Monday

Working – so over to Tonia for some daytime action.

So, today is the day that we are all working our paid jobs – working at La Maison Rose does not pay very well (or at all in fact).  Recognising this, mum did what any sane person would do and went off to visit her friends Wendy and Tony over near Carcasonne. At around 230km each way she’ll be staying a few days and will rejoin us later in the week.

Having put together the new desk at the weekend, I had my office set up just across the hall from my bedroom. Rather like the wife in Jane Eye, Anya and I had been cast off to live in the attic, out of sight out of mind.

Before I could start work, we had another game of Cat, Dog, Tonie. You remember, the one where the cat runs away from the dog, the dog chases the cat and I chase the Anya… it seems this has rapidly become the way we start every day in France! 

Once the dog has been collected and my first coffee of the day in hand it is up to the attic to a couple of hundred emails and all the boring stuff. Taking a break for lunch, I did what all puppy owners do, ignored the rumble in my belly and dutifully took Anya for a nice long walk down to the river to see the lovely scenery.  

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Just about to finish up work for the day when a flurry of emails come in from Mum, it appears that whilst the journey to meet Wendy and Tony started well, she had managed to lose her phone. After a number of phone calls back and forth, it seems that the people she has gone to stay with do not actually own a smartphone of any description and are still living in the 90’s with an old Nokia that doesn’t have internet access so whilst they have been back to the site where mum last had it, they can’t actually use the tracking. 

Having enlisted a little help from Matt, and Tony, the phone is now blocked and a message added to ask if anyone finds it to call Tony’s number.

Chan – 7pm and it’s time for me to finish work and get out into the garden. Very pleased that we have now added a new mulching bay behind the spot that we seems to consistently make a very large pile of branches and sticks. We should probably create another one at the other end of the garden so we don’t drag them all over the place but then not sure how we’d get the power down there. Probably another thing to add to the list of things to think about.

Anyway, back to today. Having cleared the small amount that was in the second bay we now have a way to provide a two year rolling supply of leaf mould. This does of course require us to shovel all the leaves into the new bay to start rotting down, and there’s quite a lot of them. Looking at these oaks, this job is a gift that is just going to keep on giving… Still, Tonia and I were pretty pleased with ourselves.

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It’s getting dark so time to head into the house and crack on with Tonia’s room. Insulating fibre stuff and then time to get a supporting bar in for the plasterboard, we don’t want it to be saggy and for the plaster to crack.

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After a long day’s work however Matt was over it and had had enough. So Tonia I cracked on with the one job that absolutely never ends in this house – cleaning up! [I know mum doesn’t rate our cleaning capabilities, but she can’t argue with the amount of rubble clearing we do.]

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Time for some spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and a rest. Thank heavens mum left us some food before she went 😉

[4 October 2021]

Tuesday

Tonia – Another day day we are all working, so it is pretty quiet in the house – apart from the sound of my teeth chattering. Whilst the view of the Pic du Gar was lovely and greatly appreciated by my colleagues on my zoom calls, the fact that the room has one small window (that has definitely seen better days – or maybe decades) and doesn’t get any direct sunlight does mean it is cold up there.  I even wrapped Anya in a blanket to keep her warm, and she has fur!

And so the tidying, rubble and clearing never ends. Unfortunately, neither do the issues. This beam needs some serious attention and certainly more than our skills can handle – particularly since the whole corner of our roof is literally relying on it.

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Seems that mum’s leftovers have run out so it’s time for ‘Cock in a Box’ and chips. Once fed we managed to coax Matt upstairs for a bit more work on Tonia’s room. It really does take all three of us to get this up and straight – not sure what we are going to do when Tonia’s left. Hopefully the practice while she is here, and doing the biggest stretches now, will help us to be able to do this when she leaves. Only managed to get one up though so not exactly charging through it. It seems that Anya however has nominated herself as project supervisor.

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Tonia has been removing the remaining elements in Room 7 and I’ve been tidying – not bad if you ask me but I know it won’t last long!

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That’s enough for one evening though. Time for more quiz shows and general family relaxation time.

Night all

[5 October 2021]

Wednesday

Busy most of the day working.

Had to have a quick break in the afternoon as the swimming pool guy came over. He seemed to think that it would be be relatively simple to get in so long as we trimmed back a few bits and pieces in the driveway. We’re pretty convinced that it is quite reasonable. We’ve looked at alternatives and certainly a better option than building one ourselves.

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With all the clearing and cleaning that Tonia and I have been doing over the past few days, we’re soon due for another descheterie trip. Part of this also includes trying to remove at least some of the bags of cement that have gradually been decomposing at the back door – seems they may be ok for rubble but they don’t last outside against the elements, they just shred to pieces.

