Spring Newsletter 2026

Hello to you all, dear friends,

Spring has opened the gate here at the Olive Farm and is slowly making its way up the drive. While I am standing down by the pool giving the new season’s arrival a big wave and a sigh of relief. What a time! What a dark and scary time we are living through. Wherever you are, whatever your convictions, I am sure you will agree that there is too much bloodshed and warmongering. I am taking my faith and strength from a few sources. The first is Pope Leo XIV who has called for March, a Lenten month in the Christian calendar, to be dedicated to prayers for peace. And a time of kind words to one another. Below, you will see that I have a large candle on the go in the dining room so that even while I am working inside at my desk or outside on the land, the flame for peace continues to burn.
Another source of encouragement is my connection with the land. Every day, a new sight to marvel at: fields of white narcissi now being replaced by terraces of tall almonds trees dressed in their pale pink blossoms. Birdsong everywhere. I can only recognise a few. I know the tiny goldcrests, the jays, the gulls, blackbirds, robins, blue-tits and a few others. I am awaiting the arrival of the swallows.

We have been planting trees – three more almonds and two peaches. The planting of trees is a real source of healing for me. Even if I die tomorrow – I hope not! – the idea that future generations will sit in the shade of the trees’ ever-reaching branches, delight in their beauty and tuck into their fruits fills me with joy.
A footprint from this time left behind.
We have also been working hard to prepare the exterior spaces for our long summer months when we will be mostly living outside. I leave the banked up piles of leaves all winter because there are bees and other creatures nesting there.
I love this hard work, though my old bones are complaining!
Michel accompanies me. Together we dig holes for the trees or trim back wild climbers growing out of control against the villa’s pillars. The jasmine and bougainvilleas are threatening to dismantle what’s left oof this old house! Yesterday while digging in the peaches we uncovered seven earth worms. I was a bit nervous we might hurt them, chop them with the spade, but they seemed calm enough, and we took care.

It has been warm enough these last couple of weeks to eat our lunches on the terrace, some days even without a sweater. I have been jumping in the pool, now cleaned, which is icy cold. I can only bear about half a length and then I am out again, striding up and down while blood rushes through my veins and my heart pumps fast. It’s exhilarating!

Indoors, at my desk, I am starting work on a new story. This is always an exciting moment when everything is possible, nothing fixed, all avenues open to my imagination. All I have is my original idea. Two characters and their hopes and dreams. I have started the research which is a part of the process I love because it always leads to unexpected discoveries. I have 5,000 words written and a title, (not to be shared yet!). So, I am very gently stepping forwards, easing my way into the journey. This will keep me busy when it gets too hot to be outside in the middle of the day.

Meanwhile, my next novel to be published, The Girl From Marseille is on its way. Hooray! My fabulous agent says he “absolutely loves it” and one or two others who have read the manuscript seem to feel the same so that is exciting and reassuring news for me. I have loved writing it so much that it has been a wrench to let it go, to hand it over to begin its journey to the shops and readers. Publication, of course, won’t be for a while yet. More on that when I have the information.

I have a few events booked for early May in the UK so do keep an eye on the Events box on my website. I will just flag here that I am honoured to be the guest speaker, a return visit, at the literary lunch held during the Chipping Campden Lit Festival. 5th May, noon. Tickets are available on the festival’s website, I think or directly via the hotel in Chipping Campden. You can call them on +44 (0) 1386 840330. The entrance ticket includes lunch and wine.

I am posting a few photos I have taken of what is going on here on the land because I find it uplifting and I hope you will too. I continue to believe that even in the darkest moments, new life continues to grow. Spring is regeneration. New life, new growth. And how badly we need that!
Michel left this morning for a few days up north at our Mad Old Chateau.

While I have been writing this note to you, he sent me a message to say there are blossoms everywhere up there too. It’s so warm, he says, that the trees have burst into flower. So, one pic from east of Paris too. And the frogs in the stream in the valley below us are mating! At the end of the day, when we sit outside for a glass of wine, I can hear them. Sometimes they are so loud, they outdo poor old One-Dog-Barking who is still here, surviving down at the spot where his master and companion dog made their home.

Books I am reading:
Paris Echo by Sebastian Faulks.
I am about to begin The Age of Olive Trees, written by a 22-year-old girl, & Gazan poet, Haia Mohammed.

So, the small joys of life feeding me the strength to keep positive when all about us the news is grim. I hope these pics from nature, from our everyday lives, bring a smile to your heart.

Thank you for reading this.

Stay safe. Prayers for Peace

Love,

Carol
xx
My thanks as always to Bart Hulley, friend and webmaster for his time and generosity.