http://www.francethisway.com/wp Living in France and daily life for a UK expat in the French blog! Tue, 22 May 2012 06:28:59 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/yes-april-is-the-cruellest-month/2012/04/ http://www.francethisway.com/wp/yes-april-is-the-cruellest-month/2012/04/#comments Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:26:14 +0000 Boris http://www.francethisway.com/wp/?p=3487 Or so TS Eliot said*, and it seems likely he was thinking of me sorting out our garden today. Having at last got the gites flood free and re-decorated in time for the first arrivals on Saturday it is time to turn our attention to the garden. I say ‘our’ although Mrs B has sneaked [...]]]> http://www.francethisway.com/wp/yes-april-is-the-cruellest-month/2012/04/feed/ 9 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/rendez-vous-aux-jardins/2011/06/ http://www.francethisway.com/wp/rendez-vous-aux-jardins/2011/06/#comments Fri, 03 Jun 2011 15:32:14 +0000 Boris http://www.francethisway.com/wp/?p=2875 In France looking for some entertainment this weekend? We might have just the thing for you, regardless of where you are in France… Each year several hundreds  of gardens across France open their doors to the public for a few days, lots of them private gardens that can’t be visited at other times of the [...]]]> http://www.francethisway.com/wp/rendez-vous-aux-jardins/2011/06/feed/ 0 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/improving-the-landscape/2009/05/ http://www.francethisway.com/wp/improving-the-landscape/2009/05/#comments Wed, 06 May 2009 06:55:38 +0000 Boris http://www.francethisway.com/wp/?p=888 As the summer approaches I’ve been out and about snipping, pruning and shearing – always under the watchful eye of Mrs B (head gardener). She lives in fear whenever I use the strimmer or tractor-mower, secure in the knowledge that another small bush or tree is about to be thrown to the ground and chopped into thousands of [...]]]> http://www.francethisway.com/wp/improving-the-landscape/2009/05/feed/ 0 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/get-rid-of-dead-wood/2009/01/ http://www.francethisway.com/wp/get-rid-of-dead-wood/2009/01/#comments Sat, 17 Jan 2009 17:46:49 +0000 Boris http://www.francethisway.com/wp/?p=505 We’ve been taking advantage of the nice weather to get out and do a spot of seasonal gardening. Well, Mrs B does the garden and I say nice things about it, which seems to keep both of us happy. The only jobs I’m allowed to do outdoors are things that involve the chainsaw or other [...]]]> http://www.francethisway.com/wp/get-rid-of-dead-wood/2009/01/feed/ 1 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/slash-and-burn/2008/10/ http://www.francethisway.com/wp/slash-and-burn/2008/10/#comments Sun, 12 Oct 2008 08:55:47 +0000 Boris http://www.francethisway.com/wp/?p=317 Surrounding our house and gites we have about 16 acres of land – meadow, woodland, fields etc. Very pastoral it is too. We don’t especially want ‘land’ – although I enjoy striding around the fields in a ‘landowner’ kind of way - but it is useful to have it because it stops some errant maire from giving planning permission [...]]]> http://www.francethisway.com/wp/slash-and-burn/2008/10/feed/ 2 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/clearing-the-garden-french-style/2008/01/ http://www.francethisway.com/wp/clearing-the-garden-french-style/2008/01/#comments Sun, 27 Jan 2008 10:18:52 +0000 Boris http://www.francethisway.com/wp/clearing-the-garden-french-style/2008/01/ Imagine a lovely English style garden border, about 60 metres long and 4 metres wide. It is full to overflowing with trees, shrubs, rose and bulbs, and there is usually something in flower for nine months of the year. It takes Mrs B a lot of work to maintain it, but it runs up the [...]]]> http://www.francethisway.com/wp/clearing-the-garden-french-style/2008/01/feed/ 6 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/she-loves-me-she-loves-me-not/2007/11/ http://www.francethisway.com/wp/she-loves-me-she-loves-me-not/2007/11/#comments Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:38:15 +0000 Boris http://www.francethisway.com/wp/she-loves-me-she-loves-me-not/2007/11/ I was looking from the kitchen door this morning, watching the goldfinches on the birdfeeder as they scared off any great tits and blue tits that dared to try and nibble a sunflower seed, when one of the children pointed out the two deer standing just yards away from the door. I’m not sure how [...]]]> http://www.francethisway.com/wp/she-loves-me-she-loves-me-not/2007/11/feed/ 0 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/bergerac-vineyards-figs-and-saffron-flowers/2007/10/ http://www.francethisway.com/wp/bergerac-vineyards-figs-and-saffron-flowers/2007/10/#comments Tue, 16 Oct 2007 20:33:25 +0000 Boris http://www.francethisway.com/wp/bergerac-vineyards-figs-and-saffron-flowers/2007/10/ Mrs B couldn’t got on her usual Tuesday morning excursion today – she usually sets off exploring with a friend once a week – which meant I get roped on as a rather poor alternative. As a result, we set off bright and early to explore a few tiny villages we had never visited before, [...]]]> http://www.francethisway.com/wp/bergerac-vineyards-figs-and-saffron-flowers/2007/10/feed/ 0 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/wood-chopping-and-woodburning-stoves/2007/10/ http://www.francethisway.com/wp/wood-chopping-and-woodburning-stoves/2007/10/#comments Fri, 05 Oct 2007 06:34:25 +0000 Boris http://www.francethisway.com/wp/wood-chopping-and-woodburning-stoves/2007/10/ Winter is some way off yet, we hope, but there are a few things to be done in advance. The main job to do before it gets cold is to make sure we have a big stock of wood to burn, since it’s the cheapest most environmentally way to heat a house, and also it [...]]]> http://www.francethisway.com/wp/wood-chopping-and-woodburning-stoves/2007/10/feed/ 5 http://www.francethisway.com/wp/swimming-pools-and-wisteria-pruning/2007/09/ http://www.francethisway.com/wp/swimming-pools-and-wisteria-pruning/2007/09/#comments Fri, 28 Sep 2007 17:04:36 +0000 Boris http://www.francethisway.com/wp/swimming-pools-and-wisteria-pruning/2007/09/ Back in May I wrote about some troubles we were having with our EuroPiscine pool liner. Not surprisingly, the problem still hasn’t been resolved and the company seem to have decided that silence is their best approach. Happily it seems that things can proceed anyway, and our legal representatives have appointed an expert to come [...]]]> http://www.francethisway.com/wp/swimming-pools-and-wisteria-pruning/2007/09/feed/ 0