Noël 2021 Blog de 'pas beaucoup de nouvelles'.

English version here

Oui, nous sommes toujours de ce monde, notre sanité ne tenant qu’à un fil par moments pour ne pas perdre la raison, lol.

Ceci en est le cas pour beaucoup d’entre nous je pense !

Cette année, comme beaucoup l’auront remarqué, a été une année très marquante. 

Il y a certainement eu des moments plus que déroutants ces derniers 12 mois mais il y a tout de même eu de bons moments et même de très bons.

Entre ces deux extrêmes la vie a suivi son cours bien que nous faisant nous sentir plus isolés que par le passé. Certes cela nous permet d’apprécier d’autant plus notre chance de vivre dans ce petit coin de paradis.

Bref, ce blog comporte 4 vidéos; une joyeuse, une magique représentant mes occupations, (ma ‘nouvelle vie’), une originale, et finalement une nostalgique et triste.

La joyeuse comme d’habitude inclus famille et amis tout comme la dernière, celle qui est nostalgique voir très triste.

Alors commençons par la joyeuse, une vidéo de la petite tribu Hyde tous ensemble.

La deuxième partageant avec vous notre petit coin de paradis où je passe la grande majorité de mon temps.

La troisième, petit interlude pour vous donner un zeste de joie car pour la dernière mieux de sortir vos mouchoirs :(

Pour commencer, les bons et supers bons moments :

"Retrouvailles"

 

J’espère que ça vous a donné chaud au cœur tout autant que moi.

Pas le temps de chômer dans la vie ! La marche et le jardinage sont ma meilleure façon de me ressourcer et pour me sentir en paix.

« Emmène moi dans cet endroit fantastique, apaise mes soucis, chagrins »

Le jardin, ma vie ....

"Notre Jardin 2021 - un endroit magique"

Quand je ne suis pas dans le jardin si la météo l’empêche, j’en profite pour passer du temps à ‘Barn station’. Voici une petite vidéo pour vous montrer ses derniers développements :

"Parc à Ferraille":

La dernière vidéo est aussi du jardin. Notre jardin est aussi un jardin du souvenir, souvenirs plus que poignants pour sûr.

Les larmes me montent aux yeux à chaque fois que je la regarde.

"Toujours présents dans nos coeurs - Automne 2021 et avant"

À une nouvelle année....

Phil et Annick

X-mas 2021 Noël Lack-of-News Letter.

Version française ici

Yes, we are still here, lost, but not quite forgotten. Hanging on to our sanity by our fingernails. 

Like everybody else I guess.

This, as you will probably have noticed by now, has been a unique year. At least, it had better be... 

Some real crap has gone down in the last twelve months, but despite all that effluent, there have been some highs, some truly great moments. Between these two extremes, life has gone on, albeit in a notably more isolated way than was previously the norm. Again, we are lucky to live in such a place as this. 

So this newsletter is to consist of just four videos. The good, the bad, the weird, and the new normal.

The happy stuff, as usual, involves family and friends. The devastating stuff; also. So I'll start with a happy video; a video of family together. Then a video of that part of paradise where I spend the majority of my time; the garden. Then, after a short diversion, a final video that you should avoid at all costs...

First, the good times:

 

I hope that warmed your heart as it does mine. 

There is much to do in life. For me, I find walking and working in the garden heals the troubled soul. So here is a video tour of it. I hope it helps heal your soul too.

"Take me to the fantastic place, take the rest of my life away."

This, as they say, is my life...

When I'm not in the garden, when the weather forces me away, then some time can be spent in the 'Barn Station'. Here's a very short video showing the latest bits I've been working on.

The garden is also the basis of the final video. Of the many facets to our garden, memories are becoming more and more important. There are plants and places dedicated to those who have gone before. To absent friends...

I have put more of my heart and soul into this video than any before. Each time I watch it, ocular moistening ensues. Feel free to miss it but don't feel free to mock it. 

And so, onto the next one....

Ski Club '14

Hi all

Instead of boring you with seperate ski-trips and visitors, I thought it better to bore you a single long episode of all our exciting and varied adventures on the snow this year.

After a short visit from Goeff, we had two weeks of visiting family. Replacing last years comedy act of Ruth, Joe and Jenny, we had a pair of snowboard nutters in the form of Christian (with Lisa) and Marta (with Luke).

