La Souterraine in the fall!

The leaves had well and truly started falling on our recent trip in October but more progress has been made and the installation of some new furniture.  We are still awaiting the fitting of our new septic tank but are told it should be by December, however I get the feeling probably closer to April!!  Good news is we have our first booking for holiday rental next August so the final touches are now needing completing!  We have also progressed to asking for a quote for the installation of an upstairs bathroom so for all those friends who endured the one shower this summer between us all I am sure this will come as a relief! However a very nice shower it is too!!

We were very pleasantly surprised by the weather on this trip a very nice 23 degrees on some days and warm enough to be walking around in t.shirts most days.  Andrew and Julie flew out with Jack, Jack's friend Will and I from Stansted and we hired a car on this trip at the airport.  It was such a nice day when we arrived we even had lunch in the garden which for October the 15th was pretty good going.

Alastair who had been out in June and his wife Kirsteen also joined us for a few days and every one got stuck in to all the little jobs that needed doing.  Andrew did a fantastic job of cleaning up the log burner glass doors.

You can see the reflection in the glass now

The weather was so good that we got some of the garden jobs completed.  Rosemary had kindly given me about 60 bulbs to plant, Jennifer had given me a big bag of lupin seeds and I also added a few plants from the local nursery.  Julie got stuck in and planted about 60 daffodils in the small bed at the top of the drive and later I added about 30 crocuses to this so that should give us some nice spring colour.

Jack started digging a border down the side of the house and Kirsteen kindly finished off.  I got some lovely plants from the local nursery and some other friends who came for lunch, Kathy & Martin, bought a lovely small bush that I put in the middle.  Kirsteen also set too planting bulbs outside the front door and did a fantastic job on clearing the weeds out of the fountain.

Hopefully they should all survive the winter and will look a little bigger by spring?

 Even Jack got stuck in with some of the digging!

If you have read some of my earlier posts you will of seen that last time Alastair was out the floors in the back bedroom got ripped up and replaced well I think he is a little bit of a frustrated bob the builder as this time he was really keen to support Phil in making the roof on our derelict barn a little safer which involved Phil perching on top of the barn wall and removing a slate at a time and throwing them down to Alastair.

Must be a boy thing I think.

They did however work very hard for a few hours removing slates and bits of rafters until they were in the position where they could get a rope around the beam and start to give it a tug with the help of the van. They gave up at the last light but a really good job done - thanks again to Alastair!

Jack and Will also got stuck in, once the roof was made safe the boys went in with their hard hats and took to sawing down some trees to clear out the middle of the barn.  This kept them busy for pretty much most the day and they made a big difference to how it looked.

And of course all this hard work was always rewarded with a beer in the garden!!

We did also manage to get out and about to see a few places the local lake Etang Du Cheix looked stunning in its autumnal colors as did the city of Limoges.  We also had a wander around the apple festival or Cidre festival as it is known local ( Cider!!)

 Park near the train station in its beautiful autumn shades

 Limoges Cathedral

Beautiful Etang Du Cheix just 5mins from our house

Alastair and Phil also spent a day making a new doorway into the attic this is a huge room and has a lovley old staircase going up to it that we will clean up at some point and re varnish.  It had a very make do door on it so they put in a frame and a new door that opens upwards towards the ceiling.  The attic has an amazing amount of space and you could easily get another 3 or 4 rooms up there with a little bit more hard work! There is also an old green velvet chair up there that would look great in the green bedroom but Phil thinks it looks like its inhabited and maybe we should not disturb the spirit?!

Just need to paint the wall at the top now and smarten up the stairs. 

On this trip over Phil also managed to pick up my latest eBay bargain in Boston, a lovely pine table and 8 chairs that fits perfectly in the corner of the lounge and also he took out my welsh dresser another eBay bargain which sits perfectly in the hallway.  They all go towards the finishing touches and in just 8 months we are both over the moon at the progress that has been made.

So as we close over the shutters, switch off the water, strip the beds and clean out the fireplace its hard to believe that it is only 8 months since we collected those keys.  We are delighted with the progress that's been made and are looking forward to 2012 and the continuation of the project.  Thank you to everyone who has pitched in or supported us in one way or another and I look forward to dusting off the cobwebs and firing up the computer when we get back out to Bousseresse next year.

Sizzling Summer... in more ways than one!

I can't quite believe that as I am sitting here the Autumn  leaves are falling.  I also can't believe where the time has gone this year and what has been achieved in this space of time.  With No.1 child now safely packed off to Uni and No.2 hibernating in his room encased in computers, x box and headphones I find I now finally have some spare time to sit and update where we have got to this year!

