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!

18th March 2011

After a wet week - warm sunshine has returned to the Ariege. Daffodils and tulips are in bloom, the grass is growing - and so are the weeds! The sunshine looks set to stay for the next week, which will be wonderful.

Work in the 'Pyrenees Suite' is progressing -see above - but the garden is sure to become a distraction!

We are now back at La Maire again, after 3 hectic weeks in Maidenhead. We managed to decorate the hall, stairs and landing, as well as our bedroom, and get new carpets fitted all in time for Jean Paul's arrival last Wednesday.

It was Jean Paul's first ever visit to England and London, and he appeared to enjoy every minute. It was interesting for us to see what he found interesting about England! He loved the old phone boxes, the cottages in Bray, the pubs, Guiness, sticky toffee pudding and tube stations!

He even decided that English food is much better than French - and has clearly returned home a few pound heavier! He was an excellent guest to have - very appreciate and good fun. We all spoke a mixture of French and English - in fact Dave probably spoke more French last week than he has done since we arrived in France!!

It is good to be back at La Maire, and to finally be able to start decorating and finishing off the 'Pyrenees Suite'. It is forecast to be wet and windy this week, so ideal for indoor work. However it has been mild so the grass is already growing - it will soon be time to get the mower out again!

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.