February Looks like Spring

     It's the third day of February already, and we have had some days of warm, yet rainy weather here in SW France.  I had a great weekend with Jay and Barb Matheson!  The weather had warmed up nicely from the freezing temps the week that Andy was here.  I took them to many places that I had taken Andy, including Carcassonne.  What a difference a weekend makes!  Andy and I were there on a Tuesday and it was empty - very few people and most shops were closed, except for a couple of restaurants.  But on Sunday, when I took J and B, it was a different city!  Lots of people and many of the shops were open and doing a pretty good business for the end of January.
     I dropped J and B off at the train station on Monday morning for their trip back to Paris.  They were spending 2 days there before their return flight to the US.  This was their first trip to Europe and I think they loved their experience here.  They spent about a week in Rennes in northern France with their kids and grandkids.  While there they were able to visit Mont St Michel (my other most favorite sight in France besides Carcassonne) and also the Normandy beaches and cemeteries. 
     I had started coughing a little while they were here thinking that it was just an overuse of my throat with all the visiting Andy and I had done just a few days before J and B's visit.  My plan was to stop in Vic after dropping them off at the train station and visiting the pharmacy to pick up some meds.  But I found that both the pharmacies were closed!  This is not particularly unusual, although I thought that they alternated which pharmacy would be closed so that at least one of them was open.  (This is France, after all!)
     So my meds had to wait til Tuesday morning.  By then I was feeling worse as I had coughed all night, and was pretty sure it was a cold and not just laryngitis. So for about $10, I left the pharmacy with a bag full of "goodies" - a saline nasal spray, Vitamin C tablets and cough syrup.  And today I'm feeling much better!  I have to be completely well in two weeks as that is when Beth arrives for 12 days of fun and frivolity!
     Giuseppe has been busy this past week and has taken advantage of the warm weather to do some planting and cleaning up of flower beds and trees.  All of my guests have commented on how green things are here even in the middle of winter.  There are trees and shrubs here that do not lose their leaves and stay green all year long.  So unlike Colorado, where all the leaves are gone and the lawns and flowerbeds are dead, and everything is in shades of gray and brown.  Here, there's lots of green!

My cottage - with green grass and hedges - in February

Giuseppe's new flowerbed

     I enjoy watching the little birds feasting on the suet that I have hung on the hedge on my patio.  They must be careful, though, because the kitten is known to hang out in the hedge as well!  So, as I sit here writing this and eating my clementine and drink my tea, I am enjoying nature outside my window.  I can see the birds and the red tiled roof of the main house and the stray wispy clouds passing over it.   We seem to be isolated here in this little corner from the bad storms that are all around us - heavy winds and rain and sleet and ice. 

Misty, the mischievous minx!

     But here in my little corner of France, it looks like Spring, and that makes me very happy.  Thank you for sharing this with me and for joining me on my journey.