As 2012 draws to a close

As the first snows of winter fall in The Scottish Borders it's time to reflect back on yet another busy year at "Les Eaux De La Petite Fontaine".  Was it only 9 months ago we packed the van laden to the gunnels with bathroom fittings, wood and plaster board?  Was it only 9 months ago that Peter and Phil sweated their "holiday" away building a bathroom that I am just so proud to own? 

Was it only back then when I stressed about the patio not looking right and "would the grass ever grow back where the Fosse Septic had been placed"? The same area that was  a delight to look at in the summer months with the roses in bloom and the new clematis trellising its way up the wall.

Only 9 months ago I worried for days about the first guests going in, would everything thing be to their expectations, would they like the house, I imagined every problem possible that could go wrong in those first few days and I am sure I drove Phil mad...but what's new there!!

And now as 2012 draws to a close its a pleasure to look back at the comments in the guests book each one seeming to appreciate the slice of Limousin life they have enjoyed and we have come to love. Each comment makes me appreciate just what we do have out there and what is still yet to come.

I have found it hard to find the words to write this blog since the summer but have put that down to stress from my work life and the loss of 3 special people in the family this year. Yet this week as a new chapter in my life approaches I have found the flow to get everything recorded and to appreciate how so many people are all a part of what

 "Les Eaux de La Petite Fontaine" has become.

We have been blessed by friends & family,  who in their own unique way, have all put some imprint into the life of the house.  I am also blessed with a wonderful husband who I know has done all this for me, for our dream and for our future.

So as 2012 slides away I only have one thing to say.... Phil... here is the "to do list" for 2013 :-)

Ships, Shutters and Stacks of Wood!

The van was fully loaded once again and my last few plants were squeezed into the darkness before the doors slammed shut, that would be the last chink of light they would see until we reached French shores.

We were to try a new route on this trip sailing from Portsmouth to Caen on the overnight ferry.  It was a long drive south with a couple of very long traffic jams.  You notice as you go South the slow increase of traffic, once you have past Lancaster you enter the labyrinth of motorways laden with cars and lorries going about their daily business.

There is a new section of toll road on the M6, well new to us as we haven't been down that far on the M6 for many years.  It was surprisingly empty with wide lanes and hardly any traffic and quite a posh service station halfway down.  On approaching the toll booths we were soon to realise why the road was empty... £11 to drive along it!

We reached Portsmouth in good time and headed for a random Indian restaurant which I have to say was a great find, fairly quite but the food was delicious and set us up for our sailing across to Caen. Not a bad cabin, quite spacious really and a nice en suite.  Within minutes of setting sail and Phil's head hitting the pillow he was snoring away unlike me who lay there and felt every wave rise and fall quite startlingly at times!

We docked right on time at Caen and we were in the first lane of traffic off the boat and within 15 minutes of docking we were on the open French motorways with Kathy the Satnag leading the way.

First stop was to Ed's wife's house to deliver half the van load we found the house without any trouble and enjoyed a nice cup of tea in the garden before getting back in the van and heading east to La Souterraine.

We arrived as the sun was setting, lit the fire  and cosied in for the evening, it had been a long couple of days but it was nice to be "Home" again.

This trip was to tidy up the garden for the Autumn, stock up the wood shed and hang the shutters that Phil had made back home in Scotland.

But firstly they needed undercoating and a top coat. Phil also had to take all hinges off the old shutters to re place on these new shutters.

We had also had a long ongoing saga of trying to get some wood delivered for the winter, it had been planned for delivery when our friends were staying but at the last minute despite me stating that we wanted to pay by card I was informed they didn't accept payment by card!  The delivery was then put back a week and would be delivered whilst guests Val and David were staying so that I could ensure they had sufficient wood for the fire.  This date came round and the lorry broke down and in frustration I arranged the delivery for the following week when Phil and I would be there to take it in.

All I can say is thank goodness we did it this way....

Monsieur d'leaux and his French vocabulary struck again...

