CHRIS'S VISIT

I had a nightmare journey to meet Chris at the airport on Sat 19 July.  All those bloody tourists heading to the beach interrupting my life!   I went to the beach for a couple of hours and then met him.  I was a bit disappointed to find that our favourite beach now has a German 'London Eye clone' - progress, I suppose.  Chris was pretty knackered but I had to give him strict instructions on the way home, about visiting Madame B.  She has taken to spending the afternoons in a T shirt and her knickers and it's not a pretty sight so I advised, strongly, that he only visits in the mornings when the chances are she'll be pretty much covered up.

The village meal and entertainment was that night and Chris very much wanted to attend.  It was OK, reasonable food considering the number being catered for and we ended up on a table with some really nice youngsters.  One of the guys obviously knew us and we couldn't remember who he was but he eventually explained that he was one of the chaps working on our wall last year.  [Problem was, he was the sexy young one and I never actually looked at his face but I knew I recognised something about him.]

Most of the first week we were working really hard.  One afternoon we went to Stuart's house: his wife is a potter and they were having an open day for people to look at her work so we thought we'd pop over for an hour before another Village Meal.  Well, the pottery was beautiful, she is obviously very talented and wine was offered and then more wine and then someone turned up with loads of curry and rice and then there was more wine......we never got to the Village meal.

We started the week seeing people, phoning people, getting things organised.  Time well spent.  I had painted 5 sets of shutters out of 9 sets.  Chris was very keen to paint the remainder so off he went!
My order from the new TriDome store arrived.  I still haven't mentioned to Chris how much it cost, just that it is a LOT cheaper than normal because the store has this massive opening sale.

 

Paving, mortar,



stones and finally

 

 

 

my very own Olivier!!  The delivery was free because it took them more than an hour to take my order and the olive tree was very cheap and so it seemed too good to be true!



 

 

In addition, by the end of the first week we were the proud owners of a suntunnel that works properly, another 60 metres of hedging, trellis and we'd pretty much committed to some expensive electrical work.

 

Chris really enjoyed painting the shutters but I got a bit fed up, having been reduced to the position of gopher/housewife.

 

By Friday Chris was knackered  so we decided to go to a bar and watch the Tour de France which was passing from Eymet to Bergerac.  We could have gone to watch the actual race but thought we'd see more on the TV.   After a week of very hot days, 29 degrees by 10am every day, Friday was cooler and then about an hour before we were going to watch the race, the Heavens opened and the temperature plummeted to 19 degrees.  It got so dark that in the town the street lights came on.  So, all in all, the bar was a better place to be.  The bad weather gave way to a glorious evening with no need to water the garden, couldn't be better!

 

Saturday was a lovely day and for us it was a clearing up and finishing off day as Kate is threatening to come and visit.  The highlight of the day was measuring out the [very tiny] orchard.  It was interesting and logical, didn't take long and was pretty satisfying.  We put broken breeze blocks down to show where the holes need to be dug.  The garden once again looks a bit like a scrap yard - hopefully not for long.

 

 Kate arrived in the middle of the night and they slept in the caravan without waking us. We had a lovely couple of days, an apero with some friends and neighbours, lots of playing with Isis, resting and time at the lake.  We talked to Beth and Barney on Skype, which was lovely, but then the connection broke down and we didn't get a chance to say a proper goodbye.

 

Too soon, they headed back to Aix after helping Ricky to move the caravan around the corner.  He did a lot of work, including digging the holes for the fruit trees, which we'll plant next spring.  It was very hard to say goodbye to Kate as we won't see her for a very long time now.

 

We took a couple of days off to go and visit Steve and Caron in their house in the foothills of the Pyrenees and Chris had a well-deserved rest.  Thursday night we went to our local Marche Gourmand and had some scrummy duck and foie gras.  [That sounds like a grown up Famous Five sentence]

 

Friday was an important day, because after working in the garden all day we went to visit Peter who we are hoping will build our garage.  He showed us around his house and then took us to 2 other jobs that he had done and we finished with a degustation in a chateau, which did the trick and we decided to go ahead with him.  We did wait until the next morning to make the decision!!  We didn't sign anything under the influence!

 

Saturday was just a finishing off day and then I took Chris to the airport.  It was so horrible saying goodbye yet again, it will be 7 weeks before he comes back.  It's been a week of goodbyes and it never gets any easier.  I was sooooo miserable on the journey home and the next day.  Even Skype didn't do much to make me feel better.

 

I hoed and edged the beds in between the thunderstorms and worked until 9.30 in the hope that I would sleep well and start to feel a bit happier.  Even had a small beer while watching the Eurasian Jays, lots of them, grubbing around for their supper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL

Sunday was a bit grim, it rained all day and I had to get the trench ready for the hedge.  I just came indoors when the rain got heavy and changed my clothes a couple of times to dry out.  I worked til late and was disappointed when I couldn't sleep again.

Monday 14 July
Bastille Day so my hedge plants will be delayed an extra day but no problem everything's ready for them now.  I got out there early and finished off.  Then I went to Jardiland and stocked up with weedkiller - tomorrow's going to be an aggressive day!   Today's a  bit of a non-event really.

I saw 2 deer this morning, wandering quite casually through the field opposite the house.  Birds are everywhere but luckily the swallows have obviously nested elsewhere and are not making daily attacks on the kitchen any more.  I put the hammock up this afternoon for the first time and lay there, luxuriating in the novelty of the heat.  I opened my eyes and there was the owl again, obviously can't tell day from night. The hare came back this evening but I thought I'd scared him off before I realised he was there.  Anyway, he came back and ran madly around the garden quite a few times like he owns the place.  The African Hoopoes ignored him.  Kate didn't believe me about the birds so I took some photos a couple of days ago.

I washed all the garden furniture and put it out, just the lights to sort out and clean the house before Chris comes.

Decided to have some organic wine and see how that goes.  It went quite well until my night time routine was disturbed by what I later realised was fireworks

Tuesday 15 July
Weeded all day, cut back blackberries and trimmed laurels by Poney Club.  It was very hot.  My car remote broke, the livebox had a hissy fit. The photinia have got aphids so I must get out first thing to buy something to treat them with. Had better days.

Wed 16 July
Shopped early and came back to kill those pesky aphids.  I wrote to the plant suppliers to ask what is going on with my hedge and basically they're out of stock and said they'll deliver Friday.  I said that's no good because I won't be here on Saturday so they've deferred delivery until Tuesday.  The bloody trench will need redigging by then!  Stuart came but couldn't get his strimmer to work so all in all not a good day.  I am moving stones and pretending it's good for my figure.

In fact I moved stones and faffed around in the garden til after 10 but still find it difficult to sleep.  Perhaps I should start drinking alcohol again!

