Two years ago...

I woke up alone to a freezing cold house. Under the duvet was cosy but the boiler was suspiciously quiet, I'd lived here for less than three weeks but already I was used to the daily noises. Definitely the boiler had not fired up. I pulled on thermal pyjamas and a dressing gown that made me look like a purple wooky and, followed by a puzzled Mortimer, I trekked through the house to the garage to see what the problem was. The boiler sat there silently. I looked at some buttons but quite frankly it was pretty useless and I knew the manual would prove the same. If I thought my French language skills were lamentable then my German was non-existent. I decided that we must have run out of oil. The previous owner had said there was about half a tank, but the tank is underground and the gauge wasn't working.

Back upstairs I had the fastest bath and hair wash you can imagine. It was minus six outside with snow forecast. Andrew had left London at 4 a.m and had a 12 hour drive home in really bad weather. He'd had to return to the U.K after we signed for the house as he couldn't work until we had internet connected, so I'd been here supervising the move and getting the house sorted. I couldn't have him coming home tired, to a cold house and a problem to solve, so it was down to me.

It was the first (but definitely not the last) time I was grateful for our decision to buy a house in a village with facilities in walking distance. I had seen a company that sold heating oil during my daily walk and at 8.30 a.m. Mortimer and I were on their doorstep trying to explain my problem. I thought the guy in the office said that he would deliver that afternoon, I questioned it - definitely after lunch today. I was so relieved.

The driver arrived and decided that I was pretty useless (probably right) and slowly took me through the procedure for re-igniting the boiler. It turned out that there was fuel in the tank but we initially thought that it must have been dirty and caused a block somewhere, fresh fuel seemed to work. It did do it again the following February and we realised that it wasn't dirt but really cold weather thickening the oil. We now buy fuel with an 'anti-freeze' additive and haven't had a problem since.

Waiting

An hour later Andrew arrived home, Mortimer was beside himself - the pack was together again! He'd spent the first week lying on the balcony looking at the gate waiting for the car to come down the drive. Fortunately it was Thursday, pizza van night, so Andrew could have something tasty to eat - a kitchen didn't happen until two months ago!

We woke up to a warm(er) house, bright blue sky and snow. I walked to the boulangerie for croissant and chocos and then we went for a long dog walk. It was the perfect way to start our new adventure in France.

Corrèze town in the snow

First walk together

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Our morning walk

Mortimer is ready to go - are you coming too?

Back in March some of you came with us on our evening walk with Mortimer and I did say that you could join us for our morning promenade if you wished. Today seems perfect, still cool but with a promise of a gorgeous autumn day ahead. It's a bit more strenuous than the evening stroll but definitely worth the effort.

All set? OK so like before we're turning right out of the drive and heading into the centre of the village. Yes, well remembered, that's where we turned down to go into the 'ville clos' but this time we're going through the centre of Corrèze. That's our boulangerie, Madame is very kind about my French and I have a mini lesson each day, but I don't think I'll ever get the hang of 'millefeuille myrtilles'. Those boards? we're fortunate to have several marked walks and cycle routes of varying degrees of difficulty that start in the village and these show you the routes.

Entrance to Corrèze ville clos

Our boulangerie

Walking and cycle paths in Corrèze

As you can tell from Mortimer's insistence that we cross the road our traiteur has the rotisserie chickens on the go. Bernard Fraysse is an award winning traiteur (it's like a delicatessen) as well as being a superb butcher.

Sadly closed but I just love the tiles

We're now starting the long climb out of the village so just tell me if you want to stop.  We moved here from the Fens in Norfolk where we were at sea level and not a hill in sight, so all these hills and 500 metres altitude came as a bit of a shock! This is the Atelier du Pénitent Blanc, I love the style of pottery here and covet one of the striding pilgrim figures. I suspect it's so named because it's situated opposite the Chapelle des Pénitents Blancs up there. Yes that's the village cemetery, I know I need to have a good look round too - maybe we'll do that another day as I think it will be worth spending some time in there.

