Two in a row from me since Will is hard at work and as he constantly reminds me, has written more blog posts than I have. There isn’t too much to report since my last entry so this one could be mercifully short.
We stopped over to see Lucien and Mauricette on Thursday, bearing a few Xmas pressies for them (whiskey and chocolates, respectively). It was a bit too early in the afternoon for a drink, so we had coffee and galette which is a flat cake filled with frangipane. Around New Year’s, they make a version called Galette du Roi and these have a small porcelaine figurine somewhere inside, the finder of which is declared King for the Day. I don’t think we did much the rest of the day.
Sharon joined us for lunch on Friday since this was the only time we were going to see her over the festive period. She and Oscar showed up around 1 and the three of went for a stroll before our meal of curried butternut squash soup, salad, bread and cheese. We had a nice meal and Sharon was in very good spirits. She and Oscar took off in the late afternoon and Will and I didn’t do much that evening.
On Saturday, I went to our local grocery store and despite being Xmas Eve, it wasn’t hugely crowded. I got a few last minutes items for the holiday and also for the meal we were preparing on Monday. Lucien came by in the afternoon with his chainsaw and halved a number of the larger logs still in the wood shed. We had dinner and watched some old films that evening; another in a series of quiet nights.
We started Xmas day with champagne, as is traditional and also sampled some of the Dutch goodness which we had secreted away for a special occasion. We had a Skype chat with the Family Roberts who were also having a champagne breakfast so we had a toast and clinked glasses virtually. In addition to some presents from Will, I was pleasantly surprised to receive amazon vouchers from Dave as well as Anne and Andrew.
Later that afternoon, we wandered down to Carol and Bryan’s, our English neighbours where we joined them for an excellent Xmas dinner. This comprised veggie soup to start, followed by roast pork and chicken, red cabbage a la Bryan’s grandmother, roast potatoes and two veg. It was particularly cold that day so Will ran home between courses to keep the fire going. When he returned, we had a cheese course, followed by dessert which was a Bûche de Noel (Yule Log) from our local bakery. On the tv news, they did a number of different segments about the making and consuming of these, and after tasting one, I understand why. The version we had was a yellow sponge with a layer of creme patissiere, rolled up and covered in chocolate. Although we were invited to stay and drink wine, we were anticipating a big one the next night and wanted to attend to the fire so we left them around 7.
Lee and Richard joined us on Boxing Day in the afternoon. Will stayed to tend the fire with the three of us went for a local walk. When we came back, Richard tried out his new chainsaw on some of our remaining logs and we were both pleased it worked. Carol and Bryan came by for a drink in the late afternoon at Lee’s request. They are all from Coventry and really hit it off when they met on Thanksgiving so this gave them a chance to meet Richard and have a catch-up. Will suggested comfort food for the evening meal so had soup to start, followed by sloppy joes, creamy polenta and creamed spinach and courgette. We spent the evening drinking and chatting and passed out sometime in the wee hours.
This was the first time Will had spent Xmas away from his family so I think it was a bit difficult for him. Roberts Family tradition on Boxing Day is a trip to the pub for a few pints, them home for Andrew’s scrumptious Bubble and Squeak. So despite feeling a bit homesick, I think he managed to enjoy himself during our celebration here.
As I mentioned at the start, Will has been hard at work recently. We finally made it over to our see our second new Sites for Homes customer, an English couple who live near Nontron. They were referred to us by our estate agent friend, Karen, and we had been waiting for a sunny day to go around and take pictures. The weather has actually been bright and sunny up until today but we also needed to work around the holiday too. They have been trying to sell their place for a few years but just recently lowered their asking price and are looking for new ways to reach potential buyers. After explaining what we offer, they decided on a full package including dual language site, photos and write up plus an interactive floor plan. We’re very pleased with their choice but of course, this means a lot of work for Will and not all that much at the end of it. Given our current situation, we’re not complaining.
Yesterday, we also collected Lola from the body shop in Nontron where they fixed the dent in the rear door. They did a really nice job which is good considering the cost. It’s good to have it done considering that we’re now expecting rain for the foreseeable future. As usual, I’ve managed to create an unnecessarily long post, considering the lack of goings on so I’ll stop here.