Entrance Hall

It's a while since I posted a blog with pics. We have been busy with lots of things as the weather becomes more agreeable. But one task which is complete, apart from maybe some further wall decoration is the entrance hallway. You will remember that we had some dark green, yellow and orange velour type paper on the walls, and on the floor the greeny-brown tiles which were also in the kitchen and living areas. The ceiling was a sort of brown paper we've never seen before - it took a lot of paint to make it a soft white - I think about 5 coats.

front entrance

towards the loo

towards dining room

So a list of what we did - clean, paint ceiling and scotia; strip walls of all paper, sand to remove any glue residue, apply crepi (this is a type of plaster) and then paint the walls; lay and grout floor tiles and plinths; decorate with some second hand chairs we found and our own cabinet and some new light shades; remove, paint and reinstall radiator (this was an awful job....); painting the doors was a huge job and the photos below don't really show the pooey pink they were before they were painted - each door has 18 glass panels and 2 undercoats and 2 top coats each makes........ (18 panes x 4 coats x 2 sides x 3 doors = 432!). One door remains - the door to the dining room. The current one is not big enough for wheelchair access so we have another ready to be installed once the doorway is adjusted.

towards our room

lamp

Now we feel that the house takes on more of our character and has a brighter atmosphere.

Another decorating story to come as I'm just doing the finishing touches in the loo and back bedroom - after that it will be work on the new bathroom and toilet with special attention to wheelchair access. And of course this will include a stairway to the first floor - we currently have a 'trap' (pull-down stairs). All these things are joint efforts as I need Wouter to do things like removing door handles and knobs, taking down and hanging doors, and so on, and he leaves me with painting while he does another 101 jobs elsewhere in the house or outside.

What else? We are working on the web pages so that we can be googled and hopefully get some business from 1st May - yes, we are mad enough to believe we can get all this extra work done by then.... You've seen the TV programmes where the first guests arrive and the painter is leaving by the back door!

Also we are busy in the garden preparing for our vegetable and flower crops - have bought lots of seed packets and are weeding, working the soil and planting. Temperatures are becoming more like NZ spring with cool mornings and lovely afternoons. The days are more sunny with about 4 days a week full sun and the other 3 grey, overcast, and a bit of rain - almost perfect.

For those of you who haven't had an update recently, after a few meetings and Wouter registering as an auto-enterprise, we are now waiting for the siret number which allows Wouter to trade as an ebeniste and for us to be able to get health insurance. So everything seems to be coming together at long last.

Be My Valentine

Well, it's a while since I wrote but we've been so busy doing lots of things - like decorating. Will post another blog soon with pics of the new entrance hallway and newly finished toilet and soon-to-be-finished back bedroom.

The last couple of weeks we (especially Wouter) have been busy organising stuff for the Chambres de Metier in order to get registered as auto-enterprise (self-employed with no provisional tax for 3 years) and then get a siret number - the magic number which permits trading in a certain profession and allows you to get into the social system here. A few meetings later and Wouter is finally registered, although it was not without hitches. The lady wanted to know our social security number - you don't have one? How is that possible in France? You can't have health insurance without it, and health insurance is compulsory - yes, tell us all about the chicken and egg story......

So to backtrack slightly, last week it was Valentines Day and as we are on a tighter budget until we start bringing in some dosh we decided not to get anything for each other. In NZ Wouter would buy some flowers (I told him to pick from the garden as otherwise it's like taking - for the British, coals to Newcastle - for the Dutch, water to the sea) which was really nice, or some chocolates. I can always find room for choccy!

This year, no flowers, no choccy, but while we were at the supermarket, we saw some cheese - we debated whether we needed it this week, but Wouter said - let's get it for Valentines Day - so there you go all you people who thought romance might be dead - cheese for a Valentines gift. No complaints as I'm a cheesy kind of girl and I wasn't expecting anything.

Today Wouter came home from his meeting from registering, and he said he had a present for me - a kind of belated Valentines gift. I thought perhaps it was a bit extravagant, but it sounded exciting and romantic...... until he showed me the new paint rollers for doing more painting and being able to get behind the radiators a bit better. I guess it was hard to top the cheese.

Wind in the Willows

Last week Saturday 24th January it was blustery - I mean REALLY blustery.

Wouter already checked the meteo (weather) on the internet - alert rouge for us - we didn't know what it really meant but rouge means danger in any language. As I started to write this story I took some screen shots of the metvuw forecasts for the next 24 hours and it didn't look too good at all.

