It's Been a Busy Day at Village de Vaux

Late morning, Bernadette arrived with a gift of photos of my 60th birthday. We listened... she talked... and to our surprise we could understand a lot of what she said. She used to go cross-country ski-ing in Les Alpes, where we have been, and like all French people became animated about travel, regions of France and French food especially when we mentioned Tartiflette and Reblochon cheese. She talked about her dogs, her husband's heart operation and her mother-in-law's chickens and cats which she comes to feed everyday. Sadly, Marguerite died a few years ago.

Sweetpea went to pottery lessons and over many things shared laughter especially at a language difficulty when Manique asked her at what time was Haiti. She understood this to be the Caribbean island which has today experienced a devastating earthquake but Manique meant High Tea!!

Everyone loved my hat! My 'poupée cloche' is almost finished! Praise from everyone. The French DO praise! What shall I make now? Eventually I make a decision (I don't know why) that I would like to make a plate with a lizard in the centre. Dominique shows me a circular plate that has been fired but not glazed. It has two small lizards on the edge of the plate! That's beautiful. I commence not really understanding HOW I shall model the lizard! It is half done and I will complete it at the next session.

At the end of the first lesson of the New Year we all shared Champagne, snail mousse in snail shaped cases (yuk) and cake salé.

I returned home to discover ANOTHER visitor has arrived, but we have a rendezvous in the village at a certain hour and so she has to leave. After our rdv we meet another neighbour and we laugh about the French game of horses we played just before Noël ( it was rather like Ludo) and she insists we must come again very soon so that I can win and Captain S can lose! Laughter all round. Such simple pleasures! Then we went to see her son... the one whose leg was badly injured in the woodland ... he is hoping that at the end of the month he can begin to walk to re-educate his leg and foot. His toes and ankle cannot receive the messages from the brain.

No running water in the house but heaps of village camararderie!

We ate a splendid evening meal - we are eating too much again! For the entrée - one Coquille St Jacques which had been taken out of the freezer when we arrived home from our H-S adventures - it had been bought at the Christmas fish market at great expense!!! ... and we sautéed it in butter, added cognac, parsley and crême fraîche. Then we thought we did not have much lamb casserole left from yesterday, but in fact the meal was huge with sautéed leftover potatoes and leftover canned haricots verts. We then indulged in one or two Christmas chocolates which it is necessary to monitor and so I hide the rest of the chocolates in the box from gluttony! We are again trying to limit our wine consumption but lapsed this evening to indulge in an Alsace Riesling which we are exceptionally fond of!

That's the day. We are pooped. The climate is warmer and the sun shone today. The lounge is too hot and so the layers of clothing begin to be peeled off.