Firstly from the new picture at the top of the page you will see what a difference a coat of paint makes, it even makes the frayed weather beaten, sun bleached shutters look much more sophisticated than they really should look!  However a lot of action went on behind the scenes before we reached this bit and hopefully if my memory is working I can fill you in on some of the details.

Once again Phil made the 880 mile trip door to door of course reaching Dover once again by the skin of his teeth with his partner in crime Jack.  This time however it was not the trusted white van but a slightly more luxurious ride in his trusted, slightly frail, 260,000 miles all ready covered, dependable Discovery!  Yes its still going.... Just.  The discovery was needed this time to be able to do various trips with friends and relatives who were popping by for a day or two on this visit which for Phil was almost 7 weeks, it's ok for these retiree's!

The first week or so when Phil arrived was spent getting the house ready for the above said visitors and a frantic race to get the new shower installed to cope with the demand of up to possibly 8 people each morning needing a shower.  It was amazing that the toilet system, still awaiting its new septic tank, coped well and it did right up until I left to go home and then I think it took a huge sigh and packed up only for Phil to have to get the pressure rods out to clear it.... probably too much information.  There is however a very nice tomato plant that has sprouted up out of the current septic tank but just can't persuade anyone to try what looks like very delicious tomatoes!!

 The Green Room

The Blue Front Bedroom

Our Room

Still requires some furniture!

The house now is really starting to feel like our home and Phil and Jack set about finishing the painting of the hall, stairs and landing which had been left from the last trip.  Jack, a typical boy, decided to paint in his brand new shorts that I had bought for the holidays already green camouflage they now have some very attractive apricot white splashes added to them.  The landing was finally finished 12hours before the first guests arrived but have to say it looks very light airy and spacious...and got the tick of approval from me when I arrived!

The Landing

We had made a pact that the two week period that I was out was going to be holiday time, Phil needed a well earned break from all the work and as we had visitors it was nice to take them around the area and show them why we fell in love with Bousseresse and La Souterraine!  Who wouldn't when you could have a cup of coffee like this one every day!

 Cappuccino at Cafe Chaud

Jacks friend Sean had also joined us for the fortnight and they enjoyed their time swimming in the lake at Lac Chambon and also their 3 man canoe trip across the lake!

Linda & Chris stayed with us until Sunday 31st July and then headed off down to the bottom of the Limousin to a gite for a week.  We had a lovely day out with them down there with the added luxury of a swimming pool!  No matter how hard we have tried we haven't as YET twisted Phil's arm into building a pool :-)

The weather was a scorcher and by early evening thick black clouds were forming and as we left for the 2 hour drive back up to Bousseresse the heavens opened and I have never quite experienced thunder and lightening like it.  The motorway was like a lake with rapids and the lightening was forking all around us, pretty scary at times!  We arrived home avoiding the small tree that had come down in the lane near us and entered the house to find water coming through the kitchen ceiling on running upstairs we discovered that we had left our bedroom window open and because of the direction of the rain it had pretty much driven into the bedroom, many towels, bucket and mop later we had it all cleaned up and then discovered the storm had actually blown the satellite dish off the side of the house!

Dad & Carole arrived for their first trip to France the next day and fortunately by the time the plane touched down at Limoges airport the sun was in full beam and we managed to get home and have a lovely dinner in the garden and later a glass of wine around the wee camp fire which was lovely.

Rosemary & Peter then arrived on the Sunday and Dad & Carole then departed on the Wednesday.  The weather was beautiful for the rest of the week and we had some great time in the garden and out an about! We managed lots of time sitting in the garden on the lovely swing seat that Jennifer and Wilson gave us as a house warming present.

On the Thursday Phil and Peter decided that they would cut down the over growing weeping willow tree to give it more shape for the next year.  Rosemary and I also pitched in and we cut off loads of branches and transported them across to the field ready for a bonfire!

   

That evening we decided to light the bonfire but Phil couldn't get it going - this was the first step towards an evening that was going to turn into a nightmare!  Not being able to light it Phil took a can of petrol to it and as he struck the match the fumes exploded and blew back onto Phil who went running down the garden.  To us all at first it appeared quite funny and we did laugh but then when Phil came back up the garden we realised it wasn't very funny at all as he stood there with ginger tinged hair.  He got in the shower and on Peter's excellent recommendation kept the cold water running over him but the pain was starting to set in and I realised then he was going to probably need to see a doctor.  I went across to our lovely neighbors whose daughter was staying and was an English teacher and with their help her dad rang what I thought was friend of his in the fire brigade who was going to come out and see him.  Little did I realise that he was actually sending the firebrigade out to him until the sirens were heard coming up the lane and I stood there thinking Phil will kill me for this! 

