Supertramp - It's Raining Again ...

From Famous Last Words.

Yesterday was beautiful.

 As we came back from an evening stroll to walk off the edible excesses of the day, we captured the front on the way towards us.

Today...

P.S. For those of you who know the song lyrics I am hoping that my love isn’t at an end. Divorce at this stage would be a disaster for retirement hopes!  

A sunny day in France...

Who’da thought this would be unusual?

We arrived on Saturday after a nightmare journey through the UK. We left my school at 3.30 and had a good journey (by bank holiday getaway standards until we got to the M25. Here we were met by almost solid queues to the Dartford crossing. Still we arrived at the Shuttle terminal just before 8, in plenty of time for our shuttle, only to be met with chaos – fairly usual for any busy period! We finally got to our hotel in Boulogne at midnight.

I know that others experienced even greater delays, but I’ll leave that sorry story for them to tell…

Our journey down to Le Petit-Pressigny on Saturday morning went without incident and we arrived around midday. We can't believe how green everything is! More about this in another post…

On Sunday the sun came out… 

If, as is attributed to Aristotle, "One swallow does not a summer make, nor one fine day”. What about two swallows?

Looking at the weather forecast I think Aristotle was probably right. The rain returns tomorrow.

I have lots more to write but there’s a busy morning ahead. Our friends John and Maureen are coming for lunch and I’ve a roast and a James Martin inspired ( I rarely follow a recipe completely, always thinking I know better!) croissant butter pudding to cook.

Watch this space...

Doesn't time fly...

Towards the end of last summer our friends John and Bon, who live in Scotland, came to visit for a few days. One evening we decided to invite Tim and Pauline to join us all for supper.

Due to the wonders of time lapse photography you can see just what we got up to…

Click here to see the video.


More simple things...

Pushing the boundaries... A Space Oddity

 Chris Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut commanding the ISS (International Space Station) has provided me with some awesome (not a word I use very often) lesson material over the past few months, ranging from

stunning photographs of our world, to attention grabbing videos of ‘doing things’ in space which my pupils have loved…

Click here  to view examples of the videos which have captivated my pupils and lead to endless other questions!

Then, just when I thought I’d seen it all, came this …

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, with his version of David Bowie's Space Oddity.

Welcome home Chris, you truly are an inspiration and certainly not a Space Oddity.

I’m sure if Michael Gove is listening Chris would run the risk of being accused of ‘dumbing-down’ a serious topic – you may be aware of Gove’s comments about the Mr Men characters being used to present historical details?

I'm all for anything that inspires and makes kids want to learn, and me, to continue teaching...

Now you see it - at Attingham Park...

We are in the midst of the renovation of Rhiannon’s house, which is coming along very nicely. We took on a simultaneous ‘whole house’ renovation, and most rooms are part or nearly completely finished. We should soon be in a position to show some after photographs – but only for some of the rooms, as the kitchen hasn’t yet begun!

On Saturday we decided that we’d earned a day off so Tim and I looked for a National Trust property with a walk. We usually head east, into Derbyshire, but the weather forecast to the west of us looked better so we set off to Attingham Park, near Shrewsbury.

The ha-ha...

I can’t believe that we’ve never visited before. We arrived early and were given a couple of tickets for the guided tour at 10.30 – the only one to take place that day. Our guide was Martin who entered into the spirit of the times by dressing up as Lord Berwick. At first it looked like we were the only takers for the tour until we were joined at the last minute by another visitor. Phew!

The tour lasted for about 90 minutes and was absolutely fantastic – history came alive! We learned that many of the treasures of the house were sold off to pay the debts of Thomas Berwick but the house was bought by his younger brother, William. William was a diplomat in Italy and brought back treasures from his house there which had previously been the home of Caroline, the sister of Napolean.

The beautiful picture gallery with a roof designed by John Nash was undergoing renovations. For details of the renovations, and more, check out this blog.

We managed a walk of about 3.5 miles, through the deer park with wonderful views of the Wrekin.

The Repton oak...

If you are nearby it is well worth a detour and a few hours of your time. We'll go again to see the renovated picture gallery.

Then it was back to Rhiannon’s little renovation project - without a Nash roof…

50,000...

I am always amazed by the fact that people are interested to read the things I write about. I know that some bloggers will have had hundreds of thousands of visits over the years, but I am excited to reach 50,000. I knew that the milestone was approaching, but as luck would have it I was on line at 49,998. I cheated, refreshed the page a couple of times while Tim focused up.

Over the past 3 years it has been a privilege and pleasure to read a lot of really interesting, informative and thought provoking posts about fascinating topics. I now know more about the history of the Touraine, its chateaux, pretty villages, churches, flora, fauna and culture. I have picked up recipes for delicious dishes, have a long list of restaurants to visit and wines to taste.  I am more aware of social etiquette and reputable tradesmen. I have tried out a few delicious recipes, and would know who to ask about a carte gris or a carte vitale. 

I’ve even been taken for a ride in the famous Celestine!

I've learned more about the lives of those who have chosen to make the Touraine their permanent home and others, who like me, have a more occasional residence. It has truly been an education. I’ve been welcomed into your homes, enjoyed your excellent hospitality and gratefully received some wonderful home-grown, home-made or home-crafted gifts. I have been tempted to start a potager and ‘grow my own’ when the time is right.


It doesn’t stop there. The blogging community is worldwide. I’ve met up with bloggers, both here in the UK and in France and viewed some beautiful photographs and wished that I had taken them! I’ve been trusted with personal information about your lives and have felt your support, via comment or email, when life has ground me down. I’ve followed the brave journey of some blogging friends through treatment and into recovery from life threatening illnesses. I have rejoiced when wonderful things have happened in your lives and been sad when they haven’t. You've made me laugh and you've made me cry - thankfully not in equal proportions!
  
So a big thank you to everyone who has helped with all of this by writing so well and taking the time to read and comment on my less than captivating prose.  

Long may it continue!

 So, to sum up and pay tribute to all I’ll use my favourite phrase to describe blogging which is like

Wikipedia, but with SOUL….