Summer Souvenirs

Sorry it's been so long - there's been a lot going on! We've had a lovely summer and enjoyed sharing Kebourg with family and friends. Here's just a taster of the good times we had.

 Helping hands

We have had a lot of help from our younger friends this summer. David and Hannah from Germany and Adam from the UK all spent time here working on the project and they were a great help and good company. We were surprised to have these unsolicited offers of help and very touched that young people would be happy to come and spend a few weeks with us old folks. Hope it wasn't too traumatic for you all!

We also had help from our own children and children of friends who were on holiday - special thanks to Olivia and Henry who gave up lying by a lovely pool to do jobs for us. With so many hands to the pump things kept moving along despite us taking time out to enjoy our guests.

Building
Things have moved on so much it's hard to start to tell you what has been happening. Perhaps I'll just tell you where we are up to now.

Things we have finished
Guest bedrooms
Guest bathroom
Office
Salon
Swimming pool - needs a surround on the cards for next spring
All the internal ceilings - what seemed like miles and miles of woodstaining

When I say finished  I mean all the painting and furnishing - we still haven't any pictures, curtains or those little touches that make things cosy - that will keep me busy on winter afternoons.

Things nearly finished
Kitchen - just waiting for a couple more units to be done and a cupboard to be painted
Main bathroom - waiting for tiler coming next week
Heating system - just being fine tuned 

Still to do
Halls - need painting but two sides are stone so won't take long
Furnishings
Shutters - they are up and we have only the top coat to do
Terrace tiling - a job for next Spring

The builders will be back at the beginning of October to point the outside (they needed the shutters finished first) and then the parking can be done and we'll have an almost normal home!

Animals

Kevin always feels that dogs come to you. One of the builders heard that we would like another dog to keep Sam company and told us that his friend's labrador retriever had had puppies that they were giving away. It was, of course, love at first sight . We named her Schula and picked her up at 8 weeks old when our friend Leah was here from Germany - she used to love our fox terrier Sally so much and we knew she would love to welcome the newcomer. She was a hit with everyone and is coming along very well - already responding to the sit and come commands and making grumpy Sam a lot less grumpy.

We also took some ducks from our friend Sandie and they settled in very well - they won't be with us for long as they are for the table so another job for next week.

We have been busy in the grounds too and had a great season in the potager - lots of bottled and frozen goodies for the winter. In fact I am exhausted just writing all this down so off to sit in the sun with the kindle I got for my birthday at the beginning of the month.

Tomatoes for the winter

Old friends and one of our lovely daughters

Derby and Joan - a bit less of us than last summer!

Beautiful sunsets - something we didn't get at the last house

Well I think I have caught you up on everything - I'll try not to leave it so long next time.

A la prochaine xxx








 

Home sweet home

Finally we have moved in to our new home. Still a lot to do to finish everything but it is good to be chez nous at last. We can't go on calling it 'the ruin' any longer so from now on will refer to our home as Kebourg. Here in the French countryside most homes are built on land that has a place name and the houses built on that land take its name. So that's why you will often see two houses with the same name. But we are now within the village confines and so have no place name and are just known as being in the village 'Au Bourg'. So now we are Kevin and Enid au Bourg  = Kebourg.

I managed to get away for a visit with the family in May and then back to all stations go. Rooms ready to be painted, a veg garden needing attention and house moving to organise. But finally we spent our first night in our new home and didn't it feel good!

Here''s an update of how things have been moving along.


Next steps are to finish painting our bedroom, the kitchen and salon and then fitting out the kitchen. The builders will be finishing the tiling next week, the heating engineers will be making the final connections the week after, the builders are working on outside walls and by the 13th August we will have a swimming pool. Phew!

But today was a time to be with friends and neighbours at the viilage fête. A day of good food, good music and good company and for us what living in this small community is all about. Happy days.
 
A la prochaine.

Round up at the ruin

It's almost a year since we sold up and moved on but this is actually the first year we have been completely gite free. At the beginning of 2012 we were opening the gites after the winter, giving them a deep clean, preparing the gites for the first guests and taking bookings and keeping up with the marketing. Those of you who run gites know how much work that entails. This year it's all about us and with no gite guests to think about we can visit our family more often and have only ourselves to worry about.

Of course the best laid plans and all that and a simple fall down a single step put Kevin on crutches and hors de combat as far as anything physical was concerned. He's making progress but far from running for a bus yet. 

Le Pays Basque

Our first little trip away of the year was to the beautiful region of the Pays Basque about 3 hours south of here.  I had booked a small self catering rental close to one of the most beautiful villages in France as our base, but when we turned up it was far from the most beautiful rental in France! Why do people create web sites that don't reflect the truth about their properties? Why do they think it's OK to ask people to pay for mouldy showers and warped kitchen work surfaces. Why do they thing grey ,stained tea towels and mismatched crockery will make us feel at home? We didn't stay but found a small hotel not far away - welcoming, clean and well equipped.

P.S The owner has accepted that she hadn't prepared the property well after the winter closure and has now reimbursed us - that was good customer service as we didn't ask for a refund.

