what a difference a day makes :-((

Yesterday was all excitement. Our "buyers" had confirmed their offer and had a mortgage agreed in principle. They even wanted the chickens! There was no chain, they were flexible over when we moved out - almost too good to be true. We had the perfect buyers and we were happy to accept a lowish offer on that basis.

We contacted the immobiliers in France and found that all is not yet lost with Las Charetieres so we were gearing up to set things in motion with our sights on moving at the start of February. Timing would be great as the folk club's New Year celidh would be a great farewell gig for TC with the band.

Perhaps it was "counting in the chickens" but all is now lost! This morning we had a call to say the buyers have withdrawn the offer owing to a "financial shortfall". We are not sure if they were angling for another reduction from us but that's a non starter so now we are back to square zero - waiting to throw a six to start all over again.

News from France is that Las Charetieres is still on the market - not sure really whether that makes it worse or better. Unfortunately we are now in a worse position regarding buying than we were ( or thought we were anyway) when we first saw it. It remains a dream and I suppose we will just have to be philosophical about it and stick with "what will be will be la vie!"

do chickens eat chocolate cake?

We have had the strangest day!

Everything has hinged around a return visit today at 2.00pm from our potential buyers ( the people who made an offer back in September). We have had news in the week that other people have been to see OUR house which is a real blow but we are determined to try to get a sale underway - if we lose Las Charetieres we need to be cash buyers next time.

A second viewing meant another day of serious housework yesterday and once again the house was spotless. Marmalade was making allowed as it made the kitchen smell delicious and inviting.
Outside storms raged and strange booming explosions punctuated the morning (apparently they are starting quarrying somewhere nearby) raising the general tension in the air. The H's (hopefully our buyers) do seem to be still interested although it does not feel 100% as yet - perhaps one keener than the other?. If they do confirm their offer they could be the ideal purchasers for us - no chain and not in a hurry to get us out as they have another house.

When they left it left feeling in a strange state of limbo and wondering what to do with the rest of the day. It was too late/wet/cold for a walk but too early to eat and we were both too restless to settle down. We need to get to grips with selling on ebay but somehow think that would mean more stress. Eventually TC settled for another trip to the tip and I did my French homework.

After dinner we tried finishing the last remainders of goodies from the party. The rum and raisin chocolate cake, which was not a huge success in the first place, was not improved after being in the fridge all week even after a quick blast in the microwave - can't win 'em all!

So we wait for news on Monday we can do no more.................

emotional pyrotechnics

For the last twenty years or so we have held a bonfire party for family and friends which has grown to be a major event in our social calendar. Our children make an all too rare visit home saying they would never miss it, relatives join us from Liverpool and even bring their friends and our friends and neighbours have come with their children since those children were babies in cots. This year of course it was billed as the last ever Carters' bonfire. The weather treated us well and the fire was enormous thanks largely to the clear out of the garage, the fireworks were great too.

Every year the party has changed as the participants have grown up / aged. As well as the bonfire, fireworks and food, some years there is music, sometimes games. This year, somewhat inevitably, there was a lot of nostalgia and reminiscing about years gone by: the year I cancelled the party and people arrived anyway, the year we broke a window of the neighbour's greenhouse, the year the firemen came, the year we were in competition with a neighbouring display (we won of course) but mostly how strange it was that it would be the last.

My daughters sudden realisation that this could be the last time she met up with OUR friends, who as she said "have been around all of my life" was particularly touching. My son too admitted to feeling " a bit emotional". They have both been working out new ways of making sure they keep in touch with their cousins and how nice it is to know that they are keen to do that.

Of course it was sad to think that is was the end of an era, but things (and people) do move on and it is better to go out on a high than see the event fizzle out or, worse still, become an occasion people feel a duty to attend out of some sort of loyalty.

As it is it has been wonderful and I hope it won't be the last time we host a gathering of friends and relations for food, fun and music. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who has made the Carters bonfires such a success and occasions I will always remember. But for now as Fred Jordan ( a fine old folk performer) used to say "always leave the buggers wanting more".

Las charretieres

Maybe, just maybe!

We have just returned from a hard week of househunting in Tarn et Garonne and Aveyron. We have now looked at 20 properties. Some were just the sort of place we might have taken on 20 years ago ( like we did when moving to our current , now beautiful, house) needing just a bit too much in the way of DHW ( Damned Hard Work) which would have interfered with our current planned retirement lifestyle with the emphasis on being out of doors and not clogging up our lungs with plaster dust. Others were in the wrong place/garden no good/ too small or too big .......and then there was one!

