Thursday

So with Matt back I may be able to sleep a little longer, not much though as there is lots of work to be done and things to manage. Apparently we’re meant to have the pool guys and technical assessment for the new boiler today. Weirdly however there seems to be no sign of either, and the pool guys in particular have been very punctual to date. I can only guess that they are waiting for the new concrete surround to go off. Matt took a lovely picture of the house though, will look even better once it’s finally finished.

Much warmer working outside than in and Matt has put up a table on the veranda. We soon observed that there was a lot of action going on around the bee hotel we put up last year. I’m not entirely clear however whether that is new bees or simply the old ones coming out. Most of the tubes had been plugged up with wax etc so guess they’re just coming out rather than nesting already.

Eventually the van turned up with the rest of the stuff that Matt moved out of the London flat, I’m not sure I was prepared for how much of it there would be. Thankfully Matt and the driver did most of the work as I have lots of work to do today. Also Grumps turned up again, so here’s a pile of boxes, the other cat and the rather impressive burger that Matt made for dinner

[7 April 2022]

Friday

Work is busy but needed to start to make a dent in moving the recent delivery of stuff to their new homes. Thankfully the sofa bed is quite light as there’s a lot of stairs. It’s a very worthwhile addition to the office however for when things get busy here and we finally have a full house. It’s incredibly comfortable!

With a bit more work done one of the key challenges is tackling the basement storage area. We need to take out the old shelves, fix them up so they aren’t hanging by a thread, and put them back together ready to put the heaps of new stuff on them. If I don’t make a start on clearing them the salon will continue to be a heap of boxes for months.

I certainly didn’t get it all finished but at least I’ve made some progress and we’re almost ready to start dismantling – backwards to go forwards! Matt has gone to Luchon meanwhile to pick up the extra bits to start re-mantling them so I tidied up the windowsills.

Good surprise when he got back though, not just one bunch of flowers but two. Whatever I did right I’d better keep doing it! He also got me a passiflora and profiteroles, and sachets for the cat, clearly everyone wins today.

After dinner we settle down to relax but the cat is clearly in a different mindset just shoving things off the table, a**hole, and then playing with my shoe – I’m not sure I’d put my face that close to it, it really doesn’t smell so good.

[8 April 2022]

Saturday

Matt has been playing in the garden with the cat this morning. She’s an odd one.

Time to start making a dent in all this stuff that Matt has shipped over. The key thing here is knowing what will go into the basement and what needs a home. Bedding is definitely not for the basement, particularly with the risk of mice getting into it and making it their bed so that has to go upstairs.

Naturally much of this is my job and Matt his own designs on the day. Thankfully however my plan to spark a desire to get the family room complete seems to have worked. As a result Matt is finally teaching himself to weld, something he’ wanted to do for ages. [We need to be able to carry a lot of 3.5/4m long metals and this will angle it up above the car, and in accident above our heads!]

I however am rather concerned that we now look (again) as though we just moved in. So I’m still on boxes. I need to go through and find forever homes for things, just moving boxes around isn’t going to help in the long run.

Back in the basement and these old shelves aren’t giving up easily. Thankfully however I have finally managed to get them out and start to get them prepped ready to go back in. Matt’s helping with some of the sanding while I prepare the varnish etc and then get them painted up. They’ll never look perfect but this should help preserve them for a good few more years.

Working on the blog again. There’s a lot to catch up on and these things really do take time. Matt and the cat seem happy enough however without my attention.

[9 April 2022]

Sunday

Tried to lay in but Matt didn’t seem so keen and apparently the cat has been sleeping on him since 7am. It’s really odd as she didn’t do anything like that with me while he was away, she just seemed to sleep quietly next to me.

Anyway, I woke up about 10:30 and then had quick half hour episode of doctors (well it took a little longer as the internet was playing up, but Matt worked his magic and fixed it). Time to get up though as Matt reckons that it might take a couple of hours to get the shelves finished and we have guests coming this afternoon.

So on we go with the shelves. They’re looking much better. Obviously the uprights still need to be painted but I think it looks much smarter, [I’ve included a before and after back to back to show the difference].

Now that is done we can get all the boxes out of the living room and into the basement where they should be. There’s a few cardboard boxes that will need sorting through at some point but at least we are on the right road and we have the house back.

I really need to get on with getting this jasmine planted up and we’d best get some food in us if the Huxtables are coming over. Food eaten but I’ve not quite finished the planting. I’d made a liner, part filled it from the mulch and done the base compost layer when I came back round to plant the pot our guests had arrived.

Time for fun and giggles. I’m not saying that Matt spoils the dogs but…

Since it’s going to -1 tonight we dragged in most of the plants. Matt also put on the heating. Seems we may actually have a warm spell as we try to use as much of the old heating oil as we can before the new boiler arrives. Fancy pants showers all round! Also had a lovely Spanish spread for dinner this evening.

Apparently Matt found me sleeping when he came out with the cat sleeping atop my shoulder, I’m pretty sure however I was just reposing and resting my eyes. Anyway into the shower and then back to write for you before bed.

[10 April 2022]

Monday

Super busy all day with work. Matt took a trip to Lidl but the climbers were looking rather past their best. He did however find the eggs that Cress was looking for, sadly I apparently have enough jasmine now – my plan is now to try taking cuttings, you can never have enough jasmine!

[11 April 2022]

Tuesday

Another busy day of work, made all the busier by not just one but two trips. I’d had a call to change the time of my doctors appointment from 14:30 to 10:30 so went down and waited. There’s no receptionist and nobody has any idea what is going on. It’s also the same day as drop in appointments to see the doctor, which is a madness in itself. While I was waiting the local health minister dropped in to have a random chat with patients in the waiting room. Lots of complaints about how long to see a doctor and the shortage of doctors in rural France etc etc – sadly nobody mentioned the lack of reception staff which was my biggest bug bear but I didn’t have the vocabulary or confidence to raise it, I wish I had though…

After an hour and half I managed to grab the wise lady between patients. She takes me in quickly to check her book – hand written diary of course, this is France – seems she’s moved it again to 18:30 and forgot to tell me. She was very apologetic and the alternative was waiting weeks longer to get another appointment so I’ll be back later.

More work and back to the doctors. I wasn’t prepared for the medical history and have little idea how much of what I told her was in fact true or how much she understood of my broken French. She did understand some of it however and now I have a referral for a mammogram, still no idea what to do with this referral though as you have to decide where you want to go and get it done and book it in yourself. I also got a prescription, not just the thing itself but also the kit to insert it and the anaesthetic, all of which have to be picked up from the pharmacy before the appointment and taken with you. It’s definitely a more DIY system than we’re used to in the UK, but I guess it increases personal responsibility and promotes self-management which can be a good thing [if supported with good physical and virtual infrastructure…!]

[12 April 2022]

Wednesday

Matt has toothache again. Time to call the dentist and get another appointment. The crown is going to take a while though and so we can’t get one booked until July. Hopefully it will be ok till then. We’ve finally been down to the fish counter at Intermarche however and Matt ordered fish from the counter all on his own. I was very impressed. So now we are finally going to use some of the massive amounts of sushi rice we bought over with us. We’re lost the knack a little but didn’t take too long to get back into it.

[13 May 2022]