Decisions to be Made

At this time of the year, it rains, and it rains, and it rains. We have days of constant rain - sometimes that horrible fine drizzle, but often continuous downpours, and of course, we live in the country. This means that the roads are frequented by tractors (well, maybe a couple a day !), who drive in and out of muddy fields, and leave their mud on the roads. There doesn't seem to be the same necessity to clean the roads here, as in the UK, which Craig often comments upon, but this means that our car gets dirtier than ever before. We sometimes have to jet wash it, AND then put it through the car wash. We don't yet have the facilities to be able to wash it outside the house, and even if we did, the cost of the water would incline us towards the jet wash anyway.

Another issue resulting from the rain, is that the water flows down our road, and often pools, or seeps into the buildings we have opposite the house. Craig wages a constant war against this, and we have had several conversations with the 'Maire' (Mayor). The local 'council' have tried various solutions, but they are never sufficient, and we have even resorted to providing a drawing to them indicating what should be done. They did make the suggestion that they could alter the camber of the road, so that the water flowed into our house instead !!!

While the rain continues, the work inside goes on, thankfully. Craig was very busy - he tiled the downstairs cloakroom, and then started on the utility room. We had a friend who plastered the ceiling which set us well on the way. A big problem was, though, the fact that the room had been used as a dumping ground for all those things that you don't know what else to do with or where else to put them. It's always the same with an empty space isn't it ? It soon gets filled up !

Anyway, first off the walls needed to be studded....

...before work can start on the electrics. As you can see in the picture, we (that's the Royal 'we') have to work around the freezers, which doesn't help !

At this time, we needed to make a decision relating to finances. We needed some to be blunt !! We had tried to find employment, but the unemployment rate here is very high, and we would be at the bottom of the pecking order, being a different nationality, with limited French. The next option would be to return to the UK to work - Craig would earn more than me, but then the renovations would stop, so the decision was made that I would return to work in the UK. It's not how we saw things developing, but hey ho, needs must eh ?

Next decision - what could I do that would enable me to work, and come home when I wanted to, on a regular basis ?

OK, decision made, and we made a trip back to the UK, so that I could make the necessary arrangements, and plan ahead. This enable us to see the children and grandchildren, which is always a good thing ! The babies grow and develop, and we watch them and speak to them via Skype, but it's always nicer to give them a real cuddle !

It's also a good time to stock up on those things that are either not available or too expensive in France - who thought you could miss Jammie Dodgers, or Dr Pepper so much ? When it's there, and available, you don't crave it so much !!!

House locked up and safe, and Arthur the dog off on his holidays, to our neighbours about a kilometre away, to be spoilt with plenty of walks and attention.

See you soon France - we'll be back in a week.