River flooding is subsiding

The tracks support the wooden pedestrian bridge in summer. 

Forces of energy bend the tracks.

The leaves caught in the tree show how high the river flooded.

Sunday

I just had to complete my choice for the  "Days of the Week" songs! 

 Queen - Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon - 1975

Who indeed has any answers? 
Neither you, nor me
nor the wind, nor the sea
nor the ocean, nor the sun
nor the birds, in the trees
  yet to walk outside in the wild
seems to quell the quest
for the search of a nest
where I belong,
with one to share,
to sing my song.

First Saturday

Lynrd Skynrd - Saturday Night Special - 1976

 

First Friday Epiphany Treats

I love the roughness of the voices.   There was a group called THEM who played regularly at our Friday night school social club.  When we rushed to buy the release of the first 45rpm only to discover that this was not OUR group we were all very disappointed. So our THEM, became THEMSELVES.

GROUTING was achieved today. Then after the day had gone wonky it turned around with beer and galette des rois as an evening apero or supper! 
This was an unexpectedly good drink to have with the sweet pastry.  I have since read that in medieval times, warmed ale with stewed apples in it (a posset), was enjoyed with the cake.

It is the Feast of the Epiphany today.  From English Christmas Pudding, move to French Galette des Rois and within each one win the ceramic model (feve=bean originally {a different narrative}  to have the chance to be King or Queen for the day.  Although you will wear the crown, the reward for your servants is that you have to supply the next galette!! There are many different types in France as there are in other Catholic countries.  I prefer the one with less flaky, flaky pastry, which I think heralds from Normandy but the best are stuffed with a real and goodly amount of almond paste, unless it is a brioche, and so it goes on until we reach Candlemas day on February 2nd when it is traditional to eat pancakes. The French do not wait until Shrove Tuesday!

Well... this is my favourite type of Epiphany cake..all the better as it is from my local baker.  I bought it on Monday 8th January and  it should last the work force at least 4 days. I had to hide it to prevent someone having second helpings. Waistlines must be thought about!

First Thursday thoughts

David Bowie - Thursday Child 1999

Thinking thoughts

Best not to think, GET ON AND DO  but today I am led to think that:

We are so busy in our lives sometimes making mistakes that we don't make time to correct them.

So, if I find myself thinking in a certain way because I think I've been hurt or upset by an event or person, or probably have hurt them, I attempt to follow the Byron Katie model of enquiry and ask the 4 questions to arrive at a nearer truth or the actual truth and turn around my thoughts. This works well and leads to other enquiry.

I was looking in my collection of thoughts from others
which have inspired me in the last 3 years
and
randomly
came upon thoughtfulness from
Jim Morrison - The Doors
NB He was also in THEM

“The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. There can’t be any large-scale revolution until there’s a personal revolution, on an individual level. It’s got to happen inside first. You can take away a man’s political freedom and you won’t hurt him- unless you take away his freedom to feel. That can destroy him. That kind of freedom can’t be granted. Nobody can win it for you.”

“Friends can help each other. A true friend is someone who lets you have total freedom to be yourself – and especially to feel. Or, not feel. Whatever you happen to be feeling at the moment is fine with them. That’s what real love amounts to – letting a person be what he really is.”  

“People are afraid of themselves, of their own reality; their feelings most of all. People talk about how great love is, but that’s bullshit. Love hurts. Feelings are disturbing. People are taught that pain is evil and dangerous. How can they deal with love if they’re afraid to feel? Pain is meant to wake us up. People try to hide their pain. But they’re wrong. Pain is something to carry, like a radio. You feel your strength in the experience of pain. It’s all in how you carry it. That’s what matters. Pain is a feeling. Your feelings are a part of you. Your own reality. If you feel ashamed of them, and hide them, you’re letting society destroy your reality. You should stand up for your right to feel your pain.”

“People fear death even more than pain. It's strange that they fear death. Life hurts a lot more than death. At the point of death, the pain is over. Yeah, I guess it is a friend” 

“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.” 

First Wednesday Wonderful Eats for Tiling

This album is Emotional.  This track, based on a true story,  often makes me cry or feel sentimental. I suppose it's poignant; a girl who left home when I never had the courage until I transferred to college at 18 yrs of age, officially becoming an independent adult. 

