DLCI 2022 Magazines - April
April
2022
NEWS AND VIEWS FROM THE PRESIDENT
Spring has sprung, and despite some very windy weather, the blossom is managing to hold on tight and we really do seem to have turned a corner. In more ways than one! Your committee is busy organising the concert in Villeréal on 6 April and we are delighted to welcome the return of the very talented students from the University of Leeds Big Band. They are looking forward to entertaining us, and the concert will be one of their first opportunities to play in front of a live audience for some time. It will be a great evening!
You may book your tickets by phoning Isla (our Secretary) on 07 85 62 15 88 or if you are near Villeréal market on 2 April between 10am and 12 noon, pop along and find us under the Halle and purchase your tickets directly from us. All relevant information is on our flyer. Please support the students and DLCI as all profits will go to our fund for local charities. We would also welcome any volunteers who are able to help out on the night.
Our charity fundraising is important to us and we are pleased that Alex Hewitt Jones, the English coordinator of France Alzheimer Dordogne, has written an article for the magazine following our donation to them as Adult Charity 2021.
We enjoyed a delicious lunch at Buckets on Thursday and were treated to a most enlightening and entertaining talk by member Liz Davies about Marie Stopes and her work. Thank you, Liz, for volunteering! We are always delighted when members offer to speak to us, to please get in touch if you have a special interest or particular experience you would like to tell other members about.
Lunches are always well attended and we hope that, as the weather continues to improve, more members will join us on our walks. Rosemary, Jackie and I enjoyed a really good walk at St Sauveur but it would have been fun to have had one or two others along for company! Our next one (see later in the magazine) is near Villeréal so we hope it might appeal to more of our Lot et Garonne members.
There is exciting news on the Book Club front, as Dawn Kidd is taking charge of the Bergerac group and regular monthly meetings will begin again. Thanks to Pat Machado, the DLCI Book Club initiative has been really successful with many members already involved and yet more are planning to join the Bergerac group. See Dawn’s article in the magazine for details of the first book and how to join the meeting.
April’s second event is a guided tour of Eymet by Philippa Tillyer, followed by afternoon tea at Roses Tea Room. We are also now taking bookings for our ‘Evening with Martin Walker’ on 9 June – there are not many spaces left for either of these events so please book now! (Details later in the magazine).
As I announced at Buckets, we are hoping to meet in late May at L’Imparfait in Bergerac and July and August lunch planning is already under way. Our ‘big’ event to celebrate our 35th anniversary (only one year late!) will be at La Tour des Vents, Monbazillac, on 15 September. It will be a very special occasion so please save the date in your diary.
It is impossible to ignore the invasion of Ukraine on 24 February and the chain of turbulent events and suffering it has set in motion. I know that most of us have the citizens of Ukraine in our thoughts and prayers.
Kathy
,,,,and Hector !!
Welcome to our newest recriut on the committee – Jackie Colgate
Hello from your newest committee member
I was born in London during the decade of mini skirts, Mary Janes shoes, Twiggy and prawn cocktail.
I have been lucky enough to have had many holidays and short breaks in France. I have enjoyed family holidays in Brittany, Normandy and many weekends in Paris with friends. Several years ago I had a wonderful boating holiday in Burgundy along the Canal du Nivernais.
I studied French at school, and after my ‘A’ Levels, I decided to work as a Legal Secretary in the City of London. When I started my first job near Cheapside, on my walk to work past the Bank of England, I remember seeing men wearing bowler hats and pin striped suits. How times have changed! I was also a mature student with the Open University which was life changing – for good reasons.
It was during a holiday in the Dordogne in July 2020 and after several house viewings that we decided to buy a house here.
I am having weekly intensive French classes with a very patient tutor. I like baking cakes and pastries but only make these occasionally. I have to think of my cholesterol and waistline! I am definitely a bookworm. I have always enjoyed reading and have been a member of a book club for the past 8 years. My husband is also delighted that he can play tennis several times a week. We are also both keen gardeners. We are looking forward to exploring the different regions of France.
I am very glad that I joined the DLCI and I have appreciated the monthly walks – I really need the exercise. I must say thank you for the warm welcome I have had and it has been great to meet such friendly, interesting people. As I have recently joined the DLCI Committee I am certain it will be an equally rewarding experience.
Jackie
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
LEEDS UNIVERSITY BIG BAND IN VILLEREAL
Wednesday 6 April
Many of you will know that the students have been coming to our area of France for the last twenty years or so, and we are looking forward to their return after the enforced Covid break since 2019. The students are exceptionally talented musicians and create a lively, upbeat atmosphere - please come and support them on what will be a fun evening – there will be a bar.
The concert will take place in the Salle François Mittérand at 9pm . Tickets cost 10 euros each and doors will open at 8.30pm. If you prefer, you may purchase tickets at Villeréal market between 10am and 12 noon on Saturday 2 April, or you can reserve over the phone on 07 85 62 15 88.
