Saturday 31 October 2015

Halloween 2015...

The day started with a trip to the market at Le Blanc. The weather was wonderful; bright, sunny and warm. In fact, as we ate lunch in the outside seating area of a cafe we had to ask for the sun parasol to be opened, to give us some relief from the heat of the sun - not something you often have to do on the last day of October!






Tim had been busy carving the 2015 pumpkin.


We arrived home from Le Blanc just in time to light the candles in the pumpkin and prepare the bonbon stash ready for the village children to visit, dressed in their Halloween costumes. They were very sweet and all thanked us in English!



Today was also a day to remember for a special group of people. Congratulations to the New Zealand All Blacks for winning the Rugby World Cup. The experts say that this current team is the very best rugby team of all time. With their record of only three losses in the last four years it is hard to argue with their verdict. Well done to their opponents Australia for making it a final to remember. 

Friday 16 October 2015

New in Le Petit-Pressigny…

We were excited to find a wonderful, new, 5* hotel in LPP, and it is just what the village needs.

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We love it, but hope that it works well for its special inhabitants…

Friday 9 October 2015

Another trip around the sun...


** Problems getting Windows Livewriter to work with Windows 10. Is anyone else having this problem?**

On Thursday I completed yet another trip around the sun, which makes it 59 so far. This year's journey has been amazing, so I'm hoping the next trip will be the same, and with Rhiannon and Stuart's wedding coming up how can it not be! For the first time in many years I wasn’t able to spend my birthday with any family members, so we celebrated my birthday and Tom’s going back to Uni with a meal last week. 



I am in France, and they are all in the UK, busy with work and university. Of course, with the help of technology I was able to communicate with them, and friends via a mixture of Facetime, Skype, email, text and Facebook. I received some lovely cards and gifts and was invited to a delicious lunch by Colin and Elizabeth. They had made some fabulous apple roses, which I'm sure they will blog about at some stage, and celebrated with a glass of sparkles, 





Having a bit more time on my hands I did some research. If I were to believe in astrology, (and I don’t!) I discovered that these are some of the characteristics of a person born on the 8th of October…

·        placid, well mannered with a strong belief in equality, fairness and justice.
·        persuasive with diplomatic temperament.
·        good at negotiating as well as avoiding arguments.
·        naturally shrewd, farsighted and witty.
·        great at organising.
·        not neat and tidy.
·        loyal, affectionate and creative.
·        skilled with the use of words.
·        levelheaded with sound judgement.
·        usually not afraid to tactfully speak their mind.
·        charming and curious.
·        sensitive and on occasion a little detached.  
·        tendency to sometimes overspend with an impulse buy.
·        a bit too aware of what others around you may think.
·        feelings can occasionally run hot and cold.
·        occasional difficulty in dealing with stress.
·        worries affect confidence.
·        patience and  attention to detail.
·        to be tolerant and calm when necessary.
·        pleasant impartiality, dependability and persuasiveness accentuate the power to negotiate and make progress.
·       sense of humour and fluent communication let you get along with everyone regardless of surrounding circumstances.
  
·        main strengths are imagination and capable creativity, shrewdness, fairness, and a tactful even temper help keep a clear level head.
  
·        main weaknesses focus on the coolness of your responses and an increase in your untidiness, obstinate or bossy manner.

I see myself in a few and would like to see myself in others. Some are uncomfortable, and others, frankly laughable!! Others, like a complete inability to make up my mind, don't appear on the list! My friend Janet was born on the same day. Although, as she would no doubt point out, she is four years younger. I see Jan in quite a few of the positive traits.


I’ll let you decide which are which…