 

Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band alias The Beatles  - She's Leaving Home - 1967

Well, today is a wonderful Wednesday because grey floor tiles are laid in the bathroom but not without angst. The packs of 7 tiles are very slightly different in size and we are talking about millimetres, which sounds not a lot until they do not marry up with straight lines!  The last one has had to be adjusted and it's lucky not to be in pieces!

Lunch was a fine roast rolled shoulder of lamb from the local fields.  I have to say I rather excelled myself without much effort and reminisced about ditches and lunchtime dinners!
Yesterday I sautéed two leeks and threw in the frozen mâche, added the potato stock and seasoning and left to cool for a soup base. However, today, into the covered casserole dish went the soup with the seared lamb, studded with slivers of garlic, on top of it, surrounded by large chunks of butternut squash, 2 onions with their skins on, (laziness create deliciousness)  and around the top slightly pre-boiled potatoes (Cherie darling), and into a cold oven at the hottest of temperatures.  This is a kind of French roasting. the moisture permeates upwards, tenderising the meat. I roasted for about 1¼ hours and then took out the meat "to rest" before slicing into thick pieces.  The potatoes and squash were taken out of the dish and put onto the hot metal tray in the oven to crisp up for about 10 minutes.  I made a sauce from the liquid in the casserole dish adding a little flour to thicken and a touch of seasoning.  To serve I put a spoonful of the leeks and mâche onto the plate with the slice of lamb on top and around it the squash, potatoes, and one onion which I had removed the skin of.
For dessert... I'd accidentally cooked the Bramley apples for too long in water and no sugar until they were mushy. I'd made a thick batter mixture with flour, egg, milk, sugar (no weighing here!) and then espied a tangerine going 'home'   so I cit it in half and chopped up the eatable portion and threw that into the batter, then poured the lot over the apples and baked that in the oven I suppose for about 40 minutes ... but had turned the heat down a wee amount!  You can smell when it is ready! 

Wonderful Wednesday

Wonderful Food

FRENCH LANGUAGE:

mâche  nf  =  lamb's lettuce

First Tuesday Salad Days

Two beautiful songs to celebrate the first Tuesday moving stone, sand, gravel, garden pots then clearing and sweeping the courtyard now that the drainage solutions are complete.  

Another load for the déchetterie.  

Another fine lunch: different salads with fresh smoked mackerel from the fishmonger - a whole fish which I skinned and deboned, flaked with aioli and served on toasted 'sweet chestnut and fig' bread from the local bakery.   

In French markets and supermarkets, cooked "betterave" is often a long variety. I love the way the crunchy, darkened, brown skin can be pulled off.  A favourite salad is to chop beetroots, garlic, leeks, cooking/eating apple, then mix with sultanas or raisins, mayonnaise or aioli, lemon juice/rind and season to taste.

The whistling wind arrived late afternoon and so it was to batten down the hatches,  keep warm by the fireside with less physical activity.

First of all, The Moody Blues and Tuesday Afternoon 1967

followed by 

The Rolling Stones and Ruby Tuesday 1967

 

 

She would never say where she came from

Yesterday don't matter if it's gone

While the sun is bright

Or in the darkest night

No one knows

She comes and goes

Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday

Who could hang a name on you?

When you change with every new day

Still I'm gonna miss you...

Don't question why she needs to be so free

She'll tell you it's the only way to be

She just can't be chained

To a life where nothing's gained

And nothing's lost

At such a cost

Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday

Who could hang a name on you?

When you change with every new day

Still I'm gonna miss you...

There's no time to lose, I heard her say

Catch your dreams before they slip away

Dying all the time

Lose your dreams

And you will lose your mind.

Ain't life unkind?

Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday

Who could hang a name on you?

When you change with every new day

Still I'm gonna miss you...