DIARY OF AN INSONMIAC

Friday 11 July

I chose the bedroom as it didn't smell too bad but the nocturnal visitors meant that I had to keep the bedside light on so I didn't sleep too well.

I drove down to the village to get rid of my empty bottles etc.  It gave me a chance to listen to some of my new music which has just arrived from Amazon.  Unfortunately the only way I can play them is on the car CD player, still it'll make journeys more interesting.

I was intending to paint one more set of shutters but had real problems with one of the screws on the door furniture and ended up trying to rip the damn thing off the shutter but couldn't even do that.  Luckily the window fitter phoned around 10am to say that he was lost in the village, so I gave him directions, welcomed him warmly, offered him coffee and then asked him to sort out the screw situation for me.

He did it and confirmed that it's foutu,  but I'd guessed that!

Anyway, he got on with his jobs and I got on with mine.  Still got to sand and put a final coat and repaint the hinges and then it'll be finished.  That's 5 sets down and 4 to go.

The windows are installed and they're OK but I don't think Chris is going to like them.  Just have to wait and see.  It's rather wonderful to be able to have a pee or a shower and not worry about someone driving into the garden and seeing straight into the rooms.  Also, the wind has been heading straight through those window openings for months and it will be so nice not to have that.

Chris wants some photos, so here they are.

The guy didn't leave until after 2 and I was starving so opened some tins.  I risked a bit more weedkilling and watered all the new plants and the raised beds.  Then I pretty much finished clearing out the caravan ready for its move around the corner.

By then it was after 5 and I was totally exhausted after my broken night.  So I drove to Leclercs to get a pizza to take home but there was no one in the restaurant.  Perhaps they were all on a food break but I couldn't guess what they were eating as there was a distinct lack of food around.  I just bought some beers and headed off to the pop up pizzeria near Intemarche.  I was gutted to discover it wasn't open, after all I had tried to have a reasonably healthy supper, so sod it, I headed to McDonalds and took the food home to eat. 

Uncertainly, I chose the bedroom again for tonight.  If I don't get used to being in it now, I never will.

Exausted but as usual can't sleep.

 Saturday 12 July
Had to put the light on because of little visitors during the night so didn't sleep well again.  Got to sort this out.

I intended to finish painting the shutter this morning but again, contrary to the forecast, the Heavens opened before I had even got out of bed.

Rolled over and then it was 11 am and the sun was shining.  Shame that it had disappeared by the time I'd had a shower so I had a quick visit to the market, a cup of Earl Grey and did some shopping.

I gnawed on half a chicken before starting the shutters and I also painted the troughs to go outside so it was 8 o'clock before I finished and sat down and ate some more chicken and a Champagne flavoured Magnum.  The evening is surprisingly lovely - surprisingly because I spent the entire afternoon painting in the shade.  Unsurprising really as it is July in South West France.

 One painted set of shutters

 

The loo is not working properly so I've turned the water off for the time being.  Tomorrow I MUST tackle the 60o metre trench for the hedge and I was going to go to the Firemen's Ball in the evening [honest!] but a] it's supposed to rain and b] they've had the foresight to put up a giant screen so everyone can watch the football.  Two reasons to give it a miss.

I went to the caravan to read for an hour or so but ended up watching a hare run around our house, having a wonderful time.  I haven't even seen a rabbit in all the time we've had this house and suddenly I get a performance by a hare!

Sunday 13 July
I moved the lamp away from the bed which helped me sleep better, until the noise from the Poney Club woke me at 2.30.  The 'music' continued for another couple of hours.  If I had the energy I would drive the car close to their tents and play my music loud. But I can't be bothered.

And it's raining steadily.  SO glad that I'm not here on holiday, it would be miserable, although the temperatures are 28 or 29.

I repaired the loo.  A minor, but important, victory.

The plan is to prepare the bed for the hedge today in the rain.

MORE GARDEN WORK

Wed 9 July

Pissed off to wake up to rain, after my hours with the weedkiller yesterday.  The night had been disturbed by dust and stone falling in the room - I don't know if it was just chunks of the wall falling off or some little critter messing about in the loft space.

So, all in all, I wasn't a happy bunny.

Phil and Lyn came around with some irises for me to plant.  There's nowhere ready for flowers so I stuck them in the raised bed for the time being.

In the afternoon I went to the local Recyclerie where you can buy stuff that was donated at the tip.  I was looking for something to use as a kitchen cabinet but there was nothing suitable.   A lovely drive back through the pretty little lanes with the vines all looking glorious.  A very late lunch and a sleep in the caravan in order to make up for lost time last night!  Then a few hours planting the climbers which had arrived while I was out.

I was up to me elbows in compost when Lucien, the stonemason, arrived to arrange a date for the building of the wall.  We decided on 15 August as a starting date.  OK by me.

Garden's not looking bad but large areas need to have a dose of weedkiller!  I sat in the caravan and had a couple of beers in the evening, enjoying the lovely evening but out of the wind.  I am a bit worried that all these plants are going to suffer through the winter, if the wind is this cold in July.  Whatever happened to global warming?????

Rain not forecast til Sunday so maybe tomorrow is the day to tackle those weeds.  The wind has been strong all day but has really got going tonight.  I am trying to decide whether to brave the house tonight with its busy little visitors or whether to stay in the caravan and get a decent night's sleep.
I walked into the bedroom and it just smelled damp so I buggered off to the caravan and passed a peaceful night. [That sounds like a doctor's report!!]

Thurs 10 July

I bravely ordered 60m of hedging.  Doing the ordering isn't brave, planting the bloody things is!

Breakfast was organic strawberries and raspberries [living off the land] and some oat biscuits [living off the larder!].

With no rain forecast [stupidly I believed the meteo] I was out early killing the weeds.  Then took a couple of hours to have a look around some garden places and found some troughs, which I have been looking for so I bought 2, safe in the knowledge that the chap there would load them in the car and Stuart could unload them for me.

Stuart came to cut the grass and I congratulated him again on how he'd looked after it while I was away.  The storm clouds started to gather in the early afternoon.  Crap!

I worked on the produce part of the garden and it was looking OK so a bit of rain would not be a disaster in that area.  I decided to water anyway, to make sure all the new things were well-settled.  I am a bit worried about all the climbers on the arches as the wind is cold at the moment so what will it be like in the winter?

Supper in the evening sun then I sat and thought about tomorrow.   The windows should arrive and there's 60 metres of trench to prepare for the hedge.  The house is dripping in cobwebs and I feel exhausted.  I just don't know where to sleep tonight to get the best night's sleep...........

A COUPLE OF QUIET DAYS

Sunday 6 July

Yes it was noisy and smelly.  A storm during the night meant that the bedroom was very damp-smelling and not nice.  The noise appears to be the birds having a drink and a bath in the gutter outside the bedroom - not much I can do about that.