Atelier du Pénitent Blanc

Chapelle des Pénitents Blancs

You see that walnut tree? We turn left there up to Vieux Foirail, I love that every cluster of houses, however small has a name. This is quite steep, you can see Mortimer starts plodding and falls behind. When we're pushed for time we cut a corner off the walk and go up these steps but not today. Down there is an old lavoir, there are a lot in the village and in fact one of the marked walks I was telling you about earlier is called 'lavoirs et fontaines'. Originally they were used to do the laundry but many are like this now, home to water lilies.

Vieux Foirail

Old lavoir

We're turning left up this track and I promise the final uphill section. In the summer it's lined with hundreds of wild strawberry plants and there is the most beautifully scented honeysuckle. This house? It's cute isn't it and for sale I believe, as is one of my favourite buildings. I love this barn, actually a small house and barn, if you just look round the back you can see it has a bread oven too.

That's it for uphill now, unless you want to do an extended walk? Maybe another time. One of the things I love about the village is the amount of livestock and chickens that you see in 'normal' gardens. These hens are quite bold and come up to the fence, I do count them each morning though! Earlier in the year there were two beautiful Limousin cows in this field and then of course we have the goats, they seem to prefer life off the ground.

This has to be one of my favourite views of Corrèze, you can see why this lane is called Belle Vue. Down there is La Poste and watching the small, yellow postal vans is like seeing Trumpton in the flesh. I'll see if I can find you some photographs in different seasons.

Today's view of Corrèze

Last winter

For some reason I love this shed and seem to have quite a lot of photographs of it!

We're heading down here, look -  another lavoir. You may have noticed some iron crosses as we've walked, some of our route has been on the 'Voie Rocamadour' which is part of the Santiago de Compestela pilgrimage route. I forgot to point out a small cross by a barn further back, crosses were often placed by barns or fields to protect harvests.

Lavoir lily pond

I was about to say that we're coming up to our small supermarket and Gamm Vert and that they were not quintessentially French, just blocky buildings round a car park, but actually I think they are. Anyone who has spent time in France will be familiar with the out of town shopping malls. This is not in that league but not overly photogenic either, however I'm very pleased that we have them within a few minutes walk of our house.

We're nearly home now, just down this hill and we've completed the full circuit. Go on, through the gates, and if you want to go down to the terrace I'll put the kettle on. Tea or coffee?

Tea or coffee?

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Well we didn't expect that!

An August Sunday morning in France. Weekend treat of croissants for breakfast and a discussion about what to do today. I wheedled a bit and managed to get Andrew to agree to a short drive over to Sarran where there was a vide grenier happening.

Not what I expected at a French vide grenier!

Now Sarran in 2016 had a population of 275 and I'm not sure that there has been much movement since then. It does however punch a little above its weight as in 1969 the Château de Bity was purchased by future President Jacques Chirac and his wife Bernadette, but nonetheless we are not talking about a grand metropolis. We arrived to organised parking, signs for the vide grenier, several coaches and rather surprisingly a large stage, sound system and huge screen - all a little odd.

Although there were probably about 30 stalls we didn't buy anything but as we were about to return to the car we saw a procession of American looking cowboys and red skirted ladies. Afraid of nothing we followed them. Sidling between the wall of the town hall and a large marquee we entered a large courtyard full of colour, music and half a dozen different languages.

Spanish guitarist tuning up

Waiting for his turn

Chinese dancer

The group 'Coros y Danzas de Granada' from Spain

France represented by L'école du Mont Gargan

The American Footworks Dance Company - Rocky Mountains, Idaho

The ensemble 'Miqesia' from Albania

I loved the Albanian music

Unbeknown to us the vide grenier was part of the 28th Festival de Sarran and today was the last day, a day of international dance and music from five nations. We settled down in a shady spot and enjoyed the spectacle. An unexpected Sunday treat!

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Design time

OK I'll confess my time management isn't what it should be! I start each day with a list and a lot gets done but the one thing that always gets moved to the following day, and then the next day and then... is blogging. The last barn update was in April when we had just finished laying the upstairs parquet flooring. A lot has happened since then, it had to as we had friends and family arriving and the village campsite wasn't an option. We've been working hard and are pleased with the results but I need time to sort out photographs.

Meanwhile I'll share the design style for one of the bedrooms. While we don't want the rooms to become Disneyfied, it's nice to have a bit of fun in guest bedrooms. Looking for a French link without going down the château chic route we settled on French novelist Jules Verne and his tale of Phileas Fogg.

