Members' Magazine

Highlights this month -

Member of the Month - Gillian Beattie
Book Club - An extract from "Estoril" by Dejan Tiago-Stankovic
Gardening - Chris's June article is all about "Gardening with Nature"

Message from our President

Bienvenue!

Welcome to the website of the Dordogne Ladies Club International. We are a vibrant and enthusiastic community of women of all ages and nationalities (with English as the lingua franca) who have settled across a wide area of the Dordogne. The DLCI was formed almost 35 years ago with the original aim of cultural exchange and providing mutual support for new lives in another country and we remain true to that today.

There are many opportunities to meet regularly, both informally and through more structured events, which are designed both to entertain and inform. We enjoy exploring the beautiful countryside through our guided walks. We are also very proud to acknowledge that we raise significant funds for local charities.

Some of our members work and many, though retired, are active on a voluntary basis in our local communes. Some of us have been in France for many years and others have only just arrived. Whatever your situation, you will find a warm welcome from the DLCI.

I hope I have whetted your appetite and that after you have browsed our website, you will get in touch! I feel very privileged to belong to such an active and friendly association and I look forward to meeting you in the near future.

Cordialement

Kathy John

Book Club Passage

The Dordogne Ladies Book Club

Extract from 'Estoril' by Dejan Tiago-Stankowic. It is set in a grand hotel 'Palacio' in Portugal, during WWII, and follows the encounters of a small Jewish boy, smuggled out of France by his parents, with spies, ex-Kings and Refugees.

When he had run out of questions, the manager again had to face the same unpleasant decisions. Sensing his discomfort the boy spoke unprompted for the first time.
'Don't worry, Sir. My parents will come. They always keep their promises.'

'Of course they do,' the manager agreed, nodding his head. He did not have the heart to tell the boy that the only possible decision he could take was to turn him away. The hotel was neither equipped nor qualified to take care of unaccompanied children. This was a commercial enterprise and there was not place for sentimentality.

But the strange boy pressed on.
'Don't worry. I have enough money to pay. I have around twenty-five thousand dollars. I have pounds too. And Swiss francs. And I also have cut diamonds. See, here they are, in the lining,' he said touching the hem of his rekel as if wanting to make sure that they were still there. 'The money is in my suitcase.'

'What suitcase? Where is it?' asked the manager.

'I left it by the door. Shall I go and fetch it? I am sorry, I'll never leave it like that again.'

Suddenly the manager was not sure what he should do. He was not angry: he simply had a feeling of trepidation and a guilty conscience. How had the boy even survived? What was he to do with him? The room that had been reserved was waiting for him, but what if his parents got held up on the way? What if they never arrived? Given the value of the money the boy was carrying with him, all problems were soluble. Or were they? No, they certainly would not send him to an orphanage. He had enough money to go to a good boarding school in Switzerland or America.

Extract shared by Sue Morrison
Published November 2nd 2015 by Geopoetika

We are trying to see if it will be possible to get the book club group meetings back up and running in June please watch out on facebook and here for updates.
The book club page on Facebook has the reviews of the books the group has read and we encourage all members to share their reading experiences with us.

To join the Book Club or for more information please email: Patricia.a.fielding@gmail.com
Once you join you will receive a copy of our book list and have access to our Facebook page.

Gardening Column
by Christine Lees

Gardening with nature

Now that the spring/summer seems to have arrived at last, we can spend more time outside without dodging rain showers and carry on with planting out tender vegetable plants, non-hardy flowering plants in pots and window boxes, deadheading roses and dealing with the perennial problem of weeds.

I have just as many problems in my garden as the next person, but I have found that gardening without using chemicals brings its own rewards. I can be confident that I'm not harming any wildlife in the garden and perhaps helping to make life easier for small creatures.

I remember years ago hearing somebody say that they had used a spray against greenfly on their roses and then found a nest of dead baby bluetits. I can honestly say that I have never used a spray against greenfly and never had a problem with them - I think as I have many bird feeders in my garden the natural balance of nature takes over. I have always had problems with blackfly on broad beans but I have found that taking the tops off once the pods have started to form, and using an organic spray, when necessary, (which stops the blackfly from breathing but does not harm other insects or birds) stops most of the problem.

I use fleece and fine mesh over vegetables to keep pigeons and cabbage white butterflies off brassica plants, and to keep lettuces and spinach plants moist in the hot weather or to protect from cold and frost in winter. I also plant larger vegetable plants through black plastic to help keep weeds down, it does not look very attractive at first but the plants soon spread over it. You could use grass cuttings or compost instead. If using netting remember to keep it tight over hoops to avoid trapping birds.

I use organic (iron based) slug pellets where necessary, in small quantities around young vegetable plants as they kill slugs and snails but not the animals that eat them.

I must admit that I have a fairly relaxed attitude to lawns, and although I do get a lot of molehills, given the large size of the garden I have learnt to live with them. The soil from molehills makes good potting compost.

Spreading a mulch around your shrubs and other plants in borders helps to keep weeds down, and preserves moisture. This could be a packaged mulch of bark chippings from the garden centre, fallen leaves in autumn or leaf mould, or garden compost. In my front garden the area of rose beds where I had run out of mulch always gets a lot more weeds, whereas in the mulched areas there are fewer weeds and they are easy to pull out. If you have bindweed in your borders, try winding it around a cane (topped with a cork to protect your eyes) and then when there is a mass of bindweed just remove it with the cane.

