Evening Walk

Yesterday evening MOH and I dropped our youngest son - nearly 17, off in the middle of nowhere for a party.

He was meeting up with some friends whohad organised a party in a 'field'. Well that was what he told us. We dropped at the place where he was told to go, then he walked to where he thought they were. When I called him 10 minutes later he had not found them, then said he had just seen them in the distance. I called him again later and he had found them - I could hear them all talking so I know he was OK!!

So, MOH and I decided to go for a wander around Loches, our nearest town. 

The weather was beautiful and really warm.

This is the entrance to the medieval part of the town where the chateau is.

This is one of the views from the top of the city. You can just see a large white marquee in the distance. this is for the Foire de Paques  ( Easter Fair) next weekend.

The next two pictures are of a lovely new shop that sells all nic nacs and expensive ones too!

Then to finish off our walk, MOH decided he wanted a kebab. there is only one kebab shop in Loches and it has a good reputation.

Here is our ekbab and chips. It cost 4.50€ and was very nice. We sat and ate it on a bench enjoying the sunshine.

This is just on our way to the car, so it is a bit darker than the others and this of one of the towers around Loches, with the river by the side.

Hope you enjoyed our evening walk.

English Carol Service

Tonight I went to my first English Carol Service for 13 years.

My neighbour, who is English invited me to the English Carol Service in a new church that has opened in Loches, our nearest town.

My background is Church of England, where I sang in the choir in my local church in Llandudno for a number of years when I was young.

So when I was invited to the Evangelist church in Loches I was not sure what to expect. I checked first with N about the dress code, whether there would be a collection etc. She told me that it would be much more relaxed than I was used to. She also warned me that some of the carols would be the American versions with different tunes.

I arrived just as it was about to start. It was in a former boulanger, that had been renovated for the church, and it was lovely.

One of our English teachers was playing the piano to accompany the singing, and not just any piano, but a beautiful grand piano. We sang all the traditional carols and one new one. A couple got me stumped with the different tunes, but I got there in the end.

It was really nice.

I met some very nice people who live in our area and are either British or American.

I got to sing my heart out for an hour, something I haven't done for a very long time.

I will definately be going again. The next English service is on January 2nd.

Here is a link to the newsletter, with the church mentioned on page 5, if you would like to see it.

http://www.france-mission.org/fmtrust/pn120.pdf

It's all in English!!

Cold and White

This is the second day this week that I am working from home.

Monday was snowy and MOH only had a couple of lessons at the office, then had to come back to the nearest town to where we live for a lesson in the afternoon, so I decided to work from home.
My son did not go to school as there were no school buses. Because they go round all the villages and country lanes, when there is ice on the roads they cancel the bus.


Yesterday MOH and I went to the office. This is a 30kms trip and takes us about 35 minutes, depending on what time we leave home. The weird thing was that when we had gone about 10kms there was not a scrap of snow. It seems as though it was just the south of the department that had snow at the weekend, Tours was clear.

Today MOH has lessons close to home so once again I am at home working. It's invoice time and I am trying to get them out before the 10th of the month, which is what has happened for the last few months.

I am sitting in the lounge - no heating on - and I am wearing 3 fleecies, a long sleeve t shirt and a vest to keep me warm. I am wrapped up in a lovely woollen scarf as well. This morning I have had Max on my knee while I am keying the invoices on my pc.

This morning when we woke up, it was 5.4° in our bedroom and we had ice on the inside of the windows. Brrrr....

I will make the fire soon, so that will keep us warm this afternoon.

We have snow forecast for tonight again, so we will see what tomorrow brings.

Keep warm and safe