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"Château de Neuvic"
I spent the better part of this afternoon upside down with my head in our rainwater cistern battling the all predatory forces of heaven and earth. I think I’m winning.
Spring is the time for grand designs, and for years now, we have aspired but failed to keep up with the Jones’s, or more precisely, the Bousquets. But this year will be different...
"Les amis des chats" has just celebrated its tenth anniversary. Since this cat welfare charity was founded in Roquecor, Tarn-et-Garonne in March 2000 it has helped over 5,000 cats, and plans to help even more in the years to come.
If you are growing under glass, in this heat, red spider mite can become a problem. The answer is to increase humidity and ventilation. June is the month to enjoy the garden. Admire all your hard work and just watch Nature at work!
The tranquil setting of the Moulin de Chaves offers an oasis of calm in a bustling world. The days start with an early morning call. "This is what we use to wake people up or get them to meals or meditation sessions," Martin said, as we stood inside a wooden structure with a Japanese roof...
Summertime and the living is easy………. Or so the song would have us believe. All the Indications so far this year and future predictions, are for a return to the traditional French summer which equates to a very warm July and August, anyone remember August 03?
.jpg "Gardening in Limousin")
One of the most common topics for questions received Oak garden services are, garden machinery and tools. Mark guides us through the myriad of options.....First and foremost look around, tractors, trailers, vegetable plots, log wagons and machinery dealers on nearly every corner, virtually everywhere. And that is what the Limousin is, part of France's heartland of agriculture. You very quickly find out here, that the flex for your flymo is really not long enough to reach the end of your garden, you resign yourself to the fact that you need a new mower, but which one, a lawnmower is a lawnmower, right ?
This month Mark from Oak Gardening services takes a look at all the activities that are part of life in the Limousin countryside in September. Mark also gives us his usual selection of top tips and advice for your Limousin garden...
So why has a garden article about August have a lot of advice about September………. Confused?
Here’s the answer:
In roughly 3 weeks time summer will be officially with us and hopefully the results of our efforts will begin to bear fruit, literally. If you haven’t already, cover your fruit trees and vines with plastic netting to protect ripening fruit from the birds..
December a peaceful cordial time for the gardener to relax and reflect! Don’t you believe it, as it could leave you with too much humbug and not enough punch? The easy choice is to put your feet up and relax, why not it’s been a long hot year!
October has been and gone and with it has come the weather that we can normally expect for the region at this time of year. The early frost’s have arrived and seen off most of the unprotected annuals and nature seems to have returned to normal or, has it?
Gordon and Jocelyn Simms are writers and poets and, when they decided to retire to France, it was important that they found the perfect place in which to 'live their dream'. Gordon tells the tale of how they found their mill home by the river.
In addition to the sale value of your property, proper landscape installation will insure less expense over time and greater satisfaction, says gardener Elaine Jarvis...
.jpg "Provencal omelet cake")
Al fresco lunches in the summer sunshine - Provencal omlete cake is a delicious and unusual dish created by Mary Cadogan. It can be prepared the day before; serve with green salad and a sharp white wine.
Tel Turnbull was born in the industrial Midlands and some of his first recollections were of the smoking bottle kilns. Since he and his wife Katie moved to France in 2007 he has created a centre where visitors can enjoy the experience of creating their own pots.
There are three options for electricity tariffs, Base, Heures Creuses and Tempo. Base is a set price per kWh depending on the power supply, which can be from 3 – 36 kVA. Most properties which opt for this option choose either 6 or 9 kVA. The higher powers are usually for someone running business machinery.
We managed to escape the brunt of the current credit crunch with help from the show Place in the Sun: Home or Away (Northern Ireland v. France) on Channel 4. We are Stephen Kerlin, an electrician from Derry, Northern Ireland and Christina See, a translator from High Wycombe, England and we now run Chambres d’hotes (B&B) in Mazamet in the Southern Tarn.
Well you have made the big move to Limousin, just starting to feel settled and then you find out you are expecting a baby. No one would be surprised if your first reaction is "I want to go home." Don't panic help is at hand..
Vegetarian Topic Host Trevor Bridge explains how he and his wife Jocelyn came to be running a luxury vegetarian cottage in France...
Andrea and Bruce venture into assisting in the planning of the carnival in their French town - and courageously add a vegetarian touch.
Looking for a real bargain?
Charente may just be the right place to begin your search….
The purpose of this article is to outline how this disease carried by ticks can affect dogs and what we can do to reduce the possibility of infection. The main tick borne disease of south west France is known by several names – Babesiosis, Piroplasmosis, Tick Fever.
Beating the heat is extra tough for dogs because they can only cool themselves by panting and sweating through their footpads. This process is inefficient when there is only hot air to breathe. Even leaving windows down or providing bowls of water will not stop heat stroke from happening.
Fed up with preparing the same old meals? How about spending a day with a professional cook and food writer? Beryl Brennan spent a day with Mary Cadogan, ex Food Director of the BBC Good Food Guide, getting some tips on vegetarian cookery.
The stunning Loire Valley is known as the Valley of the Kings and is home to the most beautiful chateaux in France.
However, you may not need a King’s Ransom to acquire a property in this beautiful region.
Moving house, they say, is the third most stressful thing after death and divorce, I disagree, moving one’s beloved horses to a foreign country far eclipses merely moving some sticks of furniture and a load of boxes from one house to another.
We moved from Scotland to France in October 2003, we drove out two 4x4’s pulling heavily burdened trailers...
More top tips from Mark at Oak Garden Services. The clocks have gone forward and the garden is coming alive. Plenty to be done in April including lawn care and a good clean up..........
Printemps or Spring time?
Whatever your preference there is no mistake that for the Limousin gardener, we are about to embark on the busiest time of the year.
As we know springtime is the key time for defining how we want our garden to be over the coming and future years....
Following the season of excess, we have been trying to give our systems a rest. Hunting around the store cupboard for a creative addition to cheer up a plate of salad, I came across a bottle of pure gold, a real taste of summer...
This delicate and velvety garlic soup from South-West France makes a heart-warming lunch a light starter for an evening meal. It will fill your kitchen with the wonderful smell of garlic frying in fat - a scent and flavour, which the soup manages to...
There are a number of issues you may need to take advice on before you move, and when living in France. Here are a couple of case studies which highlight some of the financial issues expats are faced with.
'It is important to establish through your Notaire that all completed construction works have been carried out by registered builders and artisans or it carries no guarantees' says Chartered Surveyor Brian Lindley...
Maria Anton has written a book Going In Seine about why and how she came to buy an apartment in Paris, and her subsequent experiences in the City of Light. Here she gives FrenchEntrée visitors a comical insight into the nature and narrative of her story...
We were invited to the kind of French meal you see in films. A couple from a neighbouring village asked us over...