If you would like to eat in Villeréal before the concert, we can highly recommend Nord Sud who have kindly agreed to support us by donating a raffle prize.
All proceeds from the concert will go to DLCI charities, voted for by our members.
WALK AT LAC DE BRAYSSOU
Thursday 14 April, Lac de Brayssou, 47210
We will meet at the car park on the edge of this beautiful lake and enjoy a circular walk of 5.6km. One or two hills but generally easy walking and a good opportunity to observe the plentiful birdlife.
TOUR OF THE HISTORICAL TOWN OF EYMET, GUIDED BY PHILIPPA TILLYER, FOLLOWED BY AFTERNOON TEA
Wednesday 20th April at 2pm
The tour is limited to 20 places. We will assemble outside the Tourist Office which is in the Bastide Square in Eymet. Parking is possible ,or at the Church a very short walk away. The Tour will start at 2pm so please assemble around 1.45 .
Tea will be taken at the end of the Tour ,at around 3pm, at Roses Tea Room, where we will be served tea, scone with fresh cream and jam, and a cupcake. The tea room will close after their lunch service and open especially for us . The charge is a modest 10 euros assuming we have 20 places taken. It would be very helpful if you could have the correct amount in cash then Philippa can collect it up and hand it over to the owners in one go.
‘AN EVENING WITH MARTIN WALKER’
Thursday 9 June at Quai Cyrano, Bergerac
6pm prompt to 7.45pm
We are delighted that best selling author, Martin Walker, has kindly agreed to talk to us at the Quai Cyrano in Bergerac, and join us for a reception afterwards.
Martin Walker is a renowned author and historian, based mainly in the Dordogne where his well-known and popular ‘Bruno’ detective novels are set. Martin was also a journalist for many years and is an expert on Russia. He is an excellent and entertaining speaker so it promises to be an exceptional evening, in beautiful surroundings.
Tickets are 18 euros each to include a glass of wine and canapés. Martin has very kindly agreed to donate his time with no charge, and the Maison des Vins has waived its usual hire charge, so we are able to donate all proceeds to local charities voted by DLCI members.
APRIL BIRTHDAYS
Lois Appleton
Val Back
Jenny Brahma
Mary Clabaut
Joanne Holloway
Dawn Kidd
Genevieve Marquis
Christine Rich
GARDENING IN FRANCE
By CHRISTINE LEES
Reducing your carbon footprint in the garden
Continuing my theme from last month, here are some more suggestions for reducing waste and making use of existing resources in the garden.
One of the most important things you can do to make use of waste and improve your garden is to make compost. Different kinds of compost bins are available either in garden centres or online, in recycled plastic or wood, or you could make a compost bin from old pallets. Put all your vegetable peelings, rotten fruit and garden waste in your compost bin, avoiding cooked food which attracts rats, and perennial weeds. You can also shred woody prunings for the compost and re-use straight woody stems as plant supports. A mixture of green material and brown material including cardboard makes the best compost. You can then use it to improve your soil and as a mulch to retain moisture and reduce the need for watering.
Make leaf mould in the autumn by raking up leaves from the lawn - those leaves on beds can be left there to rot down. Keep for 1-2 years in a wire cage or pierced heavy duty reusable bags. The leaves need some air to get to them to rot down properly. Leaf mould also makes an excellent soil improver and mulch and can be used to sow seeds if it is fine enough. You can also make liquid feed for your plants by growing comfrey or nettles and steeping the leaves in water in a covered bin. These both make feed which is rich in potassium for flowers and fruits and needs to be diluted with water for use.
If you do not have much space you could produce liquid feed for your plants by putting compost ingredients in a worm bin - available online.
If you buy plants in pots you can re-use them many times and many garden centres will accept clean recycled pots which they re-use, and the new light grey or cream coloured pots are fully recyclable whereas black plastic pots are not. You can use toilet roll centres to grow seeds which require a long root run such as peas, beans and sweet peas. You can also grow smaller seeds in egg boxes and yoghurt pots.
You can save effort and retain important micro-organisms and soil structure by using no-dig methods. Simply hand weed to remove weeds and when you want to clear a weedy or grass covered patch of land, cover with a layer of cardboard topped with soil or compost and you can even plant potatoes or vegetable plants straight away into the soil. The excellent books and videos by Charles Dowding give more information about this.
Grow green manure crops on your unused vegetable beds over the autumn and winter and then you can just dig them in in spring to greatly improve the texture of the soil.
Finally use as much as you can from your garden to create new plants - you can collect seed from many plants to sow, divide existing plants and take root and stem cuttings. Carol Klein's book 'Grow your garden' is full of useful advice for propagating your own plants.
