Winter

Winter is a six week adventure in wet and cold here. It never really snows. Maybe once a year, and it sticks around for a few hours. Enough time for the ducks to have a play in it and leave lots of webbed foot prints. It’s a nice short season in our world.

How is Hannukah celebrated in France. Are the traditions the same? What is different? Let's delve at PumpjackPiddlewick

Hannukah celebrations this year are from the 18th to 26th December (2022). I wrote about celebrating Hannukah originally in our Fab Findings from France Facebook Group. It was interesting to research the traditions as well as variations for France. And I decided to expand on it here in a blogRead More →

Winter in the Vineyard with Pumpjack Piddlewick

When we think of vineyards we most likely think of autumn and the harvesting of grapes, the making of the wine. That is the busiest time of year for both the vineyard and the winery, but it’s just the culmination. Whereas winter in the vineyard is possibly the most importantRead More →

Crafting with toilet rolls at PumpjackPiddlewick

It’s the middle of November and a little over 1 month to Christmas. And I began collecting cardboard toilet rolls since September. I have enough now to make an Advent Calendar, plus some Christmas Crackers. Maybe even a Christmas Tree Star. A few years ago I made a linear adventRead More →

faire le pont - taking a French holiday at Pumpjack Piddlewick

Well what a lovely long weekend surprise. I keep forgetting that the 1st of November is a national French holiday here. And in France they love their ‘bridge days’. They say ‘faire le pont’ (to make the bridge). A bridge day is a day taken as holiday after a holiday.Read More →