Time to take a break

.....the kitchen is still not ready, but there has been a lot of sanding and plastering still going on.  Its sort of functional providing we don't spill anything, but I find it hard to cook without something spilling or splashing somewhere.  We now have a gas hose connection to the cooker top, yay! We haven't bothered to buy a gas bottle yet because we would rather wait until the whole thing is finished.  Plus we don't have any cookware which would probably be a bit of a stumbling block to a successful meal.

 Instead we go through a routine each morning of getting up early before the builder comes, having our coffee, then removing the coffee machine and microwave from the kitchen. Washing up our dishes from whatever microwavable  or reaheatable meal we have bought from Intermarché that may have been left from the previous night. The aforementioned items go on to 'lounge table' and we cover it all with a dust sheet.  Not really how we planned to spend this holiday but c'est la vie!

So we feel obliged to remove ourselves from the house, to drive off somewhere, a bit unsettled that the kitchen is not ready, but it would be to awkward to stay in the house with the work going on. However driving along on route to find something interesting to do we sometimes see  some sights that really lift the spirits.  For instance on the D625 between our village and Mirepoix were these magnificent fields of sunflowers.  They looked fantastic and seemed to go on for ever!

I was that close to having an Age of Aquarius moment, stripping off and dancing naked around amongst them!

Sometimes it is the small things that we maybe overlook. For instance there is a wonderful butterfly farm just outside the village of Lesparou, called Les Papillons d'Amarande.  We visited it in the afternoon, as apparently butterflies like to get up late and go to bed early.....half your luck mate!  Its been run by a husband and wife team for 20 years but they are retiring next year.  I thought what a great way to have an income, some polytunnels, some fruit trees, a few overripe bananas and away you go.  Apparently some of the butterflies are getting a bit lazy now and just go straight for fruit drinks for their sustenance instead of the flowers themselves!                                                                         

Ok I think thats enough butterfly pictures.  There were some magnificent blue ones but the blooming' things never stayed still long enough to get a photo.

Where does the time go?

Where does the time go?  It will soon be the end of this summer trip to our house and we will once again be back in Australia.  I always feel a bit sad about this time of the holiday as we always put in a lot of time and effort into our house, but we always have to leave it, and rarely do we actually get to enjoy the improvements we have added!  For instance I am looking at a wood burner installed last year that can apparently do a great job of warming the entire floor. Never lit…its still got the performance and manufacturers stickers on the glass front!  

But having said that each year it feels more like a home than a house and fingers crossed if the kitchen is finished in time we could recoup some of the investment in renting it out.  We have even started putting prints up on the wall! I feel someone should be enjoying the place even if it’s not us. Especially with all the new furniture we have acquired and assembled from stores in the area.

There is a saying in the navy....if it moves salute it, if it doesn't paint it.

My wife likes to shop at a store called ‘But’.  It’s a home furnishings store selling everything: TVs, cookers, beds, furniture.  I’m sure you get the idea.  They sell all their furniture items in self-assembly flat pack kits.  I hate it.  I swear you need a combined degree in engineering, interpretive art and telepathy to work out what on earth they are banging on about when it comes to putting the bloody things together.  I kid you not!  It comes with a pictogram book of how to assemble.  Half way through I wasn’t sure if I was assembling a wardrobe or reading a graphic novel on the storming of Troy!  There were some stages of putting together that were so confusing I had to lie on the bed with the booklet as an eye mask and hope that some clarity would somehow infuse into my head through the paper!  And to add insult to injury the instructions said it would take 1 hour to assemble!!!!   Maybe 1 hour in mayfly years…..it took me about three days! Agreed I am a bit inept and a proper electric drill would have really helped. Having said that the task of counting a jumbo meccano set variety of screws would have taken an hour by itself.  I mean why not just have two sizes big and small…not the 15 different sizes of screw that were needed to make this apparently simple wardrobe.   As you can imagine I was very proud of myself when I finally finished it and hence here is a photo of it!

...and when I find the missing hinge and bracket I will probably finish it.

Summer 2017: Nous sommes arrivés

Enfin...

Well actually we have been here for a couple of weeks now but with the lack of wifi and being a bit slack and enjoying the sun and food in-between painting we've been a bit remiss in finding somewhere with free wifi to continue blogging!

Ok, so the kitchen was not completely finished.  We sort of expected this to be the case really, and in hindsight we realize there was no way it could be finished without us being there on the ground as it were to authorize the final decision making. The sink and cabinets were in but we were not aware of all the small things  that still needed to be decided.  Tiles, cabinets, paint schemes, lighting arrangement, pipe work....etc.  It's very difficult to plan this from abroad using emails so it was good to finally meet Sid and discuss how we would proceed.

Work in progress...watch this space

We are old hands now at the phone and internet stuff so once we had unpacked we went to the Orange store to get a new sim card and to replenish the airbox with some data.....€40 for 5mb of data!!!!!  So that lasted less than a week before we had to top it up so we are now strictly rationed.   I am allowed to check the cricket score on BBC, but anything on youtube is banned!  So you can see why we only use the blog when we see the magic 'free wifi' logo.   The nearest to us is the recently opened McDonalds in Laroque-d'Olmes.  Not a huge fan of McDonalds but not above the hypocrisy of going in there for a burger and spending an hour on the net!

One pair of rascals who were a brilliant surprise were the two cats...Fatguts and Dumb-ass, who survived the winter and have now made the square their own!  In fact we have renamed Dumb-ass.  She is now called 'Goggles'...due to her piercing stare!   They have been adopted by a kind-hearted local lady, who really saved their lives.  They still remembered that we were the mugs who would give them tinned mackerel.....and we still do. This photo almost looks as if Fatguts is putting her daily order in!

Itchy feet...France is calling!

Its been far too long.

I now keep a work calendar attached by fridge magnets on the side of the fridge.  Each day I mark a day off!!  It's now less than a month until we get back to our house in the lovely Ariege.  

This time instead of flying directly to Nice or Barcelona we are going via the UK to see family.  Then its a quick flight hopefully from Liverpool to Nice and pick up the hire car.

Point of note. Once you have a car with built in sat nav you never go back!   Its soooo much easier to navigate towns and cites you have never visited before with sat nav.  Trust me on this one.

Our new kitchen should be ready by the time we get back which means we can finally do some cooking.  Having said that, lets face it; its going to be summer, hot, and we'll probably be spending most days eating cold cuts, cheese, olives wine, salad and ham.  However should I get the gastronomic urge to prepare quelque chose different...well the options there.