Letting in the late summer sun

Renovating a large house such as this one takes time, thought and massive energy. Being blessed by the Mediterranean sunshine every day however, fuels all three. Mr. Fix It continues to amaze me with his effortless enthusiasm and ability to restore our property sympathetically. This week he has worked tirelessly to fine tune the 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms we now have up and running. Although it will be some time before they are “finished” (we have yet to decorate, put in wardrobes, finish off the lighting etc.) they are each beginning to look rather like some grand country house hotel rooms and we take great delight in choosing a different bedroom now and again in which to sleep. Little touches like towel rails, loo roll holders, shower fixtures, glass shelves make such a difference and Mr. Fix It seems to somehow magically deal with such detail, anticipating my desires. Everyone needs a Mr. Fix It!

The sun continues to shine and our evenings are blessed with soft peachy light as the moon takes hold and Venus shows us its glory in the western sky. Whilst Mr. Fix It has been – well fixing it – I have taken it upon myself to thoroughly clean some of our windows, many of which are full length. I have always loved full length windows, they lend a glamorous aspect to any property and in this climate they truly show off their glory. Our garden bedroom, still awaiting its balcony outside, sees the sun dancing in from early morning and sweeping away the dust from the huge windows has made a great difference as we awake. I look forward to the day, still some way off, when we plan our top floor with its 6 or 7 rooms waiting for the Mr. Fix It touch.

It’s true that one can get used to pretty much anything in time and so we have hardly noticed the pile of rubble which has remained in our garden, there being plenty of space to BBQ and sit outside in the evening warmth. Still, it was with a great sense of joy that I watched our builders finally removing this earlier this week and now we can see the space we have outside and begin to make our garden design. Before that however, we await our gas connection – helped by our Mayor who has put in a good word for us to Gaz de France – and it will soon be all systems go to install gas central heating ready for the winter.

Every sunset this week has been stunning but on Tuesday it truly took our breath away. We walked by the Canal du Midi with Eddie & Alfie and were astounded to see the entire sky develop the most beautiful colours I have ever seen: a vibrant blue, sharp pink and soft orange seemed to mingle together. There was no wind, the canal simply reflected the colours and it seemed as though everyone there was united in awe at this, one of nature’s spectacles. As the sun slowly lowered over the horizon and we watched the stars appear in this seemingly huge sky, we counted our blessings and wished that all of our loved ones could be with us to experience this, really quite spiritual moment.

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