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Hello All Well that was a bit of a shocker. The cat was less than amused and as you can see went to ground....or to blanket. 18-22 degrees then bam a sprinkling of snow and then -4 chez nous on Tuesday morning with fog. Luuuverly. It has been a bit of a weird week Tom, our nearly 12 year old dog, has not been very mobile (probably the stress of the temperature drop) and as seems to be typical with most animals decided that during the weekend would be the best time to say that, no, he was not going to improve, but as he was still eating and wobbling to the garden we waited till Monday before going to the vet. So after some severe manipulation and some anti inflammatories......  ......he decides the stick game is the thing to do. Honestly Border Collies! I wish I had his energy. Gavin has also decided his mobility is not going to improve, so even though he was still eating and wobbling into the garden, he decided a trip to the doctor was overdue and has been filled up with sinovial fluid in his knees and given anti-inflammatories. He then decided that the stick game would be a good thing to play using his BRAND NEW glasses but now can't remember where he threw them. 3 days later he is still looking and has successfully retrieved some scissors, a teaspoon, a jam jar lid and Number 3's old slipper. So some busy weeks ahead for us 3 weekends of 3 markets, then one weekend of 2 markets and then potentially a house move for my Stepmum and then it is that delightful event that everyone is looking forward to..... sleep......oh yes and Christmas. I am majorly disaorganised this year I have only nearly bought one present. So I am not panicking yet my record for Christmas shopping has been to do the whole lot in one afternoon in Intermarche Montpon. However the kids were smaller then. Wishing allthose disorganised people the very best of luck. See you all soon Helen 
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 Hello All I just wanted to share this lovely pic of our dogs demonstrating the natural hierarchy in the pack when it comes to the stick game. The sky was beautiful that day as it had been for much of November. I even managed to make it into the great outdoors on Monday to help Gavin with his work for a change picking up what seemed like oceans of fences, to be moved to the new field where the sheep are now. The girls are looking fat and happy with all this lush green grass and have just been re-introduced to the boys, who are delighted to be reacquainted, so we are hoping to hear the pitter patter of tiny hooves in the spring.
........Ok yes this was all a while ago now, well 2 weeks to be precise, and then I ran out of steam and was distracted by the up and coming pressures of trying to be organised for Christmas. Ha ha ha. I have not seen much of the outside world except at the markets and from the inside of the car driving between A and B, or being driven by yes, my latest reminder that the years are going past as, Emily, is now in control of the steering wheel for her year of driver training. She has driven the electric car, and as I thought is smitten as it is "so easy to drive", however she has recognised that it is not great for her gear changing practice, clutch control, breaking technique etc,etc., so has suggested that not too much fun electric car driving for her.  Gavin found some mushrooms in the field yesterday, unfortunately not quite fresh enough to eat but I was surprised there were any considering the lack of rain around here. And then hey ho the heavens opened. There is still a long way to go until the pond by the house fills up though.
So the order house is closed with regard to Christmas Hams, but I would just like to remind any of you who would like to order something for pick up closer to Christmas that I strongly advise you to place an order as soon a possible so I can make sure I have everything I need in stock to ensure a trouble free Christmas period. See you all soon Helen CHRISTMAS MARKETS Manoir de Longeveau, Pillac Sunday 29th November 10am till 5pm Brantôme Police Horses, Sunday 6th December 11am till 5pm Duras Christmas Market Sunday 13th December 9am till 6pm  Hello All I wonder how many kilometres a cat travels in a year? Peaches, pictured above sorry about the quality, obviously decided to scan herself so that we would remember what she looked like as her plan was to leave us for 5 days. She has returned tonight, thank goodness, and has had 3 meals and some milk already. She will probably sleep for 5 days now. Oh look she has already started....  Talking of distance travelled, how many kilometres do you do in your car/cars every year? We reckon we must do around 40,000km. Is that alot? I think that ought to be a yes, as in theory we work from home. An average month is 3287km which is 109 km/day that is alot of backwardsing and forwardsing in a very small area of France. Working on the theory that an ordinary diesel car with current prices in France would cost about a euro/km We are working with about 4000euros/year of diesel. If Gavins approximate calculations are correct running Electric Kangoo will cost about 2000euros/year. Not to mention the saving on servicing costs (or lack of servicing savings). No wonder the powers that be are not keen on encouraging the technology. How on earth would they run all these countries without fuel taxes. I took Kangoo out today on a delivery run. That was fun. I have never had a car that is so easy to drive. Don't panic folks I will stop being a car bore soon. Other goings on down on the farm was the transformation of the plastic tunnel next to the village, much to the delight of the village residents I suspect. We all particpated to a greater or lesser extent even Number 3 was undoing bolts and passing the required implements up to the boys on the ladders or fetching and carrying for anyone who needed anything. The completed article below, I hope the sheep are happy this winter. Oh yes and Gavin. 
Gavin has finally got round to dealing with his sore knee issue and has visited the doctor and a specialist and is halfway through a course of sinovial fluid injections to make his joints work without hurting all the time. I guess at some distant point we will be looking at a knee replacement. Lets hope it will be later rather than sooner. He has also visited the opticians and discovered that his eyes are wearing out too!!! I read the other day on facebook that loss of vision is natures way of disguising what you see in the mirror every day as you mature in years. It appears that we have tavelled some way in the kitchen, on the farm and on the road this autumn holiday but managed to end it by only tavelling into the garden to eat lunch outside in the November sunshine. 24 degrees. For us that is quite a treat. See you all soon Helen  |
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February 2023
Helen FranklinI am farming sheep and goats on the Dordogne/Gironde border with my husband and our 3 children. We have an on farm butchery and sell our meat direct to the public via the markets and delivery points in our local area |
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