We have both been seduced by one house (luckily the same one which is always a bonus) in the perfect location, lots of character, great condition, and just the right size for us - big enough to have visitors but not too big when we are on our own. Best of all it sits in two acres of land just waiting for us to get our hands on to make our French garden. There is a walled vegetable garden, a woodland (free heating!) and a field just begging for a swimming pool and an orchard.

We have tried all the "yes but it hasn't gots"and "yes but it isn'ts" we can think of but we still love it and now just want to move in and start on all of our plans. We are really excited.



Now all that we've got to do is see if we can hurry along the selling of No 82 well enough to give us the confidence to start the purchase in France. Till then only distant glimpses, full frontal views when we are more confident!

stash in the attic

The clear out is going well, we are learning to be ruthless and can see light at the end of the tunnel - not to mention the floor under the bed and in the attics.

There are some things though which have to remain as "treasures". We are allowing ourselves one old suitcase each to keep our selection.

Memorabilia of a life so far?
My case holds the shawl my Mum made when I was born which I also used for my children, some school books from my infant years, school ties, badges and the university scarf, the teenage angst ridden diaries, a bundle of letters from TC from before we were married, the wedding outfit (rescued from the kids dressing up box), one or two bits and pieces made by the kids when they were small and mementoes from teachering days (that has taken a while to select) as well as certificates ranging from first aid and grade 1 piano to post graduate efforts.



There are some things which don't count as suitcase treasures - I really can't throw out photos and we have a dozen albums of the kids growing up, a drawer full of boxes of holiday photos and now discs storing digital files - these will be kept safe of course and serve to remind us of our treasure trove of memories and cheer us up on future rainy afternoons ( even in France!). There are some things that will always have a place!

In the meantime the suitcase will travel to a new attic with its little hoard. It may amuse future generations to see what was selected - no point in them hoping for anything valuable though, this is definitely not cash in the attic!

The end of the tourist season

It's all gone a bit quiet on the house selling front.

I'm not sorry to have ceased the role of tour guide for nosy locals and it's good to be at the stage when we can say we are definitely going to be here till the end of the year when TC leaves work. Now if we get a definite sale we can look to moving in the new year even if we have to rent a place to start with. It is a bit unnerving though having nothing at all happening and I keep meeting people with tales of houses for sale for over a year. Right at the start of the process the estate agent did warn us that the first sign of tinsel drove all thoughts of moving out of peoples minds and sure enough its October, the shops are all baubles and glitter and the phone has stopped ringing.

There has been progress though. He HAS given in his notice and WILL be leaving at the end of December. On the appointed day I was unsure what his reaction might be but he came home in celebratory mood and a bottle of bubbly was opened! I have also given advanced notice that I will not be available for any more tutoring work after this term so we are both on countdown time.

We will be off to France again at the end of this month and maybe we will be able to devote a few days to some serious househunting. We will also be taking a car load of bits and pieces uncovered during the continuing decluttering to store at Pavillon, nothing too precious but we might as well fill the car and make the space here.

Our car boot experiences continue to be somewhat disappointing. Last week a profit of £10 did not seem worth the effort (even though I didn't go) but it was a wet and cold morning so we can use that as an excuse this time. BUT we are making good progress on clearing the attics and we can now see the dust under the beds! ( slight panic this week when the new vacuum cleaner stopped working but it turned out to be just a blockage in the pipe - I have to admit there was a serious amount of dust under the junk)

early rising

It is a truth universally acknowledged that I am NOT a morning person!

Throughout my career as a primary school headteacher staff knew better than to approach with the latest request until at least the morning playtime bell had rung, I never attended a "breakfast meeting" and now relish the leisurely rising afforded by the pursuits of retirement.

Despite all this, yesterday we were woken by the alarm before 7.00am and prepared to spend a hopefully profitable morning at our first car boot sale. The car was packed to the roof with jigsaws, games and assorted bric a brac and we set off to seek our fortune. TC commented that I had made surisingly little fuss about getting up so early! I felt virtuous and keen. Imagine then our consternation when we arrived to find that our chosen sale happens every fortnight and this was the wrong week. Suddenly the day ahead seemed an endless prospect!

Looking on the positive side, we have proved it possible - even for me- and we did manage to sell two train sets for a reasonable sum at the antique and collectors centre later in the day. We even managed not to buy anything!

