England, longboats, reunions, cocktails, love and laughter I returned home yesterday afternoon from a week long visit to England staying with my sister and her husband on their longboat on the river Thames. Firstly I have never been on a … Continue reading Family – the people who know you best

3 June 2019 I have added a star rating system to the articles hoping they may encourage some feedback and possibly assistance to others visiting the site.Thank you for you support and interest Continue reading New Star Ratings

31 May 2019 Becoming ‘un bénévole’ I have made the aquaintance of an English couple who are both artists and live close to my house. I have got to know Audrey better recently and she mentioned a presentation at the … Continue reading Struggling with motivation, ‘retirementʼ and other aspects of living alone

7 May 2019 The long awaited visit finally arrived last Thursday evening. I got to Limoges airport around 5pm in plenty of time to get my 6pm flight to Stansted, which took off almost 30 minutes late. Not really what … Continue reading A brief but wonderful visit

Those terrible feelings that haunted me before are gone forever. Nothing to feel bad or guilty about, nothing to hide or be ashamed of and I am not betraying or hurting anyone Continue reading How easily we can forget the past

2 April 2019 Filling my shoes pictured above is simple task in the basic sense. Living the life I want is a little more complex. It’s April 1st today as I begin typing. The clocks have moved forward one hour … Continue reading What you want and what you get in life?

2 March 2019 As I begin this entry it’s close to the end of the month and the weather has been amazing. I’ve had BBQ’s on my terrace and I’ve caught the sun too. I can’t recall ever managing to … Continue reading The ups and downs

So February has arrived. The sun is shinning through my kitchen window and the time is 5.25pm on the first day of the month. It’s hard to imagine how awful the weather has been while sitting in the glow of … Continue reading 94kmph winds, rain and long nights – it could be worse!

Maybe it’s curiosity or a need to know that brings you to my site. The reason isn’t important. It’s encouraging enough that you find it worth a moment of your time. Time is a perhaps one of the most valueable … Continue reading Who are you?

The thought that this was a possibilty had ocurred to me recently and changed the direction I was heading towards at the start of this year. Discovering that I didn’t cope so well alone over the festive season and having … Continue reading A dream come true

December 28th and we are in the closing days of 2018 and heading towards a New Year – 2019. It has been a landmark year for me in so many repects which leaves me feeling that it’s been a very … Continue reading The end and the beginning

I hadn’t slept very well during the night and woke at 4am. 30 minutes later I decided to get out of bed. Once I had orientated myself and fed the cats, I made a light breakfast and sat with a … Continue reading It’s Monday

Here we are approaching Christmas of 2018 and I will be staying here in France. As yet I haven’t been invited anywhere, although I have invited someone for Christmas lunch. John the elderly gentleman whose wife died recently. He is … Continue reading The festive season has begun along with cold nights, cuddly cats and hospital

Today I have reached the age of 66 years old and I’ve had a thought in my head that keeps bouncing about lately. How did I manage to get through life for so long not being Sophie? I guess that … Continue reading Being philosophical

It’s the last Sunday in October and the cranes are departing France in their annual flight to warmer southern climates and can be seen in long V shaped flocks in the sky. Often you can hear their calls during the … Continue reading A new phase

October 6th: It has been a year to the day since I moved into my quirky but beautiful old house. And the past three days have been just so full of love happiness that I am extremely happy today even … Continue reading The anniversary of my first year in Bellac

My decorating has taken a set back. I had to finally admit to a damp problem in the wall, which has now been opened up as shown above. All is made clear as you read on. Today, 19th September was … Continue reading Life is never what you expect

The month of August has arrived – the summer is flying past at speed! It’s only a couple of months and then I will have been living in my house and as Sophie for a full year. What a year … Continue reading Metamorphosis

This piece was written for a website and community where I had been a member, ambassador and editor. Sometimes the process of writing about my life has a more powerful effect on me directly. I think this was one of … Continue reading Am I destined to a life alone?

It’s the 14th of July, Bastille Day in France and a day of celebrations throughout the country, much of which started last night. As I arrived back in Bellac at just past 11pm yesterday, I saw fireworks above the rooftops … Continue reading Summer is hotting up rapidly

On this very hot last Saturday morning of June, while driving to work along a country road surrounded by greenery and blue sky, I became quite emotional while listening to some music. It wasn’t the music but where my mind … Continue reading Becoming a free spirit

This is an open letter to all those who have known me from earlier in my life and have become aware of this site. Although this site is public, I have given the site address to certain people in my … Continue reading You may have thought you knew me

Did I say that things had slowed down – oh contraire! Almost halfway into the year and so much has happened this year. Here I am at 9pm on a Monday evening, a nice glass of a 2015 Bordeaux and … Continue reading 140 days into 2018…

…maybe that’s a good thing but I am feeling a little frustrated right now. The start to March has been full of administrative things. Changing so many of my accounts and registrations. From my driving licence to my social security … Continue reading Have things slowed down?

