Life in France

A not every day story of normal people trying to live their dream in France starting at the beginning and ending?

Sunday, October 30, 2005

YAWN.......

What a boring week, bugger all of interest to report except that i have been busy varnishing bloody windows and doors all week. How exciting is that? not very....yawn....bored......
Today at least things are on the up, it is apple presing day in the village. Time to pick those windfalls that you can't eat and take them to be pressed and made into apple juice.... lovely.
Now of course it isn't that simple on arriving with said apples they are weighed and for every two kilos of apples you get a litre of apple juice. If you supply the bottles it costs about 40pence litre! not bad eh? So, we ended up with 30kg from our tree so 15 litres of juice to come. We put the bottles in the queue and retired to the bar after getting an invitation to a drink from a local friend..... well, one drink leads to another as more friends come into the bar while waiting for their bottles to be filled and so on...... two hours later we came out to collect our full bottles and saw the gendarmes having a chat with people whilst leaning against OUR car... damned cheek.. we of course asked them very very very nicely if they would mind terribly if we could get to our car to put the juice in!!! No problem, smiles and a chat... best be nice to them as they carry guns...as we left they were just going into the bar.... bet they come out two hours later as well... bet they don't pay for their drinks though.....perhaps i should become a gendarme?

Monday, October 24, 2005

Naughty Boy

That's me! Friday was such a lovely day and after doing a quick job in the morning i went out on the beasty! I first had to plane of a small part of a beam by the front door as the carpenter came on thursday and adjusted it so that it would close correctly. His accountant came along as well as we had asked him to justify his bill for the balcony and stairs as it had increased a little. ( nearly 2,500 euro's more!) After much discussion and coffee he agreed to reduce his bill a little, unfortunately we couldn't get the cost of the balcony reduced very much as we had insisted that he used a special type of wood structure for the supports. We were under the impression from the local supply depot they were 20 euro's metre and it should have been quoted at 63 euros a metre!!!! Some difference huh? When i went to the depot again to get them to explain they just shrugged their shoulders, apologised and said it was a genuine mistake..arrrggghhhhhh
Soo out on the beast, i did have a good reason though honest i did. I had to go to the vet and get some worming tablets for the cat as she had sicked up some worms! and luscious had the car as she was at work up at the restuarant on the hill.
Had a coffee at a small bar on the way home and was only out for a couple of hours but it was great fun. I did tell luscious when she got back in, she said i was a very naughty boy going out without her and i would have to be sorted out later!
That was fun as well. perhaps i should be naughty more often?

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

All rendered out

At last, the bloody rendering in the main bedroom is all done. I hate doing it, up and down ladders all day, cracking my head on the beams 'cos i forget that they are in the way. It's an age thing, like going upstairs and forgetting why! The next stage is to fill all the gaps in between the plasterboarding and the beams so yet more balancing on planks placed across beams. Should have joined a circus as a tightrope walker or maybe a clown would have been more appropiate!
Still at least now the room is virtually draught proof and a lot warmer than it was last year when there were more holes in the wall than an expensive pair of fine lace knickers!!
This will be one of the guest rooms so it has to be done by christmas as guests are coming for a goose and glitter christmas.....sooo off i go back to work. The new chestnut flooring is due mid november for the floor so best i am ready also the marble top for the bathroom arrives at the end of this month..so much to do and so little time.
Wouldn't be anywhere else though!

Friday, October 14, 2005


Autumn. The road down from the house and just to remind myself why i am here.

Monday, October 10, 2005

Murderer!!

It is true, luscious is a murderer of helpless little furry bunny things. Actually it was a hare not a rabbit but heh! In all the years of driving she has managed to avoid killing anything even me! That all changed as she went to work at the restuarant on the hill Saturday night. Evidently she saw a small dark shape at the side of the road and just as she approached it decided to ignore the green cross code and ran out in front of her. There was a dull thud and nothing, she carried on driving as she didn't want to see the carnage she may have caused. Also, had she stopped and seen squashed bunny/hare she would have been sick or fainted! She reported the fact to the chef/owner of the restuarant who questioned her about it and then said" nooo, not a rabbit it must have been a hare" at which he ran to the till got out his car keys and drove off with a manical grin on his face.
He returned some minutes later with a big smile on his face, luscious asked him if he had found it and he said yes, it was a little squashed but it was now in the freezer and would we like to go up and have it for dinner on thursday evening? Evidently hare is a delicacy locally and he was very pleased that she had murdered it as he had been out shooting on the saturday morning and not shot anything!!!!

Whole new meaning to road kill eh?
Bunny burger anyone?

Friday, October 07, 2005

To The Woods

To the woods we go, we are playing lumberjacks as we need logs for the winter fire! Our store is empty so....dressed in suspenders and a bra, (Monty Python) funny gear to chop trees but it worked for them! Anyway suitably attired and with chainsaws at the ready we began, cutting the trees down is the easy part! dragging them out of the wood which is on a steep hillside is bloody hard work especially when the suspenders keep digging into your thighs, and it plays hell with the stockings and high heels as well!
It would appear that we also disturbed a red squirrel, i am not sure if he was asleep in a tree we cut down or just not happy we were there but he was NOT a happy squirrel. He or maybe it was a she? Ran up and down the trees and kept running towards us and making chattering noises at the same time. Obviously we were not getting the right message as it ran down a tree i was about to cut and tried to bite my finger!!! Good job i was wearing gloves. At this we decided to retire a safe distance and cut trees somewhere else, perhaps it thought it was being invaded by aliens or was it the sparkly top i was wearing to compliment the short mini dress? It continued to watch us for a while then with a flick of its tail turned and ran off along the higher branches of a tall tree.
End result lots of logs cut for the fire, well, enough to last at least a fortnight maybe. All split by the axe and stacked very neatly in the barn. Out again next week so i will dress a little differently next time and keep a look out for a mad squirrel as next time it might be after more than my finger!!!

Tonight i am tasting the walnut rocket fuel...... bloody marvellous especially with chocolate eclair.... burp.....