underfoot. I would recommend it though as it's a really interesting hike.

As always you are welcome to follow or friend us here on Facebook to find out more about life in Corrèze.

I loved this house!

November challenge - part 1

Friends know that I'm not a 'heart on sleeve' person, I'm not a great gusher, I've never used the word awesome. My Facebook page is not full of shared meaningful quotes or motivational messages, I dislike the 'only my real friends will share this' as it puts me in mind of the chain letters that used to circulate when I was at school. And you'll never get me doing one of those 'what your name tells you about yourself' quizzes. I'm sure they all say you are strong, but kind, determined but with a soft centre. They are hardly going to say that you're narcissistic with psychopathic tendencies are they!

So where am I going with this? Well a friend shared something at the beginning of the month which I was about to scroll past when I realised that it was from The Samaritans so I thought I'd take a closer look. It was an action calendar for New Things in November from the Action for Happiness organisation (which I'd never heard of). Anyway according to them
 "our members take action to increase wellbeing in their homes, workplaces, schools and local communities. Our vision is a happier world, with fewer people suffering with mental health problems and more people feeling good, functioning well and helping others"

I know that trying to achieve these aims takes more than a jolly calendar but I thought I'd give it a go. Sometimes I do need reminding to take time out for me and remember that there is more to life than working on the house.

So half way through this is how I'm doing:

1st - List? I am queen of lists, I have a notebook in which I make a new one every day. Easy!
2nd - I bought a French foodie magazine which meant new recipes and an opportunity to improve my French

3rd - now we're in the barn Andrew has been able to get his record player out. We had salvaged some old LP's from my father and I really enjoyed this one

4th - swapped this to the 12th. And failed on the good cause
5th - well I sort of did this as we reversed Mortimer's morning walk. We did notice different things, and remembered that we didn't do it this way because it's a heck of a hill!
6th - I liked doing this as for the last two years cooking has been quite repetitive. Now I have a kitchen it's so much better and I made roasted butternut squash soup - a new recipe for me

7th - a little bit of a 'really?' reaction on this one from me
8th - failed miserably!
9th - I have PhotoShop Express on my iPad which I haven't really got to grips with so I did manage a little training session. Not sure it classifies as a new skill but definitely an improvement of knowledge
10th - this was a doddle  - we took Mortimer out for a long walk around Château de Sédières

11th - I have a new interest in West German art pottery, a subject I know very little about so it was quite nice to feel I had dispensation to do research. Only managed one subject not three

My new West German vintage floor lamp

12th - remember I swapped this from the 4th? Well it was a bit of a cheat as I did know this lady, but only superficially, from my visits to Emmaüs. I invited her over for coffee and it was lovely to find out more about her life
13th - not really achieved. I did write a blog post but most of the day was spent stripping wallpaper! Although I did think a lot about the interior design of the house
14th - best I could on this one was a French language tip I heard on Coffee Break French which I shared with Andrew
15th - I thought I might struggle on this one. Fortunately it's Children in Need day so I've paid a lot more attention to some of the children on the BBC radio telling their stories

Halfway there and not too bad. Some things I've done superficially but it has made me take time away from the new project which hasn't been a bad thing. I'll let you know how part two goes.

As always you can follow our life in Corrèze here on Facebook

A wet weekend's activities

It's been a wet and windy weekend in Corrèze, motivation to go into a cold, dark house and start stripping wallpaper has been low. Andrew has had a busy week and so we decided to take the weekend off. Well I say off, yesterday afternoon was spent in a ressourcerie looking for a wardrobe and some decorative items for the barn. Due to a husband and wife communication misunderstanding we came away with nothing much at all, if you discount a rather nice pottery bowl and a 1950's Jaz alarm clock!

Vintage French Jaz clock from the 1950's

Today has been particularly murky, following on from a very stormy night, so we have hunkered down. I started some festive shopping and Andrew is steaming the Christmas pudding as I write. Guilt got the better of me and I decided that working on the concept boards for the guest rooms would be a productive way to spend an afternoon.

