I had the disappointing news that the restaurant where I had been working had been sold, so although my work there was sporadic, from March it would be non existent. I was pleased for the owners though, as they had been trying to sell for a while. It was a lovely little restaurant, but very time consuming for them, and very limiting as far as having a life outside of the business. For me though, it had given me not only a small income, but a positive boost to my French skills, and my confidence.
Craig worked very hard after our UK break - a short holiday like we had last month, often gives us both a boost. He wallpapered the bedroom wall behind the bed (although now, we don't really like it, and it may need to be redone). The study was painted, the curtain pole and curtains were hung, and we put some family photos on the wall. Now, when we sit using the computer at the desk, we can look at the grandchildren. Makes me smile every time !
We decided that as we replace an item, or discover that it is not needed, or even in many instances that we have duplicated items, we will either sell, give them away, or bin them. Over the years, as many of you will empathise with, we have just stored them 'just in case'. No more, we try not to store what we don't need, so now that our 'proper' desk was in situ in the study, we advertised the table that we had been using. It started as a kitchen table, became the computer table, and then 'started' to become a table that everything was dumped on - it was time for it to go ! We advertised it, and sold it the same day - way to go !!
We decided that this year we would make a determined effort with the vegetable plot. The first point to start was with a polytunnel/greenhouse. It wasn't expensive, and wasn't big, but was a start. Then Craig sprayed the whole area with weedkiller. It wasn't ideal, but the ground hadn't been worked for about 20 years, and short of hand digging the whole area, there wasn't a huge choice. We are quite open minded about organic methods, and try not to pollute etc, but sometimes in some circumstances it is necessary to use a commercial product to help.
We had a few good bonfires to get rid of the garden waste that could not be composted. We are limited by the Mairie, as to what times of the year we are allowed to have bonfires, so have to be aware, and sometimes, I have to visit them to check the dates when we have forgotten. Basically, we are OK in the winter months, but the dates vary from area to area.
We babysat the rabbit belonging to our friends as they were off to Spain for a short holiday - to have some sun and blue sky - not that I'm jealous ! We have plenty of room in the cages that we have for the rabbits usually. They are only all full if we have baby rabbits to fatten up, but over the winter months we try to reduce the amount of animals that need looking after. We want the least amount to do outside, when it is cold and wet of course.
Craig did a lot of work in the workshop. Now that he had started in there, securing the exterior, he made the most of the area inside, putting up internal walls, even putting windows in, and enjoying the space that he wanted for his tools, and his projects.
The year was progressing, Spring was in the air, and it gave us a thrill to think that our second Winter here was coming to an end, and warmer times were ahead.
No comments:
Post a Comment