Welcome, Bienvenue, er, Welkom...

I find myself, dear reader, here in deepest France with a rescue dog called Histoire (about whom more later): the product of a dysfunctional family and two failed marriages, a fairly disastrous employment record and diagnosis of Only Slightly Bi-Polar.
So far so frightful but here is everything I need to make me happy. A tiny house, a massive barn, a fruit and vegetable garden of unspeakable delights, a huge field full of wild flowers and creatures and a small wild woodland (a former quarry) full of birds.
The birds... extraordinary. As I type, in early May, I can hear turtle doves, a golden oriole and several nightingales. There are lots of warblers which I would love to identify... there are green woodpeckers and owls... in fact, at night it is almost as loud as the daytime what with the nightingales and frogs and cicadas and owls... this is my first May here (I have been here less than a year) so it is a constant source of rapture and wonder to have all this literally on my doorstep.
The Plan, such as it was, was to create a business here. I arrived last year full of plans, went on a French business course, went to see people about grants and help... everyone was very helpful but as the year went on and no-one gave me the necessary estimates and some people even failed to turn up as promised and difficulties mounted I lost courage and then we plunged into winter and it all got a bit too much. (See above, slightly Bi-P.)

However, like the land in spring I have emerged into the sunshine with new energy and excitement and Something Will Happen. Hence this blog. Follow my adventures, dear reader, as I plunge on into the heart of French bureaucracy and make my life work.