My French Carrot: a House in France

This pituresque well is conviently located outside our front door - some plumbing would be a desirable addition*.

April 30 has passed and I still haven't received the house plans to submit to the local mairie. The charm of living in a 18th century house will definitely lose its appeal if I have to also live like an 18th century woman! I need a French carrot to help keep me afloat at work - if only something were happening at  My French Folly. 

Midlife is a curious state - on the one hand I have become more pragmatic and philosphical and on the other,  less tolerant to specific behaviours.  There appears to be peripheral rot that is creeping into my profession. ……friendship cliques within the staff (it is not what you know, it is who you know) ……… the increasing popular belief that the universe is centred around individuals who are not responsible for their own decisions or actions, if they don't have the desired outcomes. 

I acknowledge that it is the 80% - 20% principle, and in reality it is more like 98% of those whom I deal with are fine and the other 2% cause grief, but some how the trouble they generate makes it feel as if the ratio is reversed.  However,  in general I love my career and the community in which I work …... it is just that I don’t bounce back from negative incidents very easily in my "middle" years. I have a dream, a miniscule budget to make My French Folly habitable and midlife hormonal mayhem.....

* Photograph of our house by D Laurent

Mother's' Day

"Who, being loved, is poor?"          Oscar Wilde

Mother's day is a day for the gathering of the clan and to count my blessings. 
The older I get, the more grateful I am for the simple things in life - and the greater my intolerance of screaming children, particularly those who are spoilt. By the time I am a grandmother, all of my patience with children will have been eroded away – unfortunately I will probably be known as Grandma Grump and be given "wide berth" on Mother's Day.

"All that I am. or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother". Abraham Lincoln .......I just wish that I had inherited a touch more of Mother's characteristics.  My mother was an inspirational woman whom I understand and appreciate even more with the passing of time. I miss her laughter, wisdom, patience, kindness, infectious energy and mischievous sense of humour

"Mothers are all slightly insane."          J.D. Salinger

There is no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one".  Jill  Churchill.......Yes, Mother's Day is another occasion to reflect upon life.

Perhaps it was with envy that Oscar Wilde said : "All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his."