Today we did a fact finding visit to another car boot sale which does happen every week so we don't feel quite so green. I have to say I also don't feel so optimistic either, there did seem to be a lot of people standing behind tables full of their cast off stuff selling nothing. This would not be worth getting up a the crack of dawn at the weekend for.

However it must be worth a try, nothing ventured nothing gained as they say and of course our junk is better than everyone elses!

Vide grenier

The first offer on the house has spurred us on. It's too low to accept at this stage but would still give us enough to be able to continue so it's all systems go! We now feel we know the bottom line price and we can search for our French house on that basis. The possible buyers are now considering whether they will increase their offer, they have indicated they do not have a place to sell and would be willing to delay if necessary.

Having had an offer which we would be able to accept if nothing better turns up has given us a new incentive to continue the clearout. Dinner last night was delayed for us to clear out the small kitchen attic. We haven't yet uncovered any forgotten antiques but spent a nostalgic few hours sorting through our assorted (mostly) rubbish. Although it's difficult to get rid of things(being hardened hoarders) it is also a cathartic exercise to throw away what is clearly rubbish (who needs two broken kenwood chefs, minus bowls?). I have no intention of taking up camping again so our collection of old fashioned ( and probably leaky) tiny ridge tents really has to go but TC insists we must keep the big tent for now- I do hope we don't end up living in it!

The heap waiting to go to the dump is definitely bigger than the heap which needs to find a home which is a good start. We definitely need to have a toy sale - train set , farm, playpeople, games , jigsaws, soft toys- and Christmas is not far off.

We also have a collection of old violins and several other old, and for the most part worthless, musical instruments - and what the hell do we do with great grandads sousaphone( minus mouthpiece) which lurks in the back corner of the garage.

The task of clearing out still seems mindboggling, there is so much to do. We're off to Norfolk to see our daughter this weekend. She has tiny house but it does have an attic so time for her to store her own treasured memorabilia ( eg all of her school exercise books!) or make the decision to let them go. She will also be getting a supply of empty jam jars (don't say I'm not generous) so there's another empty cupboard.

We will give ourselves a small pat on the back for the job so far but we can't forget there's another attic and it's bigger!

Mixed reactions

A steady stream of people are visiting to view number 82. Today a family stayed for an hour and a half. They were so nice and I could really imagine them living here, daft really as it won't make any difference to us when we've gone but somehow it seems better to think of nice people moving in. Earlier in the week TC was moved to take the car number of one visitor who seemed so odd as to be somewhat suspicious!




We've had lots of positive feedback but so far no offers. We suspect that most of the people who have looked so far have not got their house on the market yet but are interested because our house is a bit individual and has such a great garden. Many of them are living on a nearby modern housing estate and profess that they have "always wanted to live in one of these houses", some recount having visited each one in the road that has come onto the market in the last five years ! Still its good to be getting interest and an offer too early would have caused us some stress anyway.




As more of our friends discover our plans their reactions are interesting. For the most part they are pleased for us, if surprised, and will I am sure be making plans to take advantage of our hospitality in the future- hope so anyway. Both of the children are relaxed about the sale of the family home and are convinced that we will be happy in France, even my parents seem to have come to terms with the idea a little more although it has understandably been difficult for them. Those few friends who continue to express their doubts I am sure do so with the best of intentions but as things progress we are increasingly secure in our decision and are so looking forward to the adventures the next decade holds in store for us.

It would be nice to get some sort of offer before we go back to France at half term so that we could do some more househunting of our own, I have a few potential properties eyed up already but I am trying not to get too attached to anything yet.

Nervous tension

Now the house is officially on the market our nerves are stretched as we veer from " OMG we might get an offer we can't refuse and have to sell and get out before Christmas HELP!" and "OMG we'll never sell and we'll still be here this time next year with the price at rock bottom HELP!"

The house has scrubbed up nicely and the photos on the estate agents website look great with my beloved garden stealing the show. We've had two viewings so far and they seemed to go quite well but I suspect neither will lead to a sale which is probably just as well at this stage (see above). We are both wondering how long we can keep everywhere this tidy!

TC has "come clean" at work and announced his intention to leave at the end of the year - not quite the same as putting in his resignation but a start.

So things are under way. It is a strange feeling to be selling the home we have lived in for 23years but we are convinced that this is a good time for us to do something new and exciting. There is a new "home" out there just waiting to be discovered and a new garden just begging to be created I just want to get on with it.

