Bits and bobs

The chicks have become a little too free range when it comes to wandering into our neighbour's garden, so their wanderings have been curtailed a little.

They're getting just a bit TOO confident!

They are now confined to quarters until a bigger pen is made around the orchard for them.

The winner of the 'I can keep the dead toad long enough to eat it' competition!

The B & B and gite are filling up - Hugh will soon be able to retire! We had a house full of perfect guests, celebrating a silver wedding anniversary, last week. Thank you, Vince and Julie, Joy and Steve, Rae and Mia, Andrew and Lesley, we thoroughly enjoyed your party - all week!

The perfect guests!

Vince opening Champagne to get the party going. Apparently all the
jokes have already been made by his colleagues!

Missing from the picture - the photographer, Hugh of course, and lovely number one daughter, Ellen, on a weeks 'holiday'. She somehow managed to stay out of all photos. I'm sure Nicole must have some on her antiquated film - I'll publish them as soon as they arrive so we will have proof of a lovely week.
During the week, a visit to Domaine Gourdon for a spot of wine tasting and buying. Thanks to Jonathon for an enjoyable and educational session, and coping with all Steve's questions!

No spitting!

Plenty of drinking - and buying.

It's sunflower time in the south-west of France. As well as the beautiful green of the vines, the growing maize, and the ripening plums are fields and fields of sunflowers. A small selection of  all the photos - you just HAVE to keep stopping and snapping!

This one because I love the way the one flower is facing the opposite way
 to all the others - confused or independent?

Two flowers for the price of one!

And this one because this is the vegetable garden I aspire to. I was supposed to be looking at the pottery on display at Castelmoron d'Albret, but this caught my eye over a low wall above a long drop!

We got there!

Another long gap, with so much to blog, that I will have to use photos and captions to prevent boredom in the reader!
In the (almost a) month since my last blog lots of things have changed.
The chicks have grown, and grown again and are now pretty much free range, ranging wider and wider, into the vines, the plum trees, our neighbour's garden and the gite! They return pretty quickly though, if they think there might be treats involved!

Mike with treats.

Waiting to be let out!

Table birds?

Oven ready?!

The gite was finally finished and furnished.

Jim the digger, digging another pond, leveling out the car park and filling in holes.

Mike putting finishing touches to furniture for the gite.

Just waiting for the grass to grow.

Bedroom 1

Bedroom 2 

 

Lounge and dining room

Kitchen diner

Spot the camera man!

 We are thrilled with the way it has turned out. We wanted to celebrate the end of this part of our adventure, and thank everyone who helped along the way. So we planned a big party and invited everyone who helped along with the mayor to make it an 'official opening'. Unfortunately, we were too busy to take any photos, but we're hoping that other people did, and I will publish them when I get them.
After weeks of very hot and dry weather, it started to rain just 10 minutes before the party began, and rained for a couple of hours - real, steady, wet rain, much to the relief, I'm sure of all our local farmers and wine growers, so we couldn't really complain! We just got on with it, enjoyed the afternoon, and when the rain finally stopped, it turned into a beautiful evening, with petanque, led by Jean-Claude (playing his rules apparently!) and an impromptu (albeit "one we prepared earlier") chilli on the terrace until well into the night.

The petanque pitch, scene of a battle!

So....thank you to everyone who has helped us on our way (not just those in the photo!) and to everyone who came and joined in our celebrations.

Ash, filming the party

The last six weeks or so of our story have been filmed for ITV, to be screened, possibly in September. We're not sure what it is going to be called yet, or exactly when it will be on, but watch this space!

Nicole also had a birthday, celebrated with a visit from boyfriend, Mike and her brother Dave and his girlfriend  Neesha.

After the parties were over, we took a couple of days off and spent one of them in Bordeaux and the sand dune at Pyla near Arcachon, the tallest sand dune in Europe.

From the top of the dune towards the sea

From the top towards the forest.

On the Miroir d'eau des quais in Bordeaux

Taking photos of the photographers!

The garden takes shape

Jim the digger has done his work, and the garden is taking on some shape now. First the tank was buried..

now you see it..

now you don't (well hardly!)

The pond....

The pond is filling up, no sign of life in it yet, but I'm sure it won't be long.
              The earth has been banked up around the gite terrace...

 

a 'petanque' pitch has been created....

and the turf removed from what will be my vegetable garden (and placed around the pond, thank you Mike).
 Nicole's contribution to moving the turf..

Just one, hopefully manageable plot for now.

 

 The weekends jobs....

                                                                           I sprayed my trees....

 

Nicole and Mike rolled the tree trunk down to the pond to make a seat...

Hugh sawed up yet more bits of oak that previously held up the gite roof, helped by Dave...

 Dave and Les came to stay at the weekend to help celebrate Hugh's birthday. It was lovely to see them and we hope they will come for longer next time. They have promised to drive, which means I can give them a shopping list before they come (I'm already working on it!) and they get lots of room to take home lots of lovely local wine and gastronomic delights! I don't seem to have any photo's of Les - I'll get them from Hugh and post them later - so don't think you've escaped, Les!

All change again...

The doors have gone on the gite today - a secure, water-tight building at last.*

 

Jim and his digger arrived this morning to dig the hole to bury the new septic tank - never to be seen again - but very important!

Almost gone....

      I hope everything is in the right place!

All that earth has got to go somewhere...

The earth will be banked up against the terrace of the gite to reduce the drop, to make the bank of a pond and level out some other parts of the garden for a petanque pitch and a place to pitch a tent or two - Liz and Phil - that's especially for you and Eleanor, Isabelle and George!!

The beginning of the pond - water in it already!

The trees we planted in the autumn are showing signs of spring now...

 

Nicole has been busy making croissants- they were delicious! The next batch are proving right now, and look just as lovely.

Another shopping trip to Ikea and we came home with a little treat - solar powered mini-lanterns. I don't know how they fell into the basket! They were a bargain, honest Hugh, and look how lovely they look - AND no running costs!

In case you were worried that we're working too hard.....

Hugh in the bushes!

Me with a cup of tea in the sunshine.

All for now, but things are changing quickly now (including our bank balance!) with all the finishing touches, so more photos soon.

*Footnote....
When I said "at last" I mean that I am very impatient to see it finished! It is by no means a comment on how long (or not) the builders are taking! It is amazing how much has been done in such a short time. And I'm very happy with it all. There you are Chris - grovel over - we are happy to see it all take shape, thank you for your hard work and patience with me!