Happy New Year

Christmas (or as I like to call it the hijacked pagan winter festival) has been and gone, just like the New Years hangover. Friends have come to stay and we’ve all eaten and drunk too much. No one made a fool of themselves and a good time was had by all. Back to “work” then. We’ve had two new arrivals at the house....don’t get too excited its pigs. Two girls named sausage and bacon. Ironically they are Gloucester Old Spot crosses. Crossed with what we’re not sure but it looks pretty certain to be wild boar. They are very hairy and the one of them has the distinctive flat face of a boar. Having once acquired the result of a similar “accident” at Stroud market we are very excited to taste the result next autumn.

For reasons best known to the continental winds we are experiencing a warm spell. Therefore, we are not yet experiencing the harsh end of a Correzienne winter. We had a small taster at the start of December when everyone shot out to put the winter tyres on the car and got to try them out on some real snow surfaces. On the whole the roads get cleared pretty quickly, a far cry from our experiences back in ol’ Blighty. However, don’t plan on doing anything between Saturday lunchtime and Monday morning if it’s snowing. This is the only time the ploughs don’t come out. Sundays off being as sacred as the two hour lunch break! The big upside to our warm winter is that after a month off, the chickens are laying again and the ground is soft enough to dig so my winter break off digging is no more. However, this does mean I have more time to do it. Taking John Seymour’s advice I’m going for 30min a day rather than a mad rush in the Spring to get them ready for planting. Wood processing is also back on the agenda. Frequent trips back and forth to our lay-by and we should have it all back home by February. Experimentation with the chainsaw has begun. Two mushrooms down, perhaps I’ll try an eagle next!

Yet again we also find ourselves waiting for French paperwork to sort it’s self out. Still no social security numbers, don’t worry France we only asked for them in JULY! Even our French friends are now rolling their eyes about it (rather than the usual bof). That must mean it’s taking a long time, even by French standards! Then there’s the guy at the equivalent of the CSA who doesn’t understand that we can’t give him Jan-Jan salary P60s because we do it April-April in England. Despite explaining this he just keeps asking for the same thing, which doesn’t exist! Ah France. We were warned about this sort of thing so we were expecting it, just need to learn to bof!

We’ve finished Buffy. Game of Thrones next. We’re over halfway through series one and Sean Bean isn’t dead yet. NO spoilers please. New game as well, Shear Panic. Move around sheep and try to get to Roger the Ram (boom boom). More fun fuelled evenings ahead.

.......Winter is Coming!