Sometimes you just have to dance.

Hello again

March is a lovely month, the days are getting longer, the mornings lighter, we have even had a few sunny and warmer days. We made it through another unheated winter! The skies have continued to be stunning, especially at sunrise. What a great view to wake up to – once the shutters are open of course. We also got to see the February full moon known as the Snow Moon – really beautiful. I got my son Alex, who is back in the UK, to nip out and look too. It was lovely to think we were both looking at the same sight at the same time – quite magical.

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Last week I may have celebrated a touch too soon over our being in the health system here. I have managed to scrabble my way in and am now the proud owner, finally, of the long-sought Carte Vitale. Max, who had it a little easier than me on the long journey to this point, has however been terminated this week. No, not literally but his rights have been ‘terminés’! Just when we thought we were out of the woods on this. After a long and somewhat frustrating conversation with our local office, it would appear that a mistake may have been made, and not by us. A date may have been misunderstood – she could see this and said as much. Even though this is evident and the papers were in front of the person I was talking to, the upshot is that Max must submit the papers again. No amount of persuasion would change this, even in a pandemic. Sending them in would mean a wait again of about a month, so we are off to the office next week to try and rectify this situation, armed with half a forest of paperwork again. I will let you know how this goes next week. Fingers crossed.

The kittens have been a little naughty and used the salon as a public toilet! On old and very worn tiles, as well as under the stairs. I love these kittens, but… I have my suspicions about one of them and it may not have been his fault initially. It took a while for the smell to make itself known so the challenge now is to get rid of it. I have tried vinegar and baking soda with some success but there is still the odd whiff. Horrible. So after some research I have found a possible solution. I have just taken delivery of said product: Urine Off – does what it says on the tin – apparently! What a name! One of my weekend jobs – can’t wait. Looking at the photo – total cuteness and complete denial of any wrong doing.

This week has been busy work-wise for me so I have made little progress anywhere in the house or garden. The garden is really waking up now, the lawn mower has had to come out of hibernation and the birds and bees are busy. Having got started on the garden reasonably early, I suddenly feel like I am falling behind!  

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I have managed to plant some more seeds and rescue some wild violets from the lawnmower. I have popped them in various places to increase where they appear next year. I have also bought some more lavender plants from the supermarket. I bought loads last year just before lockdown – very reasonable price. I would like to line the drive and a walkway I am planning with lavender, as well as adding some more around some of the fruit trees. Insects love it, I love it and it looks and smells gorgeous – so a win-win.

One interesting thing I learned this week is about boundary markers, known as a ‘borne’ here. Historically this would have been a stone marker placed on the ground to mark the boundary of a property. I have found what I think must be one of ours at the top of the drive. It is quite something to imagine that this may have been laid hundreds of years ago – perhaps when Raymond D’Agens first lived on this site in 1595 (see the post: Through Hidden Doors and Corridors).

The other thing we have been looking at is the garden plan. We have some very dead Box trees that form a walkway from the lovely concrete steps (see the post: Some Concrete Plans) up to the well and the potager beyond. The plan is to cut these down to about waist height and plant shrubs in between, possibly hydrangeas, and grow climbing plants up the dead tree trunks. This would form a path walking past what I hope will become the cutting garden (currently a mound of buried stones from the demolition of the old back kitchen – before our time) up to the lovely old well. We plan to put a pump into the well to help water the potager this year which will save me many a trip with watering cans!

The plans we have often require a lot of imagination to see past the overgrown and untended bits of the garden, or the damp, odd coloured walls of various rooms.  It can, at times, be overwhelming, especially when weeks get taken up with work and admin jobs, cars breaking down or scrubbing old tiles post kitten visits, etc. However the long term vision remains. I can see in my mind’s eye how things will look inside and out. It is very exciting breathing new life into this old house. We are so lucky to be here and to be able to make our contribution to preserving the petit château of the village. When it all gets too much I find a bit of lovely music and a good dance around the kitchen, salon or wherever I happen to be, makes everything feel great again! I hope you will stay with us on our journey. I look forward to showing you some of the results in the coming weeks.

I am off to have a celebratory drink with Max to mark 6 months since we got married here. Which also reminds me that the kittens are 6 months old on Sunday. Time does whizz by when you are having fun!

Have a great weekend and week wherever you are.

Thank you, as ever, for reading this.

A bientôt

Ali xx