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Saw Grumps today. She looks so much like Meow, they must surely be related. From a static image it’s the eyes that give it away but their markings are so close. The tail length is also rather a give away. As soon as I see a full tailed cat I now think of Marsupilami [if you’re not familiar with it I have added a photo but it’s an old school French cartoon. I have no idea where I probably remember it from visits to France as a child as it as clear in my memory as the original TinTin.]

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Mum’s back early from her holiday – and we were so going to clear up and make the place beautiful before she got back. Well, I’d thought about it, and I’ve heard that it’s the thought that counts. We weren’t expecting her back until the evening although I do understand the desire to miss Toulouse traffic, it can be quite a nightmare – akin to the M25 with less anger but more crazy.

Mum’s back doing what she does best. She’s in the kitchen. Have I said how much I love her?! I do, even if she is a bit mad, it’s nice to have her back!!

[6 October 2021]

Thursday

Tonia – I was up ridiculously early this morning and took Anya out just as the sun was coming over the hills – I don’t expect you will see many of these pictures in this blog! 

At this time of day there was no cat chasing and Anya was definitely feeling like the queen of all she surveyed

The rest of the day was very much focussed on Chan, Matt and I all working. Mum made the most of the sun and spent much of her day (when not slaving away in the kitchen) catching up on a bit of reading and if I may say so looking like the A-Typical Brit abroad – I am sure I have seem this image before… 

Matt is off up to the attic to get a few pictures for quotes for insulation. There really is nothing in there, and although there is also currently no heat in the house either it would be good to get some. Hopefully we will manage to heat the place at some point. One day this is going to become my workshop and sanctuary. It may have a very small floor to ceiling height, only suited to Rhys and Lucy, but I can see a nice little sewing desk and mini lounge happening to hide away from the world.

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[7 October 2021]

Friday

Quick trip down to Luchon. Mum picked up some more wine, she definitely doesn’t have enough and they bought so much stuff with them she’s going to need to fill the car with something for the journey home.

I was looking for the ‘more exciting stuff’ – multi-use fold out tables and those bars you put at the entrances of doors to smooth the divide between finishes. I know, it’s pretty edge of the seat decisions in this house.

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Back home and there’s more to be done upstairs. I’ve been checking the size of the off-cuts of plasterboard and making sure we have the measurements on them so we don’t have to measure them every single time; efficiency is key to success.

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Looks like the weather is going to be good tomorrow so have finally booked mum’s Christmas present. She’s been desperate to do something fun and different that we can all do. I’m sure she won’t be expecting it but since we have spent so much time watching quiz shows I decided it was only fitting to make the surprise another quiz.

[8 October 2021]

Saturday

So, Anya and I started the day very early (again) and at 7am she decided she needed to survey her kingdom from a slightly different vantage point.

Once the morning walk was done, Chan and Matt are off in the car to secure a sofa – we will come back to them – it was time to get cracking in the house for me. Having looked at the “delightful” mural in the wall in the living room, we had discussed how we could get this off when I was here at Christmas and the time had come for someone to actually do something about it… yes me again! After about a couple of hours, I had taken off one large flower and 2 of the smaller ones and decided that whilst the “shadow garden” I was creating seemed ok to me, I was not keen to go too far and find angry “Champs” coming back from their trip.  That said with the sun shining, I was back off outside and once again tackling more of that pesky wood that I had pulled off the rafters upstairs.  More nail removal for me and I finally managed to get my picture of “With-nail and I” (yes I spent ages laughing about this to myself). 

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This completed the team messaged me to say they are delayed on their way back and there will be no time for lunch.  As the loving, caring and generally one to look after other people I was swiftly into the kitchen preparing a packed lunch for all, sadly giving away any chance to get myself spruced up for our trip into town – I am very giving!  

They arrived back with the trailer on and I immediately jumped into action helping Matt and Chan get the new chairs and sofa off the trailer and into the house. The arm chairs need some work but are super comfy and will be great in the kitchen even if just for the time being. The mustard sofa however is pretty awesome.

Now we are off to Luchon for Mums Christmas present – yes we are off on our Segway tour. With 3 of the 4 of us with passable “I can just about order in a restaurant” French when we arrive to find out the guide does not speak English, Chantal is designated to be staying in 2nd place and translating everything the man is trying to tell us. Starting off by putting on showercaps, I think Chan was the only one who managed to skip this stage of picture taking – she was very fast! 

Shower caps and helmets on we have a quick trial of the segways as none of us had done these before. Matt the brave soldier that he is, went up first and seemed to get it pretty quickly. I followed suit and feel that I was pretty good – not a pro, but I could get an and off, turn each way etc.  Chan up next, again pretty good, and claimed it was just like riding the wheel (Chan insert an  explanation for those who don’t know).  Last up we had mum who had been looking a little hesitantly at the machine, she took a little while to pull up the big girl pants and get on board, but get on board she did (with a little help), moving seemed to be ok, but her issue was more around stopping. I am not sure referencing skiing (the leaning forwards to go faster etc) was the right way to go as she had now mentioned a few times the being out of control was why she had disliked that sport in the first place. 

