Chez nous, just one of many days...

After returning home from holidays, we still had the car for two more days. We used Saturday as a shopping day and headed to the next largest town, St. Junien, only about 20 minutes away. It has several big box stores as we needed a few more little things for the house. Here we got some cushions for the kitchen chairs, another cushion for the couch upstairs, another smoke detector, beer glasses, (I didn't realize how difficult it would be to find a nice set), and a potato peeler just to name a few. These, along with large items from the grocery store such as boxes of wine and cases of beer filled the car nicely.

Vern in Pontarion

On Sunday we took the traditional Sunday drive past a few more villages to the north east of us. All same/same/but different. We happened across the village of Pontarion which was having a Vide Grenier (Empty the Attic) event. The streets were lined with stalls and tables selling everything from used toys to antique military weapons. A few offers were made but none accepted so we left town with our fill of frites. A great deal at only €2.

Now that holidays are over for a while, it is back to the work of La Maison. All is ready for any quests that might arrive this summer, and I have a feeling next summer might be quite busy here in Bellac. The two ongoing projects are le grenier, (the attic) and le jardin. In the attic the painting of most of the ceiling is complete, and now just the stairs remain, with a peut être (maybe) on the railing posts. It still needs a couple of chairs and maybe a small table, but it will make a great large second bedroom.

Rubarb and geraniums

The back garden is looking OK. Its only been a month and the bedding plants are doing well, with the geraniums just blooming now. The hydrangea we got discounted from the plant store because of its run in with a few escargots is doing better, but will probably need to be transferred out of its pot before the winter. There are signs of new buds and all seems positive. In the actual garden the cucumbers are doing very well, and even the lettuce is coming along slowly. It all is a learning process.  J'apprends comment jardiner as we go along. There will always be next year. I am attacking the weeds in the "lawn" in a very military way. Sector A is almost vide of weeds now, and as August continues, the other sectors will be attacked. I am trying to do it all by hand, but deadly force might be needed as the weeds out number any other plant life in the garden. And thanks to our gardening neigbours up the street, I have started my rock garden and even an herb garden with the addition of a romarin (rosemary) plant. Linda's grows like a shrub in her yard, so I am hopping for the same results. Linda also suggested to cut the peonies back for next year. I did the one down by my man cave (the garden shed), and have left the upper peony as it is the only green plant along the fence. I will trim it back before I go home.

Laundry day.

It is amazing how a few loads of laundry, some weeding, a bit of writing, my French lesson and some cleaning can fill a whole day. Only on special days do we enjoy an afternoon apéritif before 17:00. That usually results in the need for a  une sieste, especially if we are drinking vins mousseux. Our dinners have been getting later and later as we slowly adapt to the French style. It also helps fill the evenings when you don't eat until 19:30. Entertainment here is via the internet. We have all the British tv channels and Netflix for our viewing pleasures, and a small library of books and ebooks for our literary pursuits. We have become fans of the BBC world service radio in the mornings to catch us up on all the happenings of the world.

A cold beer just waiting for me.

I have been here now for just over 4 weeks and we have had no measurable amount of rain. We did get a bit wet for a few minutes on one walk home from the grocery store, and then it sprinkled on two other occasions, but over all the weather has been perfect, not too hot. We did have a few days in the high 30's, and a few more are forecast again soon, but we will take shelter in the town pool to keep our cool and remember that the fridge is full of all sorts of cold beverages. Back in March we stumbled onto Pelforth brune, a nice dark beer. Well here in the heat of August, our tastes have changed back to the traditional 1664. A nice refreshing lager on a hot summer day. The darker beers will wait till the cooler temperatures return.

Well August continues and the weather has taken a slight detour today, Thursday. It got cool overnight, and the blanket needed to be pulled up. This morning it is cloudy, cool and trying to rain. We may even have to get one of the puzzles out. Steve will be up in the attic finishing the second coat of paint on the attic stairs.

Morning drizzle

Our emergency pool

Stairs to the grenier