Hope remains.....!
Ground hog day no ? I don't know, best not to count eh?
Actually, I will! We've been here full time just a month and it does feel like we've been here forever, surprisingly. I've gone from being absolutely adamant I'd never sleep here EVER to enjoying those micro moments of renovated room bliss. Being in my own newly renovated kitchen or bedroom and wondering if I could ever leave, now that it's not a proper ruin? Golden moments barely imagined in the 7 years we've owned the house, quite the revelation. I will of course leave, at some stage, as we've declared this house a business and I want a bigger garden. Still it's good to be able to flap my fledgling interior design wings and I do rather have the taste for it now!
Anyway, sorry I haven't written for a while, many excuses I could give but to be honest, Pam’s passing shocked me immensely, kinda took the wind from my sails for a while there. I still can't believe she's been gone from this mortal coil a month already?
I do still miss her 'good mornings' everyday and of course whilst completely in the funk of grief, I've continued on getting things done here at the former 'first' French wreck. Yes, we are looking for another project ish, but having viewed a chateau 'basket case' a few days ago, I think the hunt will take a while. I don't want to give my life to a grande wreck but I am happy to improve things where needed. Thankfully, my head rules my heart these days and I'm not easily fooled. I can honestly smell a money pit at 100 yards and will be steering clear...but don't quote me on that eh! I do have those boxes I want ticking, well at least 80% of them and if I can't get it, whats the point?
Time will tell.
I think Pam's sudden passing is a lesson to us all. She was just 67, taken way too soon! We just never know when the game is up do we, so play the game well, live and love hard. Don't sweat the small stuff and mind your business. Do go after those 'wants' and 'dreams', try at least. We are here such a short time, that it's pointless waiting to use the good crockery eh!
He's had or still has some sort of awful lurgy that seems resistant to drugs, god bless him, he continues to get jobs done whilst driving himself and me nuts coughing his socks off. We did manage to get to see the doctor here in the end, it's just knowing the process I guess which is, turn up at 11.45 am and wait to be seen if one doesn't have an appointment. Perfect! We will never again drive around aimlessly looking for medical help! The cost was just 26.50 euros, nothing really and hopefully, he can keep going back until he's feeling better.
One good thing is that my arm is better and I can now colour outside of the lines again! I have two projects going on at the moment, both abandoned this morning for coffee and blogging! I think I can be trusted painting miles of panelling black, just? The floor will be sanded and the walls have just been plastered, so I can't do too much damage I hope? The decorator is off with a malaise, bless her and so she may shout at me when she's back, who knows? I personally believe she likes tidying up after me lol!
The plasterer is back in today plastering the once difficult dining room and then the builder needs to do some work on the old cupboard walls. The old cupboards need some render taking off, then framing, insulating and a vent putting in the wall, so that we don't suffer any further damp. This was the worst room in the house once upon a time and I do remember the horror of peeling off black mouldy damp fabric and foam stuck to the walls. Yuck. Why do people do that? Damp is damp, it will only get worse and trying to cover it up only ends in degradation down the line.
Talking about fabric, I need to do a little mooching to find the fabric for the salon curtains, so that will be fun! I've just met the lovely lady who's going to make them for me and she doesn't seem daunted by the size of the arched windows! Phew.
Day by day we get more sockets and lights working. Another month and a bit and we really will have turned that elasticated corner! The weather has been glorious but there's definately a chill in the air this last few days of August, which reminds me, we must go and book to have the flue done! We keep forgetting.
Right now I'm waiting for some money to go into a uk account as I need to pay my daughters new accomodation deposit and first rent in London! She started her new job yesterday and loves it! We however need to help her pay for her London lifestyle and ended up going through the long and winding process of guaranteeing her rent from here in France. What a pain, but we got there in the end and not because of our useless accountant. The payroll had also put his pay on his payslips as way less than he was supposed to get, which wasn't terribly helpful. I honestly don't understand how they keep getting things wrong but they do!
This weekend we need to move the salon furniture into the dining room, go through the storage and various other pertinent jobs! The list never gets any shorter! We are also hoping the window company sends someone out to inspect them, as it appears our new and very expensive windows are shedding their fancy black vinyl, at least I assume thats what it is!
There's always something to worry about these days but I'm taking it all in my stride!
D x
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