30th May 2011

After several weeks of almost perfect weather, it seems we are in for a few days of thunderstorms and heavy rain. Unfortunately this means we won't be able to have the pool liner fitted on Wednesday as planned as it needs to be warm and sunny, but we have re-arranged it for next Tuesday instead - so fingers crossed!

On Friday evening we were delighted to welcome the McCloughlin family to La Maire -our first B&B guests. It was a real pleasure to meet them and to share dinner with them as well. In fact for us they were perfect first guests. They assured us that they really enjoyed it as well - so that was a relief!!

May has been a wonderful month - lots of colour in the garden and constantly changing light. The cloud formations over the Pyrenees are also quite stunning at times.
See here for some photos
http://picasaweb.google.com/lesleyolver/May2011ImagesFromTheGarden

Jobs for this week include tiling the kitchenette in the 'suite', more pool tidying and finishing the plumbing and furnishing in our 'bolt-hole' in the loft. Other than that - just gardening....and soon (hopefully!) relaxing by the pool!

Friday 19th May

The blog is a little late this week - but I wanted to include a photo of the pool, which is now ready to have its liner fitted on 1st June and then filled with water!! A local gardener with a digger came to move the mounds of earth for us, then Denis from the farm came down with his tractor to smooth it all out. This was a very satisfying day for us as the mounds of earth around the pool have been a bit of a blot on the landscape since November, and we can now see the end of the 'pool project' in sight! We now need to get some grass planted asap!

We have also made further progress with the Pyrenees Suite. The shower room is ready and the room is all furnished and ready for use. Just the kitchenette to finish off this week.

We enjoyed having Marilyn and Peter here to stay for a few days. They were lucky with the weather and were able to get out and about a bit as well as helping us in the garden. It was even warm enough for a barbeque one evening, and a breakfast on the terrace one morning.

8th May 2011

Neither of us wish to see the inside of a van cab again for some time to come, but having said that, the 'Berkshire Van Hire' truck served us well over a week. We flew back to Maidenhead to sort out the garage and 'framing room' and get everything that we hoped to bring back to France packed up and ready to load. We had a day to pack the van - at first it seemed to swallow up all the boxes and equipment, but we soon ran out of space and ended up balancing our favourite Lloyd Loom chairs on top and squeezing as many plants in as possible before deciding that there was really no more room to spare. We set off early and drove through France on Friday 29th April - I was sorry to miss 'the wedding' but had regular updates from Lucy and Mum and Dad.
We arrived at La Maire before midnight - so not bad going! Because the van was loaded, we had to travel as freight with Eurotunnel, which meant leaving the van in the open and joining the truckers in the seating carriage for the crossing. Unsurprisingly, I was the only woman there!!

We had four days here to unload and cut the grass. We also managed a large Ikea shop with the van on Tuesday, before setting off to drive through the night back to Maidenhead. The night drive was better than we expected. We both managed to doze a bit and were surprised just how many lorries there were on the motorway - at least it kept us alert. I was also surprised how hungry we were through the night - breakfast of juice, coffee and a couple of fresh pastries at the tunnel terminal building was one of the best I have ever tasted! That evening we also drove the van back to Gatwick to collect Daniel and 4 bikes from his Prague/Vienna bike tour with 3 friends-so the van did serve us well!

So now we are back here at La Maire for the final push to get everything ready. We have spent the weekend assembling furniture and working on the garden outside the Pyrenees Suite. The aim is to finish it by the end of this week -so hopefully by next weeks blog...................

The weather yesterday was very blustery, but today has turned calm again, and also very warm. We didn't eat until 8.00pm but sat outside as it was warmer than inside the house. It was so lovely to just sit and enjoy the peace and quiet apart from birdsong - and a tractor in the distance.

The photos above show the van (before unpacking), then the Pyrenees Suite so far - still quite a few finishing touches to add, including putting pictures up, but actually looking like a proper room at last! The final photo is of our lovely climbing rose at the front of the house - quite a picture!

18th April 2011

Another week of beautiful weather! It has been a pleasure to continue working outside in the sun, in temperatures that are not too exhausting! We can happily tick a few more jobs off our list. Dave has laid the Pyrenees Suite patio, and the plumbing is also done and dusted. After several more days of digging and preparation and the promise of a few more dry days to come, the pool was finally ready for its screed. Neil (screeder extraordinaire!) came to help us today, and Jean Paul helped with the mixing of the mortar. I was the wheelbarrow girl!

It was very satisfying indeed to be able to cover the mud base and finally see the pool taking shape.

Yesterday, we were thrilled to be able to welcome Sarah and Simon Cobb, our friends from New Zealand and Simon's parents to La Maire. (photo above!). It was lovely to see them all and a real treat for us to take a relaxing afternoon off! It was also an incredible coincidence to discover that they are staying at Claire and Tim's gite, 'Le Marin' at the village of Bellegarde near Carcassonne. This was where we spent two very happy holidays a couple of years ago before househunting in the area. We discovered that Simon and Tim's parents had been friends for years. It really does seem like a small world at times!