Happy Gardening
Chris
ALZHEIMER SUPPORT IN AQUITAINE
By Alix Hewitt-Jones
Members of the DLCI have long been aware of the very small Anglophone support group for families that are touched by Alzheimers and its associated maladies, and you have been very generous in donating funds to continue and expand the scope of our work. We are most grateful of your generosity, and hope that we will continue to warrant it in the years to come.
Inevitably, the last 2 years have brought our activities to almost a grinding halt, and Brexit caused the number of volunteers to shrink. At one stage there was just one remaining, which is very sad. Now, however, we’re starting to see some changes. Not all are good. We are sure that 2 years of isolation and restricted access to healthcare services, particularly evaluations, has caused a marked uptick in the number of families presenting with some form of dementia. We’re here to help in any way that we can.
Your most recent donation was most unexpected, and the powers that be want to use it to fund the translation of another France Alzheimer guide from French into English. We – the Anglophone Group - don’t believe that this is the best way to use your donation. We’d like to see it set to assist families in the manner that they believe will be most useful to them – a bottom-up approach, as opposed to a top-down one.
At the moment the France Alzheimer website, which is extensive, is impossible to navigate, even for a French-speaker. It’s worse than useless for an English speaker. So, we have proposed that your donation be used to create an English site that addresses Alzheimer in France. Here’s where we need your input: we’d like to know what you’d like to see in such a site. What do you, your friends, your neighbours need to know about the illness, and what facilities exist to support families touched by this dreadful illness?
In the interim, there’s a FaceBook page dedicated to English-speaking families in the Dordogne [and beyond]
(@FranceAlzheimerDordogneEnglish), and an email address: FranceAlzheimerDorgogneEnglish@gmail.com.
Families can also contact the France Alzheimer office in Bergerac, where the admin team will take details and contact us for outreach assistance. We’re hoping to (re)start a once-a-month coffee group in the not too distant future. The location of this is yet to be decided but will be as central as possible for those families of whom we’re currently aware who’d like to come along. The intention is, initially, just to be able to get together in a welcoming environment and chat, unload, pick brains and share burdens. This may evolve into something bigger, but we’re taking baby steps right now.
We have no magic wand, but we are willing to help however we can. Our resources are few, as are our numbers. Please, please let us know what we can do to improve the lives of Alzheimer/Dementia families and do spread the word about us. Thank you.
PS: New volunteers are most welcome. You need know nothing about the disease: a receptive ear and sympathetic response go a very long way to soothing sore hearts. The rest we can impart!
Thank you
LUNCH AT BUCKETS AUBERGE INN WITH TALK BY LIZ DAVIES 24th MARCH
Review by Pat Sansom
On a beautiful spring day we were at Buckets Auberge Inn for the DLCI lunch. After a rather late start the meal was absolutely superb, well worth waiting for, extremely tasty very well cooked and great value for money. The wine flowed and the service excellent.
One of our members Liz Davies who used to be a UK Director of Marie Stopes International, gave a most interesting and informative talk on the history and work of Marie Stopes and how she started her life’s work trying to make women’s lives easier and happier by giving them some control over, basically, how many children they wanted and advising on birth control, abortions etc. The Marie Stopes Institute went on to operate all over the world helping families to have a better life, especially in poorer countries. One interesting fact, although nothing to do with the Marie Stopes Institute, is that Marie Stopes’s daughter married the son of Barnes Wallis the man who invented the “bouncing bomb” during World War 11, apparently she wasn’t pleased……….
SHORT BUT TRUE TALE FROM A ONE-TIME TOURIST OFFICE WORKER
(Among other things!)
It was a sunny morning in Yorkshire when a young man arrived at the M62 tourist office
'Good morning, can you give me directions to Cardiff please'
'Yes, of course, I can show you on the road map here and I will write down the route'
‘You are here now and need to continue on the M62 to the M6 where you can head south’
Other directions and road numbers etc were given.
Interruption -
'Would it be easier if I went back to York and started again?
Reply -
'Well you can start your journey from wherever you like but Cardiff will remain in the same place'
I have never been known for my tact and diplomacy!!!
Anonymous Yorkshire Lady
Yorkshire wit at its best and a great member to know
Lin
DORDOGNE LADIES BOOK CLUB
The following evocative extract has been chosen by Sue from:
Animal,Vegetable, Mineral
By Barbara Kinsolver
“Spring is made of solid, fourteen-karat gratitude, the reward for the long wait. Every religious tradition from the northern hemisphere honors some form of April hallelujah, for this is the season of exquisite redemption, a slam-bang return to joy after a season of cold second thoughts.”
If you are already a Facebook user, you can join-in discussions on the 'Dordogne Ladies Book Club' private group. On there you will find notices, reviews of personal reading, plus any monthly choice of book & the subsequent joint reviews etc.
