Summer of fun, food and frolics

In July Gavin and I celebrated 30 years of marriage. I forgot as usual but Gavin remembered and booked a night away in a small hotel in the nearly Pyrennes. "How romantic ❤️" I hear you say. Wait... It was a pretext to purchase a van which led to administration on the ANTS website, the fully online vehicle registration service in France which makes my grey hair greyer.
Our  summer was full with Emily and Koens wedding and visits with family from overseas whom we had not seen for years in some cases. We must have done something right during  20 years as we even had local friends who are still friends along for the celebrations who have known us since we first arrived. ​

Breakfast

Supper

Burger night

Lunch

Mutton chops

Spare ribs

The school year began weirdly as it was the first year in 25 years that there were no trips to the bus stop or school. Liberating! I have entered a new era of waiting to see if I will have grandchildren, and obsessive bending and stretching, so that if I do have grandchildren I will still be able to pick them up and play.  Luckily life on a farm with a direct marketing division does not allow you to sit idly by whilst life whizzes past, one usually has to participate in the whizzing.

installing gates

forest pigs

sleeping pigs

Farm life has ticked along around the celebratory summer. Many hands have been involved with new fences  for pigs and sheep, more solar panels going on the butchery so that we produce all the electricity we need to run the house, workshop and butchery. The cooler months this year will be spent doing some house renovating to enable us to reduce expenditure for Patrick with his own accomodation. Alice is currently experiencing life from another angle, a Croatian angle for a couple of weeks so weirdness persists in my sort of empty house. Will Gavin and I have enough to talk about? That's the thing about family farming there is always something to talk about, the important thing is to remember to do the talking. 

Ham sandwich

So to the end of year event which requires me to remind you about things like gammon ordering. Saturday 11th November will be the last day I can take orders for Christmas Gammon. Please, please, please as soon as you know let me know and please don't appeal to my weak nature with late orders, I get into a lot of trouble with my daughters for saying yes too often. and we all know how scary daughters can be.😨

​See you all soon Helenxx​

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