What a busy week

last guests arrived for the Gite so daughter had to move into the caravan. That meant leaving our back door unlocked so if they needed the loo during the night that could come in and use the cloakroom. Dogs were very good, barked the first night but not after that.
Yesterday I collected my Mini Cooper and have to say I absolutely love it. Takes a bit of getting used to being left hand drive but that will come with time.
Today the guests left and daughter moved back into the Gite where they will now stay until their house is finished. We have removed some of the furniture so they can have some over their things around them. Took daughter shopping today and helped her find thevFrench version of things. Also got her signed up for a loyalty card so she can start building it up.
Also builder started today and has been busy with the digger. He has dug out the footings for my uitilty room, daughters dining room, new animal/ bird house and log store. We used some of the earth to build up the sides of my tractor tyre pond making it easier for the water fowl to access. It is great to see things moving forward.
The darker evenings have caught us out and we have to adjust our schedules to be here in time to put all to bed.
Major step for me..I had some roast lamb last Sunday. I know where it came from and that it had a good life chemical free. I have had an upset tummy since but guess it will take a while to get used to.
I am working on free range outdoor pork now as I will not eat factory farmed pork. If I can find someone who rears pigs ethically I will buy it. Once we start eating our poultry and water fowl we will be self sufficient with meat.

Another trip to A &E

so another good test for our language skills. On Monday I was out with a friend when P called to say he had had an accident so could I come home as quickly as possible. I was a good half hour away in my friends car having left mine at her house. She took me straight home.
For some time I have been asking P to build the front step to daughters house. The step is a piece of chimney with a patio slab balanced on top! He had stepped on whilst carrying a large bag of adhesive and lost his balance. The slab had tipped over and caught his shin. He had a large L shaped cut with bone showing. Sorry if anyone is squeamish! I put a sterile dressing on it and took him to hospital. Fortunately many medical things are the same being Latin based. The doctor and nurse were lovely. Within 10 minutes of checking in we were in the treatment being seen by a specialist. He and the intern did the sewing. 20 sutures later and we were on our way home.
Problem was our daughter and son in law were arriving to begin their new life with us. I had to arrange for a friend to wait here as did not want to worry them by phoning. Fortunetly I had loaded the slow cooker that morning so dinner was sorted.
Also the lamb I had ordered was delivered whilst we were out. Friend put it in the freezer and I have yet to sort it out!
This is not the first time I have taken P to the emergency room and think it will not be the last!
Phoned our insurance company yesterday to tell them about my new car. New insurance ticket arrived this morning. They will insure my current car free for three months during which time I can drive to a garage or take someone on a test drive. This is to allow us to sell it. Also called the bank to organize a sort of bankers draft to pay the balance for my car when we collect it next week. That should arrive by recorded delivery tomorrow.
No sign of my French driving license yet but it is less than a week since I sent the papers off. Hoping all goes smoothly.
Also signed the contract for the sale of our English house today so will send that back to the
conveyance company. Will be happier once we have exchanged.
So, lots sorted.
Now sitting with the wood burner blazing, a time of year I love!

And here it is...my new to me car. She is French and left hand drive. I hope my new French license turns up without any problems now. I collect my car on 27th and cannot wait.

P is working on his new car too..it will be yellow like mine but much bigger and American! When we moved here we sold our American car as it could not be imported here. We used the money to buy our micro station. It was a yellow C5 Corvette we bought on American eBay and shipped from New York. P is working on finding a yellow C5 or C6 , European spec. Then we will also buy a van to carry the building materials and take the dogs out in. Finally we will both have clean cars that we keep that way. 

Just a quick few lines today....big day tomorrow with daughter and son in law arriving.

Another 1st

today we went to look at a car advertised on. French website. P is treating me to a new car and I have had trouble deciding what to have. All I knew was I wanted a left hand drive and something smallish. He found me a Mini Cooper! We found the house and managed to inspect the car do a test drive and negotiate the price all in French. The way it works here is the current owner has to get a new controle technique (MOT) so that will be done next week and we will pick it up on 27th. All we have to do then is complete a form to change the ownership. It means a lot to me each time we succeed in doing something like this and boosts my confidence. The family were lovely and had no problem dealing with us.
It has taken a long time to feel at home here but I am now feeling I will stay here. Since dad died I have not wanted to go back to the UK at all.
My eldest daughter and her hubby arrive on Monday which is the icing on the cake! It will be so lovely to have both my girls here. We have so much planned now, plenty to keep us busy and fired up to push forward with our self sufficient life style.