8th April

Well it has been a mixed week! On the postive side, we very much enjoyed having Lucy and Andy here to stay for 5 days and they were lucky enough to have the most wonderful weather. Hardly a cloud in the sky all week and temperatures in the upper 20's. They enjoyed the rest, but also helped us a lot by digging over the vegetable patch and lugging a load of earth up from the pool area to create a new flower bed behind the patio. They also put together our new garden bench - see above! We also had a very French/English evening when Jean Paul and his daughter Marine joined us for dinner. The girls and Andy managed to understand each other very well - in fact both Lucy and Andy spoke more French than they have done since leaving school!! We ate roast chicken and sticky toffee pudding, then managed had an entertaining game of Pictionary with the help of a dictionary!

We had hoped to lay the screed on the base of the pool this week, but despite the hot weather, the soil in the pool is just not drying out enough. We realised we would have to put in a better drainage system, so we (actually, mostly Dave!) have been digging more trenches around and inside the pool to allow the water to escape. Thankfully this seems to be working, so now we just need a few more dry days to finally lay the screed. We almost a had a problem when the sand for the screed was delivered, but it was happily sorted out in a typically Ariege way. We asked the lorry driver to dump the sand down by the pool which he was happy enough to do despite a bit of shoulder shrugging and hand waving, but sure enough the lorry got stuck in the soft earth! However, the driver just smiled, shrugged his shoulders a bit more and suggested we get Denis from the farm with his tractor-whom he just happens to know well. Denis was more than happy to help - so after several minutes of hand shaking and discussion of 'boys toys', the lorry was hauled back up the garden and everyone got back to work.

As for the garden, the grass and everything else is still growing rapidly. Dad's rockery now looks a picture with the tulips out and the snowy Pyrenees behind (see photo above).

We don't feel we have made much progress this week with the pool saga, but in fact we are still moving on with the Pyrnees Suite and laid the concrete base ready for the patio this week, so hope to get that finished very soon - again, weather permitting!

3rd April 2011

Friday felt like the first day of summer - hot and sunny and light well into the evening. It was also the day of Jean Paul's English lesson so he decided that we would find more to talk about if we went for a walk rather than sitting in front of the computer. He drove me up into the mountains just the other side of Tarascon for a 'hike'. We ended up just past the 'Barrage (dam) du Riete' - see photo above, where there are numerous walking possibilities. The lying snow is still making most of them impassable at the moment but we had a bit of a climb and appreciated the wonderful views. Jean Paul learnt several useful (?) new words, such as 'cattle grid' and I learnt (in French!) about when it is safe to drink water on the mountain, types of rocks, species of wildlife etc!!

At La Maire, we are still making progress in the 'Pyrenees Suite', finishing off the electrics, skirting board and bathroom tiles this week. Up until Friday it was a bit wet, so a good week to work indoors. This lunchtime we were invited up to the farm for the annual 'hog-roast'. All the men who take part in the hunt over the winter help Denis fell and chop the logs that he sells, so he thanks them at the end of the hunting season by roasting a small wild boar. We were delighted to be invited as well - everyone was very friendly and the food was excellent. Neither of us had eaten boar before - it was very tender and tasty, and quite different to any other kind of meat that we know. Anne cooked a dish of flagelot beans to accompany the meat, and this was preceeded by home-made pork pate, smoked bacon, salad and fresh bread. Dessert was 'creme anglaise!' (cold custard!) with cake, all accompanied by wine and champagne. The event also started with drinks and nibbles on the terrace.

Next weeks project is the pool! Also, Lucy and Andy arrive tomorrow for a few days, so we are very much looking forward to seeing them. France meteo is suggesting warm sunny weather as well, so maybe they will be lucky!

Sunday 27th March

The garden did become a bit of a distraction this week - but Dave is relieved to have given all the grass two cuts already. This is all a bit of a shock for the mower after its winter rest, so it is requiring quite a lot of TLC! We have also started digging over the vegetable plots ready for planting. We decided to allocate afternoons to the garden and mornings to the Pyrenees Suite - we now have lights up in there and have almost finished the floor tiles. Another couple of mornings grouting, then my knees can have a break!! More photos next week!

The weather has been warm and sunny, if a bit windy at times. Yesterday afternoon we decided to take some time out, so drove up to the 'Prat d'Albis', which is just the other side of Foix. Another lovely open plateau with suberb views of the snow capped Pyrenees in one direction, and Foix and its castle in the other, this is an ideal area for walking. We also saw a huge group of parascenders both flying and taking off from near the summit, which were very colourful and interesting to watch.

The ground is now drying out sufficiently for us to think about finishing off the pool - another job for next week!