The Old Notaire's House will have three en-suite guest rooms, we've already drawn up the plans for those and I've done my furniture and lighting spreadsheet but I hadn't really given much thought to the decoration. We tend to give rooms names, mainly because it's easier when we're talking about them, and if we just number them we disagree over which order this should be in! I usually get raised eyebrows when I name them though...

• The Garden Room
• The Watercolour Room
• The Gentleman's Room

The Garden Room will be made from two of the original bedrooms and, you're ahead of me aren't you? has a double aspect over the garden as well as views of the medieval town. A light floral & country motif was the obvious choice for this room.

The Watercolour Room will be made from the old kitchen, a corridor and loo (sounds enticing doesn't it!) Not an obvious theme from that lot. However when we bought the house we found quite a few Parisian gallery posters from the 1970's & 1980's in the garage so I thought it would be nice to base the room around those.

Finally we have the Gentleman's Room. It's easy to go overboard in the brocantes with the whole shabby château chic look which is not really our style, so I thought a room with a more masculine vibe would be fun. Gentleman's club meets country pursuits.

So I'm happy now I have a plan, there will probably be some tweaking along the way but at least when I'm out shopping I won't be tempted with any impulse purchases. She says.

As always feel free to follow or friend me here on Facebook if you want to know more about our life in Corrèze.

A morning with Odette

Since way back I've had a fixation with travel writing. As soon as I'm through the book shop door I'm heading for the travel literature shelves. In charity shops and second hand book stores I'm searching for out of date prints I haven't read. I'm not a travel snob, oh no, I'll lap up the marshmallow offerings of Peter Mayle as well as the bitter chocolate, hard centred Devla Murphy and Jason Webster. I don't mind if it's the journey that's being written about or the overseas life being lived. I read them all. Andrew says "not another driving over squashed olives in Venezuela book again?"as a brown paper parcel comes through the post.

Sometimes I would stumble upon a subject that would lead me down an unexplored track. For a while it was any book written about the Santiago de Compestela pilgrimage (by sheer fluke our house is on the Rocamadour section of the route). I read books by people who had walked, cycled and taken a donkey on the path. While we were preparing for our three year sailing adventure my focus switched to boat journeys. Eric Newby through to Terry Darlington but a favourite was 'An Embarrassment of Mangoes' by Canadian author Ann Vanderhof. Here my two favourite subjects - travel and food - were combined. I was focussed, obsessively searching for food and travel writing. 'On Rue Tatin' by Susan Herrmann Lewis, anything by Elizabeth David of course and another favourite 'A Table in the Tarn' by Orlando Murrin.

I was envious of their experiences and even more so when they were taken into a neighbour's kitchen and shown how to make local dishes. I yearned for the day that I could live abroad and do the same. And finally this week I did.

Odette was one of the first people in our village of Corrèze that we met. We passed her house most mornings on our dog walk and she would always give us a wave. Conversations started slowly, mainly because our French was haltingly bad, first the weather, then how were renovations going. If I was alone she would always ask after Andrew. She gave us a jar of jam she had made, next some courgettes and as the season moved on there were sweet chestnuts. One day I was invited into her 'cave' to be given another pot of something delicious. I was in heaven! There were shelves of jars, some empty waiting to be filled and dozens more containing preserved vegetables. A small table covered in a colourful cloth stood in front of a large range. There were giant pans and pressure cookers. Tentatively I asked if she would show me how to make these preserved vegetables? When the produce was cheap she said she would.

My shopping list

Packed and ready to go

Last week I was given a shopping list and on Tuesday morning I walked up the hill to my initiation into French preserving methods. I'm a great jam and chutney maker but bottling (or canning as I think it is called in the U.S) is something I've never done.

The wary Minette

Minette the cat took flight to the top of a dresser and spent my lesson looking down at me. And well she might! I'm sorry to say I probably did nothing for the reputation of English women as cooks. I cut my courgettes too large and had no idea how to peel a raw tomato. I've only ever done it by the plunge into boiling/iced water method. Eventually I managed to do it Odette's way, you smooth the skin first with a firm grip, using the back of the knife blade, it then skins quite easily. I did gain back some points as I had managed to buy my unused jars for 50c each.