Another bit of French bureaucracy sorted...I hope

For some time now I have wanted to change my English driving license for a French one. It is normal to have regular document checks and be breathalised here. It always complicates it because I live here and drive a French car. So this morning I went into our village Marie and asked about changing over. The receptionist speaks no English so it was a challenge. I managed it and also asked for a list of the things I need to send to the prefecture. She had a hand written list so is obviously used to having 'etrangers' making this request. So, I have filled out the form, photocopied my birth certificate, passport, plastic license card and paper license and a utility bill in my name. All along with my original licenses, two dreadful photos and a stamped self addressed envelope all in one big envelope ready to be sent to the prefecture tomorrow. No charge amazingly and hopefully my new French license will arrive before long. Meanwhile I have a photocopy of my English license for when I am stopped by the Gendarmes. I am very proud of myself for doing this. I have no intention now of ever going back to Blighty so it makes sense.
The winter weather has arrived so wood burner cranked up. I love this time of year!

My boys

This is Frank and Bruno. Bruno arrived first as an eight week puppy we rescued. P was doing some contract work in the UK leaving me alone here. With three cats and various chickens and ducks. I cannot say I was too bothered by it but he felt a dog would be good. We have never had a dog before, mainly because I will not take on any animal I cannot look after properly. We have both always worked apart from my few weeks off for each child. As I was a nurse I worked nights so we could manage the child care 'in house'. It would not have been fair to leave a dog on its own. Now we are retired and felt we could give a dog a home. We have the space here too for a dog to roam. P suggested it whilst he was away and I started the search. I found an English run rescue centre and saw  a photo of Bruno on the website. His mum had been brought into the rescue centre and shortly after gave birth to six puppies. Bruno and a sister had been homed with a couple who decided after a short time they could not cope with them. By the time I found him he was the last puppy to go. P came back and we set off for Brittany to collect him. I had bought a collar and lead to bring him home. We also had a puppy cage. It was love at first sight. He was so good on the long journey home, we stopped once to see if he would wee but the collar I had bought was too big! Once home he settled in very well and never made a fuss. At night he went in his bed in the cage and never cried. We knew he had Boxer in him as he had the look and color. We had him vaccinated and snipped and his passport and documents were changed to my name. Our sil named him, as he was part Boxer! The first few weeks were easy, I googled for information and bought a couple of books on dog training. I was determined to do things properly. Then a friend told us about an English couple running obedience and agility classes. We signed up. It was here we were told Bruno was a Boxer/Mastiff cross. We did the classes for a year knowing  it was us that needed training more than Bruno. He did really well and loved the agility part. We came away confident with handling him and with a good understanding of his character. Our trainer kept telling us he would be quieter by 18 months. Almost to the day he calmed down. He has taken a lot of work to keep him under control but now at 3 1/2 he is a lovely gentle dog. We have continued to use the kennels our trainer runs and Frank came from her. Frank is a Tekel/Yorkie cross. He was one of three puppies rescued from a litter being drowned. He was homed but it was discovered he was being badly treated and came back to our trainer. Again it was love at first sight. She was happy for us to take him. She kept him a couple of weeks to be sure there were no personality problems resulting from his bad experience. She also helped him get used to being with big dogs. When we went to collect him we took Bruno so she could see how they reacted to each other. They were fine and have been ever since. Bruno is very gentle with Frank. Bruno is 44kgs and Frank is 4kgs!
They are both very much part of our family now.