FRENCH LANGUAGE:

betterave /bɛtʀav/ feminine noun =  beet ~ rouge beetroot

aioli = garlic mayonnaise

ail  pluriel = l'ails or l'aulx /aj/o/ masculine noun = garlic 

poireau, pl ~x /pwaʀo/ masculine noun  = leek

First Monday Wrong Shoes

Fleetwood Mac - Monday Morning 1975

Up relatively bright and early to witness the final skim of floor-levelling compound in the bathroom-to-be, then to help raise flagstones in the drive to reveal the guttering drainage pipes which have to be re-routed.  I keep finding myself saying, "Wrong shoes", as I try to keep outdoor and indoor shoes separate.  I have tiled floors and am constantly sweeping, vacuuming, mopping.  Clean sand, mucky sand, stones and rocks, have been dug out and heaped onto polythene sheets so we can drag and tip back in the dug channels after the new pipe has been laid.  Stone rocks are being carried to the growing rockery at the end of my rear garden and rubbled earth was scattered on the dips in the 'lawn', Broken slabs and rubbish from the ground was collected for the déchetterie. All mains drainage pipes had to be tested with the real thing!  Not nice but it had to be done as the drop, I think is 1mm or 1cm in every 100.  I never remember figures.  My friend is experienced in drainage difficulties! Then we had to lift and carry sand in the wheelbarrow from the rear garden to the front courtyard.  Kept after the beams were blasted, it was bound to be useful.  Back and forth helping the main man.

Meanwhile, I re-organised and cleaned the laundry/larder room.  And why on earth did I choose clinically white floor tiles?  Yes, I can see the dirt! I've now organised 'ballet shoes' by the door so that I don't wear 'wrong shoes' and make footmarks on the floor!  This is where the aerodynamic water boiler is situated and I'm sure one day it will take off! I also carried a lot of logs in..for the two woodburners as well as chopped kindling wood from the waste wood piled in a dry outdoors area.

Lunch was mainly pre-prepared: home made beef and mushroom casserole found in the freezer, which I served with wild rice and savoy type cabbage.  Yesterday the freezer section of the fridge which also acts like a freezer needed to be urgently de-iced... and hey, I have a guest invited for New Years day dinner!  For dessert it was more of the Tesco Christmas pudding that I cooked yesterday. Blackened, dried fruits had 'coagulated' into a rich and creamy consistency.  My daughter gave it to me... and being never too much worried about sell-by and eat-by dates decided to give it a try. It was dated 2007/2008 and was remarkably delicious with cream and brandy butter. By 16h we were wilting. Tea and the shared final slice of a New Year chocolate gooey French cake indicated we'd had it!  Here I am resting and reporting but the next task is to tackle the paperwork.

How unusual is this?
Daffodils in my garden are so small that I have had to carefully place the metal wine rack on the grass to protect them from being trodden on.  They were not dwarfed last year!
Yesterday, the blackbirds sang as if it were Springtime.

FRENCH  LANGUAGE:
déchetterie; noun feminine  = waste recycling site

Welcome to Year 2012

From September 2011, describing as delicately as possible, the changes in life

when previously shedded tears, over years,

moved frustration into an unperceived scenario,
for I had been an adult but not grown up,
I had been childish instead of childlike
and so contributed to the drama.

I tried to understand my inner self, and the inner being of another

and all that went right and all that went wrong.

In a simplistic and naive fashion,
I had over-expectations.
The pain when there should have been joy
wasted emotional energies and time
BUT

....all things come to pass....

.....wherever there is a Hello, there is a Goodbye....

.....when one door closes another opens....

....every cloud has a silver lining....

....my glass is half full, not half empty....

....I am a lucky woman and still have precious life...

etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
As I can't make sense of any of it,
 LIVING
must be got on with to re-discover the joy and happiness in ourselves.

I count myself privileged in that my friend is still a friend,

and other Friends including my Family
have attempted to understand my reasoning.

Though they are few, 

they are good, decent, honourable people

whom I truly value.

I count my self privileged because I meet 

wonderful people in the world.

 I learn a little something from everyone if I open my eyes and ears

and I thank those who persist in reading my literary efforts. 

There are things I wish to do and improve 

whilst fighting hard to instil motivation in my soul. 

Perhaps it has something to do with 

winter,
having bought this house,

not having a bathroom, 

having French shutters closed against the cold and not letting in the light,
living in a village where the shutters closed, one knows not who is there,

my age,
not being 100% well,
being potentially lazy,
THINKING too much,

or absolute emotional exhaustion experienced,

 and have been paying for,
for a long time

causing the current message:
take advantage of winter, hibernate and sleep.
YET
I still know how to laugh on many a day and moment
even if the tears arrive before the laughter.

Despite knocks, setbacks, and barb-wired fences to jump
I know it'll be alright and 

I'M GOING TO TURN IT AROUND.

