worth the wait

We sat for an hour outside the office of the notaire - at first in a state of high excitement and anticipation which gradually turned to a sort of "well what happens now" feeling as we wondered exactly how long the notaire would wait and what happened next if the vendors didn't turn up at all! This was one year ago today - it all turned out OK in the end, the notaire started without them and eventually they arrived and we left the notaire clutching our keys.

We couldn't blame them really - selling their beloved Segala had happened rather more quickly than they had expected and they had had little time to get used to the idea of moving out after putting the house on the market expecting a long wait for a buyer. Then almost immediately along came us, money in the bank and nowhere to else to live. We had had problems with our own house sale (from82to82.blogspot.com/) and had lost the first house we had decided on - good thing too as We sat for an hour outside the office of the notaire - first of all in a state of high excitement gradually turning to a sort of "well what happens now" feeling as we wondered exactly how long the notaire would wait and what happened next if the vendors didn't turn up at all! This was one year ago today - it all turned out OK in the end, the notaire started without them and eventually they arrived and we left the notaire clutching our keys.We couldn't blame them really - selling their beloved Segala had happened rather more quickly than they had expected and they had had little time to get used to the idea of moving out after putting the house on the market expecting a long wait for a buyer and then along came us money in the bank and nowhere to else to live. We had had problems with our own house sale (from82to82.blogspot.com/) and had lost the first house we had decided on - good thing too as it turned out as Segala was much the better choice for us. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKuv-CDr936Z-WkuAQs-cQ4YDeVT8wBBH1MSPjlvrKHhHdsFNn2MqLLM7MWITc9IBMaICclU-cZhc5TIkNOHCkvGWUc-n6TIVsBXpMGwXMznJxbytAGOR29zug92cMKyNw2UlcLSvZ4taf/s1600/October+10+at+Segala+069.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 218px; height: 162px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKuv-CDr936Z-WkuAQs-cQ4YDeVT8wBBH1MSPjlvrKHhHdsFNn2MqLLM7MWITc9IBMaICclU-cZhc5TIkNOHCkvGWUc-n6TIVsBXpMGwXMznJxbytAGOR29zug92cMKyNw2UlcLSvZ4taf/s320/October+10+at+Segala+069.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660722163064271106" border="0"></a>So now Segala was ours but here followed another wait, two days this time, for our furniture which had been in storage for three months, to arrive and then the fun could really begin. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpk1KuX02sjNwaiHNzRp0DFxq6e9D0SJoyG2xXnqyS2HgwmvTzUXBneqdlz0CtOdnwjHzFyOoWL1Gj1ujvjMmc3JZ6eb3uxjlcuwnaFKGSizZrFzflfUyu3D4cukbMl_thWdPC2RL9oZRH/s1600/1282.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 197px; height: 147px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpk1KuX02sjNwaiHNzRp0DFxq6e9D0SJoyG2xXnqyS2HgwmvTzUXBneqdlz0CtOdnwjHzFyOoWL1Gj1ujvjMmc3JZ6eb3uxjlcuwnaFKGSizZrFzflfUyu3D4cukbMl_thWdPC2RL9oZRH/s320/1282.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660719457168787970" border="0"></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie0WSVVpY1akVVBY-28DrOvio116enrFRPhyElS7Nkve2JqWqYx0WK_7uDLTAeyIrPqz6nVAonBgOFkUDaZEBhnI8yGZCYaChyphenhyphen3yPdn3P0cZq8yEq-EV2x1QVrdgOibuDp0Rnq74FOliXK/s1600/1290.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 185px; height: 163px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie0WSVVpY1akVVBY-28DrOvio116enrFRPhyElS7Nkve2JqWqYx0WK_7uDLTAeyIrPqz6nVAonBgOFkUDaZEBhnI8yGZCYaChyphenhyphen3yPdn3P0cZq8yEq-EV2x1QVrdgOibuDp0Rnq74FOliXK/s200/1290.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660724330480711938" border="0"></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAIzI3QrB-Ghr90k722Ey_p6sBEY2pZAgxcNcm9FIRFcn-qMZHboXgm_1Tyr5N0TCNeh4BjkLCUVu5nANsMGRvAKQq_cGqNulztGCQ_Nz1T61jfYmqjgIh7x62LZYhO86wnmOhDvB3CaM8/s1600/1284.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAIzI3QrB-Ghr90k722Ey_p6sBEY2pZAgxcNcm9FIRFcn-qMZHboXgm_1Tyr5N0TCNeh4BjkLCUVu5nANsMGRvAKQq_cGqNulztGCQ_Nz1T61jfYmqjgIh7x62LZYhO86wnmOhDvB3CaM8/s200/1284.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660723002590960210" border="0"></a> it turned out as Segala was much the better choice for us.


So now Segala was ours but here followed another wait, two days this time, for our furniture which had been in storage for three months, to arrive and then the fun could really begin.







One year on and we feel as though we've been here much longer. There's been plenty of work, lots of changes and we have many plans to keep us going for some years yet.






