we woke this morning to snow on the ground. The last few days have been much colder but we have had never ending rain. The mud is awful just now. We are trying to not let the dogs out on the grass as it is being churned up so they have to make do with the back patio. Ok for little Frank but Bruno is a very big dog and needs more room to run. We take them for a walk each evening that helps.
The house is very cold too. Every year I say it will be the last cold winter but here I am after six years and still single glazed Windows and no insulation. The granite walls just have a layer of paint so as soon as the fire goes out we are cold! At the moment the house is cold despite both the wood burner and wood burning oven being on! Fortunately upstairs is insulated and boarded so we are warm once in bed. This is because it was a hay loft and we put in two bedrooms and bathrooms shortly after buying the property. It was because of needing to set up a business to get health cover that we switched to converting a barn into a Gite. Now we are trying to finish the barn our eldest daughter and husband will live in. Then it is the other two Gites to finish and finally our house! Sometimes I get very down about it but it doesn't last.
We have finally sorted out our top up health insurance. We go to sign the contracts on Tuesday. This is because the state only provides 70% and we pay the rest. For minor things this is ok but we have been aware for some time that a hospital stay would be very expensive. As P is 60 this year and I am only a year behind we had to to take out insurance. It will cost us €110 a month so I have agreed to take a drop in housekeeping of €50 each month to cover my half. I feel much happier with this in place.
So far this year we have only sold three weeks with our Gite. It is a worry but we hope the bookings will start coming in soon. We need the money from this to fund the next project!
Friday, 15 January 2016
Sunday, 10 January 2016
Busy busy
My apologies to those who asked for photos of the Christmas lights. I failed! I have to wait until dark to take photos but as it gets dark I have the chickens, ducks and geese to get to bed, dinner to start and the dogs to walk. Once back from our walk dinner is ready. Once dinner is eaten and cleared I have no enthusiasm for turning out. I usually settle down with some crochet or knitting for a couple of hours before going to bed! Sorry! The village is now back to normal!
This last week I have successfully opened a French bank account! This involved me taking my passport and €20 to a designated tabac ( a newsagent with coffee shop). I had to ask the owner for a compte nickel....he took my money then took a pack from the shelf. There was a computer with scanner in the shop for opening this account. It was all done in French and I had to text a code then input the code that was sent back. My passport was scanned in and after filling in more details
I was given a printout. I had to take this and my card to a cash dispenser, text another code then put that into the cash dispenser and voila my account was sorted. The next day I received a letter with a code to set up online banking. It needed another text and code and I now have un compte Francais! I now have to set up transferring my pension into euros and putting it into my account. All is in place to go tomorrow!
My second success was coping with a telephone call. Hubby is buying a car and had emailed a French man. He called to arrange when we would go to see it! I dealt with it, confirmed next Sunday and asked him to email hubby with the details. All sorted!
It makes such a difference to living here when you can manage the language. I am far from fluent but can now understand and make myself understood. It has only taken six years!
The rain has been relentless! I need to put guttering on Cluckingham palace as the water runs off the roof and creates a mud bath outside the door. So today I have dug out the mud and made a pathway of broken clay tiles. It will eventually sink down but I can top it up as needed. It meant I could bring the feed sacks down on the trolley and get them into the barn where it is stored. The guttering will have to wait as there is so much else to do.
Tomorrow we go to see our notaire to sort out the Capitol gains tax we have to pay on our house we sold in England. Not happy about this but has to be done!
This last week I have successfully opened a French bank account! This involved me taking my passport and €20 to a designated tabac ( a newsagent with coffee shop). I had to ask the owner for a compte nickel....he took my money then took a pack from the shelf. There was a computer with scanner in the shop for opening this account. It was all done in French and I had to text a code then input the code that was sent back. My passport was scanned in and after filling in more details
I was given a printout. I had to take this and my card to a cash dispenser, text another code then put that into the cash dispenser and voila my account was sorted. The next day I received a letter with a code to set up online banking. It needed another text and code and I now have un compte Francais! I now have to set up transferring my pension into euros and putting it into my account. All is in place to go tomorrow!
My second success was coping with a telephone call. Hubby is buying a car and had emailed a French man. He called to arrange when we would go to see it! I dealt with it, confirmed next Sunday and asked him to email hubby with the details. All sorted!
It makes such a difference to living here when you can manage the language. I am far from fluent but can now understand and make myself understood. It has only taken six years!
The rain has been relentless! I need to put guttering on Cluckingham palace as the water runs off the roof and creates a mud bath outside the door. So today I have dug out the mud and made a pathway of broken clay tiles. It will eventually sink down but I can top it up as needed. It meant I could bring the feed sacks down on the trolley and get them into the barn where it is stored. The guttering will have to wait as there is so much else to do.
Tomorrow we go to see our notaire to sort out the Capitol gains tax we have to pay on our house we sold in England. Not happy about this but has to be done!