I wish to meet new people, see places, do things I haven't done,

fulfil the promise of more than seven years ago 

and whilst some has come true 

it is my belief that I am
RestlessinFrance
and
RestlesswhereverIam

because I need to travel,

like my ancestral forebears travelled.

However, challenges have to be completed

and so my NEW YEAR MESSAGE, even for my inner self, is:

JUST DO IT!

With love 

from whoever I am

to whoever you are

wherever you may be.

Whatever you do, and wherever you are, enjoy being who you are, with whoever you are with, even if it is your very self, life is truth itself.

To add for good measure 

I stole some words from Caroline. 

I know her not but her sentiment seems to have become a mantra for me.

"A home is where a heart is and my heart is in France as well as near the sea and the East Anglian coast. When I love two or more places, I can enjoy being wherever I am, and when I go from one place to the other I can always look forward to going home!"

 I hope to find my goal by loving so that new doors will open and let in the dream.

May your dreams and wishes become truth.

The no-bathroom scary moments

As it's the last day of the year I thought I'd report about not having a bathroom for 18 months.

The bathroom was delayed because other rooms needed to be renovated for heating and hot water systems and there is not a team of tradesmen here. Many an ancestor had no such luxury so I thought I could manage like they did and I guess I felt noble for saving the water of the planet. However, I NEED running water as it fixes my brain, which helps my body to function better.
OUTDOORS First of all, it's not quite as 'primitif' as one would imagine because I do have "The Municipal Block", a flat-roofed out-building.  The Municipal contains an exterior toilet in it's own compartment.  The cistern needs to be tweaked by hand or else it continually flushes. This is a technique which involves keeping the lid off the cistern, putting hand into the clean cold water and manipulating the valves! The Municipal also has a shower room with bidet, sink and a place for a washing machine, but mine is indoors.  The gas water boiler was condemned before I arrived and we removed it for safety.  It was too expensive to install a water heater for a temporary arrangement and electric power showers do not conform to French 'normes' because they require a higher current then 9 or 12kw and therefore would continually trip the meter.  Also France has "direct" water feed.  No progress there!
Problem solving ideas resulted in an old hosepipe rigged on the roof for solar heated water for the shower. It didn't work terribly well but it was fun! One evening my daughter's family and I returned home to discover a waterfall in the courtyard.  The solar heat had rotted the already rotting plastic/rubber. Fortunately, it had not been cascading for long! I am on a water meter!  A bucket system for cold water and for hot water heated in kettles, seemed to sort of suffice for a summer shower. It was fun but when I scalded my leg and winter arrived I gave up and now have a weekly visit to a friend's house for a shower/bath/shampoo and 'make do' like our grandmothers did with a strip wash or a quick lick!  Back in the summer, I used the 50m garden hose, chose a specific point where no one could see me and  had a very quick, refreshing summer shower.
INDOORS The interior shower, sink and toilet were stripped out in the first week of purchase. In November 2011 work commenced although electrics and plumbing had been updated before this.

WINDOW  It's difficult to explain but the floor of this room is one metre below the grass level of my neighbour. I wanted to ensure that they couldn't see nor hear and I didn't wish to see nor hear them. The fixed glazing was unsightly, but if removed, I would be required to meet current building regulations, so a plan was devised for 3 windows in one.  The original glass bricks were cleaned and restored, then a second wall of glass bricks was inserted, followed by a double glazed unit with phonic and thermal glass.  Although it sounds OTT I am happy with the result, having tested sight and sound from their garden. Finishing touches will be made.

