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!
Monday, 26 January 2009
Monday, 19 January 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, 23 December 2008
Values
We had to brave some post Christmas shopping yesterday to buy some walking coats as we have discovered that we left our coats behind in France when we came back in November. It was a strangely depressing experience with 70% reduction posters all but obliterating most shop windows, Woolies selling off its shopfittings and a general air of desperation everywhere.
Today the news is of further drops in house values and another drop in the value of the euro - we can't help but feel that we are lucky not to have started a house purchase a few months ago - we might have found ourselves in double trouble now. Time for a sense of proportion before we start feeling sorry for ourselves!
I am brought face to face with REAL financial hardships on a regular basis in my role as a volunteer with the debt advice team at Stoke 's citizens advice bureau. As more people lose their jobs, businesses flounder, and house repossessions increase we can expect our appointments to fill even more quickly than usual at this time of the year. Although it is sometimes tempting to make judgements about those who allow debts to escalate my experience with this work convinces me that very often the initial trigger is something beyond the control of the individual and to be thankful for my own good health and secure employment which enabled me to make my own decision about when to stop working. Next Tuesday my first appointment is to help a family complete bankruptcy forms following the collapse of the husband's business which was linked to the building trade. This will inevitably lead to the loss of the family home and disruption of the childrens schooling - how can I even start to feel sorry for myself!
We have been watching the downs and downs of the pound against the euro over the last weeks and ever so slightly wavering over whether we will be able to make it happen.But as TC says there is no plan B - we NEED to live this dream and we will just have to enjoy helping someone out over the cost of their aperitives and buy somewhere at a great price. In the meantime TC will continue to work to fill the piggy bank under the mattress (best place we feel)
Today the news is of further drops in house values and another drop in the value of the euro - we can't help but feel that we are lucky not to have started a house purchase a few months ago - we might have found ourselves in double trouble now. Time for a sense of proportion before we start feeling sorry for ourselves!
I am brought face to face with REAL financial hardships on a regular basis in my role as a volunteer with the debt advice team at Stoke 's citizens advice bureau. As more people lose their jobs, businesses flounder, and house repossessions increase we can expect our appointments to fill even more quickly than usual at this time of the year. Although it is sometimes tempting to make judgements about those who allow debts to escalate my experience with this work convinces me that very often the initial trigger is something beyond the control of the individual and to be thankful for my own good health and secure employment which enabled me to make my own decision about when to stop working. Next Tuesday my first appointment is to help a family complete bankruptcy forms following the collapse of the husband's business which was linked to the building trade. This will inevitably lead to the loss of the family home and disruption of the childrens schooling - how can I even start to feel sorry for myself!
We have been watching the downs and downs of the pound against the euro over the last weeks and ever so slightly wavering over whether we will be able to make it happen.But as TC says there is no plan B - we NEED to live this dream and we will just have to enjoy helping someone out over the cost of their aperitives and buy somewhere at a great price. In the meantime TC will continue to work to fill the piggy bank under the mattress (best place we feel)
Monday, 8 December 2008
The train adds the strain
For TC's 60th birthday in February we are planning a railway trip to Nice for the Carnaval. We love Nice, out of season especially, and it seems like the perfect destination as there is a party arranged already! TC loves travelling by train so it will be a bonus to get there by rail. So far we have booked Eurostar to Paris from London, the hotel for an overnight stop in Paris, the TGV from Paris to Nice, a hotel in Nice for the week and the flight home. All very straighforward - there's just one missing link and that is the train from Stoke-on-Trent to London at the start of the whole expedition. This is turning out to be the most difficult part of the whole expedition to book or even see the timetable. It will also be the worst value for money ( pound per mile/hour) of the whole holiday.
We don't use trains very often in this country - I wonder why?
We don't use trains very often in this country - I wonder why?
Friday, 5 December 2008
who'll feed the cat?
There's so much to consider as we contemplate choosing a new home.There are elements of our present life which we plan would continue and even develop when we are living in France
Cold miserable weather is allowing me to spend far too much time in front of the computer scouring the websites of "immobilier". We have growing list of properties which we may visit in a few months, in the meantime it's just a case of keeping the faith - our perfect place at the perfect price is out there - oh and the neighbours will love the cat!
- we have a lovely garden and grow our own vegetables, we keep chickens and act as "staff " to a cat - Angelo.
- we need space for our books and the piano (TC's present piano is a grand - decision on its fate deferred pending eventual house purchase!)
- we need room for visitors even though for most of the time it will just be the two of us so we don't want to freeze in a massive "manoir".
- We don't want to give ourselves a huge renovation project ( been there, done that etc).
Cold miserable weather is allowing me to spend far too much time in front of the computer scouring the websites of "immobilier". We have growing list of properties which we may visit in a few months, in the meantime it's just a case of keeping the faith - our perfect place at the perfect price is out there - oh and the neighbours will love the cat!
Sunday, 30 November 2008
somewhere a place for us
After a couple of grim November days of freezing fog when dusk seemed to fall before 3pm we woke up to a frosty clear morning today and just had to get out for a walk.
We actually live in a really nice part of the country. Although Stoke itself leaves much to be desired we are on the edge of some great countryside including Derbyshire and the Peak district and wonderful walking country. Given a better climate (see above) plus a more laid back attitude to life it would be hard to see why anyone would leave.
