Monday 24 January 2011

24th January







Well, the weather here can certainly change quickly from one week to the next. 15deg last weekend to -3 deg this weekend!! However we have only had one overcast day this week, otherwise it has remained clear and sunny-absolutely beautiful! See view from the bottom of the garden above

We have made progress this week. We have finished laying floor tiles in the entrance hall which looks so much better than the original concrete floor. The pool has had to be put on hold for now as the next job is to lay the concrete screed and we can't do that until we are fairly sure there will be no more frosts. Laurent and Pascale are continuing with work in the 'Pyrenees Suite' so we will soon be able to start putting the bathroom units in and laying the floor. Meanwhile, we have been working in the attic. This is a large room which is already plaster-boarded and just needs a new floor to provide another living/bedroom/bathroom area -an 'escape den' for us when we have paying guests!! So yesterday was spent on hands and knees - drill in one hand, hammer in the other. See Dave laying the first floorboards in photo above

We (Dave!) have also put a ladder up into the attic from a cupboard on the landing as the only current access is from our bedroom. I returned home from shopping to find Dave very shaken up after a cartoon -like tumble from the attic, through the hole in the floor, bouncing off the cupboard shelves on the way down. Thankfully the shelves helped to break his fall, but he is still a bit battered and bruised. He has promised to be more careful in future!!

Saturday 15 January 2011

January sunshine

I couldn't resist putting this photo up! Work continues - but such lovely weather for January.

Wednesday 12 January 2011

January 2011

Another snowy picture - but this time we were glad to see some of the white stuff! We have just returned from the first of what we hope will be many skiing trips to the Pyrenees. Daniel and Lucy were here with us for the week, so we spent a long weekend in Soldeu, Andorra. The drive up there on Saturday morning took just 90 minutes - so it would work well as a day trip as well. We were on the slopes by 9am and soon started to find our way around the large ski area of Grandvalira, which goes right over to Pas de la Casa. The slopes were a bit icy on the first day, but welcome snow showers overnight and on the second day gave way to clear blue skies on the final day, and some fresh snow on the ground as well - perfect!

Daniel and Lucy were lucky enough to enjoy some winter sunshine while they were at La Maire with us as well, so were happy to give us a hand in the garden, clearing leaves and continuing with work on the pool.

We had a good drive back here from the UK on 29th December. We arrived late evening to a very cold house, but soon got the boiler fired up and everything warmed up. We spent a lively and fun New Years Eve with friends at Sara and Jeff's lovely house.

More photos can be seen at
http://picasaweb.google.com/lesleyolver/January2011