Visitor

We had a visit today by an 81 year old man who once lived in the house 70 years ago. It's not uncommon to have these kind of visits. It's fascinating to hear how people lived in these mountains. The guy today, very spritely, talked of living in our kitchen with 7 other children while Maman and her husband shared a tiny room we now use as a small office. He pointed to where now our linen cupboard is and said that's where I slept in that corner. His mother had died so he came to the Morvan where he lived with other orphans. Madam Joyeux, who I met last year was a wet nurse, it was common and a way to earn extra income in harsh times. They worked hard as subsistent farmers keeping cows, sheep, made bread had a well to collect their water from, and somehow survived very harsh winters without cars. Sabotiers or clog makers were another way to earn income and there was also one of those on the farm. Tools and half made clogs were here when George bought the farm

Our kitchen has a wooden post in the middle joined to a beam that holds up the beams above. It's crude but makes the room much more interesting.There were no windows in the early days, it's dark now so it would have been gloomy in winter. We have a big sun room built ajoining the kitchen, I live in the sun room, painting and growing seedlings at the moment.

The guy talked of how he went into Charcuterie in Paris, so at 14 he left a closeknit community for  Paris, to become a butcher, amazing.












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