A Simply Fab Life
What a lovely way to enjoy Christmas? Cozy and warm with candles and a lovely fire, amazing smells emanating from the kitchen and a relaxed vibe. Life is Good!!
It was after 5pm when Rob, Diana and Naomi trundled into town. Bienvenue chers amis!
What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” ~ Dr. Seuss, author of Cat in the Hat
It’s been raining solid for 2 days. I’m not complaining. We’ve had amazing sunny weather, and the land needs rain. But when it stopped today, Patricia and I…
Watching Breaking Bad late into the night and meeting a 90-year-young legend, Patricia’s Mum.
The final DIY touches, decorating for Christmas and a slow-cooked “best dish I’ve made” lamb curry
If this post is a blurred mess, please forgive me. I think we got about half an hour’s sleep last night. Don’t ask me why. Just couldn’t sleep.…
Sounds weird doesn’t it? But it’s not got anything to do with painful cave exploring. It’s cellars along the wine route and stocking up on bread … don’t you love the French?
Gosh, we’re in week 4 of our sabbatical! Time is flying by. And finally we’ve managed to move into Pen’s room and unpack!!
After some DIY at Pen’s place, Marcel joined Victoria in the village to check out the annual Christmas market.
Today’s the day for Patricia. We collect the olive oil that’s been pressed from her grove. It’s rather impressive, the trees yielded 287,5 kgs and after tallying it up, we counted 37,5 litres of olive oil.
Installing a 4-metre Christmas tree into your lounge is a lot easier with more than two hands. Marcel and I lent ours. Even if I say so myself, it all ran very smoothly.
Maggi and Derek have done their very best to recreate an “vieille maison” using Provencal features and techniques, and the result is marvellous!
I adore mirrors. Not because I enjoy spending hours looking into them. But because of reflections are like memories.
Sidsel gave us a tip for the washing machine, Darty. And that you can order online. But we thought we’d go check it out in person.
Last night’s carol service took me back 3 decades to watching my parents sing in Pretoria. One of my proudest moments, they have both got such beautiful voices.…
I froze my socks off. And then my toes defrosted! It turns out that not all socks are equal … the fuzzy socks that I normally sleep in…
I woke up early to get some bookkeeping done. What do you mean it’s Saturday? Really? Patricia collected me around 11 am for our stroll down to the village
There’s nothing like being welcomed by a room flooded with sunlight. And then learning about the death of a beloved World Leader. Even when you want to stop the clock, life insists you carry on.
“Is it 12 o’clock yet?” Marcel was trying to read himself to sleep, and I kept asking until he said yes. “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you,…
Maybe it was all the fresh air, olives and excitement, or maybe it was sheer exhaustion, but I slept like a baby. We woke up late 🙂 Even…
Back in ’99 when Marcel and I first started getting to know each other, we discussed a gazillion things, like the things we’d love to do. On my…
3am and I can’t sleep. Wide awake and thinking about everything and nothing at all. A little blue light on the screen casts a lovely shadow of Marcel…
A sunny Sunday perfect for a day of rest, or vin rouge in the village.
It’s amazing the difference between being a guest and being a caretaker. Don’t think I got a wink of sleep last night.
Our sabbatical in Provence officially begins. We find ourselves settling in to the farmhouse without auntie and uncle, and pinch ourselves again … is this real?
An exhilarating day on the track track trying to get the car floating around the corners.
From the moment the old engines roared to life, to the 3x water landings (and take-offs) to when we returned … you couldn’t wipe the smiles off our faces.
A big adventure doesn’t necessarily mean miles and miles away … it can also be right on your doorstep! After inheriting his father’s boat, Rob and Diana, our…
Our goal was a leisurely stroll through the Jordaan and then to partake in a high tea; the English tradition being surprisingly popular with Dutch ladies.
Since returning from Portugal last year, Muddy Boots developed a rather nasty disposition of break-dancing across the road whilst travelling around 80 km/hour. Also known as the “death…
Karen and Taryn came to Holland over Easter; and that was the tipping point for us to join the Land Rover Club Holland in Germany for a little camping in the snow.
It’s warm in here… no, actually, it’s hot! Like a mini-sauna, but it’s dark and instead of wood; it smells of fresh canvas. I kick off the sleeping…
What kind of sadomasochist goes camping in -11 deg Celcius?! In a tent? And want their nearest and dearest to join them? Nutters, I tell you. The lot…
It was pretty cold and very misty. You could see only 50 meters on the roads and it remained that way, pretty much, all day. Our destination was…
The Dutch kitchen is quite simple: hearty “stamppots” [mash and stew] in Winter and raw herring in Summer. Cheese, on the other hand, is available all year round.…
How crazy do you have to be, to drive 250 kilometers for a few hours of off-roading? Well, if you own a Land Rover (especially in Holland), you’ll…
You’ve seen the photos right? Of people dressed up in long black dresses and funny white bonnets that curve up at the ears? Or holding baskets of tulips…
Could it be true? One more day of warm, golden sunshine? Walking to the bus stop, we’re hopeful, in our summer-to-autumn layers. It’s an early start to get…
With Marcel’s heavy workload our weekend camping plans went astray, so we were planning a quiet weekend at home. “Nothing of the sort!” thought Rob and Diana who…