As Kevin wasn't mobile our friend who is a pharmacist let us borrow a brand new wheelchair so we were able to stroll along the sea front at Bairritz, wander around St Jean de Luz, visit Espelette with its houses covered in dried chillies and nip to the border to stock up on cheap booze and olive oil. We had a lovely meal at an auberge in Espelette with a taster menu of dishes of the region.

 

Wounded soldier on the sea front at Biarritz

View of the Pyrenees  at the top of La Rhune - we went up on the little train of course!

Just driving around stopping at one pretty village after another was a delight. We plan to return when we are both able to walk and go a bit further into Spain to San Sebastien and Bilbao for the Guggenheim museum.

Family

With four children all living miles apart it's not easy to get a visit from them at the same time so we were delighted to have our son and daughter ( Kevin's brood) and two grandsons to stay for a long weekend. Lovely catch up and we all had a great time. The boys braved the chilly pool and we enjoyed watching them swinging through the trees at Le Parc en ciel - an adventure park nearby.

 

Taking the plunge

Next week I am off to visit our two other children ( my contribution to the four) - we haven't been together since my daughter's wedding last November as she has been on a honeymoon ever since! It will be lovely to catch up with them too.

Look what just popped into my inbox whilst I was typing this post - I'll be with these little cuties on the 14th May. 

Bouncing superheros - Charlie, Bethany and their friend Jimmy

The potager

Last year was a nightmare for us weather wise with the coldest temperatures for many years freezing pool equipment and holding up the start of work at the ruin. This year we haven't had the snow but rain, rain and more rain and low unseasonal temperatures. Again this has held up work on the building work but had also meant that early planting in the potager wasn't possible. Without my greenhouse, which I left at the old house, I haven't been able to sow as many seeds this year as I wanted to but have corn,squash, beetroot and lettuce sprouting nicely and I am buying the rest as plants from the market garden in the village. Our French neighbours have always advised us that May 15th is the time to aim for planting out here but as I am going to the UK next week this week I have been planting tomatoes, aubergines, peppers, cucumbers, courgettes and lettuce. I have also sown, french beans, carrots and parsnips. This weekend I will put in another row of tomatoes and more peppers. When I come back I hope to be able to plant out the corn and squash and do some more seed planting. I hope the weather is kinder for a while so everything gets going. The crop of broad beans that I planted in October are doing very well but those I planted as usual in February didn't germinate as it was too wet. Fingers crossed as always with this gardening game.

The Ruin

Things slowed down a little at the ruin as everything was waiting for the doors and windows to be put in. We had these made to measure this time and so the menuisier couldn't start on them until he was able to take the final measurements after the builder had finished all the openings. They are all done and installed now (just waiting for the front door) and so the other trades are back in action. We are hoping to be in by June so as to be on site to finish the interior decorating etc. A painter is due to start work here at the winter lodging so we will still be looking after this house for our friends ( and enjoying the pool) until then.

With Kevin out of action I have been the main gardener, painter and general dogsbody. Of course we have great friends and family helping us - rotovating the veg plot, cutting the grass and helping with the painting - so we aren't as far behind as we could have been.  Painting the ceiling of the terrace was really hard for me as I was just too short to reach the highest bits so some mountain goat kind of climbing was required and a few weary tears shed - but it's finished now and looking great. Our lovely friends Sandie and Mark have invited us to dinner on Saturday and drinks first courtesy of them but on our terrace at the ruin so we could all sit and sup and admire the woodwork.


I have started painting the ceilings in the house now, we are taking delivery of new white goods and bathroom fittings and we have chosen wall paint colours - it's beginnning to feel like a home.

And finally

Sam came up with a good tip for facing life's challenges when he asked his Mum and me 'Shall I just jump in and shout Wheeeeeeee? Good advice isn't it?

A la prochaine.

P.S. I did try to finish this post in the morning I was leaving for the UK but the photos wouldn't play ball. Now back from the UK where I had a lovely family time and fingers crossed I've got it working this time.

Gathering up a few threads

It's been a while since I updated the blog as events as always have overtaken me but in this post I am going to give you a quick catch up of the various strands of our lives.

Living in a small rural community

Our little village was shaken recently when we heard that one of our neighbours had committed suicide. She was a quiet, private. woman and although everyone knew that she was suffering from a long term illness that gave her a lot of pain, no-one could believe that such a devoted Catholic would have made this decision. As usual when someone in the village dies everyone turned up at the church to support the family - standing room only as we all squeezed in. It is this feeling of being part of a big family that made us want to stay here as we grow older - everyone looks out for their neighbour . If you move to a village in rural France remember that most of the inhabitants have lived here all their lives and have been following the same way of life for generations. If you don't want to be part of it at least be respectful of it and get to know people before you criticise the way they live. (Sorry about that little rant but we have seen English people come and go in this village who have not even tried to get to know any of their neighbours but who have had lots to say, quite rudely, about 'the French' and how they do things).

Keeping in touch with family and friends

Off I went at the beginning of February to visit friends and family. I was lucky to be able to take our grandson Sam to school for two days and play with all his birthday toys and in London I saw my granddaughter, Bethany , have her first swimming lesson. Lots of fun and games and hugs and cuddles and I had a lovely time.

