What has brightened my day today…???
Being given some money during my last family visit of the season to buy some decent snow boots so I can ditch the pair of broken wellies I have worn outback for almost 4 years…
Then discovering that not only have I been able to buy TWO pairs of faux fur lined snow boots reduced in a sale …I’ve also been able to buy 3 x 20 litres of paraffin which is now decanted into much more manageable 5 litre containers and stashed in my barn ready for winter…x 
My neighbour has an empty house on the same side of the road as mine. She recently had the floors removed due to flooding last year.
I salvaged 3 cube of highly burnable timber this afternoon ; which nearly filled my van. It’s now stacked outside, ready to be cut into usable 500mm lengths.
Winter feels warmer already.
Getting our internet (and phone) back after a couple of weeks, fallen tree in the forest had broken the cable. Lots to catch up …
RAIN! Glorious buckets full!!
How dumb was_I !!¡, to pressure my brain into rain ‘harvesting’…I mean…wot? More plumbing …but plastic?
Now, all I need do is fill up my 5 litre water bottles, straight from the catcher dustbin, as rain cascades down, thru. the hole in my guttering.
I can count the Euros saved, I’ve got about 25 es worth today. I can binge it!
The caff in the village!
Food on a plate!
A visit just now from two French gentlemen bearing the gift of a bunch of carrots…
I give them my apples every year of many varieties from my sprawling knobbly apple trees and the harvest gets turned into calvados and cider…
They speak a little English and My French felt a little better this year and he was asking if my petrol strimmer and my electric strimmer were French or English…I told him they were both French and from the Bricolage…
Got lots of hugs and kisses anyway as they left…
Nice looking carrots. I like them raw and preferably unwashed. A bit like Napoleon Bonaparte reputedly liked his oats…
Lots of lovely walnuts from our garden and when I went and looked at the pond/waterhole at the bottom of the garden three frogs jumped in the water. Great that the snakes I have seen swimming in there recently haven’t eaten all the frogs!
Yes I’m thinking I might make some homemade coleslaw with a couple of them and maybe add some Dijon mustard…
One of the gents was telling me his sister had recently been admitted to emergency and diagnosed with brain cancer…when language is inadequate only Hugs will do…
I never see any frogs near here, and I miss them. Plenty of water here but it all runs down the steep valley side into the Sée.
I suppose it’s easier for the frogs to jump down to the river than to jump back up, as the banks are steep.
Never see a toad either. It’s a frog-free, toad-free zone! 
My walnut tree has only a third of the walnuts compared to previous years and they have been really slow to open and slow to drop from the upper branches…
Last year I gave loads to my next door neighbours who love them and just kept a bowlful for me…
This year I’ve given my next door neighbours all of them as they give me tomatoes and cucumbers and lettices and parsley and leeks and potatoes and onions throughout the year…
We have a few frog’s/toad’s visit, but we can certainly hear them 
The one’s here sound more like ducks,we call them fruks 
I got a happy little boost this morning when I saw my beloved tapestry of a 17th-century world map hanging on my salon wall. I’m renting a house until I find one to buy and clearly don’t want to pound a bunch of 6in nails into the walls to secure artwork. Luckily, I discovered adhesive hooks made by 3M that allegedly can be removed without damaging the wall surface. By amazing (to me) coincidence, Lidl will be selling them for about half price from Monday. I’ll be there.
It was yesterday (hope that’s OK) - walked one of our dogs up the lane and saw three deer foraging in the freshly harvested maize field opposite.
They were a fair way off and saw us but the wind was blowing left-to-right so our scent didn’t carry. Neither did their scent reach my ex-hunter hound, luckily - she makes a hell of a racket when she smells wildlife ‘on the hoof’.
My wife has cooked me baked cheesecake and therefore day has been well and truly brightened
And when things couldn’t get any better there is a meringue getting cooked also = happy days!
Always a day brightener… Ebike ride to my favourite caff, for shopping, a cappuccino (instant) and sometimes a catch up, on what might be happening, or not, in UK. Two good, highway pals, Fr. and Uk. Just back from London. Told me their view…interesting…I suppose not unlike life in 18 th cent. Countryside… Only travellers, brought news. No need to hear any of it.
Back on my bike with… GARLIC! (2 tiny bits, very expensive stuff!..), big local eggs, and pain, 25% off, red plonk, more beanz, and cocoa. 
Found some Autumn Ladies Tresses (Spiranthes Spiralis) orchids this afternoon, goodness knows how many years they have been attempting to grow here and been mown down every year - but now we are not using a mower, only an Austrian Scythe so its easy to spot the wildflowers (and frogs, toads, etc) and spare them all.
The daughters and I will be particularly cosy this winter because I have just been to my local friperie solidaire (which helps people looking for jobs to acquire skills while running a business) and came away with 5 100% cashmere jerseys - in perfect condition - for not even the price of one.