Warm but cloudy and humid so I stayed in bed and caught up with my sleep.  No chance of weedkilling today so a bit of housework instead.

The Gardening Club met in the afternoon, tea and lovely cakes at Lyn and Phil's and didn't finish til 8pm so just time for a quick supper before bed.

There was a beautiful African Hoopoe in the garden when I got home.

No beer, no wine.  Hope there's no noise and no smells tonight!

Monday 7 July

Noise and smells meant I didn't sleep too well last night and struggled to get up before 9!

Anyway, went to the shops to get food and bits for the garden. 

I don't know if it's the cloudy weather but everyone is very subdued.  The annual pilgrimage of trailers and campervans heading to the coast has not materialised, despite the fact this is the first week of the school holidays.  Even the kiddies at the Poney Club seem to be pretty quiet.  Many shops and businesses locally have closed down [including the Coffee Shop with all the books] and it's a bit depressing.

When I came back a dug a trench more than 50 metres long, well, re-dug it as it had been done previously.  Still hurt my back though!  I saw some more hoopoes and found a dead snake.  At least it was dead, thank God. I think I might open the garden as a nature reserve if this goes on!

I cleaned up the caravan because Lyn and Phil are coming for coffee tomorrow and the house is knee-deep in cobwebs apart from the pathways I have hacked through in order to live!

A friend gave me butternut plant so I planted that and faffed around a bit before returning to painting the shutters.  Didn't actually do any painting as it started to rain so I made a very unhealthy meal and ate it with several cups of tea to wash it down.  Luverly!

I realised the end of the trench was in the wrong place so headed out after this afternoon's storm to see if I could dig a new bit.

Went to bed early so that I can get up and get on with killing those pesky weeds first thing!

Tuesday 8 July
Woke early, full of beans. Unfortunately it was raining heavily so all proposed jobs had to be cancelled.  Turned over and snuggled down for a bit.

Had a good time with Phil and Lyn, once they got over the shock of seeing the state of the house, they were quite positive.  I told them they should have seen it 4 years ago.

The weather was so changeable that I decided to go ahead with the weedkiller and so I'm going to bed with fingers crossed that it doesn't rain.

BACK IN FRANCE

Friday 4 July

Independence Day in America.  Crappy day in France!

I woke this morning to the sound of the fan blowing cooling air on me, at least I thought that's what it was.  It was actually the sound of rain pounding on the caravan roof.  After a hard journey through the rain and dark yesterday, it was not a welcome sound.

A thunderstorm started the day and the rain was obviously set in for the day. So I decided to go shopping in order to get some food and some climbing plants.  Unfortunately, although I had reconnected the water, I'd forgotten to turn on the geyser.  So I just changed my clothes and went out dirty.

I checked on the window installation due next week and got some shopping but forgot the bread so decided to go out for lunch.  I went to the lovely new restaurant overlooking the vines but discovered that after 5 weeks' absence it is now closed definitivement!  So I went into Ste Foy and got something to eat by which time the sun was out.

During the showers, I started to clean the spiders webs and general rubble, which has fallen off the walls in the time I have been away.

During a sunny spell, I looked out and saw a big bird on our drive, grabbed the camera and was lucky enough to get a couple of shots before it took off to hide in a tree.





Is it an owl?  Or some sort of falcon?

 

Anyway that was the day's excitement, along with cooing over the unexpected growth of the lavender and other plants.  Tomorrow I will have to go and buy a wholesale order of weedkiller!

 



100 lavender finally in bloom!

 Supper, beer, bed!


Saturday 5 July
Not the best night's sleep.  The bedroom smells damp and there is something having nocturnal adventures in that room and it's definitely not me.

Cloudy and warm.  I couldn't attack the garden with weedkiller as the forecast was for rain so I went looking for more climbing plants for the arches.  No luck.  So bought some food and came home. 
I had to fight my way through the annual campervan migration, it's like the wildebeest but with more bloodshed.  First weekend of the French school holidays - say no more!

Saw the owl again, it was sitting on the gutter, having a drink and flew into one of the trees when it saw me.  Pottered around,[that's probably a reference to the owl], weeded a bit, visited Mme B to give her an opportunity to moan about the weather [wet], the neighbour [miserable] and  her health [always an issue].  After inhaling more cigarette smoke than I felt comfortable with, I got away and continued with the weeding. 

I should have used the weedkiller but I believed the weather forecast.  Honestly, how many pensioners still have faith in the weather forecast? 

Chris phoned briefly, hope we'll get a chance to talk more tomorrow.

After that I did a bit of digging while trying to decide which plants to order.  Decisions, decisions,
An hour on the internet, everything ordered.  I then walked around the garden and realised just how gorgeous the lavender is, covered with bees and butterflies and smelling gorgeous.  Then I discovered 2 enormous rhubarb plants in the raised beds.  According to the internet - my bible these days - you shouldn't eat rhubarb cut after June but I couldn't see a Best Before Date so I thought 'Sod it' and I cut and cooked it anyway on the basis that Chris will eat it regardless and if he doesn't die, I'll eat it too.

Supper, wine, bed!  Hope it's not quite as smelly and noisy as last night.

 





Slow progress

Thurs 22 May 2014

After a stormy night I woke to find brilliant sunshine.  As I drove off to go to town I bumped into [not literally] our nextdoor-neighbour-across-the-way.  First time in 3.5 years!  he seemed a nice old guy and we had a little chat about the house.  We must get him over for an apero once Chris comes back in July.

I went to visit Lynne and Phil, who I met at the Gardening Club and had a nosey around their house and garden. 

I spent the afternoon painting shutters again and then Peter came around to discuss the garage, so I took the opportunity to play with his lovely dog.  If he builds it, it will have to be next spring.  He works on his own so he reckons it'll take up to 2 months.  If we get a big company in, it'll be a lot quicker but a lot more expensive.  Decisions, decisions.

Woohoo, first organic raspberries!!

Dinner
Last ever shower in that bath.  I reflected that tomorrow the water will be disconnected from the caravan so there'll be no loo.  I considered sleeping in the caravan for one last time.  It's been a good old thing and done us well for three years.  But my bed just looked too tempting.

Unfortunately, just as I was snuggling down, there was an avalanche of rubble at one point on one particular wall and I thought "Ohhh that's odd"  So I took all my bravery into my pyjamas and went to have a look.  I realised that it was caused by the emergence of something with the appearance and  size of a cockroach.  Obviously my brain ran through all the options [some of them eg running screaming to the neighbours, were obviously inappropriate].  I thought about all the bug killer things we had in the house but I was traumatised, partly due to the constant swallow presence and partly due to the fact that I am not the sort of person who generally shares her home with birds of any species, vermin, bats etc and I have had enough of strange species invading my space......
It was obviously more scared than I was and scuttled back into the wall.  Problem solved.

