Rabbit.................rabbit.........rabbit............

Bonsoir mes belles.................long time no speak!!

We have just had a short trip to the UK to visit family and are now back at the chateau for Christmas.

I know that we live in France - a country renowned for its wonderful food - but we are in fact quite rural here in deepest darkest Normandie and, unless you grow your own food, you have to search quite hard to find wonderful Christmas fayre. If you are lucky you will find a sad old goose with its head dangling over the end of the boulangerie counter or pate in the shape of piglets with raisins for eyes!

So.....let me tell all of you ladies back in England that as we headed back for the ferry I gave Tesco and Waitrose a good bashing and have left you just one sprout and an out of date mince pie!

It is so nice to be home again even if the weather is horrendous.

Last night Diggers kept trying to wake me. If he needs to go out in the night he usually nips out through the cat flap so I knew he was trying to tell me something. At 4am I gave in to his demands and went down into the cuisine with him but couldn`t see anything unusual -  just Charles le Baron going back out through the flap so I went back upstairs to sleep.


Early this the morning we had a visit from the gorgeous Tony and Jill of Bois-fleurie fame:   http://www.bois-fleurie.blogspot.com/ .

 The rain and wind lashed outside as we sat snug in front of Hercule (who is now, finally, behaving himself!) and munched on the amazing chocolate gateau Jill had made.  Jill is probably one of the most talented seamstresses, gateau makers and artists that I know , so I know that when she arrives she is usually clutching something delightful. It was the kind of gateau that makes you instantly pack a suitcase and follow her to her home with the hope of moving in!

It was whilst we were munching away that I noticed something under the table. I took a closer look - and there was a huge dead rabbit - so big that I had no idea how Charles had managed to struggle through two cat flaps with it the night before!


So I thought.....do I mention it or not? I decided had to as it was such a grim sight.  Fortunately Jill and Tony have cats of their own and understand the presents they sometimes bring home!! So that is what Diggers was trying to tell me all along - that`s my boy!!

As the day went on the gales got worse and worse and  George, the weathervane on our roof, creaked and groaned in the wind.


We telephoned our nearest friends to see how they were weathering the storm only to be informed  that their TV aerial and satellite dish had been dislodged and was hanging precariously over the edge of their roof, their shed roof had disappeared and they had no electricity making it impossible for them to operate their electric window shutters and gates. 

 I went along with Mark to help them but rather than stand in the pitch black house with the shutters firmly sealed, I sat in the car and watched as they battled with a huge piece of plastic sheeting trying to lash it onto the shed roof. Just at the point they has secured one side of the sheeting huge hailstones the size of Elizabeth Taylor`s diamonds started beating down on them.  I decided to participate at a distance by staying in the car ......ooooh it`s tough at the top you know!!

Tomorrow we will choose a Christmas tree and I have a feeling the decorations will all be pink again this year! Why not?!

A demain mes belles.