Hmmm.. is pretty much what the FourteenYearOld had to say…

When he found he couldn’t get in the house after school the other day.

It appears that someone had bricked up the entrance…

“Don’t take it personally,” I said to him!

It’s all part of our cunning plan to make the main house (the farmhouse), far more comfortable (and warmer)…

Nothing at all to do with trying to lock the FourteenYearOld out!

I promise!

Builder – hard at work!	Builder’s bum warning!

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By the way – if anyone, in the Brittany area, needs a good hard working builder – can I recommend Ray Bell (www.BellBuild.com) – not only can he do all that old stonework stuff but he’s also a genius when it comes to paving/patios – he makes his own paving stones to be assured of the quality! He’s fast, always does a good job and doesn’t stop working once he starts – and that makes him really rather a unique item in today’s world!

All the best

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Normally I don’t mind taking the FourteenYearOld to school…

It’s a chance for me to have a coffee at the bar and catch up on some of the local gossip…

Which is generally more about what Jean-Pierre’s old sow has been up to…

Or what Jacques’ Bull hasn’t been up to…

Rather than what Paris Hilton is wearing these days!

I do have a sneaky suspicion that most of the old boys down the bar have never heard of Paris Hilton…

I’ve also got a sneaky suspicion than some of them may have never been to Paris?

But I do have to say…

That when it’s cold and frosty…

I could quite happily give the FourteenYearOld the keys and go back to my nice warm bed…

Telling him… “You’re Fourteen, for God’s sake!

Time you learned to drive!”

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All the best

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It must be autumn…

It’s not just the cold wind and the rain that’s tipped me off that the seasons have changed…

Living in Brittany I’m used to that!

It’s more a case of the two people sat on the see-saw at Cournon have now got their winter clothes on!

One of them is a man and the other a woman…

But it’s difficult to tell with their winter clothes on…

I wonder if they’re married or just good friends…

Not really the sort of thing that you like to ask really, is it?

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All the best

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This is a holiday in France, and rightly so.

I went to the bar for my morning coffee.

Patrick cycles in to La Gacilly from Glenac every morning.

“When it rains in Glenac in the morning,” he said once we’d done all that shaking hands bit, “it’ll rain all day.”

“It’s because the wind is from the west and there’s nothing between us and America.”

“My grandfather used to say that and he was never wrong.” Patrick explained.

“Good for the mushrooms, though.” I replied.

“Bah oui!  C’est vrai!” Patrick agreed.

It was still raining when I left to come home.

The Fauré requiem was on the radio.

Somehow it seemed an apt choice to broadcast today.

Well, it’s raining in Glenac so it’ll be raining all day; at least in this little part of rural Brittany.

All the best

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Some Autumn pictures from down the lane…

I love this time of the year….

It’s not just that it’s mushrooming season….

Or that, before long, Bierre de Noel will be in the bars…

It’s also the colours and the quietness

A time for thought and reflection; a time for contentment and warm filling meals.

Just don’t forget the Bierre de Noel!

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All the best

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Just some photos of the views, down the lane, taken during our Sunday afternoon stroll…

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All the best

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On the way home from dropping the FourteenYearOld off at school I stopped to take some photos…

I’ve got a new camera and it’s a bit more complicated than the last one.

I’m still trying to work out what it does…

Certainly, Landscape Mode seems to work properly.

I love the view of the early morning mist rising from the valley…

And not a soul to be seen for miles…

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And people wonder why I prefer living here to London…

Well, the quiet beautiful views are worth a fortune to me.

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All the best

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I’m not the fastest of drivers at the best of time but in the Autumn I seem to slow right down.

But then, I’m not the only one….

Many of the locals are, like me, not watching the road but, rather, watching the sides of the road…

It’s all to do with mushrooms, you see!

And, as long as I don’t get too distracted and drive into a ditch….

Or another, equally distracted, driver…

I may just survive to eat all of these lovely mushrooms!

If you are route planning this Autumn, I’d avoid my little part of south-west Brittany!

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All the best

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We recently decided to clear out some of the stuff that was taking up so much room in the barn…

So we decided to hold a vide-greniers.

Strangely, it was the bigger stuff that sold?

But then, that was the stuff that was taking up so much room!

The rest is going in the car to the big Vide Greniers at Redon this Sunday…

I wonder if I’ll be able to sell the FourteenYearOld?

And, if so, how much I’ll get for him?

If you want a cheap garden seat or a lawnmower… We haven’t got either, any more!	The eagle eyed amongst you will be able to spot the FourteenYearOld in this photo. It looks like he’s trying to stick a finger up his bum! The kids of today!

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All the best

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Well, now it’s tidy – I can’t find anything – but, at least it’s tidy.

Whilst tidying the room, I managed to write a short story which I have uploaded to my writing site.

I have also been planning my mushrooming trips for this week (I am on holidays). However, waking up this morning to a gentle drizzle and a grey, heavy sky, I have made the sensible decision to stay in the warm and do some more tidying.

If it is not too wet, I shall be doing my Chesnut collecting, this afternoon – I have been reading lots about what I need to do with any chesnuts I collect – I forsee an evening in the kitchen.

The heating is going on today! This is a major thing for us, round here. I put it off for as long as possible but have decided that tonight, the cats and I are going to have a proper Autumn evening with mulled wine and hot chestnuts for me and a nice warm radiator for the cats to cuddle up in front of. All I need to do is find a suitably winterish book to read.

As sister and partner aren’t coming over, I’ll need to forward my shopping list to Father, who is coming over next week. I’m not really sure what I should put on the list. There’s really nothing I can’t live without – I shall have to think of something, though, or else Father will be upset!

All the best

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