Monday 27 February 2012

Spot the Dog's life in France

Woof, woof!
Here I am in France.
I very much like warm blankets. I do feel the cold a lot. I know it is a bit "girly" but I can't help that I have very silky, thin fur. I also very much appreciate candles and flowers - you know, it just makes you feel good to have some nice things around you. I would have liked a bowl of chocolate pralines but apparently they are not good for me...now, I can't see why not but this is what "they" tell me...



I don't like being on my own. Whenever "they" go out they tell me they will be back in a minute. Well, sometimes they are away for 2 or 3 minutes at least and I know they feel guilty when they get back because they often bring me left-overs from their lunch out. That's ok. When they are out I spend most of my time looking for them in the window. I see other things going on outside sometimes but I can't really concentrate on anything else than how many minutes it might be before they get back.

Here I am ready for my walk. I do get very good walks here in the new
country we live in. I think it's called Frince...or maybe Franse. It is just
miles and miles of woods and fields and I can chase deer and rabbits.
They always get away but I think they at least get a real fright which is
satisfying. Specially when I bark. I always like to get dressed up properly for walks in the winter. There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad preparation. The only thing that is a bit of a bother is having a wee in my fleece jacket, sometimes I can't help but wetting it a little and that is very, very unpleasant.....woof, woof!!

Sunday 26 February 2012

Hiking in France


Walking in the French country side is absolutely blissful now that the temperatures are steadily rising and the sun has got some strenght to it. Today we have had a fantastic day with clearblue sky and the birds are getting really chirpy! There are spring lambs everywhere you look and you do get the feeling that everything is waking up again. We have a Jack Russell called "Spot" so we do a lot of walking. The area around our guest house is brilliant for long walks. There are several mapped walks which take in the mighty rivers and the woods and also a couple of local Chateaux. The French seem very keen on hiking so there are lots of organised walks throughout the year. In fact, I noticed that a "Walking Schedule" has been put up on the notice board in our little hamlet and there is an organised walk every week. Anyone can join and it is a great way to integrate with the community and to get to know the countryside around us. Happy walking!

Look at that sky!


Thursday 23 February 2012

French Cheese!

A great ingredient for a fantastic holiday is without a doubt the French cheese and wine! French cheese is a huge subject and it just has to be delved into! This week we tried the Comte cheese. It is a hard cheese made in the Franche Comte region of France, close to the Swiss border. It comes in lots of different varietys and we tried the aged (12 months) and the "fruite" (fruity) version. Both were very nice, great with soem ice-cold white wine. It gave me the idea of offering cheese tasting evenings here at our Guest House - that would be really fun. Right, my favourite TV program is starting - Raymond Blanc's The very hungry frenchman! I will return with more "Cheese Facts".

Thursday 16 February 2012

France is waiting for Spring!

my wonderful craft room
Here in my wonderful new craft and art space, I do my sewing, make my own greeting cards and just generally feel like I have a space to have it all out, laying around for me to look at and get inspired by, is that not wonderful? .... as the last bit of winter turns to spring, and with that, my attention will turn more towards garden and getting the first lettuce in the ground....... for now, it is still hearty winterstews, if you have a recipe you want to share, I am so all open ears!