Fri 23 May [according to Radio 4 - I've lost track completely]

Awake early to Skype Chris and clear out the bathroom in preparation for the arrival and installation of the cabinet de douche.  The plumber arrived around 9.  The weather was cold, overcast and showery so I couldn't work in the garden.  I popped off to dry some washing but the rest of the morning was spent sitting in the caravan, listening to Radio 4, trying to keep out of the way and trying to keep warm.  I was a bit concerned because they had obviously turned off the water supply and I had gorged on prunes last night but all was well............

When he went home for lunch at 12, I cleaned the remainders of yesterday's paint off my hands and face and headed out for lunch.  I went to a new restaurant not far from us but completely in the middle of nowhere.  It was pretty good with a nice atmosphere and it felt good to be out.

I lit the fire in the lounge in the afternoon and sat reading as well as I could taking into consideration the thick, eye-stinging smoke that belched into the room from time to time. 

As well as installing the shower, the plumber disconnected the water from the caravan and lowered the cistern over the loo so that the new window can be installed in July. So no water pipes snaking across the kitchen, no more lambri in the WC and only a couple of fixing to be installed to the shower next week.

The afternoon zigzagged between glorious sunshine and grey skies and rain so I felt guilty when the sun was out but just stayed in front of the fire anyway.  By the time they left after 5, I had no inclination to do anything, not even take a shower so I snuggled down with a book.

Maybe it was the wood smoke or maybe it was the fact that I discovered that Chris hadn't signed a devis that he assured me was signed on Monday, but whatever it was pissed me off before I went to bed.  I am truly fed up with being here in the cold and the wet and alone and then finding out that Chris hasn't done his bit!!

Beth's birthday

Wed 21 May 2014

Beth's 5 today.  The first birthday I haven't been with her.  Sad.

Didn't sleep well as the rain was torrential most of the night.  After Skyping Chris, I got up and went to the boulangerie for some bread and a chat.  Well, to be honest, I chatted and he grunted a bit.

After breakfast I lit the fire and started painting the interior of the shutters.  As the light in the house is almost non-existent and it was too wet to open them, it was quite a difficult task.  A couple of hours later it cleared up a bit and I could get outside to paint.  After 6 hours I decided it was time to stop for lunch, a drink and a snooze and then get back to work.

I made lunch and took it over to the caravan to eat and then the heavens opened.  I had left the door open so I had no choice but to go over to close it.  Lucky I did!



I suppose the good thing is that I don't have to water the garden this evening
 

Of course I was soaking and cold and miserable so I decided to return to the house, revive the fire and spend a couple of hours in the warm.  After a couple of trips shuttling the food etc back to the house I was even more wet, cold and miserable.  I was a little surprised [deliberate understatement] to discover water oozing through the cracks in the floor tiles.  We knew it happened but I had never actually seen it before.

 

One of the kitchen walls was dripping inside too.  Not my best ever day.  But not the worst either, I can recall grimmer times in 2012.

 

Sat on the fireplace to warm through, finished my lunch and a glass of red wine. Skyped with Beth, by which time it was gone 6pm.

 

Nothing much can be done til things dry out a bit.

 

The swallows are back in the kitchen!

 

By 7.30 it was sunny and the river flowing past the front door had dwindled to a pond.  But by then I couldn't be bothered to go out and door anything so just had a bath and a big cuppa.

 



 

 



Lynne leaves

Mon 19 May

After a couple of days rest [ie market, gardening, more gardening, plastering, moving some broken tiles that Chris had thrown on the ground outside the front door and which were lethal and an afternoon with the Gardening Club], the plan was to get back to work.  As Lynne said, looking at the hole I was planning on filling, how difficult can it be to stick a load of stones together? It's just like icing a cake that's fallen to bits.  The only similarity I could find was that in both cases when you drop stuff on the floor you can pick it up and use it again if no one is looking.  You're certainly not going to lick your fingers - nothing like icing a bloody cake at all.

Anyway today got off to a slow start, despite the lovely weather.  After breakfast we went to Toni's so that Lynne could print out her boarding pass as I couldn't remember how to get ours to work, then Leclerc's so Lynne could stock up with things to take home.  As we couldn't decide what to do in the afternoon, we ended up doing nothing much.  Lynne did still more crochet and I did some more plastering but then ran out of plaster before I could skim over the surface.  Looks pretty rough at the moment, you'd have thought they'd have made the tub of plaster just a bit bigger.  It's so unhelpful! Hopefully it won't look too bad once it's painted, but I'll wait til the cabinet de douche has been installed.

From about 4pm the wind was blowing strongly and there was a definite feel of rain in the air.  Too windy to start painting so we just pottered.  The wind got stronger, the air was very warm, there was lots of weather, dinner and red wine!!

Tues 20 May

It rained during the night but in the morning it peed down, putting paid to our idea of a nice day out before Lynne tackled Ryanair so just a quick trip to the Laundrette to dry everything before coming home to pack.  It was cloudy and rainy, with occasional mega lightning and thunder, but it was still nice and warm, thank goodness.

Pascal came around in reply to my email.  He said that in order to get bright light flooding in, we need a rigid tunnel instead of the current flexible one.  It will cost 150 euro on top of what we have paid to get a rigid tunnel and will take a week to arrive so I have no idea if it will be installed before I leave for SA and if it is whether it will be what we really want.

So, a spot of lunch, Lynne packed [some of her stuff she packed into bags that she had sewn into the lining of her jacket - please God don't ever let me fly Ryanair - and she was wearing 3 jumpers].  When we got to the airport I dropped her off, can't stand long goodbyes, and headed back.

I was a bit sad, saying goodbye to my oppo, my fellow wise woman, my kitchen fairy and I was listening to 41 Shots when the heavens opened. Quite frankly my wonderful little car almost changed into front crawl as we sailed along the Bergerac-Bordeaux road.  If I'd had a sheet in the car I could have just sailed home.  Ahoy me hearties! 

I spent half an hour in Leclerc's to let the worst of the storm pass and then went home, planning to light a fire and hunker down.  The rain eased off so I cleaned out the caravan and locked it up.  When I say the rain eased off, I mean that I decided that I probably did not need an ark at the present time.  I did some housework - riveting, I know - and prepared some food for the next few days. 

I've got a lot to do!  Tomorrow's going to be busy.

Two weeks today, I will be mani/pedi,  coiffured and massaged back to myself.  Hard to imagine!

Nine hours of solid bloody painting. I ache!

Friday 16 May

 

 

Side window before furniture replaced

 

Finished - not a good photo but they're looking fine

 

Oh dear!

Thursday 15 May 2014

We were sitting in the bedroom having a chat, wrapped in blankets and contemplating who was going to make the tea [Lynne!] when we heard some loud noises and lo and behold there was Pascal in the kitchen ready and willing to fit the suntunnel.

