Nervously waiting for our first real guests who we have never met before. The house is spotless and smells wonderful, thanks to Allyson’s pork and Armagnac casserole which is warming in the oven. Allyson has provided supper as the guests are her make-up artist and photographer, sent from Paris by the Australian Woman’s Weekly. Allyson is New Zealand’s answer to Delia Smith and is living in a nearby village for 18 months with her husband, Warwick, and children Jean-Luc (10) and Olive-Rose (5). Tomorrow she is doing a photo shoot for the magazine and we are all helping – with translation, pot-washing and childcare.Buying a yoke

Allyson, Warwick and I had a trip out to Rabastens on Wednesday, in search of interesting backgrounds for the photographs. We met up with the marvellous Eric (Chris has a new beard icon) and raided his junkyard for old doors, shutters and tables. We also saw a stack of old cow yokes (‘joug’ in French) and instantly fell in love. Between us we bought the lot! I’m going to hang mine above the door of my new yoga studio (currently the barn) as the meaning of the word yoga is ‘to yoke or unite’. And it reminds me of my farming roots – for you, Dad xxx

Filed under: Happy Coulson

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