A Little Planning, A Little Stock-Taking

They say time flies when you are having a good time. We realised this week that we have been down here in the sunny South of France for almost 6 months now and that phrase does ring true with us. It seems as though with each week which passes, time speeds up. One of Mr. Fix It’s favourite phrases of late is: “I still feel as though I am on holiday.” This, despite the enormous tasks he has already undertaken to restore our beautiful house, tells a tale of its own: if life feels like a holiday, it cannot be bad.

Settling back into our house after the joys of my daughter’s wedding in Kent, we have this week taken time to plan our next stage and also look back on what we have achieved so far. The sun continues to shine, the temperatures remain very high and Eddie & Alfie still rejoice in their regular walk by the canal.



Having achieved a great deal in the last few months, our attention now turns to planning our kitchen and putting in heating. Our kitchen is large and light. Now that we have a door and 2 graceful steps giving out to the garden, I can easily visualise warm gatherings around our table as the sun streams in from the west in the evening. The kitchen part will cover around a third of the space, with an L shaped granite worktop serving as a natural break between this and the dining area with corner fireplace. We found a beautiful black glass topped dining table some time ago which will fit perfectly in this space. A true bargain, we went back to buy another which will stay outside where we sit these days with our wine until late most evenings. We already have our floor: old pine planks waiting in our entrance hall until we are ready to start. Our carpenter, Jean-Louis, found this for us: local recommendation is always the best.

A neighbour of ours was telling me about “Au Bon Coin” – a tremendous internet site for anyone undergoing house renovation in France. Mr. Fix It spent a day looking at second-hand old-fashioned radiators and found 9 which will suit us at a real knockdown price and not too far away in Toulouse, for him to go and pick up. My task was to find out if we can connect gas to our property. Not everywhere in France has natural gas but we knew it is already connected in parts of our village. A trip to the Mairie was my start followed by a visit from a chap at “Gaz de France” to locate the nearest point to our house for the gas. This bore fruit: if the existing point is no more than 35 metres from your property, they will connect it at little cost and happily we fit into that category. We will not need the heating for some time but planning ahead, particularly in France with its extensive bureaucracy, does make sense.

Despite days when we feel we have not achieved a great deal, we looked back this week at all the improvements we have carried out to date: the demolition of the tower in the garden, opening up the kitchen, installing 2 ensuite bathrooms, creating doors where there were windows at ground floor level, creating a large window in one of the bedrooms has been no mean feat.



All the way through however, we have taken time out to live and enjoy this lovely area of France. One never tires of seeing the strong sun glinting through the majestic plane trees.

It is Mr. Fix It who deserves a large pat on the back, I am so happy for him that life feels like one big holiday.

Alexis
http://www.francebuyingguide.com/