Ready to chop

It wasn't just a culinary lesson for me as the whole time I was speaking only French. I'm sure Odette must think my conversation a little odd as I plucked random subjects out of the air, ones I knew I could scrape some vocabulary together for.

I'm not sure I really got across how grateful I was for her time and patience. She is a generous lady in many ways and particularly to share her skills with me, a foreigner who doesn't always understand. As soon as I have a kitchen I will be undertaking more bottling and maybe one day will have a larder to rival Odette's. Meanwhile I have several jars of ratatouille, to be eaten in the winter as a reminder of summer days and an enjoyable morning spent with a new friend.

Want to know more about our life in Corrèze? Feel free to follow us  here .

Barn floor status report

I know that I'm overdue a barn update but here's an interim report because we've finished the upstairs floor in the barn.

The previous owners left us approximately 70 square metres of chestnut parquet flooring. We think it had been in the barn for around 30 years, so you can imagine the state it was in. Added to the dirt, it was different lengths and widths and it's has taken a lot of work by both of us. Being the unskilled half of the work force my job was to sand every piece, each tongue and groove, and sort into piles. Andrew then spent days on his knees fitting it and using some of the left over for skirting boards. Back to me for sanding and oiling but finally it's finished. And we both have calloused knees!

One of the three piles of flooring

Finally finished (the gap is for kitchen tiles)

You can follow our progress as we renovate our house and barn in Corrèze on the blog or on Facebook

Feeling the love!

On the eve of Valentine's Day we've been included in the top 25 Living in France blogs by Feedspot.

Thank you everyone!

Rhythms

Corrèze

We have now completed a full calendar year in Corrèze and are learning the rhythms of living in our beautiful part of France.

Winter in Corrèze

The view of Corrèze town from our garden

The nights are quiet, only the sound of the river in the valley and the occasional owl. About 6.30 a.m. the village starts to wake. We are at the beginning of the high street, not far from the tabac where workers stop to grab their daily copy of La Montagne. Unless it's Monday the boulangerie will be doing a steady trade in baguettes and croissants. Or maybe you would prefer a 'choco'? we are in the region where pain au chocolat is called a chocolatine. It's rare to get far without a 'bonjour, ça va? or a chat with the postman.

Perfect breakfast

By 9.30 it's all settled down, some traffic goes through but it's relatively peaceful until 11.45 when the 'rush' to get home for lunch starts. There is another flurry at the tabac and woe betide you if you haven't got everything you need by the time the midday church bells chime. By 12.30 you can hear a pin drop, everyone is eating. It will remain like this until about 2.30 when work begins again, then quiet until about 5 p.m. Not long after this is 'l'apéro' time of day, which can happen anytime between 6 and 9 p.m.

Our first l'apéro with a French family struck fear in my heart. Short for l'apéritif it's a drink or two with finger food, usually for 30 minutes to an hour (although it can go on all evening). Our first was with part-time neighbours only a couple of months after we had moved in. Arlette 'coo cooed' me and invited us over. My French (still limited) was appalling then and we had no idea of the social niceties of this very French event. We need not have worried, they were charming and very patient with my stumbling language skills. Since then we have been to, and hosted, many an apéro evening and enjoyed them all.

There is a variety to the days of the week. On Monday both the boulangerie and traiteur are closed but bread can be purchased in the Petit'Casino, but you only have until noon. On Tuesday, late afternoon, the fishmonger, cheesemonger and vegetable seller arrive in the town square for a couple of hours. Thursday sees the arrival of the pizza van in the same square, no rush in the winter but place your order early in the summer. Andrew's favourite is the smoked salmon while I'm partial to the mushroom.

New Year oysters

It's not only the weather that separates the seasons but food as well. The New Year kicks off with oysters, foie gras and truffles. Choucroute is a popular winter dish and the supermarkets have ready made packs of all the ingredients needed to cook this special dish. Mique makes an appearance, a speciality of our region, dough that's poached in broth which is served sliced with stews. France is very seasonal with food, even the multinational supermarkets will rarely sell fruit or vegetables out of their natural season. Winter markets have deep green cabbages and piles of pale endives, root vegetables are turned into thick soups. There are a multitude of melted cheese dishes - the classic cheese fondue, tartiflette (made from potatoes, onions, lardons and unctuous Reblochon cheese) and of course raclette.

