One Year Blog Anniversary

February 8 2011  I started this blog one year today; I can hardly believe it!  It has been an amazing year and I have 'met' so many new friends, some literally.  This blog was started originally so that friends and family could follow what I have been up to, where I have been and what I have been cooking.  Suddenly, like Topsy, it grew and grew and now I have almost 100 followers, well over 11,000 page views and climbing fast.  I have so enjoyed building new friendships from all over the world and your comments are a delight to receive and mean so much to me. Thank you one and all.

This is my 160th post and I thought I would take one of my favourite pictures from each month since I started the blog, and celebrate a little of the whole year in one place. 

February 2010 posts covered several months, as it was all about 'the beginning', from when we bought the house in France (Sep 2005) up until 18 July 2007; this photo, although in the February postings, was in fact taken in June 2006.  The old plaster had been removed from the outside of the house, to reveal the lovely stone work underneath. Repointing had not started at this stage.

 http://lifeincharente.blogspot.com/2010/02/june-2006-part-3.html

March 2010 also covered several posts from 2007 until 1 January 2010.  In April 2008 we finally succeeded in getting rid of the leaks in our barn thanks to some fine workmanship from our local roofer.  Not forgetting, of course, help from our neighbour in lifting the tiles, which made life considerably easier.  Note that the exterior walls had been finished and pointed in this photo.

http://lifeincharente.blogspot.com/2010/03/april-to-august-2008-part-21.html

April 2010 I returned to our house in France after the winter spell in the UK. Despite spring arriving with me and the garden being full of spring flowers and blossom on the trees, my favourite photo just had to be this cute little donkey which I saw one day on my way home from shopping, via the scenic route.

 http://lifeincharente.blogspot.com/2010/04/scenic-route-home-part-47.html

May 2010  This was a difficult month to choose a photo from, as I was torn between three, this lovely view, the Citroen 2CV's parading in Chasseneuil and the very first asparagus that I was able to cut from the garden.  This view, which I finally decided on, is taken from the Resistance Memorial, which is positioned to overlook the town of Chasseneuil and all the areas beyond, where the four principal members of the local resistance group were based.

http://lifeincharente.blogspot.com/2010/05/memorial-de-la-resistance-chasseneuil.html

June 2010  Another difficult month to choose from and I thought this was going to be easy!  There were some stunning sunsets this month, the garden was looking fantastic and there was the post on La Rochefoucauld Chateau.  I finally decided though that my favourite was farming country, with hay bales as far as the eye can see.

 http://lifeincharente.blogspot.com/2010/06/round-and-about-5-part-72.html

July 2010 France in July; not really a choice here, as I can only go for the photo taken on the 14th when the country celebrated Bastille Day. What a great night we had!

http://lifeincharente.blogspot.com/2010/07/bastille-day-celebrations-and-tdf-part.html

August 2010 This month I had to look no further than one photograph; this was probably my favourite of the whole year.  It was the most magical sunrise with storm clouds, nothing like I had ever seen before (or since!) and I just happened to look outside at exactly the right moment.

http://lifeincharente.blogspot.com/2010/08/magic-of-nature-fiery-sky.html

September 2010 I gave up trying to decide for September and finally thought that a collage was the only answer,  maybe not all my favourite photos, but to me, the interesting ones.

Top Left - Our gates, which I had finally managed to finish painting see HERE.
Top Right and Bottom Left - My September garden see HERE
Bottom right - My friends' beautiful Charentaise floor HERE

October 2010  Was my return to the UK for winter; although this may not be the best quality photo, as it was taken though salt encrusted windows from the ferry, I think it is was certainly a favourite of my followers, and most people remembered the words of the song "The White Cliffs of Dover".

http://lifeincharente.blogspot.com/2010/10/travelling-back-to-uk-part-3.html

November 2010 was the month I met up with fellow blogger Anne.  As I previously commented, it was  amazing that after following each other's blogs for several months, we discovered that our homes in the UK are in the same village.

http://lifeincharente.blogspot.com/2010/11/meeting-up-with-fellow-blogger-and.html

 December 2010  As it was a very cold December, I decided that this was one of my favourite photos of a 'cold seat'!!  I have to say it was once again a very difficult choice, as I did love the photos that I took of the small town of Wantage.

http://lifeincharente.blogspot.com/2010/12/im-dreaming-of-white-christmas.html

January 2011   Certainly my favourite photo that I posted in January is the one of St Nicolas Church in Newbury, taken across the Kennet and Avon Canal.

http://lifeincharente.blogspot.com/2011/01/st-nicolas-church-newbury-uk.html

February 2011   As I am only just into the month of February, and this was the month I started last year, I feel as if the 12 photos above show only a very small proportion of what I have seen, lived and cooked during the last 12 months.  It has been an interesting and educational time for me while I looked up the history of the places I have visited.   Most of all though, I have loved 'meeting' each and everyone of you who have joined me in my travels around the Charente, and latterly around the UK, working in the garden and cooking in the kitchen.  Some of you have become very special friends, but I feel very honoured to call all of you, world wide, that have visited and commented on my site, my friends. As I said earlier, thank you one and all for an amazing 12 months. 

