Spring Fever

Spring has now sprung - at least for the present. Blue skies, sometime morning light frosts, birds looking at their very best as they continue to eat us out of our stocks of bird-food (mostly large sacks of loose peanuts brought from the UK as this particular bird-feed isn't available here in bulk). Snowdrops have been around for some weeks already and crocuses are in the grass.

We went to the 'Moulin de Lavergne' country-restaurant for last Sunday-lunch; haven't been for ages. Jeff-the-chef produced fantastic cuisine as ever - a four course menu (as usual) for 24 euros of a standard that deserves more recognition. Yet, he's struggling, like many, many enterprises, people are cutting back on inessential spending and, in fact, his business has been falling ever since the 'smoking ban' of over a year ago. He built a small terrace outside last spring, to try to alleviate some of the 'side effects' of this ban (see my blog 'Being one's age' last July) but it wasn't enough. Catch 22 of course - we can't afford to go there more than just once every two or three months, on special social occasions.

This morning, Sunday 1st March it seemed strangely gloomy outside. We haven't seen a cloud for days so we're not used to it. We drove down to Figeac two days ago for a day out under bright, cloudless, cornflower-blue skies, car-windows open to the sparkling air after a light frost at dawn. The drive takes less than two hours and by the time we arrived at Figeac after passing through Saint Céré, over the shimmering hills and woodlands, through Leyme and Lacapelle Marival the temperature had climbed to a warm, breezeless 15 degrees or so. We parked in the Place Vival (50 centimes for 3 hours) and took a table in full sun in front of the Bar Brasserie "La Monnaie', facing across the square to the 'Old Figeac Museum' (Musée de Vieux Figeac). It was time for an 'apero' and after half an hour sipping and sunbathing we took lunch there too (Mussels and chips - Fleur's was 'Mariniére' and mine, 'Espagnol' with chopped chorizo in the sauce). Yum.

This could get boring I know, for readers (are there any?) still under grey skies, and smacks a bit of smug-buggery.

So, au revoir.... suffice to say, Figeac is an amazing little town, on the Lot river, much of very 'Italianate' in character and well worth a detour. For us, it's a short drive from the granite massif's gorges where we live to the soft, limestone start of the midi.

Contrast is everything

Mapmaker

Waiting for the Spring

Its over a fortnight since my last blog but then this is the quiet season - nothing much is happening. We haven't had the really bad weather that occurred recently 'up north' although the frosts persist; its been a bout 6 weeks of icy mornings this year - not usual. I'm burning much more wood than before in an attempt to save on electricity (my other form of heating) and it's working. The problem is, I'll have to find a couple more 'stere' of wood by mid March to see us through.

I have managed to re-arrange my office/studio into something rather more comfortable and un-cluttered during the frosty weather by being ruthless with unsold paintings (they haven't actually been thrown out, rather than stored in Roy's barn) and other accumulated dross (made myself take these items to the tip - a hard thing to do as I'm a hoarder). Still, there is now floor room here and even a bed for visitors...

I've also started another blog ('groan', I hear you say). The link will appear from now on, on the 'Links to try' menu. I decided to ramble about art in a slightly vain way (in both senses perhaps), partly for the reasons given in the subtitle, and partly because I've read that an 'authoritative' blog or website could eventually attract more readers and possible future commercial  art activity for me. We'll see.

The fishing season starts in about three weeks - whoopee! I must dust-off the gear and buy my permit - a harbinger of Spring if ever there was one.

Mapmaker