Phil decided that we needed 3 steers of wood delivered which he reckoned would be 3m2, that should be enough to see us through the winter!

The day of the wood delivery dawned and sure enough Monsieur arrived with his lorry just after 5pm, taking in the lorry and its load we assumed 1/3rd of this would be ours and yes please tip it on the grass next to the barn and we will get it put away.

The lorry draws round and the truck tips up and the wood starts to tumble to on to the grass... more wood, more wood and yet more wood!!!

Yes Phil... a steer is 3m2 each and so we had 9m2 of wood dumped on the grass just as the rain started to come on!  The next 2.5 hours were spent lugging the wood from the grass into the barn but in a sadistic type of way there was something very rewarding about stacking your  barn full of logs to see you through the winter even if in our case that was about 3 weeks!!  Oh well there will be plenty of wood for the next couple of years then. Every limb ached and I couldn't wait to get into my lovely bath for a nice long soak and a well deserved bottle of wine!

 And this is only some of the wood!

Anyway not all work and no play on Saturday we managed to get out and meet up with our friends Kathy and Martin from "Le Canard Du Parapluie Rouge", a gorgeous bed and breakfast that we found a couple of years ago, and who have now become good friends.

Lunch was at the Auberge Des Pecheurs that you would of read about in our last two updates. We enjoyed a delicious lunch and a glass of wine or two and caught up todate on all the news and it was a lovely way to spend the afternoon.

Sunday dawned 

wet and foggy I could almost imagine I was in Scotland if it hadn't been that the air was warm. Time to get the Lavenders and Laurels planted that we had transported with us all the way from Lauder.  The Lavenders will hopefully form a low hedge around the patio area and the Laurels a shield at the side of the house to create a nice sun trap.

It will be interesting next summer to look back at these pictures and hopefully the borders will be a bloom of lavenders! I also now know why my daughter wants new wellies for Christmas as I borrowed them to bring to France only to discover they have holes in the soles!

 I also hope that these Laurels will of started to form a nice hedge and won't be a withered pile of leaves when I get back in January.

I also spent time on this trip clearing out the flower bed by the barn that was a jungle of plants and weeds.

 

I am hoping that when we go back in January, the 30 hyacinth bulbs that I planted, will be in full bloom.

I also cleared out a few old plant pots and put in some colorful chrysanthemums these were always Phil's mums favorite plants in the Autumn and they certainly add a splash of colour to the darkening winter days.

 

This trip also saw us hang some new curtains.  One set were our old dining room curtains from here as not only as Phil managed to accomplish all the jobs out here he has also managed to redecorate at home.. think he needs a year off next year! Rosemary also made me a lovely set for the Green bedroom.

 Our old dining room curtains add a touch of warmth to this downstairs bedroom.

 Rosemary did a wonderful job on these curtains and they add the finishing touch!

The house is really taking shape now and its good that it has been used this summer from May through to October we only had 3 weeks not booked which I think is really good for the first year.

Then it was finally time to hang the first set of shutters I have been so excited waiting to see the finished set on the window.  Phil only had time to complete one set on this trip but the others will go up before the first guests arrive next year. 

I am sure you will agree It puts the finishing touches to what has been a very busy year once again at "Les Eaux de la Petite Fontaine"

  

Birthdays!

I Can't tell you how much I was looking forward to getting back out to France for my Birthday  and after all the rain we've had I couldn't wait to feel the warmth of some sunshine! 2 very old friends, Linda from Aberdeen, and Rosie from Northumberland came out with me and also a friend of Linda's called Alex who  I now hope I can class as a friend of mine too! This was to be a girls week of total relaxation, sunshine, good food and of course a bottle of wine or 12!

We were not disappointed on our arrival the sun was shining and it was a sweltering 35 degrees.  I was so excited to get back to my house and when we arrived Heather, our property manager, was there waiting with the windows wide open and a beautiful clean house with the lovely touch of a vase of fresh flowers on the table not to mention a big bag of home grown tomatoes!  I have to say they were the best tomatoes I had ever tasted, just on the point of softening but so tasty and juciy sprinkled with some salt and pepper and a splash of olive oil...yum!