I will be back in the Charente the end of next month and I will of course then be posting about our home and local villages in France.  That is once I get a broadband connection back, which is not likely to happen overnight!!!!  If I disappear for a few weeks you know where I am!

Meanwhile, I will cover a few of the places I have visited here in the UK and some odd posts with some of the photos I still have not posted from France.

I have just received the news that I have won a cookery book written by Linda Burgett who runs a blog called My Kind of Cooking.  You will love her blog and she posts some incredible recipes, all of which are so easy, and using very few ingredients.  Please go and visit her at My Kind of Cooking   What a wonderful way to celebrate my first anniversary.  Thank you Linda.

Cancer Support and Feu d'Artifice - Blog 81

What a really miserable day Saturday was.  I woke up to grey skies and a cool wind, but hoped that the weather would improve.  I had offered to help on the bookstall at a Charity sale in Chasseneuil, but because it was being held outside in a garden, I was really not looking forward to it this year.  It is for Cancer Support France, and our local branch of Charente Plus which covers Charente, Charente-Maritime, Vienne and Haute-Vienne.

As I left home, to be on the spot by 13h30, so the rain steadily began to fall. By the time I arrived in Chasseneuil, it had eased off a bit and we managed to set up the stall. Just as we finished, so it started to rain again and I was given a tarpaulin to throw over all the books. 

Other people were setting up their stalls, but mostly they were under gazebos. I had one umbrella which covered very little of the book stall!  ‘Salvatore’ the Italian hair dresser was offering his services, also under a gazebo; haircuts for whatever donation you felt like giving. 

I had my hair trimmed while it was raining for a donation of 10€, I pay around £10 in the UK for a dry cut, and 20€ in France for a hair cut and wash.  (They do not seem to do dry cuts where I go!).  Whatever, I thought that I had done pretty well for the price, and as the rain kept tumbling down I was glad of my shorter hair and I felt quite light headed!!

The weather did finally clear for a short time and I made a few sales, but it was not long before I had to cover up again, then uncover, and cover yet again.  Meanwhile everyone was complaining about the cold and there were a few blue coloured people about the place!  I had dressed for the middle of winter, boots and all, and I think I was one of the very few who did not complain.  I hate the cold and try to think ahead.

We all packed up at 17h00 in the rain, but surprisingly it seemed that finances were not as low as expected, and maybe all the hard work was worthwhile. People did brave the elements and it certainly could have been a whole lot worse.  It will be a couple of days before all monies are tallied up and we know how much we made.

On Saturday evening, Vitrac Saint Vincent had a musical fireworks display. During the day they had a children’s football match and lots of funfair events. Sunday was also to be devoted to games and fun fair for the children.  Our neighbours, Nicole and Jean came for an aperitif on Friday evening, and Jean’s comment was that it was well suited for us!!  Jean had his 70^th last year!!

By 20h00, the clouds had lifted, and there were a few very small spots of blue showing through the fields of grey ‘cotton wool’.  I had planned on cycling to the feu d’artifice, as there is very little parking, and I thought a midnight ride home (weather permitting) would be fun.  I even had all my winter cycling gear here, so what was to stop me – well the weather might have!!  By 21h00 the sky was showing quite a lot of blue and the sun was showing a few silvery rays; the cold wind though did not let up.  21h30, and not a cloud in sight; this must be the first time in well over a week we have seen the magic of sunshine!

I left home just before 22h00 and on arrival in Vitrac I discovered all was peaceful and quiet, not a body in sight anywhere!!  I listened hard in the silence and picked up a distant sound, which I homed in on, to discover that the whole event had changed venue from last year and it was being held at the football stadium.  Unfortunately, I gather this was not a popular venue and numbers were seriously down on last year.  Personally I think the weather may have had a lot to do with it!! 

Nevertheless, there were a number of children having fun and even if not well supported, the feu d’artifice (firework display) was excellent. 

I cycled home afterwards, arriving at my door just a couple of minutes before midnight.  Jean and Nicole were worried about my lights on the bike until I switched them on and they saw how bright they were. 

I might add, as I do this post on Sunday morning, I have lit the fire as the lounge is so cold!  June is supposed to be summer! instead of this, we have dismal grey sky and a bitterly cold northerly wind blowing.