The sunshine is back, so as the French would say, we are taking profit from this and undercoating the 'volets' for Le Chene. There are 19 in total requiring two undercoats then two colour coats.I am on spraying, Karen sorts any drips!!
By the end of the second day we were shuttered!!! shattered - get it!
After threatening Thijs with, well I will not go there, its all go on site. The pool is advancing!!

For all those folks who were fed up with me gloating about our good weather, well enough is enough, you have got your own back. Friday and Saturday it rained all day, one of the worst storms to hit northen Spain and South West France in 15 years, luckily for us we just got the tail end but that was bad enough. Our land is soaking, the water is not draining away as normal. The locals are saying they have not seen anything like it. Our lower drive is not passable even in our 4x4.

So much for Global warming!! to get out the house to the car we have to put on our wellies!


Today Sunday, the sky is as Blue as we expect in Provence, it is one of the reasons we moved here.The sun has warmth. This is our pool which needs to be ready for guests in just 16 weeks.!

Well we have finished the first stage of our window and shutter painting, the gites are done.

We are now turning our efforts to Le Chene - so just the whole house to do!
Meanwhile Thijs and Ali have spent 4 days preparing the steel framework for the pool in readiness for the concrete.



After a night of heavy rain Tuesday we were woken by the sound of the Cement mixer arriving at 7.30am and the Manitou running up and down to pour the concrete. Note the health and safety rules and Christophe with fag in mouth!!


6 hours later - job done!



And after this work our drive is looking great!Just what I wanted this morning when we were expecting a delivery from Ikea.


They had texted to say they would deliver between 7am and 12 noon. I had just gone back to sleep when they called just after 7.30 to say they were in the village. I directed them to the house but they were in a large lorry and our drive was not going to be easy to navigate. So I went to meet them nearby, promptly going flying as I stepped out side on a frosty plank , then finding the windscreen frozen solid (it was minus 5). Thank fully they were very accommodating and carried the goods to the house. Certainly woke me up!!

It is hard to imagine that in about 20 weeks time we have guest arriving expecting to relax by our heated infinity pool! Especially when it appears to be being built by one man and his pick axe!




Meanwhile I have started the process of painting all the shutters , each one(and there are 16 pairs on our house) needs 2 undercoats (they are already primed)and two top coats.Karen is busy doing all the windows. Then we have to do Le Chene - Joy!Actually it is quite enjoyable especially working in the winter sun.



Day 2 of the Pool and ali is working well putting the steels in the base.

The big thaw is on but there is still plenty of snow. Today we walked with friends for nearly trhee hours about 20 minutes from here and on high ground we had fantastic views of the Southern Alps.







The air is so clear hence the mistletoe growing all over this tree. The temperature in the sun was 9 degrees , in the shade minus 2.




It is hard to imagine that in July this Lavender field will be in full bloom and the temperature 90 degrees plus.

We have had some 20 centimetres of Snow bringing the region to a halt, even Marseilles had 40 centimetres the first time in over 20 years!



On Wednesday, just as darkness fell I received a call from our neighbour to say his 8 year old son had fallen in the snow and thought he had broken his wrist. Knowing I had a 4 x 4 he was calling on me to take them to hospital in Apt. Not so easy as we are on high ground, it took the two of us almost half an hour just to dig our way up the drive way out of our house . The route to Apt had not been cleared and despite this I was over taken on route - The french sure now how to drive (not!)


It turned out he had indeed broken his wrist and spent the night in hospital before being operated on yesterday morning. Good job for the 4 x 4!

Its been a while since I last blogged and remarkably having signed off with the weather I am afraid I will be back on the subject shortly!!

Well another Christmas has come and gone. Certainly on our part a good time was had by all.For the last three years Christmas kicks off with carols at a church in the nearby village of Goult. The service is in both French and English and afterwards everyone heads to the Cafe de la poste for drinks.



Just before Christmas everyone heads to the village where Father Christmas comes and all the children are taken around on horse drawn (well we don't have reindeer in Provence)carraiges. The healthy and safety inspector would have a coronary as the kids jump on and off as it goes along!After its down to the village hall for mulled wine.



Christmas Eve is almost more important in France than the day itself.




This could be to do with the feast that is traditionally eaten on the night of Christmas Eve comprising of Sea Food followed by 13 deserts and the opening of presents.
We had the sea food feast but just the one desert which Martin & Richard seemed to enjoy!

