Monday

Work and Sunflowers for me!

Finally Matt has arrived back from the Grand Prix, he’s also brought Brandon Potter with him [hence the blog title in case you were wondering.] Brandon was there [or at least not long after the moment] that Matt and I first met in Switzerland, he was also Matt’s housemate when we first started dating.

By the time that they arrived they were both exhausted and all Matt wanted to do was rest, have a drink and get in the pool. I can’t blame him either. Matt has also set up a desk in Room 1 so that Brandon has his own space to work. It seems that this remote working thing is pretty popular.

[25 July 2022]

Tuesday

Everyone is catching up on work so not much to report. We did manage to have lunch together and a quick dip which was nice. Matt and I also went to Intermarche to pick up some granules de bois for the heater – Brandon is reknowned for the number of showers he likes to take each day and we’re very low as there appears to be a shortage across Europe. At least we managed to get a few bags to hopefully keep us in hot water for the next few days.

Tonie

As well as lunch we also managed a spot of dinner – a traditional French dish of tartiflette and Brandon obviously made sure that we had some wine open to go with it.

My special news from the late night dog walk at around ten to one in the morning (yes I am a night owl for those of you who don’t know) was that Anya helped me find a good size hedgehog. This was quite a coup as Chan had seen several at Jonny and Cressida’s but never one at their place, then again she hasn’t had a reason to be wandering around the grounds much at silly o’clock in the morning. Additionally, I must admit, it was probably more Anya’s find than my own, but as she can’t write this post I will claim it for myself!

With the first Maison Rose hedgehog under our belts and all other relevant business done, it was time for me to hit the hay too – after all I also had work again in the morning as well as my additional “chateau chores”.

[26 July 2022]

Wednesday

Work in the morning but we also needed to go to the dechetterie. We only had about half an hour that we were both free at the same time so I loaded up the car while Matt was on calls. It was pretty busy and lesson learnt that Wednesday afternoon is not the ideal time to go to the dump apparently. Was pretty quick once we could find a space. One guy was very confused and impressed by how much plaster we kept tipping out – thanks to Tonia for that.

Things are going well in the veg garden it seems and the sunflowers are increasingly huge. The tomatoes also seem to have this odd sheen/dust that makes them sparkle, it’s very beautiful to look at.

Yay, my animal life saver has arrived. It’s a little platform in case frog or toads or other small animals fall in the pool. It gives them a little bridge to climb out. Not sure how much use it will be with the cover on most of the time but I like it. Meow is also still quite guarded while eating with the dog about.

Tonia – With the white collar work done for the day, it was finally time to make use of the additional labour available. Whilst I had been able to pull down ceilings and haul multiple sacks of rubble down three flights of stairs, for anyone who has seen Chan and Matt’s house, they will understand that moving the wardrobes was no simple task. Height, and “man strength” was required for this particular task, which fortunately we had plenty of in our newest worker. Getting the wardrobe from the kids room through to room one was no easy task and definitely required not only the additional strength but also both of the skateboards and management from both front and back to manoeuver around the corners. Naturally with the four of us working like a well oiled team after finding all of the relevant tools for the job, it was done in no time and saved Chan and Matt a task that would have been impossible on their own.

[27 July 2022]

Thursday

I’ve been working but went outside to find to find Matt and Tonia putting the new cabana together. Having two ‘doers’ is a quick way of doing things. I don’t think either of them appreciated my input. A director is rarely appreciated though, particularly when you tell them that everything is wrong. Better to know though right! Everything had to be taken apart again, but now everything is on my shoulders if they have to redo anything. I’m pretty good at reading super vague directions and I’m under great scrutiny at each step so I have a lot of support. We [they] got it done though and looks good to me.

Tonie

Additional to my team work on the cabana, looking after Anya, who had been surveying all of the land she felt was now hers having scared Meow off for the majority of our visit, I had a much more enjoyable task on my list for the evening.

