DLCI 2023 Magazines - February
February
2023
Beauty in the snow and a reminder of Valentines
Sent in by Florence Astarie
NEWS AND VIEWS FROM THE PRESIDENT
Hello everyone,
Welcome to our new website – DLCI.CLUB - I hope, like the committee, you find it easier to use, navigate and understand and It’s certainly an easier and more appropriate name. You can now also access it on your mobile - we answered a plea from a great many members. Our thanks to Jackie Colgate for testing and reviewing the site, whilst adding content, and still undertaking the not inconsiderable role of Secretary. Thankfully (for Jackie’s sanity) we can now welcome Marlies Rooze-Jongejan to the committee as Website Content Manager.
Talking of the committee, we have undergone a few changes. We were sorry to say goodbye to Isla who stepped down to have more time for her other activities. Thank you Isla for all you have done for the club – especially the extremely successful Marché de Noël last year, the kindness you have shown as Welfare Officer to those members who were suffering or needed support and for being an active and supportive committee member – now it’s time to take it easy and enjoy.
We are very fortunate to be in the position to welcome a further two committee members:
Firstly a very warm welcome to Sharon Lawson who is joining us as French Liaison. Many members will already know Sharon as she is not only very active in both the French and English communities but also with Phoenix and Association Sport Pour Tous.
Secondly another very warm welcome to Sue Fairweather who is joining us as Welfare Liaison. Several members have used Sue’s Cattery in the past and many will know her from her work with Acorn and Phoenix. Since retiring from both she is now giving us her time.
It’s great to have you both on board!
Finally a plea from me for a Magazine Editor
The job role entails finding, requesting and transposing items for the month ahead’s magazine. The magazine template is formatted and does allow some creativity. It must be available to be checked by the committee at least 2 days before issue which is the 1st of every month. The uploading of the magazine to the website will be done by the Content Manager so there is no need to worry about this aspect. Training and hand holding will be given so please don’t worry about being left to fend for yourself.
If you are interested please contact me Lin at
Have a great February everyone – It’s my big birthday month so I’m really excited – women are like good wine – we get better with age!!!
In the meantime please put this date in your diary:
Friday 24th March Buckets Auberge Inn, 24230, Le Bourg, Montazeau
Talk by Nathalie Chalufour Organiser for the Gironde sector of Feminité sans abris (homeless women)
CHARITY DONATIONS
NOS ENFANTS DIFFÉRENTS
Nosenfantsdifferents@gmail.com
It was with great pleasure that I met and presented a cheque to Vincent and Angélique Delage, President and Secretary of ‘Nos Enfants Différents’.
We met on the 25th January in Sainte Foy La Grande.
To say I was impressed by this young couple would be an understatement and the Mark Twain quotation they use personifies their attitude to parents and children struggling with a system that, shall I say, is less than supportive for children who are ‘different’.
‘Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.’
Vincent and Angélique have a young son Tao (who, by the way, did a fabulous job taking all the photos) who has autism and they formed NED as an answer to the difficulties they encountered with a system that is difficult for both parents and children to navigate.
They cover departments 33,24 and 47 and they raise awareness of – among others - ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder), ADHD Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and DYS (Dyslexia). They support both parents and children with administrative issues, schooling, obtaining of funds, organising social and cultural meetings and will provide outings suitable for all the needs of the children.
As Angélique states:
‘I am where I should be , that is to say with you and for you’
I wish them every success in the future and thank them for being so welcoming.
Take care everyone
Lin x
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Friday 24th March, Buckets Auberge Inn, Le Bourg, 24230, Montazeau.
Liz Davies, our Events Organiser, has arranged a talk by Natalie Chalufour, who is responsible for the secteur Gironde Féminité Sans Abri, an organisation that collects and distributes feminine toiletries to homeless and vulnerable women.
11.45 for 12 noon
25€ per person for a 3 course Lunch (chef’s choice fresh on the day) including an apéritif, 2 glasses of wine and coffee.
To begin with this will be a members only event. If we do not reach 38 covers we will then open the event to partner/ 1 guest on a first come first served basis – so please keep an eye on the website.
We are, therefore, asking every person attending to donate some feminine products to FSA and bring them with you to the restaurant.
THESE PRODUCTS MUST BE SEALED AND IN DATE
Items required are:
Soap
Shower Gel
Shampoo
Mouthwash
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Tampax/ Pads
Face cream
Body Cream
Make up remover pads
Cotton wool pads/balls
Paper tissues
Hairbrush
Razors
Nail varnish
Nail polish remover
Emery boards
Foundation
Blush
Mascara
Eye Shadow
Lipstick
Bookings can be made via the booking form on the Events Section of the Members Only area
GARDENING IN FRANCE
BY CHRISTINE LEES
Making Changes To The Garden
At this time of year, when it is often too cold, rainy or windy to do any gardening, it's a good opportunity to sit down with a cup of tea and think about any parts of your garden which need changing or re-arranging.
If you have some gaps in your borders, once the ground is no longer frozen, this is the best time of year for planting trees, shrubs, and perennials - grasses are best planted in the spring. Also if you can still find bare-root fruit bushes, fruit trees, and roses, the season for planting these finishes soon and they are a cheaper and often more successful way of establishing these plants.