Finally I will put in a plea for having a wildlife pond, or any pond, in your garden. This will help birds, animals, and insects, and you will also have frogs and toads which will eat the slugs in your garden.

Do take time to sit in your garden and enjoy it - it shouldn't be all about work.

Christine June 2021

Member of the Month -June 2021
Gillian Beattie

I lived in Carlisle in the NW of England until I was married. Little did I know that from then on I would travel to and live in many countries. I had started doing an accountancy course and had done a secretarial course before I married which were helpful when looking for work abroad.
Our first country was Nigeria. At the time it was a stable country and easy to adapt to. The climate was the worst part about it. Always hot and humid. After a while it became unsettled and we were happy to finish our contract and leave before the civil war started. In the middle of our tour my husband had to go to the Belgian Congo to do an audit there and as I had some accountancy training I went with him and helped on the audit. The highlight of that trip was learning to water ski on the river Congo with the threat of crocodiles around. A bit hair raising.
The next stop was Frankfurt, Germany. That was more difficult to adapt to as I didn’t speak any German. My husband was fluent in French and German and a qualified Chartered Accountant so was happy to work in a foreign country. By this time we had one child and our second child was born there. We enjoyed walking in the woods and along the riversides and exploring the towns and villages at week ends. We also were introduced to the German wines and learnt to enjoy them. But we weren’t to stay there for long as the company moved us to Holland.
Holland was a very friendly place. A lot of the people spoke some English so I was able to communicate with them more. Unfortunately we weren’t to stay there for too long. An American company enticed my husband back to the UK to work in their English branch. I thought we would then put down roots and stay there. We were able to see more of our families and old friends. We bought a house and settled in. Until the company transferred us to their head office in the US.
This was an exciting move and again I thought it would be permanent. New schools for the children (we now had three) and the possibility that I could work at least part time. I had a few part time jobs starting with organising weddings and other functions at a large restaurant. I then moved on to a fabric store where apart from selling fabric and sewing machines I taught some sewing classes and demonstrated sewing machines. There I developed an interest in patchwork and quilting which became a hobby I continue to enjoy. l then worked in a real estate office preparing the “for sale” advertisements for the newspapers.
My husband wanted to use his languages so he moved to an American company whose European headquarters were in Luxembourg. After a few months they moved us to Luxembourg. There he could use his French and German and he learnt some Hungarian as he travelled there quite a bit. Our younger son went to the International School and from there to university in the UK. He decided to stay in the UK and has now settled in Edinburgh. I worked for a while at the European Union and also the Court of Justice.
Luxembourg was a great place to be to travel in Europe. It has beautiful scenery, towns and vineyards. From there we visited places in Germany, France and Belgium. There were lovely walks to do without having to travel very far and always somewhere nice to stop for refreshments.
Our elder son and daughter have stayed in the US. Our daughter is married with triplet children. Sadly I don’t get to see them much and recently with covid19 around I haven’t seen them for over 2 years.
Our travelling wasn’t yet over though. From Luxembourg we were moved to Saudi Arabia. This was indeed a culture shock for me. No entertainment except what you made yourself. I met some great people and continued my interest in patchwork and quilting and also played a lot of bridge. Only female doctors, nurses and teachers can work there. This meant that there were many wives there with talents they were willing to share. We had Indian and Italian cooking classes, and a German lady showed us how to make an apfel strudel, painting on silk, sewing and there was a large patchwork and quilting club. We were there nearly 4 years and it wasn’t too difficult but I wouldn’t have liked to have lived there for any longer.
We came back to Luxembourg for a year before moving to Spain for the last 4 years of work. We had thought we might retire to Spain so it was a good chance to check it out before making the decision. We decided against it and started looking elsewhere.
We settled on France after spending some time staying with friends and several visits to look around. We didn’t have any particular area in mind and chose the place by finding a house that we liked. Happily we liked everything else about the area and the people. I took French classes and my husband taught French classes. He played a lot of golf, some of it with me, and we went on long walks, enjoying the countryside.
Sadly a few years ago he suffered a massive stroke and died within a few days, so I am left alone with my wonderful memories. The big decision now is do I stay here with my very good friends around me or move either to the UK where my younger son is and other members of my family or to the US where my son is and my daughter and her family are. At the moment I am undecided but will find it difficult to move from France. It won’t be an easy decision.

Members on the Map

You are never far away from another member; we are in total - over 100 members across the region. Everyone who comes along to a lunch will be given a badge. Each badge includes a small dot in different colours. This indicates members who live in similar areas so if you spot someone with the same colour take the opportunity to say hello.

Pink dots - Bergerac and surrounding area
Green dots - South East
Blue dots - South West
Yellow dots - North East
Red dots - North West

Events are held in different parts of the region so you will have the opportunity to join activities close by.

Our previous 6 months of Members of the Month articles - Click on the members name to read the members stories
May 2021 - Juliet Acland
April 2021 - Sheila McPhee
February 2021 - Mary Clabaut
December 2020 - Philippa Tillyer
November 2020 - Evelyn Bernardi
October 2020 - Florence Asterie

Charities

The Dordogne Ladies Club International was founded to provide friendship and support as well as to raise money for local charities. We aim to do this in a way that is sustainable and maintains the beautiful environment in which we live. We look after our planet the way she looks after us.
We are proud that in the last five years we have given in excess of 20,000 euros in donations to local charities chosen by our members. Each year the members will nominate and choose new charities to receive the donations.