After one storm there was supposed to be another heading our way, which looked much worse than the first.

We closed all the shutters on the north and western sides of the house - amazing how much more protection they give against heat loss and preventing the treacherous wind coming in. Then the power went off - no surprise given the wind outside, so we just shrugged shoulders and decided to do some tiling by candlelight - this was a new experience for both of us. The power remained off, which was also no surprise but towards the end of the day I started to wonder how long it would continue.

Take a look at the weather pattern which was forecast for Saturday and beyond. We had no idea at that stage what was still to come, and looking at the forecast it seemed we would get storm number two shortly after. I guess you could compare it to a bad day in Wellington!

we're in there somewhere

storm number 2 which missed us

(still Saturday 24th) The power returned around 5:30pm and is still a bit shaky which reminds me of a couple of stories from both our childhoods.

Wouter grew up in Indonesia, and there they had no power at all. The ice man would call once a week in his truck to deliver a large block of ice for the ice-box to keep perishable foods cool. They used kerosene (lampu templek) lamps attached to the walls and oil filled tilly lamps or candles for lighting in the evenings.

By comparison I grew up with electricity - then, as much as now, we were quite dependent on it. I remember that the government introduced power saving which lasted a couple of winters but as I was so young I don't recall the reasons behind it all. Once a week on a Sunday afternoon for a few weeks between about 1pm and 5pm there would be power cuts (not 100% certain on the times but they were for 4 hours) - I also don't remember if they were country wide but guess they must have been.

In our house we would eat lunch (we called it 'dinner' because it was our main meal of the day) and then my mother would make a thermos, the fire would be stoked up, there would be blankets for us to wrap around ourselves if the small fire was insufficient (which it invariably was). For 4 hours we would all sit in our 'living room' and about half way would have a cup of tea - that marvellous British drink that seems to make everything better! If the world is falling in you can hear the British saying - let's have a cup of tea.... We would also sometimes have fire toast - that is, toast made on a fork over the open fire - just like caveman used to do.

I imagine our parents concerns were to keep us warm and free from danger during those times. For us it meant boredom as we were only allowed out of the room to use the toilet. I honestly can't remember what we did in those 4 hours, apart from tea and toast, but I guess we would sing as this is one thing we seemed to do everywhere!

our cypresses bending in the wind

Back to our tempestuous storm - we were without power for around 6 hours - more than 1.7 million people in this region had no power. The phone lines are still down after 24 hours. The storm raged through south of France and north of Spain - from Bordeaux to Perpignan - the highest wind reading was 184kph at Perpignan. Our neighbour had some roof tiles blown off and was out during the storm trying to rectify the situation. Our trees on the western boundary were bowing and bending - we thought it was marvellous that none of them broke.

Today it is absolutely glorious weather and we have been out surveying the damage - a few fallen trees around, but luckily not too much other visible damage. We met our mayor on the reserve this morning also surveying the area.

the reserve

wouldn't want to get in there

the flood was higher earlier in the day

beside the path we usually walk with Cassy

the day after - note the grass on the side still facing sideways

More updates - supermarkets and stores are running out of potable water - luckily and being a former girl guide (yes, folks!) a couple of weeks ago I suggested we get in a 5 litre bottle of still water and we already have some fizzy water - just in case. Luckily again we haven't had to use ours, but it just goes to show you never know when you will need those things.

Monday - Phone lines are still down, meaning no internet either. Heaps of transmitters are out, so we have had limited tv channels too - we don't mind as it's a good thing we have power at all. The weather is a bit blustery again today but not half as bad as Saturday.

Friday 30th Jan we have telephone and internet restored - I must say that we were both having withdrawal symptoms! For us the Internet is very important to keep up with our friends and family as well as daily news. We are very happy. But, there are still people in the area without power and phone and must be having an awful time because the weather has just turned cold - an easterly with Siberian-type wind (that is, wind with an icy blast to it) has just come in. We all look forward to a nice spring day with lambs leaping and daffodils flowering.....

Garden

Wouter has been busy tidying up the garden. There was heaps to do and we were just waiting for the right weather - a few dry days so you don't get mud stuck to your boots and end up wearing "platforms", a bit of sun so you don't get wet while working outside, etc. So after a week of dry weather we decided it was time. There were poplars to remove - they were a hedge along the eastern boundary of the propery and a lot of them were rotten. Some we cut down earlier and already used for firewood. The latest ones removed will suffer the same fate.

