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Hello! I'm swapping to Instagram for a while. You can find me here. 

Speckled egg

Mum is here (thank goodness) and she has been painting with the kids.....it was supposed to be mostly on the paper but this one seems to have ended up with rather a lot on her face.

It was lovely Bou's 8th birthday too.

Last chance for summer 2014!

Super busy here! The five cottages are fully booked with lots of happy guests.

There is just one week left in our one bedroom cottage from Saturday 23rd August -Saturday 30th August reduced to £550 for week. So if you fancy a last blast of some french summer sunshine then head over to our Owners Direct page with details of how to get in touch.

Schools out......

I'm not going to lie, last week was emotional.....yes.....stressful....yes....long days.....yes.....hard work....most definitely yes.

Next week it all gets easier (that's the plan) and hopefully a bit more fun for the kids being the second week of the summer holidays. We have friends coming over, a day to the beach planned and hopefully and slower pace and a little bit less stress in my general direction.

Anyway, we did do a few nice things this week-

Apricot cake (sugar free) was baked.

I learnt that a green ink pad + a 3 year old + wishful thinking that he was being good in the playroom =

Apparently he's a dinosaur just incase you didn't know.

I bought this wilderbeast head from a brocante. Its huge and I had to walk for a long way back to the car with it but I think its great...

The kids made a beetle/snail 'hotel' in the garden

Teacher presents

The night before the last day of school it suddenly dawned on me that I had prepared nothing for thankyou presents for the girls teachers and lunch ladies. Nothing. It was past 7pm so all shops were definitely closed here in France. Thankfully, I keep a little stash if home made bits in a box. The teachers ended up with pretty fabric key holders, rosemary hand cream, piña colada lip balm (well why not? It was for the young arty teacher) honey from the bees and cards drawn by the girls. We were literally still putting it all together as we ate our cereal but mission accomplished.....

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cake

I made a Chocolate and Peanut Butter cake from the I Quit Sugar website. You can find the recipe here if you want to give it a go.

I have to admit the kids weren't convinced as it's quite bitter and obviously no sugar but I still think it tastes nice with a cup of tea. Summer holidays are looming......Friday is the last day!

In the garden

First lot of raspberries picked from the garden. A pretty good haul considering just how dry it's been for the last 6 weeks.

I think they will go very well with my homemade yoghurt. The girls certainly seem to enjoy a bowl with honey. Now that I'm trying to be sugar free most if the time (it's been about 10 weeks) normal yoghurts are out of the question as they are loaded with the white stuff or sweetners. If I make my own then I know for sure......

And these photos just because he's so funny - this is what bug hunting in the garden looks like....