There’s a new blog for you (and a December one too if you didn’t catch it!) On my beautiful website created for me by Harry! Here’s the link: Recovery and Reflection ..read more

Hi – just to let you know November’s blog is up for grabs on my new blog home mannyatkins.com  ..read more

I’m very excited to announce that Harry has designed a new blog site for me! From now on all blogs will be posted on mannyatkins.com – Please follow the link to see the latest blog – ‘October Skies ..read more

Summer is well underway and we have so much to report! Family news first – Celebration meal at Le Grand Cafe   So Arty got his Bac – with a Mention Très Bien – what a total hero. Cass, his girlfriend also got a Mention Très bien … clever, hardworking pair!       He’s bought a great little car and is now working for a few months in a local factory to earn a bit of cash to go travelling before starting uni next September 2019 to study Law.               With all the exams and school finished, the whole family, including partners, took a w ..read more

Here we are in May already – Blue skies and long grass, and the field is full of wild flowers.  I’m back at work again, with fingers strapped but able to drive! Lots to tell – lots to show… so let’s get started! Velux marathon! Having abandoned the first Velux after my finger episode, we returned with zeal during the spring holidays – profiting from two full sunny days with Arty, Luke, Joe and me dedicated to making some holes in the roof and filling them with windows! Day one – we managed to put the three smaller windows in the two mezzanine bedrooms and the bathroom: first window fram ..read more

So here’s the low down for March and April… and the end of Feb too, it’s been a while, sorry! There has been a lot of snow!  Every time we think it’s stopped there seems to be another little bout of it! Finally though, I think we’re done. The famous Tence jonquilles (daffodils) are out in abundance, the evenings feel longer, and we are really ready for some sustained warmth to infuse our old stones (and our old bones!) I’m currently writing one-handed with a broken finger after falling off a step ladder! First time I’ve ever broken anything, and considering I was only a few feet u ..read more

Stunningly beautiful snowy wintery weather has been with us for much of January and February – but we started the year with a few days of T-shirt-worthy sunshine, which we took advantage of to continue working on our beautiful bed-head beam. It was the only time we got outside though… there has been a lot of snow and it’s been very chilly inside and out! One day we arrived at Solignac to find we had condensation on the outside! Colder on the inside than in the snow! We’ve got our work cut out warming up these old stones! We’re confident that we we’ll have it cosy before next winter! Electri ..read more

So 2018 is upon us it seems – it arrived so fast my head is spinning! Hope you had the most wonderful of Christmases and the New Year celebration of your choice! (Ours was a cosy, quiet and extremely relaxed affair!) Before you read any further, please take a look at this year’s Christmas video and Review of 2017 from Beth… I could honestly watch it all day it makes me so happy and tingly! It’s been all change here as we moved two days before Christmas into a small and cosy flat much nearer Solignac for the end of the renovation. It was quite a gargantuan effort from all concerned, but it ..read more

First snow and WINDOWS…and a big old hole in the ground! November has been a month of giant leaps for us! We’ve still got Harry with us, already half way through his twenty hours of driving lessons and he seems to be a natural so fingers crossed he has his test before Christmas! Meanwhile, having him here has been such a treat! I love the unexpected mixing up of the family dynamic – Arty was only 13 when Harry left home, so living together again has been really lovely … hearing them both laughing together and spending some quality bro-time is delicious! digger in the garden! Of course having ..read more

  So September came and went in a whirl! I spent a glorious, laughter-filled week in Faro with my lovely Mum…   – All (literally all) Joe’s family gathered in York for his Mum’s 80th Birthday; we had the most wonderful precious weekend, with all our lot staying in a beautiful Airbnb farmhouse – Owl Cottage   Family came from far and wide; Malaysia, Germany, Sweden, us from France; and others from all over England – it was such a happy occasion and just lovely to see so many cousins and partners re-united and re-connecting – a triumph! And a fitting tribute to a very s ..read more