At last it seems that spring has arrived at La Godefrere. The sun has been shining although it is still cold. This morning Mrs. Parish was in her sewing garret. It has all the features necessary for a garret. It is at the top of the house, it is used as a work room and it is has no heating (albeit Mrs Parish cheats a bit by using a hot air fan. She was in the garret sewing dresses for the lovely Matilda, who is the daughter of a friend back in England. She is 3 (and a half) or probably nearly...

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“‘Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door-
Only this, and nothing more.”                

The visitor turned out to be Henny Penny, our chicken tapping on the patio door with her beak. As I have mentioned in the past Henny has the run...

It’s been a bit of a strange week here at La Godefrere. All started well with the birthday on Monday and I had a very nice day with lots of cards and presents. The most unusual was the card from Mrs Parish which illustrates very well what an odd bunch the French are. The card had French birthday greetings but also had pictures of a game of Boules (also known as petanque). The game is sort of like bowls in England except the French throw them on to gravel pitch rather that genteelly rolling ...

Mrs. Parish’s time at the front has been a success. Although she did not capture any moles it seems that her vigorous counter thrust has stopped the moles in their tracks and there has been little sign of mole activity this week. This could of course be down to our major ally Peter who seems to have rediscovered his mole catching skills and this week caught a mole. The first of the current campaigning season but his fifth overall. An impressive record. Mind you it could equally be the effec...

I thought as I sat down to write up the blog that it had been a quiet week with not much happening but surprisingly when I look back it has been another interesting and exciting week.

I started out by deciding it was time to get the tractor mower out as the grass had grown quite long. Since Christmas we have had nothing but rain and it would have been impossible to cut the grass. As we had a dry spell it was time to get the tractor out from its winter quarters at the back of the lean to shed n...