Frank and Josie's House

Hello lovely people. Firstly I want to say thank you. Thank you to everyone who sent me love and good wishes and encouragement after my last blog post and during the week. Oh there has been much homesickness this week but an emergency box from our friend which was full of English chocolate and biscuits and, of course, tea has seen us through. I’ve been enjoying exploring the markets here. I’ve just devoureda sharon fruit from our market visit this morning. Oh the produce is so yummy. But being 500 miles further south than we used to live has had a few pitfalls. The main one has been melon! I bought a melon the other day and was so pleased with myself. “Yes,” I thought “I’ve managed to get a watermelon out of season. Finn will love me. This will keep the family going for a week.” Little did I know that my slightly distracted head didn’t read the sign saying “melon à la confiture”. Now if I’ve got my French spelling correct it means “melon for making jam”. So imagine my surprise when I c

This is not an easy post to write. I've had a couple of false starts and being open and honest, whilst it's great and what I preach and teach, it's not easy. Some of you will remember from past posts that I suffer with depression and anxiety. It's a fact, a fact I don't like but it's my life. To those who are new to my site then I should tell you I have no medical training whatsoever and my way of dealing with axniety is my personal way. If you need medical help then I suggest you seek it out. If my story helps you then I'm pleased and my heart goes out to you. Helping people is what I love to do. However, solmetimes I find it hard to just help myself. I feel a bit broken. Like my ipad which I managed to drop on our lovely tiled floor the other day and smash the screen to bits. I fear I'm not making much sense so I shall try and explain. This week the kids went to school for the first time since our big move to France. It was hard and the best way I can

Hello there! Well it's been a long time hasn't it? I've been busy as you can imagine. It's been 5 weeks since we moved into our lovely French house and I can't quite believe it! I keep rethinking and recalculating but it's definitely 5 weeks. We are getting to know our way around and learning the dos and don'ts of living in France and there are some pit falls, it can tell you. Sometimes it's language issues and others just being in a different culture. So what have I learnt since living in France?  The French like paperwork - there is a form for everything and then a form for that form or at least that's how it feels. So I've been using my translation app and some people we've met and online resources to help me and make sure I fill in the forms correctly and put the date of birth for the right person in the right box. They like it when you try - I don't speak French, at least not yet. I'm learning but a lesson once a week is noth