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Tag Archives: farming
Cattle Country
Considering we are surrounded by them, I’m surprised I haven’t written more about these mainstays of local agriculture. Perhaps it’s because I have a love-hate relationship with them, especially when marauding herds have trampled down our garden. What am I … Continue reading
Posted in Food/drink/recipes
Tagged Beef, beef consumption, boeuf, cattle farming, farming, food, rural life, SW France, transhumance
27 Comments
Forgotten Love Letter Saved for Posterity
Sometimes fate works in mysterious ways. In this case, it saved for posterity a wonderful letter that would otherwise have been consigned to the flames with a heap of junk.
Posted in History, Places, World War I & II
Tagged Espinas, farming, Flouquet, living in France, love letter, rural community, rural life, SW France, World War I
5 Comments
Noises Off on a Country Evening
The poor old blog has been sorely neglected of late. The trouble is that there’s this pesky thing called work, a necessary evil that keeps me away from what I really want to do. And it’s nearly always at its … Continue reading
Posted in French life, Nature
Tagged countryside, farming, living in France, rural life, rural noises, summer, SW France, traffic noise
5 Comments
A French Country Upbringing
‘Of course, Occitan was my first language,’ our friend Georgette said. I was sitting next to her at an association lunch today. She has never talked much about her childhood but, once I had started questioning her (no one is … Continue reading
Posted in Customs, History, Personalities, World War I & II
Tagged Claude Michelet, farming, French country life, Occitan, Occitan hymn, rural life, SW France
8 Comments
Original Exhibition at the Abbaye de Beaulieu
I have to admit that contemporary art isn’t always my tasse de thé. However, they do put on some good exhibitions at the Abbaye de Beaulieu, a Cistercian gem a few kilometres away. As well as being an historic monument, … Continue reading
Posted in Personalities, Places
Tagged Abbaye de Beaulieu en Rouergue, Contemporary art, farming, Ginals, rural life, SW France, Virginie Dagault Revel
4 Comments
Bouquet of Barbed Wire
During our weekly walk with our walking group this Wednesday, we were horrified to come upon a cat entangled in a bundle of barbed wire. Fortunately, several walkers’ dogs barking alerted us, otherwise we might have passed by without noticing, … Continue reading
Ticked Off
Before we moved to southwest France I had never seen a tick. They are very unpleasant blood-sucking creatures that make my flesh creep when I think about them. Unfortunately, they are endemic in our neck of the woods and have … Continue reading
Posted in French life, Nature
Tagged farming, Lyme disease, sheep ticks, sheep-farming, SW France
14 Comments
All fêted out
So much has been going on in this area during the past few weeks that I scarcely know where to begin. This is typical summer in rural France. For a couple of months there is a plethora of cultural events, … Continue reading
Posted in Customs, French life, History, Places
Tagged country fêtes, Espinas, farming, Fête des battages, Fenaison à l'ancienne, France, rural life, Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val, social customs, SW France
5 Comments
Deserted French Village
A dilapidated church and some crumbling ruins in the process of restoration are all that is left of the village of Saint-Amans, set in the woods between Caylus and Saint-Antonin. A few mounds of stone hint at the former dwellings … Continue reading
Posted in French life, History, Places
Tagged farming, France, living in France, rural life, Saint-Amans le Vieux, SW France, Templars
12 Comments
Forgotten love letter rediscovered
Sometimes fate works in mysterious ways. In this case, it saved for posterity a wonderful letter that would otherwise have been consigned to the flames with a heap of junk.
Posted in French life, History, Personalities, Places, World War I & II
Tagged Espinas, farming, France, living in France, rural life, SW France, World War I
2 Comments
Goats, grain and gremlins
The gremlins were the weather goblins, who made last weekend a complete washout. Sunday 20th June was a journée du patrimoine, when monuments and places of historic interest open their doors to the public. Despite the weather, or maybe because of … Continue reading
Posted in Food/drink/recipes, French life, Nature, Personalities, Places
Tagged farming, food, France, goats, goats' cheese, living in France, recipes, SW France, watermills
3 Comments
A moo-ving experience: la fête de la transhumance
An adapted version of this post was published in Tiens! Magazine, a webzine about southwest France, in March 2011 along with some of my photos and sound clips. The small town of Aubrac in the eastern Aveyron is subject to an … Continue reading
Posted in Aveyron, Customs, Food/drink/recipes, French life, History, Places
Tagged Aubrac, Aveyron, blogs about France, cows, farming, fete, France, Laguiole, rural life, social customs, transhumance
14 Comments
A small village with a big heart in southwest France
There’s a tiny village in this corner of southwest France called Espinas. Perched on a hilltop amid glorious rolling countryside, it appears to be the typical sleepy French hamlet as you drive through. The dog lying in the road … Continue reading
Posted in Customs, French life, Personalities, Places, Walking in France
Tagged biodiversity, blogs about France, Espinas, farming, fete, France, nature, rural life, Southwest France, tractors
2 Comments
Weather in southwest France: March 2010 update
This is the first in a series of updates which I will post every month, based on the weather statistics we have kept since 1998. To see the other posts please click on ‘Weather’ under the Topics tab in the right-hand sidebar. … Continue reading
Posted in French life, Weather
Tagged blogs about France, breaking news, farming, France, rural life, Weather
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For sale, one careful owner…
A local farmer has hit on a bright idea for getting rid of his unwanted agricultural machinery. Instead of dumping it at the edge of a field to rust away (the normal means of decommissioning dead vehicles and implements) he … Continue reading
Posted in French life
Tagged a vendre, antiques, blogs about France, farmers, farming, for sale, France, tractors
1 Comment
Maybe la chasse isn’t such a bad thing…
Went outside this morning to check on any damage after the 120km/hour tempest last night. Fortunately, nothing to report except a few sticks down. What I did find, though, was that the deer had, yet again, made a meal out … Continue reading
Posted in French life, Rants
Tagged blogs about France, deer, Expat, farming, France, hunting, la chasse, rural life, wild boar
1 Comment
