Buzz buzzz

Yesterday evening we collected our bees! This has been an ambition for years and I cannot believe we have finally done it. We had to go late in the day to ensure as many as possible were back in the hive. Our mentor put a travelling screen on top of the brood box and we put everything in the boot of our 4x4. A few stragglers followed the hive into the boot and sat on the screen for the journey home. They did not enter the car! Once home I put on my suit to sort the hive out. I had to put in the feed tray and reconstruct the hive. When I took the screen off loads of bees flew out and landed on me. They are small and very gentle and at no point did I feel threatened. I managed to get most back in the hive and left them to settle in.
This morning I had a look when I let everyone out and all was still. After taking this photo I sat for a bit as the sun was coming round. Slowly bees started to come out and fly off. Two landed on me. One on my bare hand but they just had a look. I chatted to them as you are meant to and eventually they flew off. I plan to spend lots of time watching for now. On Friday I will open the hive again to check the status of the sugar syrup and to see how the building work is doing. Hopefully there be lots of fertilized cells. I have no chance of finding the queen but as long as I can see activity I will know she is there.
I feel very calm around my bees but know at some point I will be stung. All bee keepers are. I will always put on my bee keepers suit when doing anything with the hive as I am still very much a novice.
I am now looking forward to next year when hopefully I can harvest some honey.
I think it can be safely said that my old work colleagues would not recognize me now! My son in law who lives with us calls me a belated hippy! I guess I am!

On a lighter note...my latest finished project

This is the old bed I bought for €25 and restored. I have never done anything like this before but really enjoyed doing it. It was very dirty with mucky fabric. I had to go to Caen to buy the tool and the upholstery pins but it was worth doing. The fabric I bought from an English company as France does not have the sort of fabric I like! I found the chalk paint in a new shop we have here that has lots of craft things at sensible prices.
We found some dormer window rods that sit above each window. You need a double sided curtain as the curtain swings open against the cheeks of the window so when the curtains are closed I used the same spotty fabric. For when they are open I used a blue and white star fabric.
The room is very much home made but that is how I like it. It fits in with my new way of life.
This has given me a big boost as it shows what our home will be like once finished.
On a completely different note...we are collecting our bees Tuesday evening. They are settled in our hive and our mentor says they are very gentle..no stinging! Long may that last! I have not cut the grass in the orchard for weeks due to all the clover. My lavender is just starting to flower too! I will have to put some fondant in the hive to feed the bees until they have established their food source but the clover and lavender will start them off. I have also moved the bird bath into the orchard to provide water for the bees. This is a very exciting development.

So what happens now?

been a busy week with brother in law and his wife staying and 24 hour Le Mans in the middle. All overshadowed by the referendum.
I love the race, the atmosphere and all the wonderful cars people bring. Even Brad Pitt could not resist this year. It seems to me corruption for the sake of monetary gain is everywhere. This year was an anniversary for Ford and they were heavily promoted. The rules for the GT pro class say the car that races must have a road car too. Ford brought out a new car for the race with a road car due next year. Rules bent for no doubt a large donation the the FIA and ACO. At the practice Ferrari, Aston Martin and Corvette were all faster. Turned out Ford sand bagged! Deliberately went slower. The other cars were penalized! For the whole race up until the last hour Ferrari were second. Ford complained their race lights were incorrect in the final hour. After the awards Ferrari were disqualified giving Ford 1, 2 and 3. They had to hand over the cup! As much as I enjoy the event I will not support corruption so will never go again.
So, England want to leave Europe. Fine but what does it mean for us? We have invested a lifetime of savings in this property and cannot afford to go back. Life at least could become very uncomfortable here. Already we get less for our pounds so will have to tighten our belts for the foreseeable future.
We thought about applying for French citizenship but doing that will mean we will not get our pension due in 6 years. We have not worked in France long enough to qualify for their pension. We have worked hard since moving here but now face the prospect of having to walk away. Will England help us? No way!

Update

sorty it has been a while...busy, busy. By the end of each day I just fall into bed exhausted. My brain works overtime thinking through everything which wakes me up after a couple of hours. I usually come downstairs and read for a couple of hours. This means I start the day tired but have so much to do.
The back roof is nearly done. It has taken longer due to heavy rain. This has caused leaks into the house that has been very hard to deal with. We now have felt on the roof for the first time which has already made a difference. I hope for the first time this winter we will not be so cold indoors.
We have P's brother and wife arriving next Tuesday for 10 days. This made us decide to sort out the spare bedroom. What a task! We had to build a wall and incorporate a wardrobe into it. If Insay so myself it does look good. We had an old armoire that had good doors but a damaged body. We have used the doors. I will put pictures up when it is finished. We then had to stain the beams and pain the walls that were bare plaster. We bought an old French bed with a padded fabric head and foot. It needed restoring. I have painted the frame with white chalk paint. It took ages to remove the upholstery pins but it is now ready for the new fabric which I plan to do tomorrow. I then have to make the curtain for the dormer window. P has started laying the laminate floor after which he has to attach the skirting boards. We should be ready in time.
Today we took the brood box to our mentor who is collecting our bees next week. He will keep them a few days to settle them in our brood box. Within two weeks we will become bee keepers. I am entirely comfortable around the bees now. My next smallholder meeting is at the end of the month and is about bee keeping. By then we will have had the bees for about a week. All good stuff.
My six chicks are now out and about and mixing happily with the flock. The plan is that the boys will be for the freezer! We all want to be self sufficient with meat. We plan to take on two lambs next spring and keep them until around November then have them slaughtered. We will use a barn and set it up as a store room. We will put a big chest freezer in there and shelving for all the jams, chutneys and bottled fruit. Slowly we are becoming a proper smallholding.
I still do not know what the referendum will bring but am trying to ignore it until I have to do something. Hopefully nothing will change.

