<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Donna , What She Did Next & Friends]]></title><description><![CDATA[TDOAVFA]]></description><link>https://www.theveryunfrenchwife.com/blog-1</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Sat, 01 Aug 2026 04:36:29 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.donnawhatshedidnext.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[When the Land Burns, We All Feel It]]></title><description><![CDATA[There are moments in life when the world seems to stop. Watching the news over the past few weeks has been one of those moments for me. Across France, Spain, Canada, the UK and other parts of the world, wildfires have torn through forests, farmland and communities. Families have been forced to leave their homes with only minutes to spare. Firefighters have worked around the clock, farmers have put themselves between the flames and their land, and countless volunteers and charities have...]]></description><link>https://www.donnawhatshedidnext.com/post/when-the-land-burns-we-all-feel-it</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a6b85e97882b714f0d7c06f</guid><pubDate>Thu, 30 Jul 2026 17:38:05 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/11062b_1ed905d58385467799ca594cd1077d2f~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Tina Malcolm</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Home Again]]></title><description><![CDATA[well, our second home really! Our UnFrench adventures maybe over, those blogs have been relegated to the archives but Donna lives on and it's time to very much get back to business! The business of blogging! I've missed this! Still, the break was very much needed to reset and move forward. Can't stop a writer writing can you? I'm writing to you today, from a downtown airbnb apartment building, in mid summer, smoggy Toronto, the city which has become a second home to us, since living here for...]]></description><link>https://www.donnawhatshedidnext.com/post/home-again</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a678b9c35380d3132b94637</guid><pubDate>Tue, 28 Jul 2026 12:56:20 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_716c4b614e376571617938~mv2_d_2890_3612_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Donna Jones Holland</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Long Goodbye]]></title><description><![CDATA[Goodbye my friends................. I always knew I would recognise when the time was right to retire 'The Very UnFrench Wife' story and it feels about right, right now. I've been mulling it over for a few months now and with the decision made NOT to return to France, it makes total sense to bring this story to a close. I did hang on a little too long maybe? We've had many wonderful years together, late 2016 - 2017 to now, we nearly made it to a full decade Folks but I think we are done. This...]]></description><link>https://www.donnawhatshedidnext.com/post/the-long-goodbye</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a22aa861f44c606b376f5a8</guid><pubDate>Thu, 16 Jul 2026 12:54:31 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_2c33ff7950b4415ab11115b760d50b3f~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Donna Jones Holland</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Friendships and France ]]></title><description><![CDATA[A sisterhood, home and abroad! Bonjour my petite boutonnieres, me again! Saturday 28th March 2026 All is very well here in the wonderful Lincolnshire Wolds! Wonderful, because above 10 degree's, the inside isn't quite as challenging, but it is still rather chilly here in our little valley. Those biting winds have whipped around the house for days and have been pretty much cancelling out spring, my goodness! However, a morsel of sun here and there, has been just enough to get me dusting away...]]></description><link>https://www.donnawhatshedidnext.com/post/friendships-and-france</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69c7b05e495b61304350c1f2</guid><pubDate>Thu, 16 Jul 2026 12:48:55 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3f6090_e7f8acd5329b4c33a1b79d431c628eed~mv2.jpeg/v1/fit/w_480,h_640,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Donna Jones Holland</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[So long, Farewell, Adieu to you and you and you !]]></title><description><![CDATA[Little did I know when I clicked on a link many , many years ago that I would embark on a wild adventure and take a walk on the wild side! I wasn’t in a great place mentally when I joined The Unfrench Wives, my daughters marriage had broken up and suddenly the retirement Mr P and I had thought we were embarking on, changed beyond all recognition. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t change a thing and as I look back, her divorce was the right thing for her and the children, we adapted and changed...]]