Happy New Year

I know I'm a little late with my greeting but its been a shaky start to 2014 for us. We had a lovely Christmas, our first here at Kebourg, and brought the New Year in with  good friends.

January didn't get off  to the best of  starts. We had been having problems with the wood burner so decided to have the chimney swept and the 'ramoneur' found that the flexible pipe had become unattached from the rigid part which comes down into the room. Seems it happened when the builders put the  cover on the chimney. So that was us without a fire for a while. Good news was that the underfloor heating kept us warm but we lacked the ambiance.

The month was wet - rain, rain and more rain. Taking the dogs out became a chore and not a pleasure and work on replacing the chimney and fitting the chimney for the wood burning cooker in the kitchen couldn't go ahead. We are still waiting for the outside walls to be pointed but rain has stopped play there too. January was a very busy teaching month for Kevin and with the bad weather conditions he spent a lot of nights in an hotel in Bordeaux by the business school so we were apart. I had more examinations on my shoulder which proves to be frozen shoulder and not tendonitis so now I am on a series of injections.  Like so many here and in the Uk we had the winter blues.

Thus ends the tale of woe.

Sunset reflected in the pond

There's lots to be thankful for. We aren't flooded, hungry or seriously ill, we love our new home and Spring is around the corner. The dogs are doing great - Schula is enormous and still a bundle of energy but getting a tiny bit more sensible each day - she is a great companion. We are working on little finishings to the house and we now have curtains in the bedroom

Back from a very wet walk

We have planned visits to the UK - Kevin first in February and then me in March. I am going to be there for my granddaughters 5th birthday and also for my sons cycling event, Revolution 5, which will be the first event in the London velodrome since the Olympics. Then in May we are having a trip together doing a toad trip around the UK visiting family and friends - ex gite guests who will be hosting us thus time.

Today the sun is shining and we had a lovely walk with the dogs and now we are going to lunch with friends - that will help us shake off those winter blues!

We hope your 2014 has had a merrier start than our and we wish you good luck, good health and a little less rain!