Just as yesterday I reviewed a blog about a man who is passionate about trees, today I’ve got a blog about a man who is equally passionate about vintage folding cameras to review!

The blog is Older Folder Year and it belongs to Mike who lives in Naillat, Creuse

Mike says of himself….

“I ran away from home when I was quite old! I was born & grew up in England, and I’ve lived most of my life in Gloucestershire, but I have worked & travelled in Europe quite extensively, especially France, which I love, so it seemed a natural place to run away to, when I had the chance of early retirement. I have taken photographs all my adult life, and although other pressures and passions have sometimes come to the fore, it’s always been there, often just rumbling along in the background, but always there. I love old cameras, they do surprise me with what they can achieve, so most of my stuff now is with vintage kit, and my discovery of the wonderful work that has been done with Caffenol, has been a big stimulus. I’m certainly not an artist, in fact, I’m not even an especially good photographer, but living where I do, in the rolling Limousin countryside of Central France, and often re-visiting the lovely County of Gloucestershire, in England, I don’t have to be. The photos almost take themselves, you just open the shutter, and let the beauty flood in!”

Read more »

My French Forest is a very interesting concept for a blog.

It is Michael’s blog and it’s all about trees.

Michael lives in Limoges in the Limousin and has this to say about himself…

“I have been interested in trees for as long as I can remember, even in primary school I new all the species that were growing around the school and the sports fields. It was always my ambition to have woodland and moving to France made that possible. After taking my A levels I started my own forestry tree nursery in north of England. It took me 13 years to realise that I was not really making any money doing that and that it was time for a change. So we decided to move to France and have a change of life. I love it here, however my 3 teenage boys tell me it’s boring and that there is nothing to do. I try to do my best to relieve thier bordom by getting them to help with the wood- a task which gets harder as each year passes. Sadly it dosn’t look like any of them are going to be woodmen unless they can do it on the computer or X Box live! I also had a 4 year stint of growing raspberries commercially but got fed up with the 4 AM starts to deliver to the wholesalers. I then spent 2 years working for a local company making loghouses. Everything that I do at present is either in the blog or will appear in the future. Thanks for looking.”

Read more »

It might be a very small blog but I am going to review Why l Love Limousin because of the obvious passion Barbara puts into her life in the Limousin and her commitment to update, what is her second website, at least once a month.

Barbara runs Bed & Breakfast, Chambres d’hôtes, a Gîte and painting courses from a beautiful stone farmhouse in the heart of the countryside with extensive gardens and views overlooking wild flower meadows and the chestnut woodlands of the Limousin.

Her website for all that, Les Trois Chênes, is a wealth of information about the area (with some scrumptious looking recipes) and Why l Love Limousin is the icing on the cake!

And it sometimes does worry me that these blog reviews always end up talking about food!

Read more »

Still a very young blog, My Pants in France is Callie’s blog.

Callie says of herself… “Starting in October, I will be living in Limoges, France for 8 months working as a teaching assistant. I went to Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC and graduated with a BA in Political Science and French. I have no idea what I want to do with my life, so I am taking a year to teach abroad to figure something out.”

The blog starts with Getting Ready which finds Callie busy packing and worrying about which shoes to leave behind.

And then, before we know it, she’s saying… I’m in the Airport: Doesn’t sound exciting, does it?

And Callie has a wee, passes through security without a beep and crushes her fear – France, watch out!

Read more »

The View from Voutezac is a lovely little blog that has been going for two and a half ears now.

It is updated by Dave and Judy who say that they…. “have moved from the Cotswolds to the depths of rural France – and this is what happens next……”

According to the bio… Judy is a retired nurse, Dave is semi retired – but has set up a small business doing photography and floorplans for gite owners and estate agents. We have two children and two grand children.

The blog starts on the 19th of October 2009 when Dave and Judy say… We leave the Old Country……..

Read more »

hazy lazy days is Rustic’s blog about his life as a Karate instructor in the Limousin.

Actually, there’s precious little in this blog about Karate (or, indeed, any of the other martial arts) but there is plenty of exciting stuff about walking and about the vegetable plot for us to feed upon instead!

The blog starts in November 2009 with the post… This is the first entry in which Rustic talks about the colours in the garden and the health benefits of digging the land.

Read more »

France, The Rotary, and Me! is Olivia’s blog.

Olivia is in France for a year and, ad she says… “I am SO excited, and do you know why? Because I am living in France for the ENTIRE year! I arrived here in Tulle, France on the 26th of August, and I will return sometime in July of 2011. I have three families that I will be living with, each for three months. I am attending a lycee or a high school here for my junior year classes. I hope that you will check this blog for updates on my life in France.”

Being a very new blog there are only four posts but…

There are rather long and detailed posts!

Read more »

n’oubliez pas mon petit pois! is the new blog of Jamie Buckley who says of himself… “I live in a rural part of France. I grow my own fruit and vegetables in a little part of the garden and in lots of various containers. I like nothing more than creating mouthwatering dishes with my produce. I would like to share some of my yummy recipes and a little bit of my life with you. I have written a book, titled “Yummy. My Garden, My Food and My France based on my experiences, vegetable garden and food creations. Please have a look around and come with me into my world of yummy”

Now, even though it only has four posts so far I am doing a mini review of it anyway as I am (electronically speaking) in the Limousin this week, trying to dig up all the Life in France blogs I can.

Read more »

Lydia’s France is still quite a young blog.

However, there is enough substance there for me to be able to review it and certainly enough for it to be worth a visit or two.

Lydia writes very thoughtfully (as befits someone who is working on her first novel) about old France, food and her daily life.  Take a look at A Gentle Giant to see what I mean.

In the same genre, I also liked A Mother’s Lot.  That’s a post that everyone should read, the next time they think they are hard done by!

Read more »

Dirty Feet and Rubble in my Hair is Roz’s blog which follows on from her Old Blog With The Same Name.

Roz mainly writes about her main interests, her animals, her husband and her home.

And, amongst the more sensible stuff, you can find posts about Bathtub Sledging (surely a sport for the next  Winter Olympics?) and we say Goodbye to Crispy and Bombay (the ducks).

And then, in Roast Duck, we eat them.

Read more »

I’m not sure how I came across Blog in France but I’m glad I did.

The blog is sub-titled life, love and llamas in Limousin but it is so, so much more than that.  It is the tale of a family who have alpacas called Seamus and Brendan (there are plenty of others as well), and also a guinea-pig called Archer.

Now we also have a guinea-pig but ours is called Soon to be roasted and served with a chestnut brandy sauce!

And before all you animal rights people start getting worried;  I was only joking!  I do know that an Apricot and White Wine reduction is how it should be done!

Read more »

The Frog Blog is maintained by Frankofyle who can be best summed up by this extract from this blog post (Tough Cookie)….

For a bohemian hermit recluse comme moi, the thought of having guests is absolutely terrifying. So when old college chumette and fellow blogger ‘countrybumpkin’ confirmed last week that she’d be visiting for a few days, I immediately flew into a blind panic. So much to do! – clear flies and cobwebs out of the big loft room, make up bed, clean kitchen (an impossible task), scrub loo with disinfectant, make washbasin area fit for human useage (or as close as possible), sweep stairs, sling out dog beds and blankets for an airing, open all windows and attempt to get rid of overpowering dog smells, get some grub and vino in, shake tobacco, breadcrumbs and dog hairs off settee blankets…, the list is endless.

I like that.  I seem to have much in common with Frankofyle (or he with me).  Perhaps that’s why I find this blog such a joy to read.

Read more »