27th February

From the recent 'blog' photos, it looks as though we have been leading a life of leisure this month! In some ways we have - we have just returned from a very fun week skiing in Andorra with friends June, Jim, Carol and Roger. We were lucky with the weather - a mixture of sun, cloud and a little bit of fresh snow, which was particularly wonderful for a day. Snowfall has been somewhat lacking in Andorra this season, but the slopes are very well maintained and there are plenty of snow cannon to maintain coverage. Pistes are wide and open and the scenery is superb. Whats more - it is cheap, and the choice of apres ski entertainment is excellent. We came off the pistes most afternoon to rest our aching muscles in the nearest bar aided by mulled wine and beer - and some really excellent live music.

Work at La Maire is also progressing well. We have finished the attic floor and Dave has almost finished installing the little bathroom suite up there. Also - the the door to the 'Pyrenees Suite' has finally been fitted (see above), so we can now finish painting, putting a floor down and furnishing. We aim to have it all finished by May!!

However, we are now back in England for a couple of weeks, decorating the house here and doing some last picture framing before we take the equipment to France in April. It is good to see signs of Spring in the garden and feel some warmth in the sun

7th February

We returned to La Maire today after 5 very enjoyable and restful days in the UK. It was a flying visit, but good to be able to meet up with our niece Caroline who has been over from Sydney travelling for a month - and of course to have some time with Daniel and Lucyand Mum and Dad. We all spent a lovely couple of days in Cheltenham and then took Caroline back to Maidenhead for a day, managing to fit in a blustery afternoon mingling with the tourists in Windsor before all travelling off in different directions and leaving Daniel in charge of the house again!

We had a good flight back today - no complaints with Easyjet lately! And I have to say it is nice to see the sun again - 17 degrees this afternoon!

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!!

January sunshine

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

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

4th December

We arrived back at Priors Way safely on Thusday evening after an interesting drive through a very cold and snowy France. The country was blanketed in snow from the Dordogne northwards, but thankfully there was not too much of it so we were able to keep going at a reasonable speed. The photo above shows the worst bit - blizzard conditions for an hour or so!

After a slight delay at the tunnel we hit Kent with trepidation, having heard about the chaos on the M20 and M25 over the past few days. However the entire population of south east England appeared to have gone into hibernation - we have never seen the M25 so empty (see night photo above), or had such an easy drive to Maidenhead from Dover. We were very thankful to get home to a warm house, cold beer and hot pizza - and Daniel!

Tuesday 30th November

We have been watching the snow and cold weather in England with interest - and are wondering whether to bring the car chains with us when we drive back on Thursday! Here we have had several dry and sunny days - frosty in the morning but quite warm in the afternoon. As a result, we have made good progress with the pool and now have the structure firmly in place. We are pleased to have reached the stage where we can leave it for a month. In the meantime, Laurent has been working on the 'Pyrenees Suite' and it is starting to take shape.
Dave has enjoyed spending an afternoon pottering in the garden, which has made a welcome change from wading in the mud around the pool. I am busy writing newsletters and Christmas cards.

We can hardly believe it will be a whole year ago tomorrow that we signed contracts and became the new owners of La Maire.

We have added a few more recent photos to the album, so if you would like to see them, just click on the link below
http://picasaweb.google.com/lesleyolver/LaMaireAutumn#