Hello there, greetings from the south-western corner of France! I’ve been here in the mountains since July with husband and Hogy, our terrier, our longest ever stay. After two years of not being able to visit, the house and garden needed a lot of attention 😨😫 but we got there in the end!
Right now am lying in bed listening to the occasional chirps of a magpie watching the clouds lift from the mountains, which surround the house. All three of us are recovering from a gruelling walk yesterday – it was cloudy so couldn’t get into the high mountains but even so got to around 3000 feet.
I have been working hard on a short story prequel to Silenced – just finished 😅 (it will be available shortly, details soon). I’ve also been busy writing the first draft of Book 5 and replying to emails from Hobeck Books about the Silenced audiobook, video trailer, book cover and so on – somewhat complicated by the fact that there’s no WiFi in the house (no service available anymore) so I have to take my laptop into the nearby town to send an email.
I’m enjoying the peace and beauty of this place very much, especially when the sun appears and you can see the distant mountain peaks. The slower pace of life also seems to be helping my sleep – for a change I have no problem getting enough 😴 despite the two sets of church bells.
The only thing to distinguish one day from the next is the Saturday market – everyone is very COVID aware, wearing masks even outside. (There have been very few cases here apparently.)
We have no tv and useless radio reception due to the nearby mountain so my husband et moi et chien often spend the evenings listening to an Ian Rankin crime novel In the House of Lies in our converted barn – great acoustics and a different (mostly very enjoyable unless they fall asleep) experience listening to an audiobook with someone else.
We’ve had a soirée with our new neighbours in their garden and Mr E has been getting reacquainted with the villagers (he knows almost everyone it seems). My French has been improving too though is still lacking in many ways… 15 August was the fete national fireworks (on Sunday night at 11pm just as we were falling asleep 🙄). Cinema tonight, a rare treat!
Better get up, more cleaning to do and the sun is coming out again…
A bientot
Jennie Ensor's Author Website 
It looks absolutely gorgeous, Jennie, with those amazing views too!
It’s a big change from life in a busy part of London! I am eating too much cheese (&🫕 wine!)
I’m sure it is! I’ve been very naughty, having too much wine since the first lockdown…cheers 😉🍷