Housewarming

Our first housewarming gift from our friends Chris and Scott.  eCloths - they know how anal Jörg is about clean windows.

WHY?????

My two least favorite foods in one jar!

Priorities

Randel has taken over the original sink area as the bar.  It is sure to come in handy...

Projects

Our friends Sacha and Mehmet came from Hannover via Luxembourg and helped with some of the bigger projects around the house.  Sacha trained as an electrician at some point, so was a huge help in rewiring lamps, adding an electrical outlet, and various other projects.

Sunset

Not sure why they started working at night...

Hanging out of the bedroom window to work on the back patio light.

We made a trip to Villabois for supplies and to stop by the Saturday market, which is pretty limited in the winter.

Market run to Villabois

Winter Vegetables

Yes, everyone really does go to the bakery each day for baguettes.

Home Improvement Store

French Fashions Available in the Supermarket

View of Villabois from the Supermarket

Sacha and Jörg got both the back and front outside lights working!

New Back Patio Light!

Rehanging the Light Fixture

In the afternoon, we went over to Audrey's farm for coffee and to see her house and the various projects she has undertaken.  It gave us a lot of good ideas of what can be done and how much work goes into different things.

View from Audrey's Kitchen

The extension to the right in the picture below was formerly a barn, open on one side, and is now the kitchen and laundry room.  At one point they slept in tents in the barn while they were working on the other part of the  house.

Audrey's House

Swing

Barn Roof

Chickens - I feel like I'm on Green Acres!

Grapevines

La Porcherie

Luke's piece of galette had the figurine, so he was King for the day.

Der Zweite Weihnachstag

So 2nd Christmas is a thing in Germany and Jörg's father drove down to spend it with us.  

Jörg Opening Presents

Bûche de Noël (Christmas Log Cake) from our Local Bakery

Randel's Favorite Gift - A 1950's German Typewriter from Schwager Jens

Jörg's Favorite Gift - Oma Klebsch's China

Putting the China to Use

More History

Then

Now

Mardi Gras Parade in Front of our House 1905

Children Displaying a Fox in Front of our House

Work Day

We actually had some sunshine today, so it was time to do some yard work.

The view from the back bedroom this morning.

Someone was a little too happy to be using the ax.

Chopping wood

Before

After

Our First Visitor

Our German Clothes Dryer

I never thought I would own a pair of these!

History

Jörg and I are both intrigued by history and one of the things we would like to do is eventually research when our house was built and what life was like previously in the village.  We are told to start at the Marie, but they are closed through the 31st (this also means we can't get any recycling bags until then).

At any rate, Jörg was looking around on the internet and came across a couple of photos of the village from the 1880's, including one that pictures our house.

Vendoire 1880 - The Hotel is the building labeled "bar" below

This complex is for sale - anyone want to own an old bar/hotel in a quiet farming village?

Our Street 1880 - We are the second house on the left.

Our Street Today

Christmas

Christmas was low-key this year, but we did pick up a box of ornaments at Ikea and Jörg got a small tree (bush?).

Randel Stringing Lights (as usual)

Our Tree

Christmas Eve Dinner

Village Christmas Tree Just Before Dawn

Jörg in the Window

Church in Bardenac

Church Doors - Bardenac

Audrey had arranged for a group of 12 of us to have Christmas lunch in Bardenac, about 40 minutes from Vendoire.  The restaurant was full and probably about 80% of the guests were British.  They served a family style set menu over 3.5 hours, from which we are still recovering.

1. Pumpkin Soup
2. Lobster Tail
3. Pâté 
4. Wild Boar Stew
5. Baked Chicken, Apples, and Chestnuts
6. Salad
7. Cheese
8. Bûche de Noël (Christmas log desserts)
9. Coffee and Chocolate

They sure know how to eat in France!