Just follow this link to the group and put in a request to join.
DL Book Club Private Group
There is also an ongoing list of books recommended by members, which can be emailed to you periodically on request.
Lastly we will encourage and give all possible help to anyone wishing to start-up a new meeting group, with a few friends, in their area.
A big welcome to Dawn Kidd (was Simmons), new organiser of the Bergerac group:
Hello it is with great pleasure that I would like to announce the recommencement of the Bergerac book club.
When Tuesday 26th April at 10am
Where Rody Chocolaterie, 5 Rue de Mourier Bergerac. This is a central location just behind the covered market. It serves all things chocolate plus teas and coffees.
What Impossible by Sarah Lotz (currently £6.99 via Amazon Kindle. I chose this book as it is a new release therefore no one can have already read it. It also appears to avoid any war or Covid which in my present state is most welcome. It is described as an all- encompassing funny warm novel. As its set in the world of emails, which go astray, it must be in the reasonably modern world. Something though is amiss! Described as the love story of 2022 will you love it?????
Pat did a sterling job of running the book club previously and I would like to thank her for the enthusiasm and time she put into preparing and running the meetings, I only hope I can come near her standards. You can thank or blame Sue and Kathy for putting me forward for this once we have had a few meetings, please give me a grace period to get up and running, those are big shoes I need to fill.
Previously I have been a member of several reading groups due to moving around. All quite different so I am sure we will find our own style. My reading is quite eclectic, I like thrillers and historical, biographies though don't really do if for me. I am otherwise quite open though so don't worry if romance is not your thing ( not normally my go to either!)
I look forward to meeting with you and learning about your favourite reads. When we meet we can draw up a list of books going forward together to ensure all of your favourites are covered as well as introducing you to new authors and genre.
My last read was The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin. Set in a hospital, I must admit on page one I thought I'd made a mistake, I am glad though I carried on. It is an easy bed time read, no going back to see who is who and how they connect. The characters are really memorable, especially the horrible grandma and wonderful priest! It made me laugh cry and reflect on what would be the important milestones in my life.
Till then take care.
Dawn
JUST FOR FUN
POETRY CORNER
Rather than poetry this month I came across a quote by Howard Zinn taken from his autobiography ‘You can’t be neutral on a moving train’.
Zinn is an American historian, writer, playwright, philosopher, socialist thinker and World War 11 veteran.
‘ To be hopeful in bad times’ in this era of disinformation I think this is something that will resonate with us all.
‘TO BE HOPEFUL IN BAD TIMES is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasise in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places – and there are so many – where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvellous victory.’
RECIPES OF THE MONTH
Monpazier Rabbit with Pappardelle
Sent in by Kathy John
1 wild rabbit, jointed
Half packet of smoked lardons
1 red onion
1 carrot
3 crushed garlic cloves
2 sprigs rosemary chopped
1 tbsp tomato puree
150ml rosé
500ml rabbit/chicken stock
500g pappardelle pasta
1 tbsp dijon mustard
100ml double cream
Small bunch flat leaved parsley
Shaved parmesan
Heat oil in large pan/casserole dish and add the rabbit - brown on all sides then set aside.
Add lardons, onion and carrot to the pan and cook for 10 minutes until soft. Add garlic, rosemary and tomato puree, stir for a couple of minutes then add wine and stock.
Put rabbit back in the same pan, season, cover with a lid and cook for 1 hour until very tender.
Remove rabbit and shred the meat using two forks. There are lots of very small bones so be careful (you can use the bones to make stock for next time you cook this dish). While you are doing this, turn the heat up and boil for five minutes to reduce the remaining liquid by half.
Add the shredded rabbit meat and stir through. Meanwhile cook the pasta and drain. Stir mustard, cream and chopped parsley into the sauce and serve, gently stirring into the pasta to coat it. Garnish with parmesan and parsley.
MEMBER’S PHOTOS
Snakes head fritillary
Sent in by Rosemary Copley
PETS CORNER
Maddie on mole patrol!
Sent in by Sharon Lawson
Maddie asking ‘is this my best side?’
Sent in by Sharon Lawson
Cuddling up together – 11 year old Maddie and 19 year old Binkie
Sent in by Sharon Lawson
PHOTO REQUEST
We would love to include more of your photos including those for Pets Corner in the next Newsletter. Simply email me at DLCIMagazine@gmail.com (no later than 25th of the month) with the photo and where it is. They will be published in the next months newsletter
LASTLY
…love Ukrainian humour (and this actually happened!)
A BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS CONTRIBUTED TO THIS NEWSLETTER.
PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO CURRENT DATA PROTECTION LAWS THIS DOCUMENT MUST NOT BE SHARED
WITH ANYONE WHO IS NOT A CURRENT DLCI MEMBER