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Still, we were all mobile and felt at least the majority of us knew how to stop, as such, we proceeded to have what I thought was a lovely trip around and learnt a little bit about the history of Luchon – basically the rich set it up and thern deserted when the poor people moved in. We saw things from the Casino to the place they launch the gliders etc.  Mum was very hesitant at the start and as I was trying to pass back the wonderful nuggets of information I was promptly told that she didn’t care she was trying not to crash!

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Mum seemed a lot more confident by the end of the trip and has said that she will be doing this again – Chrissy B I understand you are the next in line to join her for this type of excursion.  In order to make sure that we have all had a good time and are ready to go home, we have to head to the pub and the obligatory discussion of how good / bad people were and the pictures obtained, of which here are a few: 

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Whilst at ‘Billy’s’ we bumped into a couple of Chan and Matt’s friends aka the owners. I naturally checked in on the puppy cam a couple of times to see that Anya was ok. To meet people who spoke English it was a pleasant change of pace. Mum actually declared the “coffee” she got as one of the best and delicious – I have had to put coffee in inverted commas here as if you know mum, showing a cup of hot milk a coffee bean and moving it away again quickly is what she believes to be the only alternative to a cup of tea. 

Drinks done it was time for mum to drive us back. Since we’ve had such a nice day it’s time to pay the ferryman – yes, it’s back to work in the basement and building the units that Matt and Chan picked up for the workshop.

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Nothing like a spot of dinner to reward the workers and some more quiz and chateau DIY programmes.  Anya finally got a look in on people’s attention with Matt giving her a yummy rawhide bone to chew on and further solidifying their friendship

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All done and we are off to bed!

[9 Oct 2021]

Sunday

So, once we were up and Anya had been walked, with the sun shining, I decided that whilst the sanding of the fixed shelf in the larder had already been done, it was time to give the other shelves a go.  This would mean stripping off the laminate covers, sanding and painting.  Sadly however, having pulled them out into the sunshine and started trying to remove the laminate I realised that they were basically rubbish, two appeared to be chipboard and one was two planks that had been bodged together… This was not going to work for the planned fancy new kitchen.  After a quick consult with “she who must be obeyed” [Chan – ooh I think that’s me! I like this title, thanks] it was agreed, today’s work plans were to be shelved. 

Ok, maybe not entirely. Apparently the chicken shed needs a bit of a tidy up so that they can start to fill it with a whole load more random stuff, not least all the garden furniture come winter.

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That given up it was time to get ready to go meet “real people.” Yes, we were off to the house of the famous ‘Jonny and Cressida’, of the fame “My friend Cressida…” which seemed to be one of Chan’s favourite sayings that is apparently relevant to any and every conversation.  I was particularly excited about this trip as they have 2 dogs and as Anya had not seen her doggy friends and had a chance to be off lead much in the last two weeks I thought it was going to be an amazing experience for her as well.  

Things did not quite turn out as planned however for a second time for me today.  Once we arrived, Anya was out of the car and a little too full on for poor Basil and Archie. She was barking and growling at them if they tried to get on the outdoor chairs for cuddles and sadly ended up having to be tied to a tree out of the reach of the other dogs.  She did try to make friends but as Basil was particularly timid did not work out for her. Matt however was having a completely new experience himself, being able to actually drink at Jonny and Cressida’s! Mum had very selflessly agreed to be the designated driver. This is possibly due to a) she doesn’t trust me driving winding French roads in her new car and b) I quite like a glass of wine and I am pretty sure that walking all the way back as no one was sober enough to drive was not too compelling – particularly after the walk we had done the week before. 

I can vouch for Chan’s choice/luck in the friends that she has been able to find, if few so far in France, are definitely top quality.  Some fabulous hosting included Cressida trying to teach us all how to make our own pizzas (she had already made the dough for us thankfully) and then cook them in her lovely outside pizza oven.  Naturally I think mine was the best, but they were all rather delicious.  

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Typical Brits abroad that we are, we were determined to stay in the sunshine for as long as possible. It seemed that Cressida was already aware of Chan’s propensity for sitting in the sun and had already positioned half the table by the house in the sunshine so after the lovely pizzas we settled onto the sofas.  The wine and conversation flowed and then sadly it was time for us to go home. 

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On the way back we decided that we would stop off at the Lake de Gery where mum had been walking Anya to and making her own friends during the week – they already knew her order of wine and a bowl of water for Anya in just a couple of visits.  After a quick coffee for mum and beer for each of us, Chan, Anya and I have made the decision that we will walk back as with Anya having been tied to the tree for the afternoon she was a long way from having had the rambunctious play and exercise I had been hoping for. 

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On arrival back there was no way we were going to get any work done today so it was time to park ourselves in front of the TV again for a couple of hours before taking ourselves off to bed.

[10 October 2021]