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.