We settled down with a glass of wine and tucked into the delicious french bread and pate that Heather had got in for us. With such an early start we all proceed to go off for a lie down for an hour or so to refresh.  Lying in my bedroom with the windows flung open and the lacey net curtains blowing slightly in the breeze the only sound outside was the birds tweeting.  I love the Scottish Borders ad but I do so much feel "At Home" here in Bousseresse.

We all got up feeling a little more refreshed with a wash and a change of clothes we headed out for Steak et Frites at La Gondole Sur Toit. Sitting outside in the evening sunshine watching La Souterraine coming to life with the evening trade was lovely and within half an hour the restaurant terrace was full! We rounded off the evening with a glass of wine or two in the back garden still feeling the warmth in the air from a glorious sunny day.

Steak et Frites Al Fresco!

Waking up on Sunday morning I headed off for fresh croissants for breakfast making sure to include my favorite Almond ones.  We set the table and eat Al Fresco in the morning sunshine.  I decided that I needed to tackle the weeding so set about the borders and Rosie kindly helped, within a couple of hours everywhere was tidy, the lavender trimmed and the roses dead headed. I couldn't get over the scorched  grass that had been so beautifully green back in July, the sun had really taken its toll over the past couple of months unlike the sodden fields back in the UK.

 

Always get the guests working but make sure you allow them a coffee break! 

Linda opted for the easy life!

We all took a walk up to the local lake in the afternoon which was quite a task as the temp was hitting a high 30.  It was lovely to watch the locals playing boules and to soak up the sunshine watching the fishermen. In true French style the cafe was shut with it being a Sunday so we just got stuck into the bottles of water that we had taken with us although a glass of cold larger would of been a much better treat.

Returning back to Bousseresse we had a quick drive out to Hotel Alexia and managed to get that glass of larger by the pool then it was back to the house. We had bought some delicious looking  Fresh Prawns and set about preparing them accompanied  with a salad of beetroot, advocado, blue cheese and lots of other lovely ingredients all washed down with about 3 bottles of rose!

 
The next few days I planned on getting out and about as much as possible to show the girls some of the wonderful places that I had got to like over the last few months.  A ride up to Argenton via Lac Chambon and Le Petite Chateaux, where the beautiful little chateaux never fails to impress anyone you take there Spring, Summer or Autumn.

We then had a day out to Boussac which was lovley especially the delicious breakfast that we had a Auberge Des Pecheurs in La Celle Dunoise en route. If you ever get to go here  you have to try the Irish soda bread here with homemade Jam... yum!

Boussac is a beautiful Chateaux perched on a cliff edge over looking the town here you will find a wonderful collection of tapestries and the Chateaux is well worth a tour around as well as the beautiful gardens.

 

Wednesday and my birthday had arrived, it was lovely to wake up the sun streaming through the bedroom window and I never tire of throwing it open in the early morning and listening to the birds chirping away. The cockerell that crows about 9am well after the first rays of sun have risen never ceases to make me smile! The girls  really spoilt me with a delicious breakfast followed by coffee at Cafe Chaud, no trip is complete to La Souterraine without a coffee at Cafe Chaud... especially on my birthday!

We then had a delicious lunch by the pool at Hotel Alexia which we thoroughly enjoyed and it was the perfect way to round off Rosie's first trip to Bousseresse as sadly we had to whisk her off to the airport for her late afternoon flight back to Leeds.

Linda, Alex and I had another day to spend before we caught the early morning train up to Paris.  Unfortunatley the sun didn't follow us on this trip and it was unexpectedly much cooler in Paris however we had a wonderful time and managed to get to the top of the Eiffel tower even if it does look like we are going to be blown away.  The hot french onion soup at lunch went down a treat before we caught the train to head out to Charles De Gaulle and our flight back to Edinburgh.

