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!!)
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.
It's all looking brilliant - you should be very proud of yourselves. Especially love the winding stairs which look a little like ours. We're looking forward to sharing a beer and a red with you in the garden sometime.
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