Bonjour,
I hope that you simply and yours are nicely.
It’s been a tad heat right here in France, even in Pas-de-Calais the place I stay, the area the remainder of France typically calls ‘the French north pole’ – they exaggerate in fact, however it’s normally all the time cooler right here than within the south, even throughout a heatwave. This climate is inflicting havoc for the farmers (in case you’ve ever watched Clarkson’s Farm with Jeremy Clarkson, you’ll know that farmers have it robust already however climate extremes might be devastating), and the wildlife – we’ve taken to leaving bowls of water out all around the backyard for the hedgehogs and birds to attempt to assist them via it till the inevitable rain arrives.
For us, the extended dry spell has meant an opportunity to push on with the final of the renovations to the home. I do know, I do know – I say it yearly ‘we’re practically completed’ and in case you’ve been following me for some time, you’ll know that is inevitably adopted just a few months later by “nicely we practically completed however not fairly.” However we simply fitted the final home windows (37 in whole!), and door (13 doorways!) and rendered the again of the home (yay no extra concrete prison-looking partitions!). And nicely, I do know I by no means thought I’d say this, however “we’re completed”.
After 22 years of renovating. An actual marathon, however one we’ve accomplished with our naked arms – no builders, simply me and my different half Mark. After all there’s all the time extra to do, a brand new polytunnel to go up – we’re severely into rising as a lot of our meals as we will, furnishings to make, we’ve made the whole lot ourselves, recycling as a lot as potential – kitchen cabinets from the outdated staircase, a brand new staircase from oak boards salvaged from a skip bin exterior Madame Tussauds in London, an enormous hen coop from a damaged plastic roof… and we’re now making some armoires for linen, and cabinets to maintain my journey and podcast tools in – as a result of sure, after a little bit of a break, the podcast is coming again! I’m engaged on it proper now and can be able to publish new episodes within the subsequent few months and I’m actually wanting ahead to speak to everybody once more! (in case you’re not subscribed, it’s free right here: thegoodlifefrancepodcast – we’ve had a few technical points with the subscriptions thingamajig (I’m not technical!), so in case you get any points subscribing, please drop me a line and I’ll pop you on the listing myself if there’s a difficulty!)
I’m off on a cruise from Paris to Normandy quickly – I’ll be hopping aboard CroisiEurope’s distinctive Seine-sailing paddlewheel ship, stopping off at a few of France’s most stunning spots – Monet’s Backyard, the Chateau of Fontainebleau and extra, plus exploring Paris (include me by way of Instagram the place I’ll put up movies and pictures).
In the meantime mes amies and amis, I want you a really bon weekend,
Bisous from France,
Janine
Editor
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