My happy geese

Sorry it is rather dark! This shows goose hall and the pond I have sorted for them today. I am very proud of my up cycled pond! It has been created using an old tractor tyre I was given free. We used the inner tube opened up and siliconed onto the the base to form the bottom of the pond. I dug out the earth about a foot and lowered the tyre into it. I then built up the outer edges with earth to create a slope for the geese to get into into the pond. As soon as it was filled they were in it.
I have been rethinking our duck area. When we build the new housing for ducks, geese and goats I will have them all in one area. The duck pond will converted into a wild life pond and we will plant it up with water lilies and such. The new pond is easy to empty and clean which is needed as the birds are very messy. When we dig out the footings for the new animal house I will use the earth to build up the sides more. Eventually it will become a grassy slope. And it hasn't cost me a penny! Or even euro!
Daughter and hubby arrived yesterday with all their worldly goods. It is now stored in one of the unfinished Gites until we have finished their house. They have gone back today to take the lorry back and sort out the final bits. Monday week they come back. We have already had lots of discussions about what we will do here. All positive stuff. We really will be living like a commune which I am very happy about. Together we will be self sufficient. Sil has said he thinks he can cope with killing the poultry and with help at first I can cope with plucking and gutting. I have a lovely lady who will show me and help me. With the small holders association I am planning on joining I will have a network to help me get my new life on track. I also have a good network of people to barter with, something I am very keen to do.
I feel very fortunate to be able to live this way.

To continue my story

it seemed like a good plan to set up the Gite business but it did mean my house was abandoned! I have now lived here for nearly six years and my house is still not done.
We have a lovely Gite now nearly finishing the second season. Last year we had 14 weeks booked, this year 26!
At the end of last year my eldest daughter and her husband decided they wanted to share our lives here. It has taken a while to sell their property but tomorrow they arrive with all their worldly goods. They stay one night then go back to return the van and finish up bits in the UK. Next week they will move here for good. They will help with the self sufficiency bit and the Gite business. We have a smallish cow barn attached to one end of our house. We have just about converted this into a house for said daughter. Once it is done we then have to finish the other two Gites ready for next spring. Once all this is done then my house will be done!
We have learned so much since moving here. Not least a new language! In the early days we went to the DIY stores and spent ages trying to work out what we needed. Both plumbing and electrics had more than one system. Once started you have to continue with the same system. We made a few expensive errors but slowly worked it out. Fortunetly we are can do people!
When we first arrived we did not even know our way around shops. I found it very difficult in supermarkets trying to buy my usual stuff. I kept ordering things from the UK at great expense. Gradually I worked it out and now buy very little from the UK. It has made me cook from scratch and be more adventurous. Today I buy very little even from French supermarkets and many things I produce from home! I have not bought a jar of jam since coming here and have a pantry growing with jars of jam and jelly. My first batch took me ages and was a big project. Today I was given some black grapes from a friends garden. In the freezer I had some blackberries. So I made jelly from it all! It is no longer a big deal!
A good friend said to me yesterday that when she first met me she did not think I would stick it out. She never thought I would manage to become self sufficient. She has now changed her mind I am pleased to say! I was a complete townie! She did say though that I am the only person she knows who can look clean and tidy whilst cleaning out the duck pond! I take that as a compliment!
I know I will always be a foreigner here but I finally feel comfortable.

Progress on the self sufficiency front

so, yesterday evening I went to a meeting for the association of organic farmers. Called A.M.A.P. I am an amapian apparently! It was all in French which was a challenge but the farmer I am contracted to speaks English and sat next to me to help with the translation. He kindly told me during voting when to raise my hand otherwise who knows what I could have volunteered for. I have have renewed my contract for winter and paid my money for 10 weeks of veg boxes. I feel good about helping to support a new organic farmer. I have visited his farm and am impressed with the work he is doing. So far he is just growing veg and fruit for personal use. He hopes to get into animals at some point and I hoping he will invest in outdoor pigs. Here you rarely see pigs outside as they are kept crammed in large barns. Something I do not agree with.
I have also been put in touch with an English smallholders group in my part of France. It is just the sort of thing I need. Not only do they share knowledge they also sell and barter produce and animals. I plan to go to the next meeting. It will be good to have things in English.
A good friend said to me today that when she first met she did not think I would last. She knew of my plan to be self sufficient but did not believe I was the right sort of character. I have to admit I doubted myself in the beginning knowing nothing about that way of life. I bought John Seymours book some time ago and loved reading it. The reality is somewhat different. I have found my way round chickens, ducks and geese not to mention mice and other nasties. I am hoping that with help I can start producing our own meat. My reason for being veggie is I do not want to support the exploitation of animals. Being a full smallholder corrects this. We would only process for us or barter and not for profit. It will be the same with the honey when that starts, I will barter not sell.
It is wonderful to be able to do all this.
On Saturday my eldest daughter and her husband arrive with all their belongings. They go back to the UK on Sunday to finish up things then the following week move here. Then we will all work together to live the dream!
A diversion from talking about how we coped with settling here but I will get back to that!