Another trip comes to an end, thank you to Linda, Rosie and Alex for sharing it with me and for a lovely birthday. And the really good part is it's only 3 and half weeks until I am back again in October.

Car keys, Lawn mowerblades & garden spades!

35,000 feet above France sinking slowly into my airline seat watching the white fluffy clouds go by and dreaming of my two weeks in France ahead of me… Phil’s voice breaks into my haze of dreams and says “Of course you have packed the car keys haven’t you?” Looking blankly at him that’s a “Er No? I left all that stuff to you to pack"! Of course it’s still my fault as any woman would expect! The last trip had resulted in him only packing one pair of trousers for a fortnight so I had kindly taken over the clothes packing for this trip to ensure that he was well prepared but gadgets and gizmos to which he seems to have in abundance was left to him to pack! Of course you can almost see the cartoon picture in front of you… so well organised the Disco

very sitting patiently in France  awaiting our arrival and the key hanging contentedly on the key rack in the hallway at home!!

Les Eaux De la Petite Fontaine - July 2012

We are very lucky in the fact that my parents are coming out for the week so a phone call to Harriet and a PLEASE would you drive down to your grandparents tomorrow to take the car key to them before they fly out on Monday. £65 later we had a hire car booked for Monday to do the airport run.

I suggested that we leave the key in future in France so that we don’t have this problem but amazingly Phil managed to pack it to come home!!!!!!!! I give up.

We arrived at the house curtesy of Steve & Heather who kindly offer an airport collection service. Heather is the caretaker of the house in our absence and what a find she is Heather seems to take the stress out of everything and handle it all smoothly and professionally!

Everything at the house was in good condition and after our first 3 lets I had been a little nervous of what we would find but all was well including some lovely comments in the visitors book. It was lovely to finally be back and each time now feels more like home from home, I quickly settled back In to the French way of life.

We had said that this trip was to be a holiday and it was to some extent but with a small h a not a capital H!

The back garden now that the grass has grown back!

Loic arrived our first afternoon – not sure if I have mentioned Loic before but he is our local gardener and does a wonderful job of keeping everything straight. He was delivering 2 tonne of sand for Phil to use whilst here. Phil and Loic got into a conversation and Loic explained that the tractor was fixed! I say conversation in the lightest sense as Phil nods along but hasn't really a clue as to what Loic is telling him.. Phil will deny this but all will be revealed later in the blog!!

Phil set about that afternoon cutting the grass whilst I sat and read my book in the garden in that strange phenonemem called SUNSHINE!! This is certainly the life I think! I wonder what it will be like to be here full time I am sure you start to take it all for granted a little but dosn't stop me dreaming away on the swing seat!

Garden Swing Seat - a lot of hours spent on here!

Al Fresco eating!

Phil then appears with a lawnmower blade in his hand and comments that he dosn't think Loic is a very good mechanic so much for fixing the tractor mower. He had almost finished the garden when the lawn mower blade flew off, just pleased that I wasn't standing talking to him at the time but Phil might not agree witht that!!

As we had no car and very few provisions in the house we set off "French Style" en bicyclette to the local supermarket which is only just over a kilometre away.  Have to say it has been years since I have been on a bike and it took some getting use too.  Phil on the other hand looked every inch the Frenchman with his shopping bags balanced on his handlebars with his French loaf sticking out! (Sorry no photos of this escapade!!)

Monday morning we walked down to La Souterraine and had breakfast at CafeChaud, a firm favourite, and the best cappuccino in town. Breakfast is a simple basket of crusty baguette, butter and a mixture of preserves. Sitting and watching the world go by is the perfect way to start a day.

We did the aiport run and Phil dissappeared off to the tractor shop to order his spares. Like everything we seem to collect mechanically, it was cheap to buy, but they always need repairs but don't even get me started on the tractor...interesting “Started” & “Tractor” in the same sentence...um! Our Fordson Major is still cosied up in some barn in Shropshire waiting for its engine to fire up.