I took a day to visit Birmingham and was surprised how beautiful the architecture is

An overnight stay in Lichfield to  visit to ex gite clients who are now dear friends

 

Playing birthday present games with Sam - 5 years old!

Charlie is such fun  - no longer a baby but a real little boy

B liked her new cossie so much she couldn't wait to try it on

The only downside to this trip that I came back with a nasty cough that lingered on and eventually turned into sever bronchitis.I have done nothing for the last two weeks being confined to bed for the last week but am slowly getting better. I am so frustrated at not being able to do anything and champing at the bit to get going again!

In the garden

Before I got really sick I did manage to do something in the potager. The broad beans and garlic I sowed in the Autumn are coming up well and I weeded those rows and managed to plant another two rows of broad beans. Our neighbour came and turned the patch over with his tractor and we took the protective fence down as we aren't letting the hens roam free this season. I bought seeds, potato sets and onion bulbs but haven't been able to do anything with them yet. Not too serious as the frosts came back so best to wait a little and hopefully I'll be fit enough to get going again by the end of the week. We planted the peach tree our friends bought us for Christmas and I had a master class on fruit pruning from a neighbour. We have pears, apples, apricot, fig and plums in our little orchard - oh and now a peach too. There are also cherry and walnut trees in another part of the garden and a beautiful old quince tree so we won't be short of fruit.

Broad beans, last of the winter veg and newly ploughed soil

Work on the house

I came back from the UK to find the builders had been very busy and I now have a new terrace at the back of the house. The underfloor heating went in and we are just waiting for the final floor screed to go down. It is starting to look like a real house at last.

Marking out the floors

It was a bit chilly that day -scary isn't he?

Ceiling in, walls and beams sandblasted and underfloor heating down.

Summer kitchen

Solar panels going on

Rear retaining wall and support arch

A lovely rear terrace

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next the floor will go down and when the windows are in the walls will be insulated and a few additional internal walls added. Then we'll really see the ruin becoming a home - can't wait!

Goings out and Goings on

 
Goings Out

Our goings out this month have been all about food. We had two invitations to dinner this month - one French  and one English. Both menus were delicious and we enjoyed our friends company in both languages!

Our big outing this month was to the Truffle festival in Lablenque near Cahors. I have never eaten truffles before so this was a new experience for me. There were the usual stalls of wonderful artisan's food to tempt us and also demonstrations of truffle gathering. Then to the main event- le repas gastronomique. Each mouthful was a delight and accompanied by excellent wines. We were with a group of French friends who always take delight in explaining the wines and the food - we take as much time talking about the menu as tasting it. The meal rounded off with some impromptu singing led by our great friend Jean Claude and then the 2 hour drive home. Not cheap and a long way to go. Was it worth it? Ah oui!

Check out the Sunday menu below to see what we ate.

The final going out for me is a trip to the UK leaving today and coming back on the 10th February - can't wait for some cuddles from the grandchildren and a catch up with the family and friends.

Goings On

So what's been happening at the ruin. Well the builders are coming to the end of their work on the structure for the moment. They'll be back later to sandblast and re-point but for now they have all the walls, doors and windows done. As we are on a sloping site we need a retaining wall at the back of the house to give us a terrace in front of the kitchen and they are starting that today. It should all be done when I come back from the UK.

View the slideshow to check out what's been going on this month.

 

			A bientôt

Happy New Year 2013

We wish everyone a very happy and healthy new year.  We will be moving into our new home this year ( not sure when yet) so that is very exciting.

The New Year can be celebrated here up to the end of January and the traditional offering is Galettes des Rois - King's cake - read about it here. We had our first taste on Friday when we had a meal with our friends from the Kiwanis club. Kevin found one of the féves in the form of a vintage 2CV and was King for the evening.

Festivities 2012

We hope you all enjoyed your celebrations this year. Although we miss our family we knew they were all having a great time and we will have them here when the weather is good. I'll be getting my family fix at the end of the month. We are so grateful to our friends who have let us use their house this winter. It meant that we could celebrate Christmas and New year with good friends

Our friend Sandie helping Kevin in the kitchen

Table ready for Christmas dinner

 In the potager

There's not much to do in the veg garden at the moment as it's very wet down there. I am still processing the fruits of our labours from last year though and yesterday I had a marathon butternut squash soup session.  I add a little curry - yum.

The potager isn't idle though. The broad beans I sowed in October are all coming along well and the garlic is poking through and I am busy planning for the springtime when it all starts off again. Nothing compares to the tastes and colours of home grown food.

 

At the Ruin 

Work carried on all through December and picked up again straight away in January. It has been difficult at the ruin as the place is a sea of mud not helped by being churned up by lorries etc. and wellies have been the order of the day. The house is looking great though and we are very pleased that so much of the original building has been preserved. Check out the slideshow to see what's been going on.

Signs of Spring

The days are getting longer, there are signs of Spring already - the hazel catkins seem to have appeared overnight and the orchards are looking wonderful. It's hard to imagine at the moment but soon we'll be back out in the garden enjoying the sun - but we will.

Bonne Année

A la prochaine.