As usual I created a concept or mood board...

Phileas Fogg concept board

It was quite fun to do and I've already found some items. The wallpaper is the same as the other bedroom but in navy, the mirror I picked up in a local brocante and the globe in an interiors shop that is closing down. I've already got some items that will work but I need to find the cardboard boxes that they're in!

Style items

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A change of heart

When we lived in England I kept bees, only one hive as we aren't huge honey fans, but I loved having them. I could see 'the girls' from the kitchen window and would often just stand and watch them, if you kept out of their flight path they wouldn't bother you. Although our garden in France is suitable for a hive we will be having paying guests from next year and I don't think it's worth the risk of people being stung.

I still enjoy bees and we were walking out of the village the other morning and heard a great humming ahead. There was a shrub by the side of the road covered in bees, the flowers were insignificant but there were honey bees and several types of bumbles. Further along we could hear more, in fact so loud we were convinced there must be a hive somewhere around but couldn't see one.  As we got back home I could hear the crickets, they are such a soundtrack to the summer that you can almost 'forget' to hear them but I think as we had been talking about bees we noticed them more. When I went into the barn I had to rescue one from the window sill, along with a beetle. There are a lot of insects around here!

Just outside the village

It got me thinking as to why this was. It could be our local industries contribute in some way - forestry and our famous Limousin cattle. Forest management needs no weedkillers that I can see, and when trees are harvested the land is not usually cleared. It can look a little unsightly but at least all the tree debris rots down which is great for insects and wild flowers quickly fill the gaps. The cattle graze on pastureland, and maybe nitrogen is used to improve the quality of the grass but I'm not convinced and certainly no weedkillers.

Limousin cattle

There certainly seems to be a difference in the management of roadside verges and weeds here. Our last house was in a semi-rural location in Norfolk, surrounded by hundreds of acres of commercial apple orchards. Several times a year a potent weed killer was used under the trees, you could smell when it had been done and we wouldn't let Mortimer walk there for at least 48 hours. If a contractor couldn't mow the roadside verges with a sit on tractor then the weed killer came out, resulting in most paths having dying, yellow edges. In our village of Corrèze it's different, our verges are strimmed not sprayed, and so we have roads and paths that are edged with grasses and wild flowers that can seed. Just walking out of the village is beautiful at this time of year.

Corrèze roadside

The other benefit to all these insects is the aerial displays that we get. I can spend hours (well I could if I wasn't restoring a barn and a house!) watching the house martins flying over the village and the river. As dusk falls they are replaced by the bats. We have a lot of small lizards that live in our old stone walls and they look pretty healthy too.

We've decided to encourage the insect population by letting some areas of our lawn stay uncut, probably only mow them two or three times a season. There is one patch in particular with some purple flowers that is heaving with bees at the moment. We have what the French call a park style garden, no it's not huge but we have a lot of specimen trees and grass (well moss), and few flower beds. Fortunately for the non-gardener that I am, it means that the garden can take looking a little unkempt so these wild flower areas blend in well. At the bottom of our garden is our neighbour's donkey field which is full of flowers at the moment.

One of our garden's wild areas

Solo the donkey's field

So I've decided that if I return to a recently glossed door and there are a few flies stuck to it I'm not going to whinge, just be grateful that we have

so many insects and bees here.

If you want to know more about our new life in Corrèze, and the restoration of our house and barn then you can follow us on Facebook or if you love French barns then here

From taxes to glitter

My weekly telephone call to my mother usually has her asking "so what have you been up to this week?" Friends and family often ask the same, after all we don't have 9 to 5 jobs and we're not retired so what do we do? Quite frankly somedays I'm hard pressed to remember. So this is what we've done in the last 7 days (I think!)

Sunday
We try really hard to make Sunday slightly special and not work, we usually fail but last week started off well as we went to the Fête de la Fraise in Beaulieu sur Dordogne. One of our favourite towns, and not much more than 30 minutes from us, it's taken over by strawberry fever in May. We had a gentle wander through the town, admiring strawberries and the artisan market.