Over the last 30 years or so I think we must have laid our heads for at least one night in almost every departement of France - many regions have called us back again and again so why settle on Tarn et Garonne? We have friends who have settled happily in Charente Maritime and Deux Sevres, and relatives with holiday homes in Brittany and Burgundy.
A few years ago we tired of the annual search for a suitable gite for the two of us and decided that as what we wanted was always basically the same - a nice place to eat and read outside, peace and quiet and somewhere to swim - we might as well buy somewhere of our own if we could find somewhere cheap enough. Given that prices in Provence were out of our range we settled on the Lot as a likely area to look for our holiday home as we had loved the area and it was less overrun by the English than the Dordogne. In the Autumn of 2005 we visited in the hope of finding our dream hideaway and visited St Antonin on the Aveyron where one of the agents we had contacted was based.
We immediately took to the area and loved the fact that it was less touristy than the Lot but was still very picturesque with loads to see. We were further seduced by a little fishing lodge beside the Vere which seemed almost perfect for what we wanted. We have had our share of problems with flooding (that tiny trickle of water becomes a raging red torrent fairly regularly and leaves a layer of red silt over the floor when it gets into the house - also fairly regularly), generator breakdown( there is no mains electricity), burglary (our last visit was somewhat fraught when we found the shed empty and just a pipe sticking out of the wall where the gas bottle should have been) and invasion by wildlife(loirs setting up home in every available jug and rucksac) ) but we have not regretted our choice and have visited five times every year for the last three years. The wonderful opportunities for walking have been a great bonus - we had not realised how good they would be until we started exploring the hills around us.
Each time we visit it is harder to leave and soon we hope to turn things on their head and make the trip south our "going home".
We actually live in a really nice part of the country. Although Stoke itself leaves much to be desired we are on the edge of some great countryside including Derbyshire and the Peak district and wonderful walking country. Given a better climate (see above) plus a more laid back attitude to life it would be hard to see why anyone would leave.
Over the last 30 years or so I think we must have laid our heads for at least one night in almost every departement of France - many regions have called us back again and again so why settle on Tarn et Garonne? We have friends who have settled happily in Charente Maritime and Deux Sevres, and relatives with holiday homes in Brittany and Burgundy.
A few years ago we tired of the annual search for a suitable gite for the two of us and decided that as what we wanted was always basically the same - a nice place to eat and read outside, peace and quiet and somewhere to swim - we might as well buy somewhere of our own if we could find somewhere cheap enough. Given that prices in Provence were out of our range we settled on the Lot as a likely area to look for our holiday home as we had loved the area and it was less overrun by the English than the Dordogne. In the Autumn of 2005 we visited in the hope of finding our dream hideaway and visited St Antonin on the Aveyron where one of the agents we had contacted was based.
We immediately took to the area and loved the fact that it was less touristy than the Lot but was still very picturesque with loads to see. We were further seduced by a little fishing lodge beside the Vere which seemed almost perfect for what we wanted. We have had our share of problems with flooding (that tiny trickle of water becomes a raging red torrent fairly regularly and leaves a layer of red silt over the floor when it gets into the house - also fairly regularly), generator breakdown( there is no mains electricity), burglary (our last visit was somewhat fraught when we found the shed empty and just a pipe sticking out of the wall where the gas bottle should have been) and invasion by wildlife(loirs setting up home in every available jug and rucksac) ) but we have not regretted our choice and have visited five times every year for the last three years. The wonderful opportunities for walking have been a great bonus - we had not realised how good they would be until we started exploring the hills around us.
Each time we visit it is harder to leave and soon we hope to turn things on their head and make the trip south our "going home".
Thursday, 27 November 2008
contemplating a visit to the dentist
Testing my resolve I often look back over the day and imagine how it would have been if I had been restricted to speaking and understanding French. For the most part I am confident that most casual interactions would be no problem - despite the SW accent which we need to tune in to every visit. We have been successful already in finding wonderful French workers to install a roof window, clear drains, fell trees, repair our generator and mend the boiler. We visit our French bank, the mairie and have reported a burglary to the gendarmerie. On the other hand...
Today I went to my wonderful dentist who has patiently (and expensively) kept me eating solid food for probably 25 years. Now this aspect of relocation really does scare me - I have visions of leaving my first visite chez le dentiste sans dents! I always feel I can understand quite well what people are getting at but it is all too easy to get quite the wrong message and a dental misunderstanding could leave me unsmiling. My hairdresser ( now that's another thing - French person with scissors getting the wrong idea) may well take me up on free holidays for a hairdo - perhaps the dentist would like to try a mobile service!
Today I went to my wonderful dentist who has patiently (and expensively) kept me eating solid food for probably 25 years. Now this aspect of relocation really does scare me - I have visions of leaving my first visite chez le dentiste sans dents! I always feel I can understand quite well what people are getting at but it is all too easy to get quite the wrong message and a dental misunderstanding could leave me unsmiling. My hairdresser ( now that's another thing - French person with scissors getting the wrong idea) may well take me up on free holidays for a hairdo - perhaps the dentist would like to try a mobile service!
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