Cheese fondue

With spring the food fêtes arrive, there is hardly a soft fruit that doesn't have it's weekend in the spotlight. Strawberries, raspberries, cherries and apricots, we are able to grow all these well in Corrèze. The highlight of any fête is nearly always a giant tart, with slices sold at the end of the day. Asparagus has a short season, fat white spears are more popular that the slim green ones that I'm used to. Soups are still on the menu but are less hearty, made with a light stock and tiny spring vegetables. As soon as the first cherries arrive then so do clafoutis - another classic Limousin dish where juicy fruit sits in a sweet, baked batter.

Mortimer enjoying a spring walk

The river Corrèze in spring

Summer is figs, myrtilles and more strawberries - for the first time I can select them for their use. Different varieties for poaching, tarts, purées or just a simple bowl with cream. Peaches are drippingly good, I think they come straight from the tree without being chilled. Tiny hamlets to large towns all celebrate some food item. My favourite has to be the 'four à pain' in Meyrignac-L'Église (five minutes up the road) celebrating oven baked bread. In days gone past even the smallest hamlet would have had a communal bread oven, small or not so small buildings where villagers could bake. Many have been restored and are used once or twice a year along with an accompanying fête. The large loaves have a hard crust but are soft and chewy inside, perfect with a piece of Cantal cheese, although the oven baked pizza option is a modern favourite.

Ancient bread oven

Summer pastimes

Corrèze town

Evening markets make an appearance in July and August and are wonderful. Our village hosts them in the medieval square by the church. There are some food stalls, long rows of tables and chairs and a barbecue set up. Sponsored by one of the village associations (who run the bar and bbq), you buy some meat or fish, take it to the barbecuers to cook and join friends to share with. I take a picnic basket with plates, glasses and salad to make a complete meal. There is usually live music and it is always convivial.

Autumn has always been my favourite season, the light is golden, the temperature warm but not uncomfortable and I can say goodbye to salads and embrace the hearty flavours of root vegetables. And of course mushrooms. Corrèze is famous for its cèpes, they even feature in our logo and our village has quite a renowned mushroom festival in October. The fruit tart is replaced with giant cépe omelettes. Although duck is popular all year round it comes to the fore on menus in the autumn, seconded only by pork dishes. Of course I have to mention the beef and veal from our famous and historic Limousine cows, these gorgeous animals can be seen all around us.

Autumn lane

Limousine cattle

Our commune of Corrèze has about 1100 full time residents and from the May national holidays the numbers start to build. Family links are strong and many Corrèzians who had moved away have second homes here. One of our neighbours has worked in Paris for several decades but on retirement purchased a holiday home in the village. She can trace her roots back to the fifteenth century and her cousin still lives in a house that has been in the family almost that long. As well as families returning, holiday makers exploring the area, we also share our lanes with pilgrims. We are on the Santiago de Compestela route, a section called 'La Voie de Rocamadour' linking Vezelay with Rocamadour. The new pilgrimage markers in blue and yellow contrast with the worn stone scallop shells on many of the buildings around the church.

Holiday makers are not the only summer visitors, we have spent hours sitting in the the garden watching the house martins perform aerial acrobatics over the church. As dusk falls they are replaced by the pipistrelle bats. Both are welcome as they feed on small insects. Our other insect feeders are the small lizards that bask on the granites walls and can be heard rustling in the flower beds as we walk past.

For a time in the U.K. I owned an antique shop so am in heaven when the vide-grenier season starts in the spring. The literal translation is 'empty the attic' and they are similar to a yard sale or boot fair (although you do not get professional market traders). Usually held on a Sunday, the best ones have stalls that snake through the village lanes and town squares. We already have marked some favourites for next year. You may also be lucky enough to see a sign for a 'vide maison' where the owner is selling the contents of their house. I bought some beautiful crystal glasses and table linen (a weakness of mine) this year and am looking forward to more in 2019.

Of course we do work as well! We are lucky that although our house is in the village we have an attached barn that we have been busy renovating to make into holiday cottage so we can share Corrèze. You can follow our progress with the blog or on my Facebook page.

Corrèze town