First snow of the year this week – woke up to this gorgeous Christmas card scene at 6.30 am yesterday …

The school buses were cancelled , the bread delivery didn’t turn up and the power kept going on & off. How long this stunning scene would compensate for the inconvenience was debatable,especially when mid morning I realised that we wouldn’t be able to get out to the shops & we hadn’t stocked the cupboards in war time anticipation.

morning sun over the snow covered lawn

There, I’d seen it – by 11am that was enough. But no, it snowed incessantly all day. At -8°C the project of decluttering the barn was put on hold ( far too cold to get enthusiastic) & I turned my attentions to decluttering the kitchen cupboards instead – mainly to find something for the evening meal.

Confit de canard - a good store cupboard standby

Luckily I found a tin of duck confit – we try to keep a small stock of these for occasions like this or simply for when we just don’t feel like cooking & want something quick & easy. The Périgord is famous for duck & goose products & these tins of 4 -5 confit duck legs can be found everywhere often on promotion. The meat is immersed in duck fat and we keep this in the fridge to make the most delicious sauté or roast potatoes. Quite a few of our guests take these home …a great if slightly alternative holiday souvenir!

duck confit & sauté potatoes - a quick & easy store cupboard standby

This morning was deceptively sunny belying a very chilly -7°C and a path like an ice rink. Still no school buses or shopping trips but a beautiful day for a walk and a great photographic opportunity.

La Grange - one of our cottages for 4 people

The Farmhouse, Le Laurier and L'Atelier

View over the pitch & putt from the Farmhouse terrace

In the afternoon sun this snow covered tree looked strangely like early cherry blossom!

View over the pitch & putt from the road

On another cheery note we have some lovely plump blue tits, coal tits,sparrows & robins at Les Crouquets all fattened up on a diet of bacon fat, cheese rind & recent baking failures.

a coal tit & his mate feasting on cheese rind

A plump little robin profiting from my baking disasters!

Tomorrow is set to be another cold day, -5°C  &  more snow apparently so undoubtedly still no school transport. Do we negociate the treacherous, winding country lanes in a bid to do the right thing, knowing full well that 90% of the school won’t turn up, including the teachers or do we enjoy nature’s extra holiday a little bit longer….?

PS – 18th January: -5°C, more snow and still no school transport….we have decided to take that extra holiday…

2013 – another year & another new start.

First of I have to say a belated Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to everyone! Due to all sorts of reasons no blog writing was achieved over the festive period – sorry.

All the very best for a happy &healthy 2013!!

Having made many resolutions in the past which sadly have never come to fruition, this year I have made only one-

to have nothing in my life that I do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.

A slight twist on the wise words of William Morris.

Luckily Amar, Emma, Alistair & Les Crouquets all fall into both of these categories so for the time being the family unit & our livelihood are safe. Other things less so.

semi precious rocks - beautiful, so they'll stay!

Coming from a long line of hoarders & having more spare space at Les Crouquets than is good for me, this will not be an easy task.

Most things are potentially useful even if it’s not immediately apparent & you can bet on it that the minute I throw something out I will immediately remember the reason I kept it in the first place. As a result over time the luxurious 320m2 of barn space has gradually diminished.

Things left by the previous owners 7 years ago, stuff we embarrassingly paid removal firms good money to move twice & haven’t touched since, things I couldn’t decide what to do with at the time & more things I just couldn’t bear to part with in spite of not having a need for them anymore are all still languishing somewhere in this once vast cavernous space.

Part of this hoarding tendency stems from an even bigger desire not to add to the landfill pile. I can’t stand waste & will always recycle what I can.

Unfortunately the second hand market is not very well established here. One of the things I miss about home ( for in spite of being perfectly happy living here, Scotland will always be “home”!) is browsing through the 2nd hand book shops & charity shops, not so much for the chance of grabbing a bargain but more for the thrill of finding that special little treasure in the middle of another man’s junk, something with a past and a story to tell & which will never be seen in any of the High Street stores.

The great One Man's Junk moment!

Open a little parenthesis  – My Dad was very interested in history especially war history and one day decided he would like to read The Goebbels Diaries, written by Hitler’s propaganda minister.I set out to buy it for him but it was out of print and in spite of scouring all the specialist shops & leaving no stone unturned I couldn’t find it. The search was started anew every Christmas & birthday for years afterwards but all to no avail.My dad sadly passed away in 2001 never having got to read the book. Then in 2005 I was browsing in a second hand book shop in Innerleithen & there it was.The very book which had eluded me for well over 10 years with a newspaper clipping “bookmark” from 1978 reviewing the book . Of course I just had to buy it. I will probably never read it, it’s really not my thing, so it doesn’t fall into the useful category but the thrill of that special one man’s junk moment belongs very firmly in the beautiful category so the book will stay.I don’t think the French recycling system will ever offer me the same experience  – close parenthesis.

There seems to be a kind of suspicion about the whole process here & charity shops are few and far between. That said The Red Cross has just opened up in Salignac ( the 2nd & 4th Wed and Sat of every month, just to keep to the French tradition of making everything complicated!)so if I can just remember the dates I’ll check it out & see how it operates,hopefully not bringing back more than I take.

I did try freecycle.org but the whole of the Périgord Noir only has 25 members including me and right now has nothing at all to give or take. Maybe I could start a new trend.

But, back to the task in hand – just to make sure all this is not simply idle chat I think I should maybe put my neck on the line….

Let the decluttering commence! One half of the upstairs barn with stuff left by the previous owners

part of the downstairs barn waiting to be decluttered

There, I’ve done it .I’ve gone public ( if only in a very small way!)  and will now have to face the humiliation if I don’t come back with a neater, more organized version of this same photo in a few posts time.Best to keep the exact deadline just a bit vague!

Amar’ s most definitely not a hoarder & will no doubt have a big part to play, directly or indirectly in this major decluttering project so maybe I’ll be reporting back sooner than I think!!