I made a batch of mince pies yesterday. This involved buying some mincemeat from the humiliating “English section” of the supermarket which I normally never go in, where you can buy Marmite for €8 per jar, and several other strange products. I miss many things about the UK, but sandwich spread isn’t one of them […]
by Heidi Smith
Yes, winter is definitely coming. I have been slightly panicking for the last few months as I have watched our neighbours beautiful wood piles grow all around their properties. We have been so busy with end-of-season guests that we have not had time to concentrate on cutting, chopping and stacking our own wood. Actually the […]
by Heidi Smith
A couple of friends who booked with us over the summer introduced me to the concept of wild swimming. The first was a marathon runner who did not seem to know how to relax and went for a gruelling run every morning. One day he discovered the swimming lake at Saint Saud and was able […]
by Heidi Smith
Looking for dog friendly holidays in France? Read on… Why take your dog on holiday with you? Why take your dog on holiday with you? Anyone who has ever had to look into a pair of much-loved brown eyes and then walk away as you leave them behind in kennels will not need to ask […]
by Heidi Smith
If you live in England, The Netherlands, Belgium or France, It will not have escaped your notice that it has been a little warm lately! This has lead to us indulging in that most English of pastimes; talking about the weather (although actually the French seem to enjoy it as much as we do.) We […]
by Heidi Smith
Letter to Viz comic “My husband heard somewhere that planning a holiday was half the fun. So this year we planned two holidays and didn’t go on either of them”. When I’m planning a holiday or visiting a new area I like to research it first. First you need to establish exactly where you are […]
by Heidi Smith
The Small-Leaved Lime Tree In the UK, the Small-leaved Lime Tree is associated with ancient woodland and so is, unsurprisingly, becoming increasingly rare and yet deserves wider planting and encouragement. It was used as avenue planting in the 17th and 18th centuries – famously in Berlin’s Unter den Linden but shares few of the qualities […]
by Heidi Smith
Some of you will now that we kept bees back in England and that we want to start beekeeping again here too. So I have been keeping an eye out on potential fodder for our bees and seeing how I think they will do. Two trees have stood out for me in the four months […]
by Heidi Smith
We’ve been running a Facebook competition for the past week. The prize was a 3 night stay in on of our 2 person gites. We had 162 people enter the competition and were blown away by the interest on Facebook and elsewhere. It was great fun and we met lots of lovely new people. In […]
by Heidi Smith
Easter has kind of snuck up on us here at Le Moulin de Pensol. Good Friday is not a bank holiday in our part of France, so Maya went off to school as normal and everything proceeded much as usual with us preparing the gites and working on the grounds ready for the coming season. […]
by Heidi Smith
Being environmentally minded, gentle folk,... Read More
New customer policy: We regret that... Read More
Historical Impact of the Bullfinch and... Read More