You may have found that a shrub is not thriving in its position and may be happier in another part of the garden - more sunny or more shady, depending on its needs (which you can usually find on the RHS website or in a good gardening book).
Perhaps you would like to create a pond - a great way of bringing more wildlife into the garden. Once the ground is no longer frozen or waterlogged, the pond can be dug and you can start thinking about plants to go in it and around it.
You might want to create some extra beds - a few years ago I created 2 oval beds in my garden to plant with grasses and perennials.
In the light of the recent very hot summer, you may want to create additional or alternative seating areas - in my garden, the terrace, although east-facing, is too hot in the summer to sit even under umbrellas. I always sit under trees, and am hoping to source a seat which fits around a tree to go under one of 2 large swamp oaks in my garden which provide very welcome shade in the summer.
I also hope to create a seating deck next to my pond, as it's always good to be able to look at the garden from several different viewpoints.
I wish you luck with your projects!
Chris
RECIPE OF THE MONTH
More recipes please!
Photo, ingredients and method
Recipes can be yours or those from a favourite author, cook, chef – the latter should be acknowledged.
In addition If anyone has a recipe using a slow cooker or air fryer that would be great!
Please send to Lin at :
FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS
Isla Cathcart
Brenda Connelly
Vanessa Gray
Lin Green
Christone Kenyon
Emmy Postma
Alix Sundquist
Cilla Warden
DORDOGNE LADIES BOOK CLUB
Intro and excerpt chosen by Dawn Kidd
At the beginning of the year, I wonder if like me you are in a reflective mood. Perhaps you have made New Year’s resolutions, maybe already given up on them. I promise I did start the 30 days of yoga with Adrianne, but unfortunately, I also started Joe Wicks too. Those of you who know me will be aware I don’t have the figure of someone with a gym membership. I am now in absolute agony and unable to get of the couch let alone consider 5K! Thank fully I can turn to my books which are always a comfort to me, they don’t judge but sometimes give just the right inspiration at the right moment. Take for instance the following quote…
The Midnight Library
by Matt Haig
“It is easy to mourn the lives we aren't living. Easy to wish we'd developed other talents, said yes to different offers. Easy to wish we'd worked harder, loved better, handled our finances more astutely, been more popular, stayed in the band, gone to Australia, said yes to the coffee or done more bloody yoga.
It takes no effort to miss the friends we didn't make and the work we didn't do the people we didn't marry and the children we didn't have. It is not difficult to see yourself through the lens of other people, and to wish you were all the different kaleidoscopic versions of you they wanted you to be. It is easy to regret, and keep regretting, ad infinitum, until our time runs out.
But it is not lives we regret not living that are the real problem. It is the regret itself. It's the regret that makes us shrivel and wither and feel like our own and other people's worst enemy.
We can't tell if any of those other versions would have been better or worse. Those lives are happening, it is true, but you are happening as well, and that is the happening we have to focus on.”
Please find the individual book clubs on the Members Only home page
Just for fun
Best wishes and take care.
Sue Morrison DLCI Book Club Coordinator and Organiser Monpazier Book Club
Lin Green Organiser Sainte Foy Book Club
Dawn Kidd Organiser Bergerac Book Club
JANUARY EVENT
Chinese New Year Lunch 0n 19th January at the Asia Royal, Creysse
Review by Carolyn Nagel
The Royal Asia is located next to the large Intermarche / McDonalds roundabout at Creysse.
Despite the unassuming facade of the restaurant which is in keeping with the other attached buildings, the owners have spent a significant amount of money to establish arguably the best Chinese restaurant in the Bergerac area.
We were told to arrive at 11:45 for an early opening specially for us. We were all seated in 6 person booths. The restaurant is buffet style with starters, main courses and desserts along with other nibbles. You can also have western food.
The price was 14.90€ for the buffet, 3.80€ for 2 glasses of wine and 1.80€ for coffee.
Everyone at my table thought it was very good value and we enjoyed not only the excellent food but also the usual very enjoyable company.
PHOTO CORNER
Hector….I’m waiting!
Sent in by Kathy John
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
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
PLEASE NOTE
Centralised email addresses have been created for DLCI committee members which will automatically forward any emails to the appropriate person in charge.
WELFARE
If you have an accident and need help with transport, errands or some company during convalescence or if you know of another member who is unwell, has a bereavement or you think is going through a difficult patch. We will do all we can to provide support and we will be totally discreet. Please contact Sue at: DLCIWelfare@gmail.com
EMAIL UPDATES, CHANGE OF ADDRESS, NAME/TEL NO.
If any members have changed their email, address or telephone number could they please let Rosemary know at: DLCIMembers@gmail.com
DLCI COMMITTEE 2023
Please refer to the Contacts page
Information and communications contained in this newsletter are accepted by the Committee in good faith. The DLCI cannot be held responsible for complaints arising from them.
All contributions to the newsletter should be sent to Lin Green at DLCIMagazine@gmail.com by the 25th of each month and we hope to have a new monthly issue to you on the 1st of every month to allow you time to plan your calendar.
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