></description><link>https://www.donnawhatshedidnext.com/post/so-long-farewell-adieu-to-you-and-you-and-you</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a232153861147e38395c1a1</guid><pubDate>Thu, 16 Jul 2026 12:48:55 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a4e96c_ceee21f2911641989c811a56f3be206a~mv2.jpeg/v1/fit/w_983,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Di Phillips</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[I Think I’m Becoming a Normal Person]]></title><description><![CDATA[Or maybe the world has just become strange enough that we all sound slightly unhinged now. Last night I was halfway up the stairs to put my son to bed, while passionately ranting to my husband about billionaires, world economics, American and UK politics and why ordinary people keep voting for systems that clearly do not care about them. Completely standard behaviour in our household lol. At one point I stopped mid-sentencelooked at my husband and said: “I think I’m becoming… a normal person...]]></description><link>https://www.donnawhatshedidnext.com/post/i-think-i-m-becoming-a-normal-person</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a06e4fae34fa474d464e1f2</guid><pubDate>Thu, 16 Jul 2026 12:48:55 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b23bd7_8acbd69705164f8195f90dd0f890ee29~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Tina Malcolm</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[After France - 1st year anniversary]]></title><description><![CDATA[tick! Wow, that was a year to behold for all the wrong and right reasons. Certainly not one I'd like to repeat for a million of those reasons but one I feel was ultimately, the toughest experience we've ever had, him and I. We made it. We survived but are we intact? Hardly! I suppose it's all part of life's rich tapestry, some we win and some we loose. This French adventure we lost big time but it's important to stress, no one died. The decision to leave France wasn't really a choice in the...]]></description><link>https://www.donnawhatshedidnext.com/post/after-france-1st-year-anniversary</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a0c30b44e91908f614fed09</guid><pubDate>Thu, 16 Jul 2026 12:48:55 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3f6090_70a7b75753c544d590628f8f78c8e7f8~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Donna Jones Holland</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Staying put! ]]></title><description><![CDATA[It's harder than you'd think! Staying put? What a bloody marvellous concept and just a week on from making the decision to actually stay put, we are getting with the program, sort of. It will all take time! Honestly I can't believe that this time last year, next month we were leaving France! How time flies and there has been an awful lot of indecision to get to this point in time. I also can't believe we decided, given everything, that staying on this farm would be the best thing for us for...]]></description><link>https://www.donnawhatshedidnext.com/post/staying-put</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69e740bc87a5c2e7c135e90e</guid><pubDate>Thu, 16 Jul 2026 12:48:55 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_da03546cb8384f409a6c672b869c5d8c~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Donna Jones Holland</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Coo ee ! I am here ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Hi there everyone , Di here, thought I  would introduce myself to you all. This was taken during our French holiday last year, we have started the countdown for this year's holiday ! Only 88 days  . . . Anyway I digress and need to get back to my task in hand. I am a retired special needs teacher, tried my hand at being a carer in a children’s hospice and my last rodeo was as receptionist/admin manager in a private dermatology clinic. Mr P is very long suffering as is our daughter. She lives...]]></description><link>https://www.donnawhatshedidnext.com/post/coo-ee-i-am-here</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69cb8eb9e454e7df6253b164</guid><pubDate>Thu, 02 Apr 2026 09:54:41 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a4e96c_f2c567f6c1b6472ca168b4199e387701~mv2.jpeg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Di Phillips</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[I Thought I Was Doing the Right Thing. ]]></title><description><![CDATA[We left the château on September 25th, 2018. Our wedding anniversary. I know. Symbolism. Perfect. I’d  had my son in March 2017, and almost overnight, the boss turned on me. Not my husband. Just me. Ruthless little digs. Constant criticism. Subtle. Icy. Everything I did was suddenly wrong. And the worst part? I was loyal. The most loyal. If I’d known then about harassment laws in contract law, I would have got advice. Proper advice. Because what she really wanted was for us to give notice so...]]></description><link>https://www.donnawhatshedidnext.com/post/i-thought-i-was-doing-the-right-thing</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69a45faf177696dbd355cb82</guid><pubDate>Sun, 01 Mar 2026 19:25:59 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b23bd7_7c2a619c6f6f443b9677a9379dbb2c1a~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Tina Malcolm</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>