It’s Elizabeth’s third day as mum, and it seems she’s been doing it all her life. Everything is spotless and breakfast runs quite smoothly  –she even made bread pudding today! So everyone is happy when it’s time to head to work on their projects.

Gabrielle starts her morning by getting a tour around the property (better late than never)

Stephanie is letting out her creative side by painting some frames while Michael helps out with some nails and bolts.

and Jim finished installing his supporting beam at the shed.

Doesn’t he look proud?

Before we know it is lunchtime, and while we’re eating – lovely deviled eggs prepared by Ella and Mari, among other things- Paul lets us know that he would like to build a sundial. Katie and Marisela innocently volunteered to get the necessary information and start building a mock-up; little did they know it was not as simple as the internet How-to pages said. The entire afternoon was spent trying (and failing) to get out mock-up to work; so, if anyone reading has a foolproof method, please pass it on!

After work, a group of volunteers decided to head down Rene Carre, a local winery about 5 minutes away. They specialize in making red and white Pineau, and most of the new volunteers had not visited the grounds.

When they came back it was already dinnertime and although had been a sunny day, it was a bit cooler than yesterday so it was perfect weather for a BBQ. And that’s exactly what we did!

Paul was the master griller, and we enjoyed chilli hamburgers and beef burgers (there IS a difference between them in Southwest France, and apparently in England as well) and Marisela made a potato salad and some improvised Pico de Gallo…

All in all, a very colourful dinner.

Night came and it was ghost story telling time. I would love to tell you all about it, but apparently you have to be at LG to hear them 😉

-btw, Jim managed to scare us all…

Can you believe it’s 30C° today? (86F°, for our readers in the US)                                 Such a lovely warm sunny day!

This new set of volunteers at La Giraudiere came prepared and ready to work, so we thought we would put together a little display of the volunteers fashion (and very appropriate) clothes everyone –or almost everyone- is sporting today, definitely raising the bar for this Autumn’s trends. 😉

Lets start with our landscape professionals, Gabrielle, Katie and Brenda. They woke up ready to fight the weeds and headed early into the backside of the house wearing gloves and colour coordinated caps. Jim, as -you can see in the picture below- looks every day a bit more professional with construction gear and special glasses…

Stephanie also fits her role perfectly with her very garden-lady like attire, working on our roses and vegetable garden, and Elizabeth is giving the mum role a twist by sporting a bandanna this morning.

The rest of us are just trying to catch up with this haute-couture phase of LG, Michael has been working on repairs on some of the gites’ floor, Denise and Marisela are in the computer room working on internet marketing and emails, and finally we have Paul…

Unfortunately for Paul, the plumbing problem is still going on, so he is feeling a bit desperate and in need for some kind (any kind!) of help. The pipe clog we talked about yesterday remains a mystery today, and as such Paul spends most of his day working on it and trying to solve the problem. Good Luck!

On a happier note, the day is quite hot today, so most of the group walked down to the lake to have a swim before dinner. Jim stayed home, because it was his turn to cook tonight.

He made Italian meatloaf with potatoes, carrots and peas from his grandmother’s recipe. Needless to say, it was delicious.

Thanks, Jim!

so-quiet-around-here-today

A new week begins at La Giraudiere and it starts bright and early on Tuesday. Emilie has to be in Chalais at 7:30am and few of the volunteers are awake when she leaves for the train station with Paul and Jim; no worries, Emilie –in a very proper fashion- left a note for everyone to read during breakfast. You will be missed Emilie!

Today is a short working day for us; Lyn is coming this afternoon for our French lesson of the week, so everyone hurries during the morning hours to get their chores done.

Elizabeth (a.k.a. Mum) is rushing around getting everything ready for our meals, Marlou and Katie work on the bathroom walls, Jim is busy working building what will be another gite, Paul is working on a pipe problem and Denise and Marisela are in the computer room try to get social media, emails, blogs and everything else up to date.

During our –very quiet- lunch new volunteers arrive to La Griaudiere, Stephanie and Michael, a couple from New Mexico. The last group of 2011 is all here!

The afternoon is spent learning about places, names and verbs related to food, so it was not surprising that once the class was over all the volunteers were ready for Denise’s famous Chicken Parmesan!

Today is Marlou’s last dinner at LG, so Raymond and Jean-Michele decided to stop by during the evening to wish her well and have a drink with her.

Isn’t this the sweetest picture of Lou and Raymond?

In no time, dinner is ready and we all gather around the table eat Denise’s delicious cooking. It was a wonderful, rich plate and we even had some garlic bread to go with it!

To end the evening properly, we had some scrumptious chocolate fondants and made a toast with champagne to celebrate the arrival of new volunteers and say goodbye to our lovely Dutch volunteer.

Until next time Marlou. Santé, Proost, Cheers!

As many of you already know –or maybe not-the workday begins at La Giraudiere on a Tuesday, as such we have an extra free day to enjoy. Generally, Mondays are spent travelling, preparing for the week, or going to the -very popular- Chalais street market.

At the market everyone gets the opportunity to buy local products; they sell fruits, vegetables, cheese, all kinds of olives, pots and pans, clothes, chickens and basically anything and everything you might need in Brossac.

Today we were strolling by when Jim spotted a Paella stand and literally ran towards it to get some of the lovely rice; Emilie decided to enjoy a French crêpe, Denise bought some cheese and bread and everyone sat down at the local coffee shop to have some café au lait and enjoy our local treats.

Once back home, and in preparations for the week, Paul, Elizabeth and Marisela decide to go to Barbezieux -a nice village about 25 minutes away- to buy the week’s groceries, while the rest of the gang stayed home and enjoyed the nice summer weather.

That evening our new volunteer Gabrielle arrived; she is a landscape artist from Los Angeles, so we’re looking forward to her work on our back garden.

Before we knew it, it was 6pm and it was Elizabeth’s turn to cook. She made some lovely -and very colourful- stuffed peppers.

The mum job looks quite promising.. we will keep you posted on how it goes 😉