Today was not going to be just any other day and I’ve already written about how much has happened this month It’s the early evening of the 28th here. The snow has begun to fall and settle across the valley … Continue reading February ends with love and happiness

The 14th of February and I am packing things for my long drive tomorrow for a meeting that I hope will prove to be the start of transition in a life that I am need of and am striving for … Continue reading The gateway to my future?

I didn’t expect to begin writing the next chapter here for some while, but life is full of surprises, so here am I again on February 1st. Since Christmas I have had a cold, what I think may have been … Continue reading February – recovery, decisions, reconnections and exercise

The New Year has passed and 2018 is getting underway. The weather has not been so cold as expected but very wet and windy. Life is settling into a kind of routine now and I am making efforts to rebuild … Continue reading My oldest and dearest friend meets Sophie

Sitting by my window looking out over the valley on this wet and windy December morning, I am thinking of how far I have come in one year and how much my life has changed – and for the better. … Continue reading One year on – 2018

Once a year this time arrives for us all, but this year is a special one. I can now actually take full retirement. However, I am not quite sure that is going to happen. I have never thought that I … Continue reading The week of my birthday

The main photo is the sunset that I see each night from my new home Wow!  I have to start this piece by saying how incredible a period of time it has been since the last post. As you know … Continue reading New house, new beginnings, a new life

So, here we are. My offer to buy a house has been accepted with the commitment to buy, documents signed on the Friday afternoon. Saturday afternoon, the signing of final documents for the sale and subsequent payment of my old … Continue reading The weekend before moving and Sophie’s first day of working

17 September 2017 The main photo is a view from the house I am interested in buying – and although it’s hard to tell from the image, the garden is generally Southerly facing and located in the picturesque old part … Continue reading Synergy… I hope that is what I experenced!

No. this is not about me having a manicure, but a reminder of my guests’ nails when we enjoyed a very memorable evening. I am also aware that it’s been a while since I posted an update. But I have … Continue reading I never thought it would be possible now!

Not surprisingly, I believe that I have managed to put my foot on the brakes pretty hard to get back control of my life again! I have made a real effort to slow things down. And if you have been … Continue reading Feeling good about the future

Work is at a peak with the summer season in full force. The busiest weekend so far with 150+ covers in two evenings. 9 hours and resting in between shifts as had been coerced onto doing  a logo design for … Continue reading Packing, rehearsing and trying to rest…. so tired – the wake up call!

Wow – what an exciting and great day I had yesterday!!! This is just a quick update as I need to do so much at home with packing and it’s my last full day at home before my busy weekend … Continue reading Have I found a house?

Home again after a hard and longer working weekend. But oh my, how exciting is life becoming? The main photo show my early morning efforts at applying makeup. considering how tired I was it is quite amazing that it went … Continue reading Looking for a house – excitement and anxiety

Well it’s happened at long last! The house was sold over the weekend. I just need to see that all the initial paperwork goes through before it’s a solid deal. But a Parisian family who were quite taken with the … Continue reading Mission “Sophie”

  This is going to be mainly a pictorial post. I have bought some summer clothes and shoes and still have a few things yet to arrive. My underwear is not for viewing – giggle. But I am happy to … Continue reading Shopping – it must slow down now

I took the above photo was taken to help me decide what I should wear on my day out and I have no makeup at all. Yesterday was my first day of rest from work this week and I had … Continue reading 11 more weeks…

Well I am back in the thick of it again – working in a kitchen and finding it harder this time around. Mostly nine hour days or more and we are not even in the peak season yet! I won’t … Continue reading Finding a balance between needs and happiness

Here are couple of recent songs I wrote and recorded on my phone at home. They are not in a finished state as these are recorded to save my ideas and structure of the songs for re-working later when I … Continue reading My musical and creative side

I am only just at the beginning of my summer work, but I felt that I wanted to write about something that happened on my days off this week. It has got me into a nicer place in my life … Continue reading Summer work begins, but nice things happen too…

April has been a cold month here in France, but also with a few beautiful sunny days. I made full use of those days by catching a little bit of a tan too. Also, a 10 day trip to the … Continue reading April, what a fully loaded month!

How happy I am to see more sun and get to enjoy being out in my garden again. I have even caught a little bit of a tan too. Every month appears to hold something in store… …and April has … Continue reading The arrival of spring and more…

It’s the 3rd of April today and it started quite well as days go. A new month and a little money in the bank, so time to restock provisions. I am wearing a new black and white dress with new … Continue reading A day of revelation and tears

My thoughts for the day… As long as I can remember I have searched within myself and sought information to help me calm the inner conflict within myself and to understand why I am different to the people that have … Continue reading Loving yourself completely