Highlights this month -

• Philippa Tillyer - member of the month
• Book Club - New book for December
• Gardening -  Evergreens

 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

Dordogne Ladies Book

It will soon be a year soon since we started the DLCI book club. We are growing fast with a quarter of the DLCI membership now taking part. Some members are active online and others who enjoy  coming to the meetings we have held. 
Thinking about our aim and the benefits of joining the club I'm so pleased we've retained our original objective to make sure the book club is accessible to all DLCI members. This year that 
has been incredibly important and as Winter approaches and government restrictions 
tighten the flexibility of our club being online or face to face comes into its own. A good book has never been more important and friends to share it with.   
We have been able to hold meetings monthly in 
3 locations - Bergerac, Monpazier & St Foy. 
These have been suspended in December due to the confinement.
A summary list of books which members have enjoyed enough to recommend to the club, are sent out by email each month to book club members as a reading list.
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.   

Book Club Passage 

The Dordogne Ladies Book Club 

My mind has turned this month to the Christmas and the question I usually struggle with most.... "what to buy my husband"  Top of the short list will be 'a book'. So I start the process of thinking what type of book to get.. Penguin books have good advise about how to approach the challenge and you can even contact them for help. For anyone facing the "what book to get" challenge then you can find help.
https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2020/august/how-to-buy-books-for-someone.html

Book Quote for the month.. 
"Fine old Christmas, with the snowy hair and ruddy face, had done his duty that year in the noblest fashion, and had set off his rich gifts of warmth and color with all the heightening contrast of frost and snow."
–George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss
Published 1860 William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh


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Gardening Column
​by Christine Lees

​Evergreens and Christmas wreaths

At this time of year we start to realise how important evergreens are in the garden.  There are many attractive shrubs which provide structure throughout the year, including Ilex (holly), Escallonia, Eleagnus, different Viburnums, Aucuba, Mahonia and Skimmia, and of course the many varieties of conifer. They provide a constant backdrop to the perennials, flowers, bulbs and autumn colour provided by other plants.

Many of them also have interesting and attractive flowers and berries themselves.  The Mahonia x media which I mentioned last month in connection with winter flowers has an architectural structure and attractive glossy dark green leaves and long spikes of scented yellow flowers - every day when I sniff the flowers a bumblebee flies out. The Viburnum x bodnantese which although not evergreen, still has its leaves at the moment, and I found a very late hummingbird hawkmoth feeding from its beautiful pink flowers.

Many evergreen shrubs come in variegated forms and these provide attractive bright leaves all year round.  There are many forms of Ilex (holly) with glossy dark green leaves, yellow edged or yellow centred leaves, or creamy white edged or centred leaves.  The female forms also have red, orange or yellow berries in winter.  Not all hollies are prickly, many forms have smooth edged leaves.

Of course if you have evergreen shrubs in your garden these can form the perfect basis for Christmas wreaths. Many of you like me will also have a country-style mixed hedge in your garden, and these are a great source of foliage for wreaths.  There will also be lots of berries in this type of hedge.

Normally there are several wreath making workshops around at this time of year, but in their absence, you can sometimes find wire frames i garden centres or craft shops or online. Firm but bendy ivy stems can also form a good basis for a wreath.  You can use a selection of evergreen foliage, ivy, coniferous foliage, small pine cones, berries, dried orange slices, cinnamon sticks, nutmegs, and numerous other things fixed to your wreath with fine wire to build up the wreath, and finish off with a festive ribbon bow at the bottom and another ribbon at the top to tie it up with.

You can also use evergreen herbs such as rosemary and sage to add fragrance to your wreath.  Many years ago whilst on holiday in the States I bought a lovely book called 'Herbal wreaths' by Carol Taylor which contains instructions for a number of wreaths made from herbs for use at any time of year.

Of course you can also decorate fireplaces, staircases, etc with swags of evergreen foliage, without forgetting mistletoe which seems to be easy to find in the countryside here.

And finally please remember to put some food out for the birds - sunflower seeds, peanuts in peanut feeders, fatballs without nets, filled coconut shells etc will all be appreciated with the shorter days, colder weather and gradual disappearance of their natural food from the hedgerows. A supply of clean water is also very beneficial.

Happy decorating!

 Previous DLCI Members of the Month

Click on the members name to read the members story
November 2020 - Evelyn Bernardi
October 2020 - Florence Asterie
September 2020 - Sandy Scovell
August 2020 - Alix Sundquist
July 2020 - Liz Berks

​Our member of the month is​
​Philippa Tillyer

Philippa Tillyer

Next Easter, my husband and I will have been resident in Eymet for 20 years, the longest I have lived anywhere. In my former life I owned a small company focusing financial matters mainly for women on their own and prior to that I was a Deputy Head in a large 11-18 Comprehensive which I was  happy to leave in the mid 1980s. My principal interest until I migrated to France full time was Drama; acting in and directing numerous productions in theatres and in the open air. A very fulfilling and happy time. 

On moving to France on retirement, I had several objectives: researching my family history, which still engages a lot of my time, and picking up music which I have done in different ways. Trying to move on from Grade 5 Piano didn’t achieve great results, but joining the local Choir has been a great joy. I am now President of Cantabile d’Eymet although the current lockdown has frozen current activity. I also joined a drama group, MADS, a little distance away and have taken part in many musical events with them as well as some direction. I don’t act any more because I find learning lines impossible! It’s quite hard to remember the lyrics of songs as well.

I wanted too to improve my language skills by attending classes and not surprisingly I ended up teaching French to the newer arrivals at a beginners' level and English to the French. Once a teacher .....

I made an effort last year to try to meet people outside of my comfort zone and joined the DLCI. I don’t really enjoy  driving (although I did drive myself to the UK and back in October to sort out a few things) and it is still daunting to attend lunches which are busy with people who all know each other and are talking. 

I’ve never forgotten how isolated I felt when I first came to Eymet and attended a popular local festival. Every seat we tried to sit on was reserved for someone and in the end, we went home wondering if we’d made a mistake in starting a new life here without knowing anyone. Now of course, at local events, I am the one who is comfortable, and I am sure in time, my new friends at DLCI will save me a seat ! 

So I look forward to our lunches resuming, the small events such as walks resume and that I will continue to meet new and interesting people, as I have done already.

Members on the Map

You are never far away from another member; we are in total - 99 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.
 

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.