WALLS AND CEILING have needed extra plasterboard, filing and sanding to make them flat... my friend will not tolerate any bumps and dips.   My idea was to have MDF tongue and groove effect wall opposite the bath but now not at all. The ceiling had to be installed.  It is lower than the original and the beams have been hidden. If they become humid they will attract the death-watch-beetle and other woodworming insects.  All the time there is continual consideration of  measurements as to the positioning of sink, towel rail, toilet, shower, bath, cupboards, doors, mirrors, lighting, clothes hooks as the room is only 7sq metres.  The toilet cistern will be concealed and it happens to be a suspended toilet which is not quite what I planned but heyho!  The nice man at LeroyMerlin helped me choose. I've done all the angst ridden, decision making shopping for bath, toilet, shower, floor and wall tiles, some lighting. I bought a smallish sink but I think it should be even smaller.
FLOOR Yesterday the levelling compound was laid to raise the floor by 2cm to bring it in line with the future floor level of the bathroom so that it will be en-suite.  It just needs a light skimmed layer and then my new year gift will be helping to lay floor tiles.
EVACUATION As the end of year meets us, we have got to the bottom, so to speak, of the problems with the exterior drainage (excuse the pun). Because of known difficulties with French plumbing, my friend is rightly paranoid that "backing up" does not occur.  The French have been somewhat behind (woops, another pun) on their drainage norms but now, most, if not all, the drainage systems have been assessed.  The drainage pipes in my courtyard have been tracked and I shall make a map of their final position.  The flow was tested and all was not well.  In an attempt to adjust the incline they've had to be re-routed - thank goodness I hadn't yet decked this area!  In digging the gravel, a hole was accidentally made in a different, unexpected pipe coming at an angle.
Miraculously, we had found the mystery of the disappearing, guttering drainage. Testing that this WAS from the downfall pipe involved me climbing the ladder to be Mrs Raincloud.  This drainage pipe will  have to be re-routed because it is impeding the fall of the main evacuation pipes.   Each of the rainfall down pipes will have their own discharge pipes going underground into the mains sewers and the bathroom, sink and toilet will have another.  Lots of work but we can do it!  The drains have been tested!  This will be the first task of the year...oh, it can only get better!

And so Goodbye to another year:
The courtyard garden is in chaos.
The living room is a cauchemar - a storage area and workshop.
A table is covered with screws and nails in the process of being sorted. Give me a ball of wool to unravel anyday! (It's now DONE)
My bedroom is an office and stationery work needs sorting.
Today I uncovered the piano to play Chopin, the settee and the red rocking chair so I can sit by the woodburner to greet a more progressive and positive year.
I am lucky woman for I have warmth, shelter, food, good health, happiness, friends, family, improving self-awareness, confidence and acceptance.


This is how it is.
This is how it can be if I work towards goals.
Happy New Year to everyone.


 FRENCH LANGUAGE:        cauchemar - nom masculin

1. A frightening dream. A nightmare.
2. An event, thing or person that is tormented and obsessed

Today's Choice

Reasons to be Cheerful Part 3 buy Ian Dury and the Blockheads 1980

WARNING for sensitive souls: There are expletives in the lyrics.

It's becoming a delight to find the songs and music of words that come into my head when I talk/ write to myself or others.  This one, for me, is about being happy with who we are and not striving for perfection. It's very appropriate for me and maybe many people.  Ian had an untimely death from cancer of the colon.  A loss.  Read more here.  I'm doing my best to find happiness in music so that I don't get dragged down. GOT TO MUCH TO DO!  I like the ending of this video - makes me laugh! 

Roses

My mother sent me 40 roses for Christmas but they arrived without water in a crushed box and were a little sorry for themselves so I reported this to the company who sent 40 more the next day!  The company is www.aquarelle.com and deliver to European countries as well as UK.  The flowers were excellent quality on the 2nd delivery and I highly recommend this company. 

The First Daffodil

Yesterday a small yellow Spring flower dared to bob her glorious head at the edge of the village!

Yesterday with a little help from a friend and 7 return journeys we transported and stacked 5 stères of oak logs.  That will make 10 stères since May 2011. I will be interested to see how much I burn and hope that for the future I can find a local supplier.

The car, trailer and my old coat, covered in mud, had to be cleaned and the car is due for a visit to the garage. I am aware that my car is of a certain age and in 2011 it cost me several thousand euros to repair but it needs to survive for just a while longer.
UPDATE: The initial noise was 3 clacks - 1 as I started to roll forward and 2 after each other as I drove onto the road turning in a sharp right S shape. The car was oiled at suspension points and about 12 screws tightened under the chassis and I think for the steering rack joints. When I started to leave the garage there was a different gravel-crunching noise.  I called Monsieur J who listened, who called Monsieur E who listened, who suggested I take my car as it was not serious and when the French MOT is due in February and I still have the noise in perhaps warmer weather then to let them know!  Hm... this sounds very French.  Then within a very short distance I have two new noises that weren't there before:
1. a squeak as I turn the steering wheel to the left
2. the brakes squealed as I journeyed to the petrol station.
The following day it appeared that all noises had gone.
However, what I have ascertained is that apart from two new tyres at the front of the vehicle it should pass the Controle Technique in 2 months time. This is necessary every two years unlike the English one year MOT.  Fingers crossed! Hm??? Cars  and Houses ... aint life fun!