The pines which contained the chenilles (caterpillars) processionaires have been chain-sawed into slices and await chopping - they need to dry and split a bit as when Wouter tried it, the axe bounced back. Obviously they behave differently here to in nz - I guess it's because they grow more slowly and therefore the timber is more dense. I'm sure if it's anything else, one of the readers will let us know.
There was/is also a lot of poison ivy growing through the as-yet-non-existent-lawn which has been and is being pulled out. It was also growing in, up, around, through, into the poplars, the ground around the poplars and so on. So Wouter has been busy clearing it all away. Whew! Quite a lot of wheelbarrow loads of rubbish has left this part of the garden. We figure it's also a deterrent against the chenilles returning to burrow into any soft soil and try and nest in our trees again. We want to make it as uninviting as possible for them.

Since the poplars were cut away we now have a view over to the vineyard on the eastern side, and further towards the Corbiere mountains. Also the place just looks more airy and inviting.

We have decided to plant oleanders along the fenceline and hedge them about one and a half meters high. This will preserve the view but give the place a Mediterranean feel. Yes, we do know they are poisonous but as we don't have small kids around we figure we are safe enough. They are on our side of the fence and we'll keep them trim. Behind the fence is a sloping garden from the council which will prevent anyone getting to close to them over there.

Hoar Frost

On 12th January we had fog and cold temperatures which Wouter suspected would be right for a hoar frost. He had a quick look outside and couldn't see anything obvious, but when I took Cassy for a walk down the road I told him what I saw - hoar frost - so he quickly headed out with the camera to take some pictures. Here are a few examples of what we saw that morning:

coils of wire

firewood

rain meter

grass

vineyard

neighbour's pine tree

Kitchen Update

Here's an update on what we've been working on in the kitchen.

The dishwasher is installed and working fine. Wouter had to jiggle a few things around to get it working but finally it went ok. Now I am so happy I don't have to stand washing heaps of dishes.... Note the essential winerack beside.

The tiling has been done - first edging on the bench to give a nice finish (both even and water-tight) between bench and tiles, then tiling, then grouting, then adjusting all the plugs and switches so they are all level and even, then fitting the trim around the newly painted window and tiles.
The tiles are ceramic with glazed finish (therefore easy to clean), slightly uneven edges, and varying shades of cream which match the benchtop, wall and woodwork paint and also the terracotta colour of the floor tiles.
The black dot above the cooktop is the electric supply for the rangehood which is still to be installed once we have been to IKEA for more supplies.
The trim is a vine pattern.

To be completed: pantry, plinths (kickboards), rangehood and cupboard, two overhead cupboards.

Bonne Annee

When we first arrived in the area we asked around what the weather is like in winter - do we get snow? - and we were told that yes, we do get snow here but usually only once and it might last a day but it's a while since it fell in Cambieure..... So this is our third fall of snow since we arrived and this time it has stayed overnight.

last night

It started yesterday with an icy blast from the north - even in Marseille they have snow and by comparison we have a small dose. It was windy and felt like there were ice needles in the wind and the high for the day was -2.

The 'quelques flocons' forecast did arrive but as they were much smaller than the fall on Boxing Day so we decided to call them "floquettes". Now I understand why Innuits have about 37 different words for snow. The current fall started off as sticky snow, but today it seems it's powdery - can't easily make a snowball - but it does stick to your shoes when walking about.

early this morning

Since 1st January we have been checking our weather, temperatures and rainfall, having set up our own little weather station just like we did in NZ. With great interest as the temperature spread in Auckland, at least, is 25 to 30 degrees at the outside - if you consider the lowest temperatures we had there hovered around zero and the highs were late 20's. Here we've had very high 30's and even over 40 one day close by in Brezilhac. This morning Wouter checked the thermometer and it read -10. Although after yesterday's icy wind it doesn't feel that cold today.

By 1pm the temperature has reached zero degrees. I guess you could compare our winter weather to that of Alexandra or Lumsden.

Here are two links to BBC stories regarding the big freeze:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7817124.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7815773.stm

While our friends, family and colleagues are sweltering in the unusual heatwave hitting Auckland we are having cold snow.

It's interesting to note who and what moves around in the snow - easy to tell when it remains overnight by they tracks left behind. For example, we have birds, rabbits, dogs, cats and people.

birds

cat (Moulette?)

Cassy

rabbit

icicles on loquat

sparkles in the snow

Anyway,not complaining, as we look on this as all part of our experience. Cheers and Happy New Year, Bonne Annee, Gelukkig Nieuw Jaar, Blwyddyn Newydd Dda.