I pulled on a heavy jumper over my pyjamas in an effort to look casually chic and as if I'd been up for hours but failed miserably as my arm went through the neck bit and I ended up looking a bit of a prat.

Anyway, after the kisses, introductions and coffee he started work.  Hooray, something's happening!

We had decided to spend the day at the lake as the weather is so good but obviously we couldn't send him away.

I was a bit concerned to see that Pascal spent a long time reading the instructions.  I get the impression he's never installed one before but as Lynne said, it's better he reads the instructions than not!

 At 9.30 he hopped into the van and drove off.  I wasn't sure whether he'd gone for his elevenses or to get some assistance but in the event he came back with some extra tools and equipment.

 

 

When he went off for lunch at midday, I realised our planned trip to the lake probably won't materialise any time soon!  Shame as the weather is so nice but we'll just have to go another day.

Sadly, something is wrong with the suntunnel.  There is very little light coming though it.  I could tell Pascal was disappointed and he admitted that it was not how it should be.  He phoned the supplier but didn't really get anywhere with them.  He took himself off around 3.30 to get in touch with Velux with promises that he'll be back next week.  I think it's the first time he had fitted one and he was really unhappy with the result.  I'm sure that it will get done but it's a shame as I was so excited about getting it done.

 

We decided to rescue the day so we went to have a look at the Lac de Gurcon and had a cuppa while we were there.  A bit of shopping and then home for supper.

 

 

Gardening time

Tuesday 13 May

Woke up, sunny.  Got up, made tea.   Got robed and went into garden.  The temperature dropped 10 degrees and it started raining.  I went indoors, closed all the doors, lit the lights and the fire.  Within 20 minutes the sun was out and it was reasonably warm again.  [This pattern continued all day so we kept the fire going and ran out to the garden whenever it was not raining.  Only consolations 1. it is colder in the UK 2 I am no longer living in the caravan and have all the house to wander around, as long as I avoid the mice/rats - lots of poo near the poison so I am a bit wary]

Anyway, Lynne had a lie in so I decided to give the 2 rooms from which the fireplace had been removed a clean.  Used the Karcher, several brooms and finally cleaned the floor 10 TIMES.   Honest!  I think it is probably the first time in about 10 years that the stairs have been cleaned as the house was empty for 5 years before we bought it and I've never bothered.   It's not spotless now but it's a lot better than it was.  I'm quite proud of myself.  There are many homeless spiders now.  Sorry chaps but I've got my own problems.

Snug, all clean for the first time in how many years?

Fireplace all gone

Fireplace all gone upstairs too

I realised that the removal of the chimney breast means that there is an opening to the roof space.  This is the roof space which has not had a new roof yet and still, therefore, is home to an unknown number of bats who can wander through the house at their will.  So I am not the happiest bunny in the world, especially as the high tech solution for stopping them returning [ie a curtain hanging from the rafters] is starting to sag somewhat and they obviously go where they will.  BUT not my bedroom as the door is firmly closed all night long!

We did a lot of weeding,  I spent some time working on the lavenders and it was so good to see that the moles have taken that area as their latest playground.  So lots of lovely soft soil to put around the plants.  Then the gardener came and did his usual apathetic attempt at gardening.  I did get him to cut the top of a corner of the laurels belonging to next door.  Madame B had had the hedges cut but that corner was a good metre higher than anything else.  He cut the corner but left the cuttings lying around.  Oh well, I never actually asked him to put them in a pile. 

After he left I spent 10 minutes moaning about all the things he hadn't done.  I need to deal with this but I'm thinking it through.

Later in the evening I had a walk around the garden.

Watching the moon come up over the winegrowers' co-operative

Still no suntunnel, or estimate for the garage, or shower cabinet.  So, all in all, things are going pretty slowly here.

Wed 14 May
Lovely day out, only spoilt by argument with Chris over Skype in the evening.  I hate Skype

Goodbye to the Fireplace at last

Sunday 11 May

A warmer day and after 2 trips to Leclerc, I finally got around to putting all the black plastic on the raised beds and a lawn with Lynne's help.  Most of the plastic had been lying in the garden for weeks and smelled like someone had died under there so a warm bath afterwards was definitely necessary.
The dead body smell seemed to remain though......

Another early night.  Still not feeling particularly well. 

I wondered whether Lesley and David will turn up tomorrow to take the fireplace but just as I went to bed, I got an email confirming their intentions.....

Monday 12 May

We were up early to prepare for the destruction of the fireplace in 2 rooms.  Lynne and I battened down the hatches, closing everything to protect it from dust and moving anything vulnerable to the caravan.

Lesley and David and their children [and Monty] turned up to take out the fireplace in the Snug.  They came well-prepared and estimated it would take all day so I popped out to the hypermarket to get some provisions.

The chimney breast upstairs - gone!!

 

Monty
 

 

They worked really well and by about one-ish everyone stopped for lunch.  We all crowded into the caravan.  They had bought bread and stuff as well and we had a good old picnic and a chat.  Lesley, Lynne and I were going to clear up afterwards but just sat and chatted while the others continued working.

I asked them not to fill in the walls as we are planning to have them as exposed stone at some time in the future

There was absolutely no mess left, apart from a wheelbarrow full of sand that they wanted to tip away [they had bought builders sand in case they had to make good the walls after removing the fireplace].  They even demolished the concrete blocks on which the fireplace was standing.  Great!!

Before 3pm, they had finished, cleared up, piled everything on their trailer, picked up the remains of their picnic and headed off.  Lovely people!  Shame they live so far away.  They have invited us to visit them but it's a bit of a drag so I'm not sure we'll make it.

We took all the stuff back to the house and then went into Ste Foy for an apero.

The weather continues to go between sunny and showers and quite chilly.  I just can't get going.....

Visitors

8 May

Barney's first birthday, how I wish I was there with them.....

Lynne's first full day started late and then we did a bit of shopping at the Garden Centre and hypermarket.  Everything else was closed, this being yet another public holiday.  Then she read while I did some more painting.  That's what a visitor should do!



One coat of undercoat slapped on the exterior of the shutters!

The other visitors were of unknown origin but had got into the letter box again and eaten some of one of the two letters.  So, what do you think they chose, the lovely thank you card for the present we had bought for our friend's granddaughter or the letter informing Chris of his fine for speeding.  Yep, of course, it was the bloody card!

I walked back to the letter box and stuck some tape over the biggest holes to see whether that does the trick!

Bit of gardening, dinner and wine

Friday 9 May

Lousy day, late start.  Shopped for boring things like black plastic and toilet seat.  Fitted said toilet seat.  Well done me!  Cleaned loo floor.  I was tempted to take a photo of it afterwards.

