Bonne année

Slightly late - but a very happy New Year 2016 to you!
The first day of the New Year was bright and sunny, but since then it has been grey and rainy, with occasional powerful winds, and now getting colder.  

You see the yellow boat in the photo below - it is very heavy, as the shell is full of water ... but a couple of days ago a sudden wind blew up, reaching what must have been 100kph (@ 60 mph) in a few minutes, and Oska and I saw the boat flip into the air, turn over and over, and land in the middle of the pond. Oska was a bit concerned, as was I, thinking of the roof tiles - but it appears no damage has been done:

It might be wet and colder now, but the warm November and December encouraged some plants and bulbs - so, some courageous daffodils are already in flower and pansies and violas remain quite chirpy:

The photo at the top of the blog page is from the 'Le Bruel WinterFest'! You may recall the BruelFest we had last summer - well, in discussion with our neighbours, we decided to have a 'WinterFest' to welcome the New Year, to be held at 'Nichoir'. So, invitations were designed and distributed, inviting folks to come to an 'open house' on Saturday January 9th in the afternoon. We decorated the new dining/sitting room and remaining barn area:

.... and we prepared lots of food, with the neighbours making some wonderful 'sunflower cakes' and the traditional New Year's Gallette des Rois - and we had Gaillac wines, vin chaud, and a glass of Blanquette de Limoux to welcome people:

In all, between 45 and 50 people came (we lost count a bit!) - including the oldest couple in Lacapelle Pinet, as well as the Mayor of Lacapelle, and an age-range from 96 to 3 years old:

It was very successful and good fun. There is agreement now that we have a summer 'BruelFest 2016', which will be held on the hameau field and in Nichoir's courtyard - and we aim to renovate the ancient bread oven to bake pizzas for the event! A good outcome for the New Year and a small 'antidote' to the very grim wider world that we are all conscious of.

Once again, Bonne année.