FRENCH LANGUAGE

A  stère /stɛʁ/ masculin (pronounced as in stair) is of Greek origin meaning solid.  It is a measure of volume, particularly of wood, equal to one metric cube.

2011 condensed - hence small text!

January to June 2011
The year started with research; I was angst-ridden trying to find someone to make a toughened glass hearth of 12mm thickness and the a large dimension, trying also to find an oval trim for a 45 degree angle of pipework to enter the wall. Most trims were shoddy or expensive, and were called a variety of names, which is why it was difficult to locate them on the web and were non-existent in France.  Much to the questioning of the UK glazier in January, I sandwiched the glass between chipboard. It was heavy. Poor Clio. The glass rested on an airbed until May!

The oak flooring arrived just before Christmas 2010. The electricity heater stayed on minimum more or less day and night, (even though there was no one in the house), to help stabilize the oak, but in February I bought a dehumidifier to help remove humidity which came in from the partially open chimney vent. To begin with, the boxes of oak were almost impossible to lift but as the weeks passed the boxes became lighter. I was glad they'd had the opportunity to acclimatise. Floor leveling compound was laid and the painting of walls and ceilings began. We thought cracks had disappeared but then after a few days or even the next morning they reappeared and others declared themselves. This became tedious, frustrating, dispiriting, and merciless.   

The car became poorly again. A bitter wind blew. Days passed in struggles of all kinds from practical work, physical health, mental and emotional needs, depression and for me, a chatterbox brain.  I looked in the mirror and wondered who was staring at me! I reached in my boots for determination even though one can’t always get what one wants!!

With the severe weather the roof of the external toilet block began to leak, so we cleared the roof of moss and laid bitumen in the cracks.   Unusual pleasure arrived as the hard work spent on preparation began to pay off.  It was a joy to finally wax the pine kitchen door that had been sanded last October.  We began to be happy in our individual selves.

Spring eventually pushed the icy weather to one side.  On March 14^th lawns were mowed…daffodils had been in bloom some time and my friend made great progress with the external doors and windows as well as with the armoire / cupboard doors because he could work outside with sanding and cutting machines.  March 23^rd was very hot. Summer had arrived,   We were able to have morning coffee and lunch in the garden in full sunshine on many a day.  It was more than pleasant and harmonious. And so we came to April when I began to sleep in a different house on different nights.  Newly glazed and restored windows and doors were hung, painted with final coats of paint. Interestingly, I have an underground water cistern below the Atelier which collects rainwater. It is 2.70m maximum in depth about 3m wide and 4m long and at today’s date the water level was at 1.42 metres just before the huge rain storm on 25^th April.  It is set up so that water can be pumped into a 50m hose for watering the lawn and plants when the drought occurs.  This proved to even serve as a fun shower in the heat of the summer when I still did not have a bathroom! Fortunately, strategically positioned I could not be seen by neighbours! It warms up sufficiently for at least a 2 minute shower.

We started to lay the oak flooring having already laid the plastic membrane and chipboard.  The final rows of the oval room were laid on May 10^th and the small room must have been about a week after that.  There were many days caused for celebration but we never celebrated anything beacuse we were both exhausted and just able to function on automaton.  Tragically, my friend heard of the untimely demise and death of a school friend and I could feel his grief.  It was deeply sad.

The lawns are mowed again on May 7^th and cherries were stoned to make way in the freezer for other things.  I made jam!  We  started to collect 5 stere of logs, finished doorway tiling and glued and pinned skirting boards which were sanded and painted I don’t know how many times until my friend was satisfied.  It was grueling.  Whoopee - May 19^th, the second woodburner was installed, 5 months behind schedule, but it matters not! The weather was hot!  This later became a problem on more than one occasion!  Eventually radiators were returned to the walls. When they have all been returned to their positions I would be able to order fioul for the central heating. Oh, I'd forgotten about that possibility until now as I write!  Hope! Lighting was completed and the rooms are habitable.  It looks so beautiful I wish to cry but I smile instead with immense pleasure and relief. 