Tuesday, 5 January 2016
Big event
Today we completed on our English house and have paid off our mortgage! As we bought our French house for cash we now owe nothing! It is an amazing feeling.
Managed to repair some fencing today. With the greenhouse ready to put glass in and lots of clearance done I am feeling good about our land.
Cluckingham palace, the barn the chickens have needs some work. We have had a problem with rats living in the walls. The walls are granite and two feet thick and have long ago lost the pointing. I plan to put a concrete skin over the internal walls to stop the rats burrowing in. I will then paint the walls white so that I can hose them when needed. The chickens have a ladder to get up to the ledges where they roost and Inwant to build another ladder on the other side. Now I have 17 birds they need more places to roost. Several sleep on the big beam. P has told me how to make the concrete so I will do it small batches when I have time. This will be in between putting the glass in the greenhouse. I need to get all this done before the planting begins.
The other thing I really must do is put together the bee hive as the bees will be arriving in a couple of months and I do not want it to be a last minute panic!
But for now I will just enjoy the feeling of being mortgage free!😊
Managed to repair some fencing today. With the greenhouse ready to put glass in and lots of clearance done I am feeling good about our land.
Cluckingham palace, the barn the chickens have needs some work. We have had a problem with rats living in the walls. The walls are granite and two feet thick and have long ago lost the pointing. I plan to put a concrete skin over the internal walls to stop the rats burrowing in. I will then paint the walls white so that I can hose them when needed. The chickens have a ladder to get up to the ledges where they roost and Inwant to build another ladder on the other side. Now I have 17 birds they need more places to roost. Several sleep on the big beam. P has told me how to make the concrete so I will do it small batches when I have time. This will be in between putting the glass in the greenhouse. I need to get all this done before the planting begins.
The other thing I really must do is put together the bee hive as the bees will be arriving in a couple of months and I do not want it to be a last minute panic!
But for now I will just enjoy the feeling of being mortgage free!😊
Friday, 1 January 2016
Plans for 2016
First day of the new year and I spent it in the garden! My main plan for this year is to be a proper smallholder by the end of it!
With that in mind my first task is to get my greenhouse sorted. We were given a large one free years ago and brought it over from England. We built a concrete base and erected the frame. And that is how is has been for several years. The brambles and weeds took over. Today I have cleared it ready to start putting the glass in. I aim to have it usable by the end of January. I will put some black plastic on the floor to kill the bramble roots.
I also pruned the fruit trees and the new Hazel bushes around the outer edge of my veggie patch. Along with cleaning out duck, geese and chickens houses and collecting the eggs that was my lot for today.
I have plotted out in my head where I can put a pig house and the goats. It is possible but work is needed. I need to fence the perimeter of our property securely to stop the ducks and chickens wandering into the adjoining fields. They are more at risk from the fox in the field.
The plan is to buy two weaners in the Spring and raise as porkers (for the freezer). The goats I would like to a couple as I want to breed them for meat and for selling on. I want to use the milk for making cheese. Both the pigs and the goats will help clear our wild areas and fertilize the ground.
I am slowly getting my head around raising our own meat although I must confess I have not made much progress with eating it!
I plan to continue to move away from Supermarket shopping, using them just for very basic things.
I have taken on another six hens, from an expat returning to the UK. They are settling in well but no eggs yet. My other girls give me 5-7 eggs each day with the ducks giving three! I keep several people supplied and use a lot myself.
I hope this year the geese will hatch some young.
Next Tuesday our English house will complete and we will be mortgage free! Really looking forward to that!
We had a week over there recently to remove the washing machine and tumble dryer and for the first time since we left I felt I did not belong there. Maybe because dad has gone and both my girls are now here with me. It was a strange feeling. I wandered around the big supermarket and was not bothered about stocking up! I have adapted things and mostly manage with what I can get here. The things I really cannot do without I can mostly get on line.
So, lots of reflection but also lots of positive plans.
With that in mind my first task is to get my greenhouse sorted. We were given a large one free years ago and brought it over from England. We built a concrete base and erected the frame. And that is how is has been for several years. The brambles and weeds took over. Today I have cleared it ready to start putting the glass in. I aim to have it usable by the end of January. I will put some black plastic on the floor to kill the bramble roots.
I also pruned the fruit trees and the new Hazel bushes around the outer edge of my veggie patch. Along with cleaning out duck, geese and chickens houses and collecting the eggs that was my lot for today.
I have plotted out in my head where I can put a pig house and the goats. It is possible but work is needed. I need to fence the perimeter of our property securely to stop the ducks and chickens wandering into the adjoining fields. They are more at risk from the fox in the field.
The plan is to buy two weaners in the Spring and raise as porkers (for the freezer). The goats I would like to a couple as I want to breed them for meat and for selling on. I want to use the milk for making cheese. Both the pigs and the goats will help clear our wild areas and fertilize the ground.
I am slowly getting my head around raising our own meat although I must confess I have not made much progress with eating it!
I plan to continue to move away from Supermarket shopping, using them just for very basic things.
