House-sitting in the vineyards

Hello and welcome to the latest blog from The Olivia Rose Diaries on 16^th January 2025.

We’re house-sitting again, looking after two dogs, a springer and a Labrador, both full of affection, to the point that they follow us everywhere we go, including the loo unless you are very quick to close the door.

This house-sit is a short one, just a week, but it’s only a couple of hours drive from home, situated amongst the vineyards of the Bordeaux region and the renowned Agen plum orchards. We did consider cycling here, but organised a hire car instead. The weather is too unpredictable in January. We made the right decision as we arrived in the pouring rain and the next day the temperatures plummeted, falling as low as minus 7 at night for much of the week,  struggling to get above freezing during the day. We haven’t had weather this cold for a long time and it was a shock to the system. A few degrees below freezing is perfectly normal in winter but the severity of those few extra degrees take it to a different level. Or perhaps we’ve just become southern softies. Whatever the reason, venturing outside was a tedious process of piling on the layers, topped off with hats, scarves and gloves, and waddling about like Michelin man. With a chill wind slicing the skin off my cheeks it was an endurance test, despite the fact that it looked beautiful.

We did a bit of exploring in the car, a trip to the excellent market at St Foy la Grande, a walk around Duras with its chateau, closed for winter, and Eymet, which claims to be home to the largest number of ex-pats in the country, with around 25% of people there being British. It’s a very pretty town, but it also was firmly in winter mode, with shops opening only around the weekend, or not at all, and many of the owners taking time out to go on holiday. I am very fond of the sleepy nature of much of rural France, but there are times when it crosses the line from drowsy to comatose. As we wandered the deserted streets I had the uncomfortable feeling that the world had come to an end during the night and we were the only two people left alive.

As a result of the weather and the ‘nothing going on’ vibe of our excursions we retreated inside the thick stone walls of our temporary home and used the time as a retreat, an opportunity to indulge  creativity art for arts sake. I have decided that I am going to begin writing a novel and, more importantly, actually finish writing a novel. I have three previous books relegated to the bottom of a cupboard somewhere, thrown there in disgust as my plots led me up dead-ends or my characters just seemed too dull, but I am determined that this fourth one is not going to end up in the same place. Those first attempts were written more than ten years ago and both I and my writing have moved on since then. My last six books, all non-fiction, were each written to a tight deadline, one a year, and I have deliberately decided this one has no deadline, no pressure and it will be finished when it feels finished. As a result I am enjoying it immensely and if it never sells a single copy, it won’t matter.

I’m also teaching myself to draw, and getting splendid results for a six year old – definitely not for public consumption!

Michael has been putting the time to even better use in the kitchen, making the most of the fact that we have an oven. We bought a free range chicken from the market at huge expense and got three good meals from it plus stock for a soup. And then there is home-made apple crumble…. and custard…..

We head home today and the weather is due to get warmer, reaching balmy highs of 12 degrees next week, which by comparison will feel heavenly. I have enjoyed our time of hibernation, but that’s quite enough winter for me!!

MJ