December Days

 As points of interest, I thought I would mention some of the  experiences we are presently having in France and 
their counterparts to our life in the U. S. A.

Hanging clothes outside to dry or inside in inclement weather (a dryer); showering in a small space where the water overspills onto the floor (a bigger shower); going out back for wood to feed the  burner, keeping the fire lit all day, taking out the ashes (adjust thermostat); closing the shutters on cold nights or hot days (ditto); hand washing the dishes (a dishwasher); vacuuming the walls and ceilings free of spider webs (what??); going on mouse patrol (seeing Mickey at Disney),  and cooking in a french oven (a real oven). These ovens are apparently notorious for burning the bottom of the dish but not cooking the sides. Brian has it sussed now.  
All of these changes are minor and acceptable to us.

We just love the appliances running on 240v power. The electric kettle boils faster and the vacuum cleaner, wow, that has some suction, you know, for the cob webs...  However, the washing machine goes on and on for about two hours... 
Have you nodded off yet?

We lived too long with malls and strip centers set back behind multi-rows of parking spots.
Remember your childhood downtown with the Christmas window displays?

Now, for us, the little village stores are just steps behind the sidewalks with decorated-for-Christmas windows . The lights strung across the streets twinkle and it is all magical.

           Our village: Verteuil Butcher's store                                          In front of the gift store

On the outside of their building many businesses display a small pine Christmas tree or branch tied on a post decorated with shiny garland and sometimes ornaments. 
Christmas in France is celebrated on the Eve with family going to mass,  eating a big meal and opening presents. The English have Christmas lunch and we will be able to tell you more about all this after the fact.
 

Measuring up in France.

Of course, the rest of the world outside the U.S.A. is metric and we have had to adapt to thinking in square meters for houses and land. Kilograms in the stores and liters(litres) at the fuel pump, kilometers of distance and time in units of 24 hours in a day; it does take a little thought to remember that 20.30h is 8:30pm.
A building's first floor is the ground floor and the second floor is the first floor.
 In our childhoods we learned to write our birth dates – day first, month second, year last. When when we moved to Canada we had to reverse the month and the day. Now, we are back to what we originally learned. Confusing? Oui!

No drive-thru banking! No drive-thru cleaners!

People actually get out of their cars and go inside.  
Really they do.

     A Farewell Dinner

Our neighbors of ten weeks, Roy and Susan left Friday morning to travel to Kent, England before heading home in a week to the North of Scotland.The recent, destructive storms in Scotland knocked out power to thousands of homes including theirs but no damage.

The Band.

They invited us, Linda and Rod to their place for dinner on Tuesday. We had an exceptional evening of tasty food and  entertainment. Accompanied by Roy's guitar, he and Susan sang  folk songs, Scottish songs and even one they composed, a rhyming verse dedicated to each of us, even the dogs. It was a lively, fun evening and we are going to miss their company. 

The long suffering Rod

Linda                          Brian                        Breagha

Really, it was fun......
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We have been back to "our" house a couple of times and it makes us anxious to be living there.

Front of house

In front of the house are our outbuildings which Brian calls our OutHouses.
I like the little Hobbit house with the red roof. At the end, is the wash pot; fortunately, we will have a washing machine that will go on and on for two h.....  you get the picture.
  Brian will undoubtedly set up a smokehouse in one of the other structures and we can again enjoy hot smoked salmon right off the grill. 
The sun is slow to rise before eight and retires around six
in these short days of December. But we keep cozy and snug in front of the fire.  (put a video of a flaming fireplace on the TV).

May all of you have a