As France kicks off ...again

so, life is being made difficult at the moment. France has a very large book called Loi de travaille, it is red and was started by the cause of most of the problems..Napoleon! It protects the employee and has been greatly added to over the decades. The government has decided it needs reforming but did not ask the opinion of the people. So we are now suffering lots of strikes. The law cripples small business and prevents competition. For example a doctor cannot advertise he speaks English! A supermarket cannot sell paracetamol as it would compete with pharmacies. There are many things like this.
The refineries were being blockaded so it has been difficult to get fuel. The police broke the blockade yesterday so now the refinery workers are on strike. There is virtually no diesel available and petrol is limited to €20. We are not allowed to fill up jerry cans so cannot use our petrol lawn mower. We are having to limit using the car.
Tomorrow we start power cuts and ferries, trains and planes are on strike too. It does not make me love living here!
We are doing well with getting the spare room done and I am winning with the veg patch. It is all hard work and my energy levels are not what they used to be!
Tomorrow our daughter and husband will set up as auto entrepreneurs. This will give them access to the French health care system and make them resident here. They are nervous about this which I understand as it is a big commitment. They are detremined to make living here work.
Meanwhile I am feeling very down and thinking more often I want to go back to the UK. I am hoping this is just a phase that I will get over as it is getting harder to hide how I feel.

Progress report on the chicks

So here they are. Feathers are growing fast now. Today I have taken away the heat lamp as they have enough feathers to keep them warm. I will cover the cage at night to keep them warm. If they are ok and the weather stays warm I will put the cage in the chicken barn. This gives them a chance to get used to the others birds and gore others to accept the chicks. There is always a bit of a fight in the early days as the pecking order is sorted but they eventually all settle down. The plan is that any cockerels will go in the freezer once big enough. As you know saying it and doing it are two different things.
It has been a difficult week. A man took a photo of me talking to a French friend. I was speaking in French. We challenge him as it is wrong to take a photo without permission. He said he was a politician with Le Front Nationale and he wanted the photo for his campaign to get people like me out of France. This upset me very much. What more can I do? I pay tax here and speak the language when needed. This has led to me feeling once more desperate to go back to the UK. I do not like being a foreigner. All our money is in this property which would have to be sold. Family are trying to calm me down and I hope to get over this latest crisis.
I have started renovating an old bed. It has a wooden frame and padded head and foot boards. I am planning to paint the frame and recover the head and foot. It is taking me ages to remove the old upholstery tacks. I will put up a photo of the finished bed.
Hubby is away in England for the footie! He managed to get a cup final ticket. Not a good time for me to be on my own!

Lots to do as always

For some reason I cannot load a picture today.
The back of our roof is coming on well and is nearly stripped. It means we just have roofing felt and battening between us and the weather. This has meant a few leaks one of which occurred over our bed! I keep being told you cannot make an omlette without breaking eggs but this does not really help me. There are a lot of patches where plaster has fallen off up stairs due to the hammering. At least today lots of the old tiles that were scattered over the back garden have been removed. It will be much harder when the front is done as the mess will be visible. Also the dogs like to be out the front which will not be possible with the tiles being thrown down! I will be very pleased when the job is done.
The spare room is coming on well. The new wall is built along with the cupboard. Just the filling to finish then I can paint and stain the beams. We found a beautiful old bed that I will need to upholster. The frame needs a new coat of paint so I have decided to shabby chic it. I need to get some chalk paint to do this. I have ordered fabric from eBay to do the re upholstery and make the curtains. It will all be pale blue and white.
I have started sorting out the paths between the veg beds. I have squirted white vinegar over the weeds, put down cardboard then scalpings on top. I hope this will control the weeds. I have done two sections and have quite a bit more to do. I will not use any chemicals due to the bees arriving soon.
The chicks are much bigger and all have lots of feathers now. Another couple of weeks and they can go out. They all look very healthy. Broody hen has lost several eggs I think due to the rat problem we have in the chicken barn. We have caught several but they live in the walls. I tried taking Frank into the barn but he did not really know what to do.
The sunshine helps to improve life here, I love being able to get into the garden most days. I think this will be a good year for fruit.