Mum and dad did an absolutley superb job once again on the garden turning an overgrown mess into a beautiful flower bed. At the age of 70 they put us to shame and I live in the hope that one day I will too develop as greener fingers as my mum seems to have.

We hadn't planned on doing anything too major on this trip it was a list of little jobs, we planned to get stuck in the first week and then get out and about a bit the second to enjoy some very rare "Just the two of us" time.

Phil finally got around to strengthening the stairs and its really no fun now walking up and down them no more dodgey, squeaking steps to try and avoid.  We also set about painting the staircase up to the attic as well as the main staircase and it really does look so much better, in fact a real transformation.  

During

Before

The finished staircase!

I took to the paint brush as well and painted the new doorstep into the green room and all around the door frames and timberwork on the landing.  We also managed to get some carpet down outside our bedroom and the front bedroom and this made it all look so much nicer. 

Unbekown to me Phil had also brought a new strimmer(sneaked across on the last trip without me noticing!), and they talk about us women hiding things in the closet in fact if it hadn't been for our neighbour calling around and announcing loudly to Phil

"I see you've brought yourself a new strimmer" and Phil frantically shaking his head in disagreement "Yes you have" said Mark once again quite firmly.  Phil, turning those doe eyes on me, admits that yes he had brought the strimmer and then Mark proceeds to ask how much but Phil wouldn't give this away..... um a few dresses to add to the wardrobe for that little expenditure me thinks!

Happy as a pig in ....

Anyway... have to admit the strimmer did a magnificent job on the garden in looked really lovely when everything had been strimmed down.  You didn't dare stand still as you would of been strimmed as well, nothing got missed and the garden had a haircut to within an inch of its life but lovely to see all the stonework appear and also an amazing find of an antiquated plough under a pile of Ivy.






The roses that we had planted at Easter had bloomed beautifully and were looking very healthy.  Although not a lot left on the Wisteria flower wise the ones that were still there spelt wonderful and added a splash of colour to the barn wall.  Mum did cut some of this back but it will need more in the autumn and I also hope to get a few seeds off it to plant in other locations around the garden, its such a beautiful plant!


The yellow rose is around the back of the house and is a climber so I hope to train this up the wall and drain pipe to add a splash of colour to the back garden along with the 2 new clematis that we planted in April which seem to be settling in well, one in particular had a real spurt while we were there.

I then decided that the downstairs toilet was now letting the rest of the house down even though it has a  brand new shower and toilet the tiles are old are not a particularly nice colour.  So a 60 minute makeover ensued with a tin of tile paint and a jigsaw puzzle of left over bathroom lino from upstairs... Hey Presto it looked like new and a wee finishing touch of a net curtain on the window finsihed it all off.

Shower room before...

Shower room after!

To follow on the from the flying lawnmower blade story Loic appears one evening in the garden to see Phil and stands looking quite amazed that all the grass has been cut and enquires to Phil how had he managed to do that.  Phil replies "With the tractor mower" in his pigeon French.  Ah you managed to fix it then did you asks Loic?  now its Phil's turn to look confused (not difficult!)  So to cut out alot of french exclamations it turns out then when Loic had been speaking to Phil on our arrival he had been explaining that the tractor mower had broken and that he had ordered a part to fix it and it would be here on Tuesday.  A very humble Phil has to take back the fact that he thinks Loic is a very good gardener but not a good mechanic, in fact he is perfect at the both.... note for Phil... must improve the French!  This was the subject of quite a few laughs as Loic made his way through the last drops of our whisky bottle in the garden that evening.

A sundowner in the garden and what a beautiful sunset we had that night!

One of the many beautiful sunsets you see at Les Eaux De La Petite Fontaine

So time to get out and about and to relax a little and we managed to get around some lovely places and enjoy the sunshine.  Monday evening after my parents had gone home we took an early evening ride out to Benevent L'Abbaye and had a walk around the village and found a lovely tea shop... note to take Rosemary back there on her next trip and the girls will enjoy this in September.  