I went to see the plumber to find out when the cabinet de douche would arrive. He doesn't know!

Went to the dechetterie, where I was welcomed as an old friend and then to the old Leclerc's, where I finally found a laurel bush to replace a dead one.

Read Beautiful Kitchens.  Hah! I don't think so.  Cooked curry on my one halogen plate.  Fed up with the weather.  The suntunnel MIGHT be coming next week.  Hope so!

On me own!

5 May 2014

Cold night but OK.  It was jolly cool this morning and I missed my teamaker, soulmate and bedwarmer.  Oh well.

Cut my finger, dropped and broke my medicine bottle.  Oh well.

Weather glorious!

Went to the tip - closed because it's Monday
Went to Mr Bricolage and bought a couple of things, including a rechargeable screwdriver
Changed the gas bottle but realised that I had left the connector on.  Luckily the woman in the kiosk had the strength of a colossus and managed to get it off.  Left me wondering whether I could get it on again.

Home for a cuppa before tackling the flamethrower/gas bottle issue.  I am being emotionally brutalised by 2 swallows that KEEP coming into the kitchen and flying around in a panic until they find the open door.  I am unfortunately scared into immobility and they ignore my pleas to 'Please go away'

After a couple of false starts and managed to do half the potager before the gas firelighter ran out and that meant closing up the house again and going to the supermarket to buy another.  Finally got going with the flamethrower. Then had some lunch and it was already 3 o'clock.

So I got started with the painting and carried on til 8.  Dropped the brush 4 times, beginning to wonder if I have some degenerative disease, it'll have to hang on for a few years, I've got things to do.
The late finish meant I missed the optimum time for a bath, which is 7pm, which is when the sun is shining into the room and the temperature goes above freezing.  Made some dinner and talked to Chris on Skype.  Luckily it stays light til 10 because I was faffing around for ages.

Tuesday 6 May
Warmer night but day began badly - for a change!  Dead rat in the kitchen.  Thanks for putting down the poison just before you left Chris!  Managed to get it into the garden using long handled dustpan and brush after I had taken off my glasses so I couldn't see what I was doing.

The kettle is making odd noises, I don't think it's long for this world, and sur les dernieres jambes.  Anyway, as I couldn't face eating in the kitchen next to the damp rat-shaped  splodge on the floor, I went and had breakfast at Leclerc's and bought some garden stuff.  Went to the dechetterie twice but the queue was really long - first day open after the bank holiday weekend.

Tidied up the garden a bit before trying the dechetterie for the third time. Yay, third time lucky.  Got home at 2 with a view to doing a few hours' painting and of course it bloody well started raining.  So I gave the poor old yellow laurels some magnesium and made a cup of tea.

I tried to paint the insides of the shutters but it's too dark with them shut, I stumbled along for about 3 hours with occasional visits from the bleedin' birds.

Lynne arrives tomorrow.  Yay!!!!

Goodbye to Chris

Friday 2 May

Woke to rain so stayed in bed for a while then faddled around for a bit.  We now have daily visits from a magpie.  Yep, just the one.  One for sorrow.  But he comes every day so that's an awful lot of sorrow piling up.  Can't wait.

We reassessed the garage and marked out its new place.  I still have major reservations but Chris is sure it'll all be fine.

The day ended with a sighting of 2 magpies together, a little bit of joy on its way then.

Sat 3 May

Although it wasn't really that cold, the North wind continues to blow through all the holes where we should have doors and windows.  After a poor night's sleep, we stayed in bed late and just did some houseworky things until lunchtime then went to Bergerac.  We weren't in the right frame of mind and couldn't decide what to do so we had lunch and looked around a few shops before going home.  We went out for a meal in the evening but it wasn't great fun, I was fed up that Chris was going and his mind was already full of all the things he's going to have to do when he gets back to work.

Sunday 4 May
After a pretty crap night's sleep we got up early to get Chris to the airport.  Lovely day, for a change, and I got home around 12ish after a couple of stopoffs.

I spent a couple of hours doing housework and washing, just to prevaricate.  After lunch I finally got into the garden with my trusty flamethrower and used it for almost 10 seconds before the gas ran out.  Sunday afternoon, everywhere shut.  Oh well, not to be.  So I blitzed the drive with a vicious weedkiller for an hour, jealous of Chris and Kerry all having lunch together.

I decided to take the bull by the horns and start painting the shutters but then I couldn't find the shaped brush I had bought in order to paint the grooves easily.  I decided to get on with it anyway.

Supper was 3 hard boiled eggs and a tin of fish standing up in the kitchen.  The entertainment provided by a couple of birds who flew in and scared the crap out of me.

So tomorrow
1. Take the fuel can to the dechetterie as Chris forgot
2. Buy shaped brush
3. Buy gas for flamethrower
4. Buy bread
5.Take the flamethrower to the potager and throw it around to show it who's boss.
6.Paint 16 remaining shutters   I may be some time

Alcohol-free day, wonder if I can make it 2 in a row.

Planning Permission and a Visit

Wed 30 April

We worked hard in the garden because we want it to look good for Henriette and Jackie's biannual visit tomorrow.  Stopped for a coffee and the phone rang.  Chris's friend from the Mairie.  The Planning Permission has been granted for the garage as long as we confine ourselves to the small plot.  Lots of talking to do!

Sunny, lots of work done but not by me as my back was playing up!  After a couple of hours I had to confine myself to cooking and housework.

We went to meet 2 couples in the evening.  I think Chris was hoping it would be wife swapping but it was actually a Gardening Club.  Everyone seemed very nice and it was good to talk to some new people. A good end to the day.

Thurs 1 May

A bit cloudy today but we weren't going to work anyway as Henriette and Jackie were coming with Doreen and Jean-Luc.  They hadn't seen the house for 2 years so could see a massive difference and seemed impressed [at least until they went indoors]. 

We had a long, leisurely and enormous lunch at Le 8 and then back to the caravan for coffees.  Once everyone had gone, we sat in the relatively warm caravan, reading, drinking tea and listening to the rain pound onto the roof.

Planning Solutions? Not really

Mon 28 April

Well, it shouldn't have been a good night's sleep but a sleeping pill helped!  The gutters were overflowing when we went to bed and we were pretty worried that there was some problem.  We woke early, determined to be positive about today.

We ordered the windows we want, although they won't be installed til July.we bought stuff from the garden centre, we worked in the garden in the sunny periods, we ordered the suntunnel which might be installed this Friday.  Chris checked the gutters, which were simply blocked at the top of the down pipe, even though he checked it 2 weeks ago.  We've had terrific winds and storms and that is a big roof so the leaves had all backed up and caused the gutter to overflow.

I gave the house a good clean twice [well, the 4 rooms that we use anyway].

