Well, after hoping at the end of the last post to get back to normal fairly soon, life since then has been anything but! The cold spell continued and although we weren’t the worst affected, the Dordogne saw the hardest Winter in over 20 years. With no school transport for 10 days, getting up to take Emma & Alistair to school in temperatures of -14°C was not funny. They got some extra days holiday out of it though and lessons consisted mainly of extra sport and watching films ( not enough pupils or teachers  to warrant  proper classes) so they weren’t bothered!

A day on the snow covered pitch & putt course - better than school!!

On the surface of it our little corner of the world is more or less back to normal apart from the country roads which are still shut to lorries while they gently defrost.

country roads are still closed to vehicles over 7.5t

As the big thaw began though, so did the problems. We had of course taken all the usual Winter precautions but like so many others we weren’t prepared for it being so cold for so long. When we realized that  this was exceptional it was too late – we just had to sit & wait for the pipes to burst. Which of course they did.

newly painted beds in flooded room

Of the face of it we’ve been lucky with not too much damage – a few pipes to fix, possibly some flooring to change & a lot of inconvenience. The pool may be a different story though – it’s still slowly defrosting. Time will tell.

A waterfall of ice coming from the pool filtration system

The plants though maybe haven’t got off so lightly. Not being used to an arctic climate some are badly frostbitten and we are hoping most of them will somehow recover. One which definitely won’t recover is this poor tree which met its fate when Amar reversed into it. He almost killed the car too when he got out to inspect the tree damage & then saw it rolling away towards the gamesroom wall! He had luckily left the car door open & only just manage to jump in and stop it before its fate was sealed. I missed all this drama though so unfortunately don’t have any photographic evidence of the great chase!

What a way to go - run over by a car!

I also managed to add to the injury count by cutting my thumb & one of the tendons on the rough edge of a mirror. This meant a visit to Sarlat’s A&E dept, a trip to the operating theatre & my first real taste of the French medical service. I’ve never been a fan of the French bedside manner, finding it cold, mechanical & severely lacking in sense of humour which I always find indispensable in times of panic! I’m pleased to report they looked after me really well and my view has now changed slightly.I felt well & truly cosseted from the surgeon’s witty asides, to the cosy bed ( heated up by an electric blanket) waiting for me after the op to the daily home visits from the nurse to change the dressings. I dispensed with this last unnecessary luxury though & took myself to the surgery when I couldn’t face doing it myself – no point in adding to the already stretched health service! In spite of the pleasant attention, I’ll be a lot more careful in future.

To finish off this run of bad luck, Caramel, our little lionhead rabbit died this week.

Caramel, the lionhead rabbit

He was a cute little thing with loads of personality & we miss him hopping about the house & throwing his toys out of the cage. This year’s returning guests will certainly miss him too.

Yes it’s been a difficult couple of weeks. But onwards & upwards – lots of positive things to come in the next posts!