After years of cruising along the French waterways in their canal boat, de Villehardouin, Valerie Helps and her husband Geoffrey, decide to put down roots on terra firma.


In the Loiret region of central France they discover a pond, a dilapidated farmhouse and a neglected garden which tick all their boxes. What follows is a great deal of backbreaking work and commitment, but the love the two have for each other, for the country and for the friends they make deep in the French countryside make it all worthwhile.


Beautifully illustrated and written, this book is filled with vivid descriptions as Valerie's generous and loving eye for nature and all its seasons adds another rich layer to this lush tale, while the antics of the inhabitants of the pond and the creatures from the forest dance through the pages.