Getting used to Francet

one of the first official things we had to do was sort out health care. We had paperwork from England that said they would pay France for our care for two years but after that we would have to accepted by France. We went to the local government office where we struggled with French but amazingly came out with the correct papers and the promise our carte vitale would arrive in the post soon. By this time we had heard lots of horror stories about not being accepted. About a week later the cards arrived and they had included K on mine. Phew, we could shelve that for a while.
We had a large pot of money and set about getting our house sorted. I bought a duck and hen house. We bought our first chickens with a cockerel soon after. I started with Buff Orpingtons as research told me they were a good breed for beginners. They settled down quickly and started laying. That summer they hatched five chicks. I was hooked! I had never been anywhere near a live chicken before this but found it easy to handle and care for them.
Shortly after arriving we had a micro station installed. Our original toilet emptied into a concrete tank but everything else went into a field behind us. France had planned to inspect every private system to get all to conform by 2012. No chance! Many rural places still tip into fields and have local farmers emptying the tanks. Our micro station is very modern and processes everything to empty water into the river at the back of our house. We had a big 11 person one put in to future proof it. Whilst all the digging was being done we asked if a duck pond could be dug. One scoop and it was done. A month later the pond was done and ducks installed. I bought Rouen ducks, three girls and one boy. They are big Mallards.
We were beginning to get things into shape.
Our next big thing was to have solar tubes installed and a big heat exchanger to provide hot water. With hind sight I would not have done this and if it ever fails we will take it out. There are times in the depths of winter when I have a two inch bath of lukewarm water! There is an immersion you can set to kick in but it takes too much power. We have tried to put things in place to reduce our monthly costs. Certainly our electricity was drastically reduced.
Having built the shells of the rooms upstairs we removed the bedroom walls downstairs. This created a large room with the stairs going up one side. On the opposite wall was a very big fireplace with an equally big chimney. This was to be my kitchen. In the fireplace we installed my wood burning Esse oven. Royal blue with chrome plates to cover the hot plates. I still love it now. In winter it heats that side of the house.
Just before we removed the downstairs bedrooms K announced she was getting married. Our baby was finally going. She married a French postman! She now lives nearby and has a three year old boy whom I love to bits.
We were now coming up to two years here so started looking at health care again. England wrote to say they would no longer pay for us so we turned to France. They said no! The European law said they should accept us but locally they would not. This was major but we were determined to stay. It took lots of work to find a solution but we found one just before our cover ran out. We decided to convert a barn into Gites. We were able to sign up to a system that gave us immediate cover and we had two years to make some money and pay some tax!

