Category Archives: The seasons

Invigorating Cold Atlantic Winds

11 Thursday Feb 2021

Posted by in Beautiful Donegal, coming home, Dream, For the live of dogs, Ireland, Irish Adventures, Irish Scenes, The continuing adventure, The seasons, The Wild Atlantic Way

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Kincasslagh Donegal Ireland

The cold is here in Ireland, along with most of North West Europe, but so far we have had only a flurry of snow.

Today RD had an appointment and I was here with the puppies, meaning we walked down to the beach alone. Well apart from the little Jack Russell, who I have nicknamed Fannie Annie, who has decided that she wants to walk with us most days. Wiglet tried to bite her initially, as is normal for our insecure little dog, but Fannie Annie was far too fast for her and in the end our little fat-arsed Oompa Loompa gave up and called a truce.

Wiglet with Fanny Annie,, whose keeping a safe distance

There is nothing like walking in the biting wind, the kind that stings your face, to wake you up and invigorate you.

Winter On The Beach In Donegal

Nature really is a fabulous thing.

When we arrived on the beach the tide was out, and I found myself surrounded by stark winter colours everywhere.

With the dunes taking the brunt of the wind the beach felt calm and the sun was warm on my back, a timely reminder that despite this cold Spring is on its way.

Winter in Donegal

I count my blessings every day.

Rosie

Nature reminds me every day….

09 Monday Nov 2020

Posted by in My home, sunrises and sunsets, The adventures of living life in the French countryside, The seasons

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It’s been a crappy year for the entire world. I don’t want a ‘new normal.’

Recently I was both horrified and shocked, and truly dismayed to read that Denmark are to cull 17 million farmed mink, because 5 have a mutated form of Covid. The fact that they are farmed is bad enough, but they are going to kill newborns, young mink, everything. When does man stop thinking he owns the world?

No wonder nature is trying to cull us, in so many ways, as a race we’re clearly not doing it to ourselves quick enough.

So as a way of trying to raise spirits I am going to share the fabulous dawns that I am privileged to see almost every day.

Let’s not be blind to the crap, but let’s focus on the positives: the sun rises every day, and every day it never fails to lift the spirit.

We need to listen to nature.

Rosie

Living In The Moment: sunny Autumn Days

23 Friday Oct 2020

Posted by in For the live of dogs, My home, poignancy, Reflections, Saying Goodbye, Simple things, The adventures of living life in the French countryside, The continuing adventure, The seasons

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I have made myself a promise, in this insane world, to give myself a little silence every day.

Here in France it is a beautiful autumn day, the sun is bright and warm, with just the occasional cloud blowing by.

So I took the time, from my what can be stressful days at the moment, and I had my tea and toast outside with the Welshies.

As I sat listening to the birds singing, and the trees sighing with resignation as the breeze took more of their leaves from them, I thought back to my first autumn here. I can remember how I would stand by my washing line and look around me in amazement that I owned the land where the huge oak trees loomed over me, and the crab apple dropped her apples loudly onto the goat shed roof. I remember walking up the chemin that was covered with a carpet of acorns and cob nuts crunching underfoot, and thinking this is mine.

But it was never mine, I never owned it, I borrowed it when I needed to heal, and it did it’s job. Now it’s time to let it go, and let someone else sit as the leaves blow by. Let someone else look down in wonder at the carpet of walnuts hiding amongst the leaves. Most years there are well over three thousand, we have given up trying to pick them all up, and we giggled the other day when we took the dogs for a walk down the lane and realised we were following a trail of walnut shells left by the squirrels. .

I will ask my neighbours if they want to collect some. If not the squirrels will be fed for the winter.

I will never tire of this view.

But one of my lessons has been it’s a view, that’s all. There will be more views.

Rosie

Living In The Moment

21 Wednesday Oct 2020

Posted by in Belief, Change is a coming, For the live of dogs, mental health, My family and other furry creatures, My home, new adventures, Simple things, The adventures of living life in the French countryside, The continuing adventure, The seasons

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It’s a blowy, blustery day here in France. One of those types of days that I love: when the rain is blown in and literally back out again by the ferocity of the wind, and the trees are waving away like demented stick giants frantically trying to tell us something.

I found the quote at the beginning of the post, today. As always, at a time when I needed to be reminded. What we will need will come. Selling houses are always such stressful times.

I reminded RD last night as we lay in our pretty little bedroom cuddling, with the lights sparkling away, and the Welshies gently snoring, that despite what we think we want, we must remember to live in the here and now: with our lovely house, with it’s stunning views, because that is all we have. As I lay in the night listening to the rain hitting the shutters I was reminded that this was one of the first things I loved about living here: that noise of the rain being flung about by the wind, knocking at the shutters as if asking to come into the safe and warm.

I think selling houses gets you so caught up in the planning for the future that you can often lose sight of the fact that you’re not really living your current moment. It was timely that the quote was sent my way today.

We had ordered some wood for the winter, knowing that despite the pending move nothing is certain and that we still need it for the here and now. With RD working it was down to me to take delivery and decant into our log store.