At The Last Supper we shared a bottle of 1997 Rioja – a very dusty bottle discovered in our cache. He cooked lamb. I think I bought a French patisserie.  Moving Day was on June 4^th when two young lads moved my piano, furniture and personal belongings. I wept but stayed strong.  I continued to move things after that date and my friend continued to help me clear, organize and install a washing machine.  I was launched into single womanhood again. He was launched into bachelorhood again. 

June to December 2011

In the Summertime we rested. My friend bought an electrically assisted bicycle and explored a wider region.  I went to UK, Greece, Nimes and Arles.  I felt re-generated and blissfully happy meeting new friends and being with my family. Happiness continued until October when another hurdle dragged me down.  By November UK flu had gripped me.  Is that why in France it is called ‘la grippe’?  I spent two weeks asleep and when upright, only half awake!  Research and a blood test showed that my protein levels were below the minimum requirement.  All other medical support stopped.  I was tired of taking tablets.  I don’t  need them though I have some inactive days when "ma tête est dans mes chaussettes."  In 2012, I intend to increase vitamins and minerals and continue to maintain the higher protein diet.  My problem as I get older is weight gain. Oh for the days when I was a sylphlike creature.  I need to exercise as I have really slowed down.  I long to walk everyday, cycle, swim in the wild river, and not eat winter carbohydrates!   

Since November we have been working on the installation of a bathroom but illness has beset us both, as well as other housing issues being a nuisance. The days will get longer but first we must make it through the winter months.

I am grateful for the help, to someone who has in the past held a special place in my life and although I do not have sufficiently worthy expressions, I have appreciated the benevolence and kindness in continuing to help me with this project that I am unskilled and unprepared for.  I have certainly not appreciated other stuff.  Despite the past differences and difficulties which I have not handled well, I have always tried my best to support this pragmatic, independent person as the need arises.   We are friends. I try my best, which is not good enough, to make changes in my  own inner Self and my 'reality life expectations' to solve the issues that gather around my feet and head!
And so it is as it is. 

FRENCH LANGUAGE

·      "ma tête est dans mes chaussettes." is a french, idiomatic expression describing low morale (mood) often related to being depressed, translated as having one's head in one's slippers! 

·      le fioul (masculin) = fuel. Domestic fuel = le mazout

·      l'armoire (feminin) is a cupboard with shelves and / or doors

The Small Room Surfaces

1985 to 2010

Note the brown T&G that later was removed and my son.

Removal of T n G revealed a mess!

And so it landed on the ground

and was replaced by plasterboard

 Storing the oak flooring and becoming a workshop

Lower doors are missing so D made new ones.

Tools

External door has two parts to it, sanded and reglazed before bars were glued onto window,

Likewise for the window

Finished window and oak flooring

A new door where one did not exist

Beautifully finished

Transformation of a horrid room into a peaceful haven

You would not know the lower doors are not original.

One day I'll get some one to bx in the electricity panels.

The external door is in two parts.
Note the travertin tiles as to put oak in the doorway was asking for trouble if it became wet from the rain.

The central ceiling light was removed.  I wonder what is above the low ceiling.

To begin with I wept copiously, trying to sand down the TnG, and paint it witnessing the imperfections in the wood.  Then there was the ceiling from which I could not remove the cracks nor make it flat. Later, I decided it would be easier to remove the TnG wood which it was in some respects,  but new plasterboard, filling and sanding was required so different energies were required. I'm very glad to have suggested the idea. Initially I wept buckets over the removal of the cork effect lino and the paper and the glue... (a song used to some to mind)  ... as on my knees I scraped until my rescuer who came with power tools. The walls and ceiling required repeated sanding and filling until THE BOSS was happy and then painting ... oh my... this showed the imperfections and so painting, sanding and filling continued until eventually the Farrow and Ball Skimming Stone could be used.....oh dear, it was the nearest to a Walnut colour that I had mixed and I knew the effect from someone else's house.
The lighting is not ideal but it does not bad a job. I am extremely pleased and happy with the whole effect and knowing from where the room came from it has been transformed from a hovel into a retreat.
I remember the pain and the events that happened in that room and yet all is so tranquil there today.
I  bought a restored Victorian iron bedstead from Jonathan at "The Princess and The Pea". I can highly recommend this company to anyone who would like such a wonderful sleeping experience or who needs a bespoke mattress.

I have a soft cotton ivory net curtain  but am loathe to drill into the fabric of the building.