As I sit here wearing thick socks and a jumper (and trousers of course- don't panic) in the middle of August I dream of next year when my summer will last for longer than two weeks! Our cases are packed and ready for another trip south to seek the sun this week. This time we will be taking my elderley parents with us for their annual holiday at Pavillon.

There won't be any house hunting this trip - I couldn't cope with finding the perfect house and losing it although I admit it is hard trying not to get fixated on properties spotted on the immobiliers websites. We will be looking at locations with a view to their living potential as we travel around though as our last visit widened our search area to new towns and villages we had not previously considered.

Tarn et Garonne here we come!

Carry on dancing

Well things are now under way - the valuation on the house was better than we feared and the estate agent seemed optimistic that we will sell at a good price. ( Timing is really tricky though as selling too quickly would be complicated as TC doesn't leave work until December and I would like a last family Christmas here before we leave). We shall just have to see what happens.

We have just returned from a wonderful holiday in Tarn et Garonne . We had no major traumas this time and everything was working. The sun shone for the whole holiday and we made the most of our little pool. The new generator arrived while we were there and was delivered to the door with the help of some good friends having taken only two days after despatch from Crewe.




As we contemplate leaving England it is of course family and friends we will miss. Our circle of friends is largely made up of fellow folk music and dance lovers. TC will have to leave his celidh band but hopes to be able to carry on playing so we have been pleased to be able to find out about the local traditional music and dance scene in Quercy. We enjoyed two "Bals Occitans" during our latest trip and saw traditional dancing displays. We were pleased to see that the enthusiasts were a friendly and mixed age bunch who would not have looked out of place at our local folk club. It was great to be able to join in with the dancing and seeing the same faces at each event made us feel we were getting to know people already. We will certainly be making contact in the future.

There's always something you hadn't thought of!

So there we were, hoping against hope that we could enjoy a couple of weeks of hard but enthusiastic work getting the place all set up for summer. So much for that idea when we arrived at the end of our 820 mile trip to find some b.......s had stolen the generator - all 350 kgs of it! It made clearing out the layer of mud left by the winter flood, at 40 cms the water had been much higher than usual, a totally depressing task. The new boiler hadn't been fitted either. Is it all worth it ?

The plumber arrived full of apologies and fitted the boiler promptly and once more we spent the first day of the holiday acquiring the vocabulary required and gaining first hand experience of a visit to the local gendarmerie.

Our small back up generator did mean we at least had lighting and could charge the batteries for the gas fridge but its not big enough for the washing machine and it now feels a stage nearer camping. We have identified a great replacement - quiet, movable so we can put it inside when we go and able to run on gas the only problem is it's out of stock everywhere in this country and will cost over £1000 more in France so the story continues......

Suffice to say we were pleased that we had arranged visits to 10 properties to check out the market and find out what sort of place is available in our price range. The weather was dreadful and certainly saw places at their worst which no doubt is a good idea. We did not find the dream property which is just as well as we are not yet in a position to make an offer but we did see some interesting places and have been able to fine tune details of what we are looking for. It certainly seems to be a buyers market at the moment and prices in France are still falling, it seems that this may have slowed a bit here and the exchange rate has improved from its worst level.

We returned to France at the start of June determined to enjoy a more relaxing time - after cutting the two foot high grass we kept jobs to the minimum and went out and about. We spent a few days exploring Aveyron (Dept12) and did like the area around Villefranche de Rouergue - will I need to change the title of my blog I wonder?

So back home again we carry on dreaming. TC is determined to work until the end of the year so we have 6 months left. The house has had a touch of love and attention ( well some windows, pointing and painting) and we are ready to organise getting the HIP with our chosen estate agent now all we need is someone who recognises what a lovely house it is (it can't help being in Stoke on Trent) and makes us an offer we can't refuse.

What next?!?!

For the last 3 years, since we bought our little holiday house in south west France, Easter has seen us driving down armed with new paintbrushes and the power washer to get the house spruced up after the ravages of a winter of neglect.

Arrival is always an anxious time as we never know what we will find and what problems we will have to deal with. The anxiety seems to be getting worse with the passing years as three years have taught us there is always something else you haven't thought of to go wrong! The last visit was dominated by finding the shed had been broken into and we had lost every tool, the lawn mower, bikes and the gas bottles - not to mention the decaying bodies of the two loirs trapped in the bath. we did have to work quite hard to persuade ourselves that it was all worth it!