I just love the garden and it now feels that we have really made our mark on what was here. A well stocked garden has certainly saved me a fortune but there is always scope for the determined gardener!

The biggest development of all of course has to be the pool - May to August was dominated by its installation. Months of mud and destruction, delays and frustration but eventually , two months behind schedule, it was finished. Thanks to the never ending indian summer we have enjoyed we have been able to get good use out of the pool this year and can look forward to the years to come. We are so glad to have the experience of swimming pool installation behind us and gradually the green is returning where all through the summer there has been a mud mountain. Dealing with the pool company was a nightmare and there were times it did not seem possible that we would have anything but a gert big hole throughout the winter but the finished pool is beautiful. It was definitely the right decision to get it done in the first year - message to anyone thinking about it- never underestimate the destruction of your garden which will be inevitable - at least it wasn't my creation in this case!



The family has grown too. The two of us moved in with two chickens and started to make friends with two farm kittens the previous owners had started feeding. One hitched a ride in a visitors car and disappeared, the other adopted us and moved in. We were too slow prevent her becoming pregnant and before long we had five cats. Although having such a houseful of cats was a bit of a worry it was an education watching Charbonne raise her kittens and we were sorry when she suddenly disappeared never to return ( and that after an expensive spaying operation too!). We managed to find a home for one of the kittens and now we have three lucky black cats which is manageable - one for each lap and a spare one on the sofa!




So that's it, one year gone already, its been worth waiting for!

Then there were five or how lucky can you get?

We were so pleased when the little black cat from the farmers barn across the road decided to make ours her home too (see post/2011/02/the cat sat on the mat). Bit by bit it became friendlier and did indeed start to sit on our laps during the evening. We began to think of it as our cat and had also realised that it was a she ( Charbon became Charbonne) - must get to the vet we thought ! No sooner thought than it became apparent that we were too late - she was bulging!

And so it was that two weeks ago she gave birth to her kittens and we now have a whole basketful of lucky black cats.




Being a very young cat ( less than a year old we think) it was clearly too soon for her to be giving birth. The first kitten was born at midday but by 5 oclock she had given up and was becoming distressed so it was an emergency dash to the vet with cat and kitten in a laundry basket. The vet managed to remove the second kitten which had been the wrong way up and had died and did an ultrasound which revealed three more live kittens to come. So after a hormone injection we returned home to await developments. Instead of the shed our living room became the maternity ward and by midnight mother and four kittens were doing fine.





So now here we are with five black cats and obviously they are quite adorable. It is interesting to watch their rapid development and the maternal instincts of Charbonne as she cares for them. One of them has a tiny white bib so we have decided we will keep this one ( as we will be able to tell it apart from her mum) and have named her Purdy. As for the other three, if we are very lucky, ( and we do have a lot of black cats) we will find good homes with new owners bit this being the French countryside that is probably not very likely and we have been searching for local cat adoption agencies. Its lucky ( those black cats again) that we haven't got holiday plans this year - French resident visitors will have to check their bags as they leave!

the cat sat on the mat

They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder - well it has certainly worked regarding the little feral kitten we were trying to "adopt " before we went away for two weeks. Previously she was very nervous when we opened the door and did not like coming inside the house to eat ( even to escape the chickens who were always after her food) and certainly hated it if we closed the door on her escape route. An absence of two weeks has worked wonders and we now have a quite different little cat who follows me around the garden playing and climbing trees, comes inside to eat and has started to explore the downstairs rooms - maybe one day she will even sit on my lap!

Our trip to England was a great success. Combe Martin folk club was a gem and TCs performance was needless to say brilliant. We had a lovely time and enjoyed being back as part of the English folk music scene. North Devon too was delightful and we loved the scenery and being beside the sea.

During the following week we spent happy times with family, availed ourselves of retail opportunities before a stay in North Staffordshire for our "leaving party". The celidh was just brilliant and all that we had hoped it would be. There were over 100 people ( including our children who had travelled from Coventry and Norwich to be there), many reunions, great music and lots of dancing. We were showered with presents, there were cake and balloons (which stayed in the window of the car for our return journey and are still decorating our dining room) and we generally had an evening to remember.



During the evening I was able to clog again with Leopard spot which was great ( especially good to know I can still remember how ) and we also introduced the assembled throng to the sardane which we have learnt at our dancing classes her in France. TC had sent the music to the band in advance and they had made it their own! It was good fun even if only a few people danced a recognisable sardane( I blame the teacher). Next month we are due to teach some English tunes and dances at a folk event here - all round I think this could be trickier!

Although we had had a great time and it was lovely catching up with friends and family we were very happy to be home - and yes, here really is home already. This week we have signed the contract for the installation of our swimming pool ( our last grand project), we have painted our big bedroom ready for the carpet to be fitted and we are starting to plan the rest of our garden projects for the summer. We are looking forward to welcoming more visitors over the summer months and the last few days the weather has been just glorious during the day full of promise of an imminent Spring.

If TC can shake off the very English cough and cold he brought back with him without passing it on to me I shall be extremely grateful as I have a lot planned for this week!