Here we are on christmas morning preparing lunch.



On Saturday 27th December we returned to the UK catching up with family and friends with new Years Eve spent with my sister, her Husband and their friends in south Wales. A good time was had by all. What was also interesting for us was to see how the credit crunch was effecting the retailers. Maybe I had imagined the Credit crunch because from Lakeside in Thurrock, to Kingston in Surrey we saw little sign of any let up in spending. Infact even the day before we left the UK, Friday the 2nd we struggled to get parked in Brooklands, Weybridge.It was also interesting to see what good value the UK was looking compared to France. Retailing in the UK is mega competative so you have some real bargains in the shops , sadly at a time when I expect, in truth, people should not be spending it, guess that's called murphy's law!!
And so we returned to the peace and tranquility of Provence ready to start painting our second house, the various windows and shutters and get everything ready for the season ahead. Since our builders stopped work on the 18th December it has been dry, cold and sunny. Again I think its called Murphy's law that when they all turned up Monday morning the forecast for the week was not conjusive to building a pool or rendering our house, so they left promising to return next week. They were right. Like the UK it is cold here and snowy! The pictures tell it all.



This is Chemin de Romanet, the road where we used to live and where our villa Les cypres is located.


This is the view from our bedroom that greeted us this morning.


The house le Chene which awaits its third coat of render and us to decorate the interior.




The peace and quiet bought by the snow is beautiful. No body is going anywhere today.Our house also awaits the final coat of render!

Still Splodge was enjoying it!

WEATHER! I thought the Brits discussed the weather alot but beleive me the hottests topic of conversation in the Boulangerie is the weather. Its beginning to get silly!
After our snow fall last Thursday, Friday was Freezing but sunny.When we drove home from a restaurant in Apt at midnight it was minus 3 degrees.



On Saturday morning we went to the market in Apt where people were sitting outside enjoying the warm winter sunshine.



During the afternoon the cloud spread in , followed by a brisk wind. By early evening it began to rain, then pour becoming torrential through the night.Our shutters are not yet fixed and we were awoken by the constant banging of the lose shutters, so much so that in the early hours of the morning I was out side in the wind and rain removing them from their hinges!

The strength of the wind grew and we are told a hurricane came through the region. On Sunday the torrential rain was relentless, like I have never seen before, the on slaught of thunder and lightening added to what really was quite frightening.



Apt our nearest town and about 7 kilometres away is at the bottom of the valley. Running through it is the Calivon River which is largely fed by the Snow melt in the Alpes, which was happening due to the recent snow falls and rapidly increasing temperatures. As a result of this and the rain the River burst its banks wiping out the car park used every week by thousands of tourists who visit the famous market. At one stage the River was less than a metre from the bridge in the picture. As you can see the surfaces have been destroyed.

The knock on effect of this rain fall has been rather disruptive to our site to put it mildly! we are living in a mudbath!
The guys on site who turn up what ever the weather are doing their best to get us protected with two coats of render before the end of this week when they finish for a fortnight. However the Manitou has torn all the ground up and we are getting seroious fed up with it! This region has an averidge rain fall of 60cm, so far this year we have doubled that at 1.2 metres. Thank fully the forecast is dry and sunny after tomorrow - that's a good reason to celebrate!

There is no work on site today as we woke to snow! The fist real fall since last winter.

Just to prove its not all eating and drinking I was caught on camera perfecting my DIY skills!

Once again we are battling with the weather. Our builder Thijs has lived here 20 years and amongst other interests record the rainfall, this year we are now up to 1000mm which is 1 metre , A record by far. We have 1 or 2 stunning clear days then torrential rain which plays havoc with our land which becomes a mud bath.The guys are desperately trying to get a protective 'first coat'of render on the house before Christmas.




We are now covered in scaffolding whilst the first floor is done. Karen and I will be fast on their tails painting the windows (Karen) and shutters(me).






The picture above shows where the bottom right of the house has had the second coat of render.The upper just the first coat. Our Study to the far right is still naked!


Question; once the render is finished and scaffolding is down how will we clean this window? Answer - with difficulty and not often!



Ginger getting her paws dirty doing her regular inspection.


And despite the cold the pool at Le Chene is almost finished and will be full of water by tonight. An electric cover will soon be fitted.