theonlyD800inthehameau
Photography by theonlydeadheadinthehameau
The clogmaker
Posted on September 14, 2018
Less than a hundred years ago, the standard footwear of rural France was the wooden clog (part of our house used to be the local clogmaker’s workshop). Today, though, traditional clog-making is only seen at expositions of years gone by – as in this example, seen at the Christmas Fair in nearby Lesterps.
Tuesday Photo Challenge: Field
Posted on July 31, 2018
we bought our house in France with two fields attached – about seven acres in total. The first time we saw them, this piece of agricultural ‘kit’ was parked up just inside the gate.
I believe it’s a mobile feed dispenser for sheep (our neighbour, who had a flock of sheep at the time, used the fields for grazing). Sadly, it was gone by the time we completed the purchase.
Perhaps it went to a museum although, given the notable dearth of sentimentality among those who actually have to live off the land, it could just as easily have been converted to firewood.
Thursday Doors: Nouic (2)
Posted on June 21, 2018
Another selection of doors from just down the road in the village of Nouic. These first two examples illustrate how a little bit of TLC can rejuvenate a not so much tired as absolutely knackered old building:
And while the doors are coming in sets of two, here’s another example:
Yet another set of two for your delectation (if you count the little green one on the left):
But tat’s always better, isn’t it?
Although I think this is my favourite from this week’s selection – a set of former pigsties:
Next week, just for a change, how about some gates?
Thursday Doors 21 June 2018
Thursday Doors: Nouic
Posted on June 14, 2018
(We had no internet connection for five days last week, so I’m afraid you’ve had to wait a bit longer for your next dose of doors from the depths of the French countryside.)
The village – and commune – of Nouic could be described as ‘the next one along’ from our home base of Mézières-sur-Issoire, about a ten-minute drive in a generally southerly direction.
Even its greatest proponents would be hard-pressed to argue that, architecturally, there’s anything special about it (you could say the same for Mézières, in all honesty), but over the next couple of weeks or so, I can at least demonstrate that it’s got some interesting doors.
I read somewhere that the official distinction between a village and a hamlet is that the former has a church – which Nouic indeed does:
More informally, any self-respecting French village also has to have a hairdressers’, so that ticks another box. (Mézières has two. Just sayin’.)
In my personal opinion, however, this is the most striking building in Nouic:
Although most are much more prosaic, even if you can get two for the price of one in some cases:
More from Nouic next week.
Thursday Doors 14 June 2018
Tuesday Photo Challenge: Rise
Posted on May 8, 2018
“May the road rise up to meet you..”
– traditional Irish blessing
Walk a mile west along the track that runs through Tranquility Base and you’ll reach this ‘main’ road, heading north to Saint-Martial-sur-Isop and points beyond:
Weekly Photo Challenge: Awakening
Posted on April 12, 2018
There’s a bit of a story behind this particular image, posted in response to the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge ‘Awakening’.
In October 2004 we came to France with the express purpose of finding a house to buy. We stayed in a gîte – I can’t remember the exact location, but it was somewhere in the Vienne département – and I brought with me my first digital camera, a 3MP Olympus compact (really good lens, by the way).
One morning – upon awakening, you could say – I looked out of the bedroom window and saw the dawn mist in the shallow dip between the hamlet where we were staying and the local village.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Favourite Place
Posted on March 22, 2018
Echoing the theme of ‘Place’ set by Frank at Dutch Goes The Photo! on Tuesday, WordPress’ theme for their latest Weekly Photo Challenge is ‘Favourite Place’.
For the sake of consistency – and because where I am now really is my favourite place – what can I do but post another image of home?
For Frank’s challenge, I showed an image of some trees that form part of the boundary between my two fields. Here, though, is one of those fields, as it was when we first saw it back in 2004.
The wooden fencing has been replaced by the wall seen in the other image, and the sheep – which belonged to our neighbour – have gone. Overall, it looks a little better groomed now than it did back then, although that’s probably only because the growing season hasn’t kicked in properly yet.
Restful (or, as they say round here, ‘tranquille’) isn’t it?
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