This time we have our fingers crossed that the boiler has been repaired so we will have hot water (unlike our previous stay) and the generator works after the flooding in January.

Whatever else awaits us preparations this year have an extra measure of excitement as we have three days of serious househunting planned. We have three estate agents lined up and a total of 10 properties to visit. Although it is unlikely that any house we see on this trip will still be on the market when we are in a position to buy this will be our opportunity to think really seriously about the type of house and location that will suit us. It will also hopefully galvanise us in to action regarding getting our current house on the market.

So Tarn et Garonne here we come again, full of hope that all our problems will be little ones, that the weather will be kind and we are inspired by the property opportunites within our grasp.

'snow use worrying

It's been a bad week all round but not without little glimmers of relief.

The bad weather meant every plan for the week had to be cancelled so I spent far too much time in front of the computer searching the internet sites of immobilier for likely properties.

Normally here we have snow each winter with one heavy fall which causes major disruption for a day. This year we haven't really had any chaos ( despite neighbouring counties suffering) but the snow is continuing to fall and it is causing just enough problems to keep people in. First of all on Monday my French class was cancelled as the tutor's daughter's school shut, I couldn't get to a planned lunch with friends on Thursday and we had to postpone a visit to my parents in Bristol and our plans to take them to London to go on the London Eye. It's snowing heavily again now and we have been promised blizzards tomorrow night - so it goes on.

Our local supermarket shelves are pretty low and there is no salt to be had even for ready money. I have visions of everyone out there sprinkling their salt cellars on the drive!

But it wasn't all bad news - we heard from our neighbour in France that the flood level a few weeks back had been very high and had very likely breached the floodgates! Panic! We searched for a flight and were making plans for an emergency trip ( snow permitting of course), this weekend. Then to our great relief we managed to get hold of the plumber who has the keys to the house and he was able to reassure us that he has visited the house and been inside and although there is some mud on the floor the level of the water did not get high inside the house and has not caused any damage and most of all there was not a swimming pool trapped behind the floodgates.

Then amongst the continuing news coverage of the "downturn" and pages of reports about returning expat pensioners I was pleased to hear Halifax reporting a 1%INCREASE in house prices last month and the euro returning below 90p for the first time in ages to 87p. Perhaps this is a sign that things are at least going to stabilise a bit over the next few months and we 'll able to start our househunting with a better idea of what's possible.

Trop d'eau

All is well - a week later the wall is repaired and we have a pristine driveway even if it has taken over a week instead of the promised two days!

Our current worries centre around the recent weather in Tarn et Garonne. The river past our little holiday home is the Vere and it flows into the Aveyron. River reports on the internet show that the Aveyron is at its highest level since 2004 which inevitably means the water is lapping around the walls of our house and at a higher level than we have experienced before. We have installed floodgates across our doorways which are brilliant for "normal" floods but a really high flood will go over the top of these and worse still the water won't be able to escape when the water level goes down. We are awaiting a reply to an email to the owner of the neighbouring property with great trepidation. How much more simple life would be if we lived nearby!

Running repairs

As the year gets under way we are continuing to declutter our house and decide what jobs need to be done to maximise our chances of selling at a good price. Number 82 is an old Victorian Villa which we bought very cheaply 25 years ago and rescued from a crumbling state of disrepair. If it were almost anywhere but in Stoke on Trent it would be worth a lot more than what we can hope to be able to sell it for this year.

You can never think you've done everything to an old house - take a breath and something will crumble or leak or fall off - it's called character! At this stage we are trying to look at the place through a strangers eyes and see where we can make sure the "character" doesn't just look like a load of hard work for potential purchasers.

We do most things ourselves and I hate having to get work done, I always expect total incompetence or to be ripped off, but there are a few things which we will need to get done by someone else this year and they need to be done before the house goes on the market.

Today work has started on repairing the retaining wall to the front garden - well its been powerwashed and degrouted now the builders have disappeared - I hope it doesn't fall down completely now!

I thought this was supposed to be the problem with French workmen - we have had a few things fixed in France already with little problem, except for the work done by the English builder who was working on the place when we bought it. He cut many corners leaving many little "character traits" behind. He also kept a loir he found in the roof as a pet over the winter and released it next to the house just before we moved in. By the end of that breeding season we had caught 8 and eventually resorted to poison to keep them out of the house!

Anyway still no sign of these builders so they have obviously given up for today- at least they've had no money yet! I think I'll sort out another cupboard.