March 30th 2013.....Another day on the road to France with the van heavily laden... again! This time with furniture from Uncle Pete's house in London which is making its way to its new home. I think Uncle Pete and Auntie Joan would be very amused to think of their furniture making its way across the channel!
And what's on the never ending list this time apart from dreaming of some sunshine? 2013 is a very busy season for the house. We have a couple of weeks in May free and a couple of weeks in June free but then from 19th June to 8th September the house is fully booked apart from 4 nights In July .... and we are grabbing those!! Delighted with the amount of bookings but lots to do to keep on top of the garden.
Once again we were heading down to Portsmouth and managed a pit stop to meet up with some old friends Mark and Wendy with a quick glass of wine and a nice chinese take away before embarking on LD Lines to Le Havre.
We find this is a great way of getting across as your nights accomodation is spent on the move with an early arrival in Port to hit the road to Bousseresse.
Heather, as always, has the house looking pristine with the heating on which takes some of the chill off after the house being empty for a few weeks. It is very obvious however when you walk in that work is required now to block up the empty space above the chimney as there is a real draft coming down... Job one on the list.
Looking up the Chimney
Phil set to work on making a metal plate to fit in above the fireplace there was lots of whirring and grinding noises coming from the barn. I did attempt conversation but that maybe wasn't a good idea so with the rain pouring down outside I took myself up to my bedroom and enjoyed the chair by the window and my book!
On my return back downstairs I was surprised to only find a pair of legs dangling out of the fireplace I think Santa has some competition!!
The metal plate was taking shape and seemed to slot in perfectly to the gap! What a difference that made to cosying up by the fire once installed. To finish the job off Phil decided to add spot lights under the beam which really made a nice feature of the fireplace.
We spent the next day unloading the van load of furniture that we had brought over, don't think there is room for much more!
The van has been a god send really and has made some very sucessful trips across the channel on some occassions bursting at the seams.
Uncle Pete had left us some lovely furniture and once peice I couldn't wait to get in place and that was the lovely sideboard. This also has a matching table and 4 chairs so the table has gone in the hallway for now and the chairs in storage. Hopefully when we make the move full time they will have pride of place in the dining area. I am delighted however with the way the side board finishes off the lounge.
There was another 2 wardrobes, bedside tables and chairs to unload and soon they were all sitting pretty in their new rooms.
Easter Sunday dawned with some sunshine at last and we had some unusual visitors to the garden which were very appropriate for Easter Weekend.
So cute!!
They were not the only ones that came to call on this visit the garden had a regular visit from our neighbours Hens and Cockerel. They really looked at home in our garden and I can't wait until we can buy our own and start enjoying freshly laid eggs.
Easter Monday and the weather was even better we managed to get out in the garden and even ate our lunch at the garden table in T.Shirts!!! I bought 450 bulbs to plant so made a start on getting the weeding down as much as I hate the thought of doing it I have to say it is very rewarding when you see the area that you have cleared.
Wednesday and today the "Beechgrove Parents" arrived to get stuck into the garden. I had slaved away for hours weeding and not made much off a difference and yet just half a day after their arrival the garden was really taking shape. I keep waiting for my green fingers to arrive but I am convined you need to be 60 before that happens... well that is my excuse and I am sticking with it!
Mum set about the flower beds, I had weeded, but mum really made a difference to how it all looked.
I took this picture after I had weeded the garden and believe me it did look better but a tweak here and a stone there and it looked like a proper flower bed!
Then the magic ingredient a sprinkling of bark...
The next area to work on was by the roadside and one that is a first impressions area. Here the trees seem to stop much from growing, well except from the weeds! Mum cut back some of the branches and we weeded it all out.
so we went from an untidy flower bed now packed full of about 250 bulbs and covered in bark!
Also just to prove that I do get out and about doing some work I took to the lawm mower!
I also planted 3 Virginia creepers and 2 climbing hydrangeas some onto the barn and some onto the gable end of the house which hopefully within a year or so should cover the walls.
I also spent quite a bit of time in the Kitchen cooking for the workers and think I have perfected my quiche so another dish that will be good for when I do evening meals at the B&B...
Then it was Mr David "Titchmarsh" Wolstenholme's turn..
Step 1. Pick an area that is over grown and not much use.
Step 2. Tidy up a few old sleepers and put into place.
Step 3. Add some polythene and a few little box hedge plants
Step 4. Place the bird bath in the middle
Step 5. Sprinkle on a little gravel.
Voila!! A beautifully finished patio area.
There are 3 Lavateria's planted along the back to form a colourful display (hopefully).
This will be the perfect patio to sit and watch the sun setting over the valley... with a nice glass of wine of course. Looking forward to seeing it a little more established in July.
A well earned glass of wine for a fantastic job... thank you!
Phil also set about tidying up the front of the house. Now that we have a sideboard in the lounge the garden table that was in there with a cloth on could now come back outside along with some spare deckchairs that we had bought off friends of ours. He tidied up and laid new gravel as the drive goes into a bit of a dip just at the front of the house and this helped to level it off.
However I think it is all getting to him a little as I came across him that morning watering the gravel but didn't have the heart to tell him that gravel just doesn't grow!!
It was then my turn to add the little touches so I marked the area off with a few stones, added the table and chairs and a nice pot plant ...
All very French looking!
Phil got the very messy job to do on this trip.... the pipe that runs from the spring to our fountain had sprung a leak and Phil was determined to locate and fix it as it was causing a rather unpleasant puddle at the corner of the barn... I know because I trod in it in my flipflops... yuk!
This involved a lot of digging, pumping out water and swearing and another new selection of words to use at the DIY shop!!
He didn't manage to fix before our flights home so he conveniently had to stay on for a few extra days to complete whilst I flew back to work!! Ok for these semi retired people although he assures me he would rather of not been up to his neck In mud!!
So apart from the weather this trip had been another successful one lots done and Phil even managed to plant about 80 potato tubers before he left. These are slow growing ones and should be ready to harvest on our October trip something to look forward to.
We will be back again for a very short few days in July with Rosemary & Peter but looking forward to getting some lovely photos of all the bulbs in bloom. Hopefully the Virginia creepers will be starting to creep and the evergreen climbing hydrangea should be making some impact. We should also start to see some growth from the laurel bushes planted last October and the hedging Lavender around the back patio so lots to look forward too!
July is going to be just "HOLIDAY" and hopefully I will be a bit quicker at getting my blog updated so until then one last picture...
Rainbow over Bousseresse.