However they turned out to be saviours and dealt with the burns and whisked him off to hospital in Guret with Peter and I desparatley trying to keep up behind!  To cut the story short he ended up with first degree burns on one arm and second degree burns on the other and a very hard lesson was learnt with the added impact of we really must move on with improving our French!!  Thanks also go to Rosemary & Peter for staying on the extra couple of days to make sure everything was ok!

This incident put rather a sad edge on the end of what had been two glorious weeks however a few bandages didn't keep the man down and a week later he had the outside of the house painted and cut back all the bushes and lavender outside the front of the house and what a transformation, see picture at top of page!

June Trip - Floorboards, Barn doors and 20 years of marriage!

The weeks have flown by and the  time for Phil to make the next trip back to France has arrived. After a frantic search for a "special kind of" wing mirror for his van that resulted in a last minute trip to Glasgow (he had only known he needed if for 6 weeks) we finally got the van loaded.  There was just a space left for a collection he needed to make on route but other than that  not a gap of spare space to be found inside the van! We managed finally to close the doors shut about 9pm and hoped that all would survive the 880 mile trip to the Limousin.

Phil, due to depart at 7.30am my time,  finally manages to leave at 11am his time - with a short divert to collect a garden table and chairs from Newcastle ( I've just discovered the delights of ebaying!) he made it to Dover by the skin of his pants just  as they were starting to load the Ferry!  For those of you who know Phil well this will come as no surprise to you that he got there last minute and that  he  rang me, rather smugley, to sing "White Cliffs of Dover" over the telephone delighting in the fact that I told him he would never make it on time!!

Phil was extremely lucky on this trip that his friend Alastair was joining him for a few days and although I had a list left of things that needed doing it goes without saying that it was all the "Man" jobs that got done along with a day trip to Futurescope at Poitiers via Chateauroux ( another example of Phil's "It's on the way there"!)  However that said they well and truly did get stuck in!!

Phil, not being able to abide squeaky floor boards, decided that the whole floor needed ripping up in the back bedroom I didn't take too well to this news and once I had recovered from my tantrum ( This was not on my list of things that needed doing!) and an over exagerated explosion of PMT which had nothing to do with the fact that I had had a bad day at work, It was pouring with rain and my husband was having a 3 week jolly to France!!  All that said  I have to say it  turned out to be an excellent job - thanks Alastair!  They both worked extremely hard as you will see from this photo!!

Alastair with the floor ripped up!



The room with the new floor down!





The new bedroom!

They also managed to set about the Barn door that had been lying on the barn floor and not hung like it should be! With ropes slung over beams and vans pulling on the ropes and help from various neighbours the barn door was finally lifted into place on its new hinges!  Another area starting to be tided up!



I flew out to Limoges on the 22nd of June, for Phil's last week, to spend our 20th wedding anniversary together.  Alastair had left the week before and Phil had been confined to barracks for 5 days painting solid to get the bedrooms ready for my inspection!  He had done a fantastic job with all bedrooms painted and just the hall ,stairs and landing to be completed which will be on his July trip. 



With the downstairs room newly painted I set about organising  the room which was originally a dining room. This is a lovely room with a door direct to the garden and is very spacious and airy.  When we move over to run the B&B this will be our room and we will rent out the 3 bedrooms upstairs but in the meantime Jack and his friend Sean will be staying there this summer.  I am not sure however that cream is a good colour scheme for two 15year old boys, I wonder how long that will last?





The room transformed into a twin bedroom.





On this trip Phil also managed to install the washing machine which will come in very handy for his 6 week trip from mid July until the end of Aug.  He also managed to fix the 20ft barn door and with some help of the tractor mower, rope, Alastair and our neighbour they  managed to get it hung back up!

The house is really starting to take shape now and with some more finishing touches in the Summer I am hoping we will almost be at a standard to be able to rent it out late Autumn and next summer.  Before we can do this however the new septic tank needs to be installed but paperwork for this is going through as we speak and work is due to start late August!

I am really looking forward to getting out there on 29th July to have a relaxing 2 week holiday - I am sure we will still do some bits and peices but the garden seats and the new garden swing will be beckoning along with the chilled rose.... can't wait!