We went to the Mairie to get an update on the zoning issue, as instructed, this afternoon but the woman concerned had not yet met up with the Monsieur concerned.  Chris went back down later and came back with the following information:

For official purposes, the garage should be sited on cadastral AD204.  At Francoise's discussion with a 'monsieur' at the planning office, he suggested the following compromise:

The planning permission would show the garage to be sited on AD204, though if it was built on AD204/295 it would not be checked.  He further suggested that in the course of time, a retrospective adjustment of the zoning be requested, to include a small proportion of AD295 in Zone Ah.

 

which means that we have to apply to put it on the small plot.  We then build it mainly on the big plot and hope to God no one checks.  Apparently, they are so overwhelmed by these changes that they won't get around to check.  I am not sure that I feel too good about this, it's a bit too much of a risk for me. 

 

So new diagrams had to be drawn, new forms filled in and all before 5.30.  If we don't get the application in today, we wont be able to build anything bigger than 40sq m.  No pressure there.  The weather was lovely this afternoon but we were too busy drawing, copying, colouring and filling in to make the most of it.  Chris headed back to the Mairie at 5.20 and lodged the application.  Phew!

Chris has the same neck spasm I had last week [so unoriginal] and now I have a full-blown back muscle spasm.  Hope it goes soon.

Tuesday 29 April

Chris has blocked up the window holes so the house is pretty cold but at least we don't have that nasty North Wind whirling around.  Now that we've ordered the windows, I can't wait to get them.  At the moment we have to have the doors open to let some light in.  The suntunnel and windows should make a helluva difference.  Chris is sick of hearing me say that not since St Michael's have I lived in a house that is colder inside than outside.  The caravan warms up for a couple of hours later in the day so we usually pop in there for a while.

Rain made it impossible to do anything in the garden so I cleared out the caravan so that it can be moved and then I gave it a good clean.  Chris went to the loft space to clean it.  Unfortunately, unbeknownst to him, as he was hovering, dust was falling through the gaps and the 4 rooms I cleaned yesterday were covered in a coating of fine black dust and cobwebs.  So another clean up. We are both struggling with our back/neck problems.   Hopefully tomorrow we can get the garden sorted as Stuart will be here too.  We were too tired to cook anything so just sat in front of the fire with some wine.  We are ignoring the issue of the planning permission and struggling to find something entertaining or humorous about the situation!

My back really hurts and Chris's neck and shoulder hurt.  We're definitely not an add for healthy living at the moment.


 

 

Planning Problems

Friday 25 April

The new window spaces are looking fab.  Unfortunately last night we had a mammoth storm and the north wind whistled around and through the house, banging things all night.  The noises were slightly drowned out by Chris's snoring.  So not a lot of sleep.

Today started badly with 5 loads of washing to take to the laundrette to dry and another drying in between showers, well, until it fell over and got covered in mud.  I was busy cleaning up the mess caused by the builders yesterday and Chris went to the Mairie to discuss some recycling issue.  He was gone ages and came back in a total funk.  They have rejected our planning application because the garage is on the 3/4 of our land which has just been declared for agricultural use only.  It was rejected about a week ago but they hadn't got around to telling us, which as there is a deadline to meet if we want to build a garage big enough for Chris, is not very helpful at all. 

It's a real blow. Our choices are 1] forget the garage - can't do that.  2] put in another application for a garage the same size on the small plot of land  or  3] build a smaller garage - not a problem for me but Chris prefers one that can store all sorts of stuff.

Anyway, it was lucky that Chris went down when he did because after Monday garages will have a maximum size of 40 sq m and ours is supposed to be 54 sq m.  So we had to put in another application this afternoon - at this point it was noon and nothing was open apart from the laundrette and one supermarket - so we decided to get the 2 big bags of washing dry and go to the supermarket to buy some glue and scissors so that I could literally cut and paste the diagrams that I have spent ages creating at home in Pretoria. That way, we could hopefully submit a new application this afternoon.

We settled in the caravan and worked at changing our plans to conform with the new rules.  The problem is that if the garage has to move, then the swimming pool will be really squished and we might even have to have an above ground one.  Although a bit disheartened, we realise the this change has affected loads of people not just us and we will just have to find a way around it.  This stoicism is the direct result of a lunchtime beer.

As well as working on paper, we had to get outside and measure up and check distances etc.  Every time it became imperative to measure something, the Heavens opened and we just had to sit and wait it out.  Of course, things weren't helped by the fact that the caravan is right slap bang in the middle of the area we needed to measure.  The whole thing was really frustrating.  We had just got an updated application ready when the electrician turned up to remove the electrics from the caravan and put the phone and internet in the house.  So no power. So no facility to produce the 4 photocopies of everything needed for the application. I stayed behind to continue cleaning up after yesterday's work while Chris rushed our revised application to the Mairie.  He is now on first name terms with Mrs Mayor. and was hoping to get her to do the copies for us.  I was washing the toilet floor for the 5th time and wondering if it would ever look clean [the answer is no, it won't] when he came back and announced that he'd talked to a woman who is ever so slightly higher up the hierarchy than the Maire and this lady is meeting someone who is ever so slightly more influential that she is in this system on Monday.  She had looked at the plans and agreed that it was pretty unfair to just take an arbitrary line 3/4 of the way across the plot and she intends to ask that the boundary for the agricultural zoning is moved a few metres which would enable us to build the garage we want where we want, as long as the application is in by Monday.

She is meeting God's representative in Gironde on Monday and so we should know by Monday afternoon whether we need to put in a new application with all the changes that entails or whether we can go ahead with the original application and hope that they pass it.

The good news today is that the devis for the sun tunnel is less than 1000 euro, which is about the first time I can remember something being less than I thought it would be.  We're definitely getting that, it's obviously a bargain!!

Did some gardening in between bouts of torrential rain and then ate at the hypermarket café.  My delicious chicken and lemon sauce was overwhelmed by the smell of Chris's moules frites but some red wine smoothed things over.  Tempers were short, it's been a hard day.

Sat 26 April
My longed-for sleep was interrupted twice at 2am by Chris's phone going off and I couldn't get back to sleep.  I am beginning to find the strain of all these sleepless nights is building up.

In an effort to be positive I decided to list all the things we've done this month [not involving paint or skiing]
1. Old roof repaired
2  Moved into house
3  Shutters sanded and primed
4  Garden tidied a bit
5  Window openings ready for windows but windows not yet ordered
6  Sun tunnel organised
7  Arranged for spare fireplace to be removed and taken away [if they turn up]
8  Ordered cabinet de douche
9  Arranged for caravan to be moved once the water is disconnected
10 Painted security bars [twice, because the workmen caused some damage]
11 Got internet and phone moved to the house from the caravan.

Not too bad.  But what I'd give for a decent night's sleep.