It was just what I needed: to be out in the blowey blustery day working, whilst I let the wind clear my mind. Nature was kind to me, the sun came out and the rain blew on by. I took some time to watch as the leaves dancing in the air as if some mad puppet master had control of them, at one point it looked as if they were marching in a line.

Now after a few hours work I sit here….

It is one of my favourite places to sit, and I am listening to the wind blowing through the trees, the sun is streaming through the window and I am again counting my blessings.

Rosie

Cherishing The Changes of the Season: The Charabang Outing.

15 Tuesday Sep 2020

Posted by in Change is a coming, For the live of dogs, Goodbyes, Learning and Evolving, My family and other furry creatures, My home, new adventures, New Paths, poignancy, Reflections, sunrises and sunsets, The adventures of living life in the French countryside, The continuing adventure, The seasons

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Autumn has never enthralled me more than since moving here. I have written about it So often.

Autumn is a time for letting go, and no more so than this year.

So last Sunday, before I returned to work for what I thought was going to be a long stint, I realised that when I returned home in October the evenings would be dark, and the opportunity to sit in my garden on these warm autumn evenings would be passed; that this would be the final weekend evening ever when I could savour my garden as she began her preparation to move from summer to autumn. Because all things are changing.

It has been incredibly warm here for September, with the temperature in the early thirties most days, so as the sun went down RD and I decided to take a walk around our garden, and savour what we have, at times, taken for granted.

Off we went up the chemin (ooh matron!) that divides our main garden from our field behind our barn, as the sun started to set. Needless to say the Welshies were with us, excited that mummy and daddy were walking around the garden with them, as if they wanted to show us all the things we might miss. Like the crab apples, and Cobb nuts, crunching beneath our feet.

As we passed Daisy (fondly known as Pussy Upsey the Bond Villain ) she watched with interest…

And not put off by Welshies at all decided to join us on our walk. She is fondly known as ‘cat Dog’.

Up she came behind us, stalking the serial killer known as Wiglet (she is a Bond villain after all!) not put off my Wiglet’s penchant for killing small things, because Daisy is a bit of an oompa loompa!

As we walked on to the field behind our barn, with its newly repaired roof (the boy done good) the sun set reflected onto the old building, built in 1812, it shimmered in the sunlight, as if knowing that yet again it was being left behind. That building must have so many stories to tell. We are going to become part of it’s history now.

As we stood taking in the sunset RD reminded me of the fabulous view from just over the horizon of the field behind us. In five years I had still not walked down to see it. I will make a note to do that when I get home.

I looked at all my beautiful animals, and was reminded of just how much they love us.

I savoured the sunshine, and thought of all those beautiful creatures who we have lost in the last five years, poignant memories, the kind that make you smile with tears in your eyes. Autumn reminded me, as always, of the things we take for granted.

I realised then that I rarely show you the view from this side of our garden, or the sun setting from this angle. So time to share this walk with you, with all who have followed this adventure with me. From the fields surrounding us, to the old statuesque oaks, standing so tall in our garden. They will give someone else shelter next year.

I miss my home….

Rosie

Harvest Moon

01 Tuesday Sep 2020

Posted by in Change is a coming, Goodbyes, Learning and Evolving, My home, new adventures, New Paths, poignancy, sunrises and sunsets, The continuing adventure, The seasons

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I am cherishing everything now. (Why do we only seem do that when we are letting things go?) I said in one of my latest blogs that I was going to sit in my garden. It hasn’t disappointed.

Last night RD and I sat in our pyjames with a beer and a wine and we watched this bright gold early Harvest Moon rise.

I could not catch the colour of the moon, but as the sky changed colour it was a beautiful site in that inky blue sky, as it rose over the valley.

As we both sat with tears in our eyes , the bats whizzed around the trees in our garden, and the owl hooted from the distance. (I like to think it was the owl we had saved all those years ago).

I turned to RD and said ‘we may feel as we do now, because we are leaving. But if we were staying would we still be cherishing this moment?’ I believe the answer would be ‘no’, because we humans sadly hold on to something when we know we are going to lose it. It’s not always the best thing to do.

Life has adventures on every corner, if you are brave enough to turn the bend.

To memories of Harvest Moons, and owls and bats, trees in our garden and being blessed to have experienced it.

Rosie

Changes: In seasons and life, just taking it in my stride.

17 Tuesday Mar 2020

Posted by in Change is a coming, Learning and Evolving, My home, New Paths, Reflections, Simple things, The continuing adventure, The seasons

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At this time of immense change in the world (I really don’t think the world will be quite the same again and in all honesty I don’t think it should be.) I am sitting in my chair in the window and the spring sunshine is streaming in. Isolation has been imposed in France, and whilst we can shop for essentials only one person is allowed in the shop and you have to carry papers as well as passport to say why you are out and about.

I get it, they are trying to shut this thing down, and whilst I have never bought into the panic, it seems the sensible thing and I am happy to go with the flow. All things change and I am happy to accept change, anyone who reads my blog will know that. There is no point fighting against it, because it will come anyway.

