I am really sorry about last week and the non-appearance of
the blog, so I hope that this week’s chapter will make up for it. Last week was,
in any case, a very slow week with nothing of note happening. Until Sunday, that
is, when the annual Villeneuve Christmas market took place. We st had to attend
thisds market as we had heard wonderful things about it and someone had already
suggested that I sell my little dolls then, but as my stock is only eight
dolls, I thought I would save that pleasure for next year. I foolishly
mentioned this to Courtney who immediately zoomed off and put out names down
for a stall selling knitted dolls, small table candles and fig jam. I see a lot
of work in the months ahead!
The market was pretty amazing though. Everything is handmade
and locally made and the creativity shown was incredible. Everything was of a
high standard with items like wooden toys and bowls having a really tactile
finish that just invited one to stroke them. There were, of course, knitted and
sewn goods – clothing and toys, but also stained glass Christmas tree decorations
and small decorative panels; cut-off wine bottles turned into tumblers, candle
holders and bird-feeders. There were models of the nativity scene and other
little buildings and much, much, more. There is a llama farm not too far away
and they had a stall with a variety of goods. I bought a pair of gorgeous
snuggly gloves which I have worn almost every day since. There were a mass of
people crowded into the hall and with the heaters on too, it was a very cosy
place to be.
On Monday Courtney went off to school as usual and I have to
admit that I felt quite evil when I had to send her out into the freezing, dark
morning to catch the bus. We consoled her with the thought that the bus was
well heated and the school was more pleasant indoors than our house, which I think
helped a bit.
Pieter arrived on Wednesday from Mallorca and Tilly joined
him here on Friday after having been away in the States and Canada for almost a
month. She drove down from Paris which she has done before, but had an
appalling trip. About halfway here the motorway was virtually shut down after
three accidents blocked the lanes. This was all due to an unseasonable snow
storm which caught eve3ryone unawares, and she had to take a huge detour which
added at least an hour to her time. By the time she finally arrived here, she
had been on the road for eight and a half hours on top of a long flight from
New York which culminated in her luggage being left behind there. Today, three
days later, it has still not caught up with her and they leave early tomorrow
to go to the new house. I really think Air France owes her some new clothes.
This afternoon we went to another Christmas market, this
time a little further away at Lanoujoules. It had much the same content as the
one the previous week but I was definitely a bigger market and there were other
stalls added in which we hadn’t seen before. AND, there were more people What a
crush But all very jolly and good-tempered. This time there were also stalls
selling foodstuffs of various sorts. Home-dried prunes and fresh apples;
delicious-looking apple desserts made with apple puree, cream and filo pastry;
cakes big and small and plenty of biscuity things. Jams and jellies, tins and
bottles of foie gras and confit de canard, to say nothing of the wine and
sirops of all kinds. And then there were the takeaway eats – crepes, pizza
slices and some rather strange aniseed cakes, mulled wine and coffee so there
was a delicious aroma spread throughout the hall.
I hate to harp on about the weather but this latest cold
snap that the north has sent on down to us was really not a kind thing to do.
The last few days have been really bitter with day time temperatures hardly
rising above 5 degrees and night times plummeting to as low as – 6 and -8. That’s
really cold and we are battling to stay warm. Last year was cold but not like
this and even the locals are complaining. Hope it will back off soon and get back
to normal December weather. I am getting tired of feeling like a Michelin man
with four or five layers of clothes on! In that vein, I just had to include a
picture of Pieter all kitted out to go down to the laundry to get the washing.
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