I have taken on another six hens, from an expat returning to the UK. They are settling in well but no eggs yet. My other girls give me 5-7 eggs each day with the ducks giving three! I keep several people supplied and use a lot myself.
I hope this year the geese will hatch some young.
Next Tuesday our English house will complete and we will be mortgage free! Really looking forward to that!
We had a week over there recently to remove the washing machine and tumble dryer and for the first time since we left I felt I did not belong there. Maybe because dad has gone and both my girls are now here with me. It was a strange feeling. I wandered around the big supermarket and was not bothered about stocking up! I have adapted things and mostly manage with what I can get here. The things I really cannot do without I can mostly get on line.
So, lots of reflection but also lots of positive plans.
Friday, 25 December 2015
Latest project finished
The photos are the stairs P has built in the cave that is daughters house. They are oak! He built them from scratch after lots of measuring and is the third staircase he has built. We are hoping to move them in early in the new year.
The extension is up and looking good. My tumble dryer is installed properly. Once the rest of the wiring is done and the plumbing we can get the washing machine into there too. This will mean I can start sorting out my kitchen. I am planning to use a large heavily carved four door cupboard that will be the base unit. I have bought some chalk paint in duck egg blue that I will use to paint it. I'll take photos as I go.
We still have a lot of work to do but I can see the light at last.
It is very un December like so far! The ducks have started laying eggs again! Lots of rain which is creating lots of mud! I have a flowering cherry that has blossom and the Virginia creeper is growing leaves. Not sure what will happen in Spring.
Tuesday, 1 December 2015
December has arrived!
Over the last week my village has gradually been transformed. Old friends have returned but new things too! The Marie has the canopy of lights cascading over the entrance...it does look beautiful. The carriage and fake horse is in place with the bride sitting in it and an old fashioned gentleman just getting in! The big illuminated candles are on every lamp post and various other lights around. New this year is a model village all lit up. The candy and crepe shed is in the church car park along with the giant manger scene. The church spire has lights on it. All that is missing is Santa in his rocking chair outside the boulangerie but I am sure he will appear soon. The big switch on is yet to happen and after that the coach loads of people will start touring the best decorated villages of which we are one. The shops are being decorated too!
I am not big on Christmas but the village does look pretty just now.
Did the shopping today ( yes in a big supermarket) and it was full of specially wrapped chocolate, toys and Christmas foods. That is as far as it goes except of course for the carols being played in English!
Most of the cows are now in barns, the leaves have fallen off the trees and no crops are growing. Time to prune trees and do fencing!
Before we know it Christmas will be over for another year and Spring will be on the way.
I am not big on Christmas but the village does look pretty just now.
Did the shopping today ( yes in a big supermarket) and it was full of specially wrapped chocolate, toys and Christmas foods. That is as far as it goes except of course for the carols being played in English!
Most of the cows are now in barns, the leaves have fallen off the trees and no crops are growing. Time to prune trees and do fencing!
Before we know it Christmas will be over for another year and Spring will be on the way.
Sunday, 29 November 2015
Making my stand!
For animals that is. I have heard recently that some French farmers are going in for mega dairy farms. This will mean dairy herds being kept indoors all their lives. I feel this is totally wrong and is exploiting animals big time. It is all about profit which I want no part of. I will no longer buy meat or dairy products from big supermarkets. I will use a local butcher for my meat where I can ask the source. Today we are having a chicken that I paid a lot for but it was raised out side, fed non GM grain and lived a mimimum of 81 days. No artificial feeds or antibiotics to make it grow fast. My milk is bought from a neighbour with a dairy herd and I can see where the cows are kept. We are coming up to the time when the cows will be in a barn mostly but will be in the field when weather permits and will walk to the milking shed twice a day!
The sooner we get to being self sufficient with meat the better. This stand will mean we have less meat but that is no bad thing. When we eat out I will only have a vegetarian meal unless it is clear where the meat came from and meets with my standard.
I am sounding rather militant I know but I feel very strongly about this. Animals are there to provide us with food but not to be exploited.
I still have not found any ethical pork so that is off the menu until I do. The majority of pork here is raised in big sheds in confined spaces. That I will not support.
I plan to buy cheese and cream products from markets where small farms sell their own produce. Again it will cost more so we will have less. Not a bad thing really as we eat too much anyway!
I currently have a freezer full of local lamb which will keep us going months.
The sooner we get to being self sufficient with meat the better. This stand will mean we have less meat but that is no bad thing. When we eat out I will only have a vegetarian meal unless it is clear where the meat came from and meets with my standard.
I am sounding rather militant I know but I feel very strongly about this. Animals are there to provide us with food but not to be exploited.
I still have not found any ethical pork so that is off the menu until I do. The majority of pork here is raised in big sheds in confined spaces. That I will not support.
I plan to buy cheese and cream products from markets where small farms sell their own produce. Again it will cost more so we will have less. Not a bad thing really as we eat too much anyway!
I currently have a freezer full of local lamb which will keep us going months.
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