So I am going back to work early. I am now in a care giving role, and have to go to the UK to give it. Care still needs to go ahead, people who are dependent will still be dependent, but with the daily changes I volunteered to go back early just in case. I recognise and care for a wonderful person and I don’t want to let them down. This means that I will be back off grid primarily for a week or so, so I will set up posts to go out there in my absence.

At the momentI am enjoying my time with RD, and hoping I will only be gone for 18 days. I’m cherishing the blossom on my old cherry tree, it will be gone when I get back; and it may be the last time I see her blossom: I will be leaving her here when we move on, setting her free from the pot and hoping she survives in the garden. I have had her nearly twenty years. But we cannot hold on, we have to let go.

So at this difficult time, here is something I borrowed from another post on Facebook. It says it all really.

Rosie

Thankful

02 Sunday Feb 2020

Posted by in Belief, Change is a coming, For the live of dogs, Learning and Evolving, mental health, My home, The continuing adventure, The seasons, Us

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I will be writing quite a lot this week, there is a lot to share, and perhaps this is a good place to start.

I have shared the photo of my favourite place to sit because so many people comment on the view from the window, and how beautiful it is.

It is, and for that I am thankful.

Today I shared a fellow bloggers post on this site because it really resonated with me: how we take things for granted, and fail to appreciate even the smallest of things. She has asked people to join her in a ‘being grateful’ challenge, and I have joined it.

I am sitting in my red chair, on a rainy grey afternoon, with H sitting opposite me looking at God knows what crap on his iPad, and I am grateful because one day I will remember this beautiful place where I had the opportunity to sit and write.

I am saying this because we have pretty much come to the decision that we will be leaving this house, and as soon as it is where we think it should be decoration wise, we will be putting it on the market, it will be this year.

We won’t leaving France, for now, but we believe it is time for us to move into a new chapter in our lives. The minibus is off down a new lane, deviating from the plan we have never had!

After Molly our cat died, in the early hours of New Years day, I allowed myself to sit with my pain for the first few weeks. It was something I learned to do a long while ago, but I also knew that life goes on.

The new year here is often the most difficult time (isn’t it everywhere?) with no worked booked, the cold,grey skies, it can drag you under. So after a week or so every morning before I opened my eyes I made myself say thank you: for having a warm bed to sleep in, a house to live in, warmth, my husband sleeping beside me, our son, and his attitude to life, our dogs, who we are so aware are only ‘loaned’ to us, our cats, our ability to reflect and on and on. It pulled me forward, and although I still miss Molly every day, I no longer ‘make’ myself say thank you in the morning I just do it for the benefit it brings.

So one morning a couple of weeks ago, when RD was down, I told him how he needed to see what he had, told him what I had been doing, and how beneficial I had found it; and as I was saying this to him the iPad started to ping, with people enquiring about our services and booking work. Literally as I was telling him. The power of positivity!

So will you join me? Will you share one thing every day (if you can) about what you are grateful for? Or join Eliza on this link ?

Let’s change the world, let’s not talk about mental health, let’s do it.

Rosie

I will be blogging again today, there is someone I need to say goodbye to.

Winter days: Sunshine, Wind and Bright Blue skies

28 Tuesday Jan 2020

Posted by in For the live of dogs, My family and other furry creatures, My home, Reflections, Simple things, The adventures of living life in the French countryside, The continuing adventure, The good life, The seasons

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I am currently sitting in my spot that, it appears, so many people covet: my blue chair in the picture window of my house. I am driving Daisy the cat nuts because she chases light, and, with the brilliant winter sunshine reflecting off my iPad all around the room Daisy cannot resist the the urge to chase it; which then makes the Welshies chase her and chaos ensues. (They know their place with her though she’s also known as Daisy Pussy Upsy because she looks like a Bond Villain at times!)

Today is an incredibly windy day, with gusts of up to sixty kilometres and hour forecast. But where there is bad there is good and there is brilliant sunshine and phenomenally blue skies, one of those days that just blow the cobwebs in the mind away.

I have made the effort this winter to get out into our garden whenever possible, if only for fifteen minutes.

Since Molly died and we have started to consider moving on to pastures new, it has inspired me to treasure what I have in the here and now, with the countryside around me, and the two teddies that I am blessed to have running around my garden.

So today,after bringing in the wood I walked over to the field behind our barn on the other side of our chemin (lane in French), with two excited Welshies and Daisy the cat (she is also known as cat/dog) running around me.

I found myself just standing there looking across the garden, with the dogs snuffling, and Daisy, precariously balanced on a tree, and smiling.

There is nothing like hearing the wind rushing through the trees in bright winter sunshine, and I stood and I looked out and I took it all in.

Then I came back into the warm and shared it with you.

Let’s treasure the here and now.

Rosie

You can read our other other story about the things we went through that got us to today on my other blog.

Wind and rain.

26 Sunday Jan 2020

Posted by in For the live of dogs, My home, Simple things, The adventures of living life in the French countryside, The continuing adventure, The seasons

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The wind has picked up and the rain has come in. Our house on the hill is being battered by the elements, it sounds as if the ‘ little people’ are throwing shingle at our shutters.

I give thanks for the warm covers over me, the Welshies snuggling around me and my husband beside me.

Count your blessings, I am, as the rain sings me to sleep

Rosie