Long time, no see!

It has been a long time since I lost blogged. With good reason - honest!
Over the last week, we have had our first guests. All went well - I hope they will agree- and the house, which has been a hive of industry is almost quiet again. Hugh has been here- for the third weekend in a row- he has returned to Upton this evening, leaving Nicole and I with Rob and Susie, Hugh's son and daughter-in-law and they are going home in the morning.
I should start by going back to the end of January, where the last blog left off.
Kath arrived for the weekend, and spent most of it painting. I had been putting off decorating the lounge because of the size, but together we got started and I just needed to finish it off after she left. First guests were booked in by now, so deadlines were looming.

 

The room is now finished, mirrors reinstated, wood burner lit - very cosy!  Thank you, Kath.

I then finished off the second bedroom..

 

....finally, just about ready for the first guests - both rooms booked for the whole week! Hugh had to drive over with last minute purchases of mirrors and light fittings, all fitted with minutes to spare!

At the end of the week, Rob and Susie arrived and have earned their keep, chopping wood and helping to strip the ivy from the palm tree - future family visitors please take note!

Meanwhile, over in the gite......

                                                         last seen with no roof, has been transformed...

 

Inside is also taking shape... the plumbing is in place for the shower rooms and kitchen.

The terrace is ready for the roof pillars to be added....

Our next guests are not due for a couple of weeks, so we can now start on the next bedroom - after we have been to choose tiles and work surfaces for the gite.
In the meantime, we have found time to smell the roses (or look at the crocuses anyway!) and enjoy the sunshine.

That's all for now, no promises for the next blog, but I'll be back as soon as I can!

Overdue update

Things have moved on - as they do every time I lapse in my blogging duties! The main house is finished, bar the decorating and the odd light fitting to be fixed and one or two holes to be plastered over, and some of the roof to be replaced (not until the gite is finished).
One room is now more or less finished. The wisteria balcony room is ready to welcome guests -just as well as my friend Kath is arriving on Thursday, snow permitting. Kath, pack warm clothes! (I will provide a hot water bottle!)

The wisteria balcony room.

 

The other bedrooms and bathrooms are slowly coming together, and will be ready soon.

Fortunately, over the weekend, I ran out of paint (new lot now arrived!) which meant that I could take a (sort of ) break, while Hugh was here. We did manage to saw up loads of logs and pick up some pallets ready for me to make my compost heap, and have a lovely meal at Le Cabri on Saturday evening.

Pallets ready for my compost heap.

The gite is coming along quickly now, changing all the time. Russ and Alex are out there in all weathers, preparing for the roof, which should start to go on tomorrow.

 

All ready for the roof and floors.

While my David was here at Christmas he took some lovely photos, so I'm including some of them here - just because they're lovely!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're very happy with how things are shaping up, and looking forward to welcoming guests soon.