Tea room at Benevent L'Abbaye

We then ended up back near the house and on the recommendation of Heather and Steve we tried out the Hotel Alexia for dinner and it was supberb, I will be adding their details to our welcome folder.

Tuesday night the Snack Shack English run Fish and Chip van was due to be in Chateauponsac so we set off early evening to enjoy a chippy supper.  En route we went through Fromental and found a lovely pub called Le Vieux Soldar, Fromental was a lovely wee village with a chateaux and beautiful flower beds. 

We continued on to Chateauponsac though and enjoyed a delicious supper that you purchase from the van and then eat in the local bar with a glass of beer.  Delicious fish and chips so when we are finally out there and missing a fish supper we now know where to go!

The last couple of days were soon apoun us and we finished a few more jobs about the house, as the weather forecast was saying rain on Friday we decided that we would take a full day out on Thursday and leave the other jobs for the not so nice weather.  

I had always fancied going to Chateaux Boussac so we headed out towards Gueret then took off in the direction of Bousssac where as you drive in you see the magnificent  chateau perched on the hillside.  Boussac was a lovely small town and we found a nice "Bar du Sport" to share a rather large hot dog and a cup of coffee.  We then walked around some of the quaint streets and found a lovely tea room and bric a brac run by an English couple that we made a note to go back and visit next time.

The walk down to the Chateau was lined with trees forming a tunnel that gave some welcome shade from the sunshine and when you emerge at the other end you are confronted with a very imposing chateau.  A young boy was with his mother and enticed us to go inside to take a walk around however it was 10euro each to get in and we counted up every single penny in our pockets and got to only 18euro 50c and the lady wouldn't let us in.  We were going to go up to the bank and get some more cash but decided once we were back up in the town to leave it until another time but I think it will be well worth a look around.

Tucked away down a side street we did find a lovely antique shop with some beautiful furniture at very reasonable prices, I will definitely go back before I start the B&B to see what I can find!

From Boussac we headed over to  a town called Chatelus Malvaleix which had a lovely boulangerie where I picked up a delicious chocolate eclair...yum!  

From there we continued onto La Celle Dunoise and what a gorgeous find that was especially the lovely Auberge Des Pecheurs built into the bridge over the river... obviously a prime fishing spot!  We enjoyed a coffee by the river and made a note that this was definitely a place to come back to enjoy one of their many music evenings, run by an Irish guy with perfect French!  Here we also saw our first bicycle built for 4 with a German family holidaying in the area.

It was then onwards to Dun le Palastel, a place that we know fairly well, and where one of  Phil's favourite lawnmower part shop is... they must thing "Oh no here come the Franglais to get yet another mower part"!

The last full day at the house the weather was beautiful so managed to get out in the garden once again, I got all the plats watered and we tidied up the garden.  Phil also fitted ornamental iron bars to the windows as they are quite low to the floor and any children leaning out could easily go over so this has now given them something to hold on to and to be honest they look quite at home on the windows.

We headed back for this last evening to Hotel Alexia (www.hotelalexia.com) and had yet another meal in the restaurant there, would highly recommend a meal here and at under 50euros with wine for 2 it is very good value.

And so, our last day, everything was spick and span for the new arrivals and just as we were tidying the last bits away and putting the padlocks on the attic and private cupboards our new guests arrive.  a lovely couple with 2 sets of twins under 6 and a gorgeous cat called sepia. 

There was something quite unerving about walking away from your home with a family looking like they had always been there.  It was good to hear the children laughing and running around though, the house suits it!  Heather and Steve arrived to take us to the airport and as I looked back as we drove away I couldn't help but feel proud of all that we have achieved in just a year and most of this is down to Phil with finishing touches from me.  But it is also with thanks to the many friends and family that have also contributed to our home here. It's sad to be leaving but its always lovely to think that you will be back again soon to our little peice of French life!

Next update due September 2012.

Note: Our new website is now up and running with a full availability calender to take a look go to: www.leseauxdelapetitefontaine.com