Of course, I slept in late and we didn't start working til after 10. I was repainting the black metal door furniture on the shutters, fiddly but not too taxing. Chris had had enough by 3.30 and kept asking me if I'd like a drink, which is code for him wanting a beer.  At around 5, I gave in on the 6th time of asking and had a few.....slept very well.

Sunday 27 April
Weather extraordinarily changeable so couldn't settle to doing any work in the garden as there were strong winds and downpours every half an hour or so.  Chris blocked up 2 of the window holes with the windows which had been removed and we really MUST make a decision about the new windows tomorrow and get things underway.  We spent most of the afternoon sitting in the caravan as it's warmer than the house during the day [and much colder at night].  I think we're both tense about tomorrow's planning decision and can't settle to anything.  Ate a mammoth beef stew, just to pass the time.

Things get going, eventually

Thurs 24 April

Yesterday was a day off/waste of time, depending on your point of view.  A lovely day, sunny and warm but after a couple of hours of tidying the garden we went out for a long, expensive but lovely lunch with Patricia and Joris as her mum had gone to hospital for more chemo and they needed to get out for a few hours.  The rest of the day was spent doing nothing, apart from drinking red wine and chatting to each other.  Chris has strained his neck and luckily I still have all the medicaments since I did mine a couple of weeks ago.

Veg beds full of lovely - and free - compost

But today was a different matter.  Chris hired a thingy to gouge out half the bathroom floor in preparation for the installation of the cabinet de douche. I planted a few herbs in the concrete sinks and we went and bought some cheap organic compost.

Stone sink with first of our herbs

 The weather was distinctly chilly in the morning, turning blooming freezing in the afternoon.  As Stuart arrived to start on the lawn, another window chap turned up, the heavens opened, the masons arrived to finish off the window openings [so that the window chaps can measure precisely] with their cement mixer and drills.  It got steadily dustier, colder and wetter and I retreated to the caravan to sulk.  Things are really bad when a caravan is the cleanest, warmest, snuggest place you can find.  By 3.30 the rain was torrential, I was under a duvet in the caravan but Chris and Stuart were filling trenches with compost, ready for the hedges to be planted.  I thought they should call it a day but they carried on.  But only til 4 pm, then they just had to call it a day.

There's so much to do but I'm paralysed with the cold and overwhelmed by it all.  Chris and I sat in the caravan and consoled each other about our lethargy.

End of the day:  3 lovely window spaces, security bars which will have to be sanded and painted
again, the toilet cistern is higher than the window cill so will have to be moved before the window is installed in order to give it space to open and the cabinet de douche will be wider than the wall space allocated and will overlap the window a bit.  No workers coming tomorrow, just time to get on with a bit of painting and/or gardening depending on the weather, so a restful evening with supper in the caravan with the rain battering down.... happy days.

Long, expensive, tiring and slightly fruitless day....

with Ricky and his JCB.    All the terrace works that Chris wanted done simply couldn't be done because the ground is solid rock.  The new, expensive coil for the electricity cable cannot be put in place.  An alternative has to be found. 

Bits of rain throughout the day disrupted work from time to time.  My beautiful compost is now in the raised beds [along with a snake or two, no doubt] but unfortunately Ricky didn't pay any attention to the strawberries or the rhubarb, which are now completely buried and may never recover.  Never mind, although the garden looks like a building site again I can see that some progress has been made.

I would have liked to have chatted to Ricky more but he smokes about 50% of the time so I was only talking to him whilst not breathing, so any conversations were, of necessity, short.  The evening was fine, although cloudy.  We could have ploughed on with stuff but chose instead to sit and eat bread and cheese and drink beer and wine. 

I can push myself more when Chris has gone back to SA.

A Pretty Uneventful Easter Weekend

18 April

Cloudy today and definitely cooler.  I had to get a few things at the shops and there was a pre-Christmasesque panic in the air, elbows sharpened, tempers short and trolleys being overloaded because the shops will be closed for the entire day on Monday.

More gardening and sanding, it's getting pretty monotonous now.

Saturday 19 April

I feel like I've conquered my infection, it really feels like it's gone.  Wow!

We headed off to Eymet to get the paint to replace the paint which is adorning the interior of my car.......  What with that and breakfast, that was almost 100 euro gone!

It was a lovely day and we just spent the rest of it in the garden, Stuart came for a couple of hours and cut the grass. 

We uncovered the enormous pile of soil which has been sitting under a black plastic sheet for 2 years.  It is all stuff that was dug out to make way for the boules court.  Probably never been near any chemicals so perfect compost to put onto the potagers.  I was the brave one who lifted off the first plastic sheet, to find myself face to face with a long, fat and very confident-looking snake.  Chris ignored my burblings and obviously didn't believe me.  I look forward to him meeting the snake face to face over the next day or two.  In the meantime I have been looking up 'Snakes in France' on Google but none of the pictures look quite as nasty as the one I met this afternoon.

Easter Sunday 20 April

Easter Sunday and blooming cold! 12C and raining all day.  Luckily, we wanted rain to dampen the beds so that I can hoe more easily.  Also, we've been invited out for lunch to Joris and Patricia's house.  The usual lovely meal, after a bottle of champers. Patricia's mother is staying with them as she has cancer and has just started chemo.  Patricia has often talked about her in the past and I had built up a mental picture of her [as we all do] so I was totally shocked with a chic, very attractive woman, looking 20 years younger than her age, walked, slowly and painfully into the living room.
She was very quiet and slept on the sofa between courses and obviously was unwell but quite frankly a photograph would indicate a very well-groomed, healthy woman heading for retirement, not a mid 70s woman with a possibility of just 3 months life left. It was certainly something to think about later when we sat in front of the log fire, listening to the wind and rain outside.

Unfortunately Joris smoked throughout the meal [it is his house and it was pissing down outside, so why not?] and I feel my chest filling up again.  Such a shame

Easter Monday, 21 April

All shops closed!

Weather better, sunny but cool so we intended starting painting but we spent the first couple of hours trying to find cheap flights back here later in the year - no luck unfortunately so we had to bite the bullet and fork out the money!  I kept a blanket around me. UK Newspaper headlines were along the lines of  'Cor, what a scorcher, 19 degrees' while we wrapped up in thick jumpers as it was 20C here.  We are just too used to being warm.

Finally after housework, washing and cooking I was able to start painting.  At last!  By 6.30 all security bars were painted and Chris had done a fair bit of priming on the shutters.

So we went to take the black plastic off the potagers so that Ricky can put the compost on tomorrow when he arrives with the JCB, early evening, sunny, pretty relaxed then spotted another snake in one of the raised beds.  Luckily it was more scared of me and dived down asap.  But neither Chris nor I was that comfortable working around there after that!

The weather forecast for the next week is rain and that would be brilliant for the garden but we'll see.........