Whilst Christian was attempting to break his neck…

…Lisa was trying to break Sophies’s….

Luke and Marta took over in the entertainment stakes…

entertaining us with modern dancing in the restaurants…

and break dancing on the slopes…

This is my kind of skiing - watching others make idiots of themselves.

Book early to make an idiot of yourself next year….

Meanwhile, it’s a dogs life…

Here’s all the pics….

Not just the weather

The weather is a hot topic of conversation at the moment. The deluge from the heavens is helping Wales fulfill it’s wish of seperating from England.

This may be a good reason for migrating south; but there are others.

On the day pictured below, we visited two local towns with Domitille & Vincent. Heading north, the first town spotted …

…was Cahors.

Pretty stunning when viewed from the local hilltop.

The next stop was but a short stroll away.

Actually, a half hour drive…

Arriving in Saint Cirq Lapoppie just in time to check out the restaurants…

before checking out the local architecture…

Great place.

For all the photos, click only any of these…

Entering the Twilight Zone

“How does it feel to be 60 years old?”

Well, so far, bloody good! Long may it last. Definitely better than 59 in my humble opinion…

60 years has seen countless parties, but this just has to be the best. The warm-up started on Thursday, building to the crescendo that was Saturday night, finally ending on Monday. So many friends, so many family (most of whom I count as friends too). Eighty-five came from far and near, in both time and space.

Friends from Wales

from school

from college

from all over France

All there to humble me and inflate my ego.

Momo closed his restaurant for the night and laid on a spread to die for.

Thank you so much to those who managed to get there, it was truly a weekend full of laughter and tears in full measure. Thank you to all those who sent their wishes instead. And all those presents! And all that money! You guys are incredible.

Without Annick none of this would have happened and none of it would have been possible.

Thank you

If you have any photos from the weekend, please let me know.

Cheers!!!

See you all at my 70th!

Here’s all 100 of the photos…

Strewth! Season 3

Strewth!

otherwise known as the ‘Story of Ruth’,

continues it’s award winning run with the much acclaimed third season.

[stextbox id=“alert”]In these episodes, Ruth, a nubile wench from the outer reaches of an obscure British principality, travels to the south of France in search of her inner spirituality[/stextbox]

—

The story starts in Cardiff bus station, where Ruth is rescued by two passing Samaritans, Phil & Annick. They take her around with them to meet some local characters including Roger and Denzil, a double act where Roger plays the straight man to Denzil’s unending wit, Tony & Sue, another double act where one tries to out-talk the other, and Lindsey & Nigel, the 'country folk’ who advise on the use of natural country products in an environmentally sound way (such as making sure you empty the entire bottle…)

She met many other local folk, such as Jon, the street busker who is developing the power to see inside your very core, Lisa the renowned vocalist who uses her skills to support her ageing father, Sophie, a new-age polyglot and Luke who, mysteriously, wasn’t there…

Days of constant wining and dining come as a shock to Ruth’s rustic constitution, and so she and her erstwhile keepers flew this rampant den of iniquity to find a more spiritual land.

Here she finds succour for her troubled heart. French wine is very good you know. As are cream cakes…

Celebrations of the festive season continue in the centre of Montauban, well known for its wild parties, as you can see here…

A sojourn to Bruniquel helps Ruth heal her fractured soul

It was, however, clear that a deaper truth needed to be sought-after. To this end, the great and mystic gurus of the mountains were sought out in a trek to the lonely Valley of Ger.

It was here, on New Years Eve, that Ruth encounteres the healing powers of the local village 'idiosyncratics’ Mike & Kim. Kim gives a wonderful demonstration of how to hold yourself together in the savage wilds of those isolated mountains.

And so, finally, there are signs of inner peace, especially with Annick…

The now reborn Ruth takes on such mighty tasks previously unthought of, such as dog walking…

and attempting to out-stare a duck…

Quickly realising that more is needed, heaving muscular sweaty men are sought-out and found, much to Ruth’s bemusement having not seen before such feats of human testosterone.

In the final climactic episode, Ruth finds inner truth in the remote gorge-side place of worship; Rocamadour. Here, she sits contemplating the stairway to heaven.

On finally reaching those giddy heights, she finds the final truth.

A bench.

Thus this epic series ends on a high, with Ruth feeling much stronger in heart and ready to face that which is to come…

…Season 4.