Part two

when we first bought this place we were working full time. I had left the NHS and joined a medical company as a nurse advisor. I taught NHS and nursing home staff a glamorous subject....the promotion of continence and the management of incontinence. It was an amazing lifestyle and so different from my role as ward sister. I progressed into sales and became a national account manager. I had a fat salary and a final salary pension! This helped us to move here.
For two years we came here for a weekend every month. We would work from home on Friday and be at Euro tunnel for six, getting here by midnight. We would work on the place all day Saturday and most of Sunday and leave here by four to be home again before midnight ready to go back to work on Monday. All our holidays were spent here and we gradually moved our things over. One of the first things we brought over was our chiming clock. I hated leaving here on Sunday, closing the shutters and thinking about the clock gradually running down.
Then the miracle happened. The bank P worked for started on a redundancy programme. He applied. At first it was denied him but by now I had been signed off with stress and wanted out. Bonuses and fat salaries are great but they have a price. P was also signed off with stress which led to him getting redundancy. Our youngest daughter had also been made redundant and as she could not afford to set up on her own decided to come with us. On 19th December 2009, K and I packed up my short wheel base Rav 4 with a large puppy cage divided into two levels. In here were our four cats. On top of the cage were her rabbit and Guinea pig! We had a small bag each for us. We did the Euro tunnel because of the animals. It was the first time I had done the journey without P and K at that time had no French. I had to cope with it all! When we were near home the snow started. We just about got here before it became impossible. The rabbit and Guinea pig had to stay in the cage as their eglu was on the lorry P and a friend were driving over the next day. With no central heating I had to get the wood burner going. We had basic provisions and the next day I walked through a couple of feet of snow two miles to the village shop for supplies. It was a difficult start.
P had trouble getting here due to the snow and when he arrived I did a quick meal for him and our friend, helped unload the van and they turned round and went straight back to England. P was then snowed in for a week leaving K and I to cope alone.
I had no kitchen or oven. We had brought over my American fridge freezer on an earlier trip and had installed a small table top oven /grill. We had English tv as P had sorted that out earlier but we had no computer as I needed P to set it up!
When we bought the place there were three bedrooms down stairs, a sale de vie which was kitchen, dining room and lounge and a bathroom tacked onto the back of this room. During the two years we had a builder put in a first floor and four dormer Windows. By the time we moved here we had two bedrooms and two bathrooms, constructed and plastered but nothing else. We had insulated up stairs but not down stairs. We also had double glazed Windows upstairs. Down stairs was still the same.
I was still very excited about it at this stage and had a positive outlook.
It is major thing to move to another country and become 'the foreigner'. The early days were very hard.

Making the decision to move here

I have been asked by a few people lately how I came to live in France. I thought this was the place to talk about it.
Firstly we had always wanted to live in another country. We looked at America, New Zealand and Spain over the years but none seemed right. Then we bought a Corvette ( car) and started going to the 24 hour Le Mans race.
The next step was selling our beautiful house and down sizing. We used the equity to buy this house. I had been searching the Internet for some time so it did not take much effort to draw up a list. I found 11 properties that fitted what we wanted. We wanted rural and we had a budget to stick to. I made up a list for each property to log things like mains electric and water. I also insisted on a working bathroom. We set up the viewings for an Easter weekend and viewed them all. The first one was near here and was in a town. We are can do people but the first place was awful. We came away thinking it was not going to happen if that was all we could afford. Then we pulled up here!
We arrived before the agent and stood at the entrance amongst the weeds and cried. We knew this was it. The agent turned up and opened up. The house was a mess and smelt musty. The agent told us someone else was viewing after us but as it had been on the market for 9 months with no viewings we did not believe him. We drove away and parked where we could see anyone turning into our access road. We saw another car go in! I had to push P but we went to the agents office at nearly closing and put in an offer. It was accepted. The agent took the sale photograph out of the window and gave it to us. We signed a paper that gave us 7 days to think about it. We viewed the rest of the houses on our list but nothing came close.  We went back toms the agent and told him we wanted the place and wanted to complete on the Friday of the Le Mans weekend.
We picked up the keys from the Notaire on the day we wanted!
We stayed a week and several friends who were at the race came to see us. Most could not believe what we had done...no vision!
The house was a mess. No upstairs and a basic bathroom off the main room. Our bedroom door led off the main room too. The house was infested with mice and had a resident toad. And we loved it!
To be continued....

Another new venture

I am going to start making our own butter. As I now have only raw milk it will be possible. The cream that forms is beautiful and I plan to buy more milk that I will skim. The remaining milk can be used to make yogurt. This will also open an opportunity to make cream too. With the milk at €1 per litre it will save money. We do not use much butter just now but I would like to use it in baking and get rid of the commercial marg. I plan to use my Kenwood to make the butter.
I am currently making soup too. With the organic veg box every week I have lots to choose from. The tomatoes are yummy and made a scrumptious tomato and basil soup.
On Saturday I am having a day with the organic farmers! We are having a tour of two farms, a chance to do a bit of work and a lunch. No charge! It is because I have joined the association! I hope to pick up ideas for my own veg plot!
Lit the wood burner this evening, love the cosy feel it gives the room