Madame Bucket!!

Manners ‘Maketh’

Bonjour mes petites from mon (equally petite) ‘quintessentially’ French village, tucked neatly away in a serenely beautiful and of course sought after (i.e.: E X P E N S I V E, more than you can afford) part of northern France, from which I do, so happily, take care of the social diary of my now retired Army Colonel Husband, Sir Richard, Isn't he a dish? I am so pleased to meet you all.

Valentines Ball

It’s that time of year again, when the higher echelons of our society expect the annual Valentine’s invite to the chateau, for terrible food and wine. I’ve normally RSVP’d by now, but I’m slightly concerned that I may have upset our local chatelaine! I did honestly think I was saving her, offering to lend her my gardener, leaving my catering contact’s details (and a few more business cards besides). Maybe, I went too far, pointing out the obvious layers of dust with my pale pink glove and suggesting a visit to Alcoholics Anon?

Is it wrong that I’m mixing myself a French 75 at noon, on the last day of February? Don’t answer that! If it is wrong, then I don’t want to be right and frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn! Lord have mercy upon me, February has been such a tedious month one way or another, about as 
exciting as a damp squib! It really is quite impossible to get these moaning expats moving, other than the annual Valentine’s Ball and the less said about that the better! So much drama and too much alcohol as per! 

April Fools With
Easter Fun

March was a tale of two halves, lots of organising for moi, Lady of le Manoir, just as she likes it! The Annual General meeting came just in time to ensure we had various charitable events in place to support Ukraine, but of course, not without a little ego pushing and shoving. It’s been frantic and chaotic but we are now awaiting our first four refugee families. 

A Series of
Unfortunate Events 

‘A series of unfortunate events’ is how I feel about May. Firstly, Madame Elle, French TV’s answer to weight watchers meets yoga guru meets the vegan GoodLife babe, moved in next door. She’s all Spanx and more than a whiff of an eating disorder! I was hoping for a nice, no-nonsense  middle-aged couple frankly and not  Frankenstein’s answer to the Green Goddess meets Mr Motivator!  Instead, I feel weight shamed just as I’m recovering from too much Easter! All just too much. 

Juneish 

‘Summerish’ started here early in June, with a bang or two. The first bang was the loss of the church roof, in our first summer storm of the year and the second bang was 89-year-old Madame G crashing her Sans Permis car into the cenotaph, steaming drunk! In other news, the Jubilee party looms and one hopes it’s not a damp squib due to the mass exodus of my fellow Brits, the traitors! Never mind eh! Happily we are now very much a mixed bag of nationalities and lets face it, everyone loves a ‘bit of a do’. So the committee will go ahead as planned come what may. I may opt to leave the country for a wine tour in Italy but I’ve yet to persuade Him In Doors to postpone his ingrown toe nail surgery! Still, I do enjoy a bit of British pomp and circumstance, don’t you?