Tell me, what projects or goals are you working on?

I see so many new members joining SFN all the time, I'm always intrigued as to what your daily lives are like.

What are you working on at the moment, are you retired, employed, self-emlployed, learning a new skill, building an incredible garden, working your way though the best restaurants you can find, launching a new business?!

What are you doing at the moment, what gets you out of bed in the morning?

What gets me out of bed - the threat of missing the school bus if I don't.

What am I working on? Currently my time management skills. It's become so I'm working every weekend so no "me" time, no "kid" time, literally scheduling when to cut the grass or chainsaw wood around work assignments. Ain't the life I had planned. All work, no play, low pay. I want to enjoy France.

I'm near the end of the major phase of our winemakers house renovation, tiling began yesterday in our new kitchen living area (formerly wine cave with press and cuve) and I'm so pleased that after buying the house in 2011 we finally will be moving in soon (after three years in rented accommodation same village).

I also have launched a school vegetable garden and started trying to convert our builders yard (aka trashed garden) into a garden for the kids to play in and for us to grow our own fruit and veg. I planted tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries and kiwis a week ago. Not sure what to plant next...any ideas?

Pomegranates. And I love the school vegetable garden. They did something similar at Twerp's school and all the kids really got into it.

School veggie garden sounds like a great idea Suz. And yes, Val time management is key. Says she who is always like a headless chicken....

I'm currently trying to develop new parts of my teaching business so that I don't have to spend quite so many hours in the car!

With a friend we are in the process of setting up a private dining club in maubourgeut. It will be members only offering monthly gourmet dinner evenings, cooking classes and demonstrations. Basically anything to do with furthering members knowledge on food will be offered. The papers are in with the authorities so we are hoping to launch sometime in may

Well that sounds just up my street!

I Like the club idea....the every changing and so different from a restaurant. Could you tell me something about the legal requirements etc. My fav chef in London woould comeover to give the occassional cooking class....or cook in....but I would have to pay him fairly well. It would be an adventure for him as he has a need to learn about French pastry work.He is master of modern Indian

Cuisine and his dishes are light and delicious.

I have also found a Thai chef and she cooks well.

Great to hear that other people can find interesting was with cusisine.

I wish you the best of luck......exciting!

something wrong with the "edit" so could not correct my typos!

Well seeing as you asked :D:

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If anyone knows any women who fought in the Resistance, I'd be very grateful to have a chat with you.

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Well done you, it's so satisfying when the last pieces of the jigsaw fit in place. Enjoy your finished home...in as much as they are ever finished. Try growing broad beans, they do well here. Lovely in a salad when they are small and freshly picked. Other clues to be found at the plant stall in your local market...they know what does best in these conditions.

What gets me out of bed in the morning is two pups we have had, at 3 months old they start about 6.30 wanting to go out, take a cup of tea to my wife who is still in bed ,then its feed the goats and chickens feed the older dogs feed myself. Then i can start work on the garden and house cutting and stacking wood, after checking email of course

I believe that to get a liscense 4 for a restaurant or similar it means a stage near Agen

with some coverage on liscening laws, hygene etc.

Had an examination in UK for this with an exam but....it has to be done here in French.

Cost 1000 euros ....approx.

Thank you for your comments set up is fairly easy you have to register clubs name and prospectus with local prefecture then wait for his approval. Lots of s mall hoops to jump through but we are almost there

We don’t sit still for long in the Robins’ household either; always a project on the go!

Sam is still busy renovating our house and running the small gite but we are looking to expand. We were searching for a house in the same village but when we found the one we wanted, it wasn't just a house. It came attached to a large industrial property!

So, we've signed a first contract to buy the historic Tannerie in Trie-Chateau, that was otherwise at risk of demolition and launched crowd-funding (via HelloMerci) to try to raise the investment needed to save it, renovate it and eventually develop a real project for the population of Trie and the surrounding area.

We will start with renting the rooms in the house, then the industrial parts and finally reinvest to get ERP 3 status and transform it into a dépôt-vente and cultural / arts centre (courses, exhibitions, support for vulnerable and isolated people). Sam will manage it, however, he won’t take a salary for the first 2-3 years until all our investors have been reimbursed, so pocket money from other projects such as brocantes and selling organic veggie baskets will have to keep coming in.

The project combines historic interest, architectural protection, support for small business and a rural community. We'd be really grateful if you could spread the word! And the link to the page is here: https://www.hellomerci.com/fr/projects/la-tannerie-a-trie-chateau.

For investments of €200 or above, we are offering a free stay in the gîte. For larger investments (over €1,000), we are also offering 2% interest.

I love to hear about people who do not sit still!

Good luck with your project.

Fascinating to hear what others are doing. My other half and I yearn to live in France together (I am here on my own). We are on the first rung having bought a place in Amboise. I am self-sufficient (teacher's pension) Mark is not of retirement age. He has decided to save enough to pay rent on his flat in the UK for six months, then chuck in the well paid but extremely stressful (not 9-5 more like 04.00 to 21.00) job, come over and throw everything at launching his own business www.photographfrance.com. When he gets here we will do a video for YouTube. If money gets frighteningly tight he will go back to the UK and do contract work. I am writing a booklet Leonardo da Vinci: The Amboise Connection (Mark will illustrate) hoping to sell it to tourists. There is very little in English here. We do a Blogzine together about our French experiences www.roytrs.com.

Thank you Barbara!

Sounds like a very good idea.

What gets me up in the morning - the 06h30 alarm so I'm in the shop, up and running and open for 07h30.

My project for today is wrapping up my 6 oil paintings to take to the Parc Floral in Paris where they will be shown with lots of other artists.Its the first time I've exhibited.Then I have to do a few more oils to have some new stuff for the Artists Open Day at end of May. Pamela,I looked at your blog,read the bit on your experience at the Manet exhibition,surprised you write that showing some works,unfinished pieces etc is a rip off. Those are the most interesting works,seeing how he painted and messed up is fascinating,I wouldn't want to see just his finished 'masterpieces' at such an exhibition,they can be seen in regular museums.

Brilliant news, Suzy. I'm excited for you. Congratulations.