Blog

Ferrets and weasels and general noises in the roof

We have been invaded by ferrets !! For several weeks we could hear thumping and galloping sounds on the roof. We put mouse poison up there, working on the assumption that mice were attracting elephants. A dreadful stench filled the house (on the packet it said SANS ODEUR – NO PONG – poison) but the […]

Posted 13 years ago

extract from The Man With Green Fingers

“I wasn’t going to tell him. I was just going to have the abortion and he’d never have been any the wiser. But now I’ve past fourteen weeks. I just kept hoping that a solution would present itself. I know that’s stupid. I thought it might just go away.” “Do you want the baby?” “I […]

Posted 13 years ago

The Rights of Man and of the Citizen, French history.

Last evening somebody commented that it is odd the way the French regard France as “le pays des droits de l’homme” – the land of the rights of man. Well, the French did write a very important document called “Declaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen” (declaration of the rights of man and of […]

Posted 13 years ago

God Save the Queen; I am proud to be British.

Today I went to a Jubilee party along with the other British expats living in this part of France. I remember reading somewhere that in an expat situation the British give more parties, celebrate more occasions and organize more outings than any other nation. I have been an expat in one country or another for […]

Posted 13 years ago

The Atheist Bear – on how to be a good Christain

Once upon a time a man was walking through the woods. To his horror he became aware that he was being followed by a bear. Terrified, the man started to run. The bear ran after him. “Oh God, oh God!!” gasped the man. Suddenly a great voice boomed across the sky. “You call for me, […]

Posted 13 years ago

Working Mother – extract from “A Call From France”

My working day varied enormously. Only people who run their own businesses really know what work is. If you are employed by somebody else, you go in to work, do whatever it is you have to do, then go home again. You get paid for it. It may be easy stuff or difficult stuff, but […]

Posted 13 years ago

How to make a dreadful mistake learning another language.

 We set off, hubby and me, with car and caravan, for the Amalfi coast, Italy. People who have caravan rigs 40′ (12 metres) long shouldn’t go to the Amalfi coast, but that is a different story. We parked at a campsite near Naples. With me I had my trusty dictionary and my trusty phrase book, […]

Posted 13 years ago

Our lovely Royal Family. Proud to be British!

I recently saw on Facebook an image of Her Majesty wearing her crown and the caption underneath was “Queen wears million dollar hat and talks about austerity”. Well, that is not fair. It is also really rather rude. The Royal Family bring in to the UK an unquantifiable and enormous revenue in the form of […]

Posted 13 years ago

Kissing the French – extract from “A Call from France”

Kissing was a problem when we first arrived in France. People seemed to trot around kissing each other, and seemed to sometimes want to kiss us. All ages and types flung themselves at each other, planting vigorous kisses – or air-kisses for that matter – on each other’s faces, and there seemed no rhyme nor […]

Posted 13 years ago

The English pub v. French cuisine. I love English food.

I should say “the British pub” (v. French cuisine) though I haven’t been anywhere in the British isles other than England unless you count a brief trip to Scotland over 30 years ago and a brief trip to Wales nearly 10 years ago. I also did a trip to Alderney with a boyfirend 500 years […]

Posted 13 years ago

Books now available on Amazon:

A Call From France
French Sand
Kefani: An African Childhood
The Man With Green Fingers
Saying Nothing