Whilst I had not been allowed to knock down the bathroom wall (full of electrics), or the joining wall in the kids room (also still full of electrics), there was one more wall I had my eye on and with our departure date edging ever closer it was now or never. I was off up to bedroom five to take down part of the wall to what will be the old hall.

I really do love knocking walls down, however having gotten the section down in just 15 minutes, it took a further hour to get all the rubble cleared up and safe for Anya to be wandering around the floor without me having to worry. An additional bonus is that Chan is a lot happier with people who clean up all the mess after they have smashed parts out of her house.

That done, it was time for a bit of a sit down and Anya to get a bit of a cuddle and petting from her Aunty Chan in the last couple of days.

[28 July 2022]

Friday

We were working but the Mayor dropped round to say that our hedges at the back need to be trimmed as the neighbours have been complaining. We committed to doing it quickly and we got the job done that afternoon. We’re pretty quick off the mark when we’re upsetting other people.

It seems that there’s a problem with Tonia’s car and she can’t see the dashboard most of the time so Matt has been dispatched to look at it before she goes home. Apparently it’s nothing ‘serious’ but she can’t see the fuel gauge, which on a short journey across the length of France might be a bit more challenging. Matt worked out the problem, and it was a little bush fixed. No guarantees that it would work consistently throughout the journey home but hopefully enough to keep her on her way and not stranded at the side of the road out of fuel.

While pottering about Anya started to make a noise and behaving oddly. It seems that she’s found another hedgehog. It’s just a teeny tiny baby but it is soo cute. While Tonia kept Anya back we were mesmerised by it. It was hard keeping Lilja back as she was so incredibly interested but given how hard I was trying to hold back it’s only understandable. Obviously it shouldn’t be out at this time of day but it seemed to be feeding well and it was pretty lively and happy. They also make the cutest little snuffly noise as they move about looking for food.

Off to Spain for a special departure dinner before Tonia leaves us tomorrow. Tapas in our regular place but seemed it was a hit all round.

[29 July 2022]

Saturday

It was an early morning today for Tonia and Anya who had to start their journey home. They were off super early, which was probably a good thing as I think if Lilja had been up they’d have found that they had a stow-away, she was very much in love with Anya.

After lunch Brandon and Lilja were off to Pyrenees Ho! today. It’s an adventure park down the road, [for the Brits it’s a bit like Go Ape,] with zip lines and tree climbing and tree walks etc for all ages. It’s great for us as they are acting as guinea pigs, and Zoe seemed pretty happy to spend the time relaxing by the pool during daddy and daughter time. From all the pictures it looked like they were having a ball.

Back at home and Lilja was straight back into the pool, while I pottered about in the garden putting in my new plants. Brandon and Zoe were also kind enough to volunteer to make dinner this evening. Despite appreciating the luxury of being offered oysters Matt and I politely declined, it’s not something I’ve ever enjoyed. Zoe however had a good go at it as did Lilja, so they did better than us, even if they weren’t too keen either.

It seems that the stick on stuff from the book that Lilja chose in Luchon has multiple uses too, which Matt was thrilled about. We’re going to have these things dropping off all over the place but so it goes. Worth it to see him looking so pretty.

Drinks and chats until late, it’s been lovely having visitors and they’re going to be heading off tomorrow too but bedtime has to happen sometime. Tonia and Anya also made it home safe eventually too after a crazy long journey.

[30 July 2022]

Saturday

As it is the Potter’s last day with us it was mostly taken up by playing in and around the pool, giving Matt and I a chance also to just relax and unwind. Brandon seemed to enjoy the burgers at lunchtime though.

About 6pm Matt took our guests up to the train station as they’ll be staying by the airport [their flight is around 6am and we don’t do early airport runs, also small children aren’t made for long early morning journeys]. And just like that, the house was quiet again and it was just Matt and I, and the cat. For a few days at least before he goes too.

[31 July 2022]