Here at Chez TêteBlanche, we’re now into our fourth week of coronavirus lockdown, and although life has not really changed that much for us here in the quiet countryside, it’s still very surreal and I guess it’s the speed of it all which I find the most difficult to get my head around. Little did we know what 2020 had in store for us when the clock chimed midnight on 31st December and the world began a new year full of hope and promise.
Before I give you a long-overdue update of what happened to us in 2019, I just wanted to reassure any family and friends reading this that for the moment, we’re all doing fine here and we’re putting our confinement to good use by spending an awful lot of time in the garden.
For us, 2019 was a year already marred by health problems, not to mention spiralling dental costs which were funded by extremely stressful jobs. Last summer, big decisions were made. Pete quit his demoralising, full-time job to start a new contract elsewhere, and at the end of the school year, I finally admitted that teaching in a school environment was definitely not for me. I was coming home every day feeling like all my soul and energy had been sucked out of me from a group of young kids who didn’t see any interest in learning English. To continue in this particular profession of secondary school teaching would have been a complete waste of my time.
The last few months of the school year were pretty miserable to say the least, but I stuck with it, so as not to let down the few students who did care just before their baccaulaureat exams…and, to set aside funds to pay for unavoidable dental treatment to a specialist dentist in Toulouse, which was 100% non-reimbursable by the French healthcare regime. I kept a well-paid job for nine months but sadly, we didn’t get to see much of it. The more money you have, the more you spend, it is an undeniable fact of life and sadly, for the majority of people, once they get the taste for money, their sole purpose in life becomes this thirst for earning more and more of it, to buy more and more ‘things’. Not me! I prefer to follow the principle that money can’t buy you happiness, needless to say I never intend to step foot in a classroom ever again, no matter what they pay me!
In the autumn, I was, however, lucky enough to be given an opportunity to teach adults professionally, which I really enjoyed. The big difference being, of course, that these mature students were actually there to learn. That contract has since ended but I intend to keep on the professional adult teaching path and I am hoping to start up online lessons later this year, when fibre optic internet finally reaches our long-forgotten commune. What better way to reduce one’s carbon footprint than teaching English from home? A nod to fellow blogger, Eddy Winko for his suggestion last year! If there was ever a time when online lessons were needed, it’s now. I have done a couple of trial lessons via Skype during confinement, but the connection wasn’t great. Best not to rush things until you have the right equipment!
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Eager to prove to myself that last year wasn’t a complete write-off, scrolling through my online collection of 2019 photographs affirms that it wasn’t that bad after all. We had an incredibly hot summer and we spent a lot of time with the kids in the swimming pool in the garden, which reached a staggering 33°c in peak summer! But before we could assemble it, Pete and I first had to prepare a flat surface on our sloping land, which was no mean feat:
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- I removed the grass layer from the top
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- And tried to make it reasonably flat
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- Putting spare wall insulation to good use
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- Held together with duct tape!
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- It only just fit
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- Easy peasy
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- Pump connected
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- And voila, a pool with a view!
Pete started and finished renovating Alexander’s bedroom, which began life as dark attic space, evidently used by the previous owners for drying sausages:
In July, we hosted two birthday parties: a pink flamingo tea party for Madeleine’s 9th and a football party for Alexander’s 7th.
August was probably our busiest month. Pete and I signed up for a week’s watercolour workshop in Montbazens, where we were taught the basics by artist, Nicole Boulet. It’s amazing what you can achieve with a good teacher:
And we took the kids camping in nearby Najac, where we found a nice spot by the river. You really don’t need to go miles away to experience a change of scenery. In fact, we were so impressed, we took the train back there in October to visit the beautiful chateau. It was only a 10-minute train journey from Villefranche-de-Rouergue but it meant the world to Alexander as, at 7 years old, it was his very first train journey!
The vegetable garden was a huge success, in spite of the hot weather. Our tomato harvest surpassed all expectations. We had 36 tomato plants with a variety of huge coeur de boeuf and tiny, sweet cherry toms. We were collecting an average of 3 kilos a day through the late summer months and although at the time it seemed to be a chore to cook them down on a daily basis, we are still reaping the rewards with a freezer full of ready-to-go pizza sauces, passatas and soups.
We failed miserably with our carrots. It just wasn’t to be last year, but we had a promising harvest of potatoes, courgettes, peppers, cucumbers and aubergines.
In December, we surprised the kids with a trip to the Chinese Lantern festival in Gaillac. Alexander was particularly impressed with the dinosaur exhibition.
Of course, we had plenty of visits from family and friends, which shouldn’t go unmentioned. Now that we are confined to our home, without even family authorised to visit, we can really appreciate the efforts made last year by our nearest and dearest to come and see us in person.
For now, we will have to make do with the best messaging and video apps technology has to offer, but it’s really great to keep in touch, especially during these particular times of late. Stay safe everyone!
From Creation to ReCreation 