holiday blues

We are bad company today...  Our little fact finding trip to France is over and work must begin again. Noel, our cross staffie, is as happy as a spring lamb though. Much as he doesn't mind it too much his trip to “the spa” was only a short one this time. He goes to the rather fabulous Hammerpond Kennels just outside of Horsham.  Much to our surprise they all adore him... We spied him through the fence when we went to collect him wagging his tail off, oblivious to us. He’s absolutely exhausted and slept through a log delivery which is most unlike him.


We’re pretty tired too – in France we stayed just outside Mirepoix within sight of the pyrenees and did a little walking to get a better view... The rolling downs of Sussex and regular dog-walking don't prepare the body for the mountains - though the view was pretty spectacular...

the mountains
les montagnes

all work, no play...

all work and no play... would be very dull... especially when you are stuck indoors all day long - painting, tiling, sanding. It is freezing outside of course and jumping jack frost is well and truly out and about. But it is magical. Days like these are few and it's best to make the most of them - for an hour outside at least... We ditched the work and went for a walk - nice and early to see the mists rising

the fog le brouillard

apples - no leaves...

it must have been an incredible year for apple growers, judging by the famous (in our house at least) tree of many apples but no leaves... even after the incredible storms we've had! they look like they're hanging on for christmas...

l'arbre de pomme
the tree of apples!






we'll have to wait for the frosts until they fall!

as autumn rushes in...

As autumn rushes in, and winter arrives with a howl, and blue skies are almost a thing of the past our thoughts are turning to heat... 

ciel bleu

blue sky

We’ve decided not to buy a new oil tank, or indeed to move it - but instead to buy a new oil burner... The one we have now is very, very tired and not enjoying the dropping temeratures - just like us. It burns for an hour or so, and then gives up. Luckily the Nice Boiler Man showed us how to clean the little glass filter of soot - and we can get it going again and coax it to work for another hour. 

Luckily last winter we made one of the best ever investments in a long desired and perfectly formed French woodburning stove. Actually we bought a multifuel - though we rarely burn anything other than Sussex wood! The little thing, once it gets going heats the whole house for hours, looks beautiful and makes almost no dust or indee debris the next day. It must be fed of course, and so regular trips with to the wood store have become a feature of our winter mornings now. We try not to light it until later in the day - and so before the days chosen project begins the best thing is a march with the dog. 

feuilles sur le sol

leaves on the ground

He hates the rain - hates it - so we look for a weather window - just 30 minutes when we can look at all the leaves on the ground and the almost bear trees, and try to have a little faith that next spring all will be green again

when is a door not a door...

...when it's a wall!
God bless the husband. As November came roaring in the time seemed right to remove the old, unused, unloved front door - and block it up entirely. Noel thought this a fabulous plan - if a little breezy for a couple of days.

ou est la porte?

We've had the bricks a while - they will never match exactly of course - but a trawl through the salvage yards of sussex offered a near match. the bricks would originally have been made not far from our house - but short of knocking down a wall the new, old ones will have to do.

They'll weather in time too. The actual fabric of the building is amazing - it's beautifully made - but it's still plainly a cottage - the brickwork is rough, the cavity is empty and clean, the lintels are made from wood!

Just removing the original front door has made such a difference to how the "courtyard garden" looks... better we think

and best of all, with the old door gone, we've been able to crack on with laying the new wooden floor, which arrived on a pallet, no less, on friday morning.

getting a ton of wood for guy fawkes night was ominous - even more so as it was the husbands birthday - but what a good bonfire boy he is...

the new floor looks beautiful & shiny and best of all clean...

c'est tres jolie
it is very pretty!

the little things

it is the little things that make you happy isn't it... we have a corner in the kitchen that is my "standing" corner - it has the radio and diary, a pot of pens and the phone chargers... and a big vase of flowers. Lily's usually. We are blessed that we have an amazing flower shop n the village - almost a flower wholesaler - the quality is so good. Fresh off the truck from Holland they flowers last forever - and the lillies of course smell amazing. In summer we had sunflowers - tournesols - too (thanks Kristin!) to remind us of France.

It is the one spot that seems lovely to me - even though it's chaos all round - the flowers, with dust sometimes on the petals are beautiful. We still have no ceiling in the kitchen, we have no floor as such - but we do have the start of new work tops with lovely, clean shiny tiles!

the flower corner

le coin de fleurs

on the waterfront

and on the waterfront there is much to celebrate. For we have been mainly tiling... in the kitchen, in the bathroom, on the walls and on the worktops. It looks so fantastic - and it's nice to be making something look better instead of the usual destruction - it's entirely possible we have turned a corner (or we have become obsessed with tiles!)

kitchen

the spacers 

et la douche
and... the shower