Beaulieu sur Dordogne 

Strawberry 'burgers'

Obligatory giant strawberry tart

By mid-afternoon we were home as we had to tackle our first French tax return. It had been haunting me at night and the deadline was fast approaching. I had downloaded the forms but they made little sense so we'd decided to get all our figures together, produced a bi-lingual spreadsheet and to throw ourselves at the mercy of the tax office.

Monday
All mornings start with a dog walk and baguette purchase. We are lucky to have several lovely walks which start in the village and Mortimer never gets bored with them.  Back home and in the car to the tax office in Tulle, only a 20 minute drive away.

Our morning walk

Despite being only a few days before the deadline, and a Monday morning, there was not much of a queue and we were seen within 10 minutes. In my best French I explained it was our first return and I was very confused! With a smile she told us to take our ticket back and head to the fourth floor where we would be able to see someone who would assist. We took a seat and expecting a long wait I had just got my Filofax out to start a new list of jobs when we were called into a very austere office (always makes me nervous). I again explained our situation and retrieved the spreadsheet. Within minutes the tax officer had completed the forms for us, said that it was a very good spreadsheet and we were on our way home. You've no idea of the relief I felt.

After lunch we were back working in the barn. Andrew fitting out one of the bathrooms and me painting.

Tuesday
With the first of our summer visitors only a few weeks off I had enlisted help with some of the decorating. My gentleman of an assistant agreed to do all the rubbing down, including the ceiling, of the large bedroom/dressing down. I was painting windows and Andrew managed to stay clean as he had some artwork to do for a client.

Never ending painting

Our neighbours appeared for a chat and to tell us about the new pellet stove they were having installed, Arlette then shepherded me indoors to give her advice on refinishing her dining table. They are returning to Paris at the weekend and I will miss them. As will Mortimer who sneaks in for extra treats!

In the evening we had been invited by friends to apéros, I would have said it was nice to spend a clean evening but I didn't have time to sort my hair out and was acutely aware that it had a light dusting of grey plaster! But it was a lovely, relaxed evening.

Wednesday
Andrew had client work and I was back in the barn painting in the morning, the afternoon was DIY shopping.  Leroy Merlin is a bit like Ikea, it has it's own time zone. I think we've only been in there for twenty minutes but it turns out it's two hours. Fortunately they give you free coffee and the bakery round the corner does a mean chocolate brownie so the caffeine and sugar rush keep me going! I know that we have spent too much time in there because we have three, yes three, 10% discount 'vouchers' due to us.

Thursday
Step & repeat (artwork, painting, dog walking) but with the addition of laundry duty. Somedays are just boring, it doesn't matter which country you're in. Hang on - just remembered that I invited some people over to visit. I didn't 'do' Facebook until we moved here but it seemed the easiest way to stay in touch with friends and also to make new ones in France. I joined a few groups, some I've now left and some I love. It was through one of these groups that I made contact with a couple who have also recently bought a house and barn about two hours from us. Anyway we've been 'chatting' and I've invited them over on Sunday. It's not the first time I've done this and we've met some really interesting people who have become firm friends.

Flooring underlay

Friday
Two packages in the post box. The editor of French Property News kindly sent me a copy of the May edition as I had been picked for 'letter of the month' and my bag of glitter arrived. Now my personal interior design style is muted colours, natural materials and calm spaces but I want to inject some drama into the barn as it will be a holiday rental. There is a defunct chimney that runs through one of the bathrooms so I'd decided to paint it very dark blue and add some black glitter. First coat done today. A quick dash to the déchetterie to get rid of a large, rotting sack of grass clippings had to be done before we could take the trailer to Leroy Merlin to collect flooring. I also managed to persuade Andrew to go to a brocante and I found a lovely little table which will make a great dressing table.

At 20 euros - rude not to!

It's our wedding anniversary so we indulged with a bottle of champagne (which we had been given by Leroy Merlin as we had spent so much!) and some raspberry tartlets.

Saturday
A longer Mortimer walk, supper purchased at the village traiteur and then back in the barn. I finished my glitter wall and Andrew started the flooring in bedroom two. Although I've still got quite a lot to do, particularly with the furnishings I think we'll hit our June deadline.

Mixing the glitter

Glitter wall

So there we are, a typical week in France for house renovators. Want more? You can follow us here on Facebook or on one of my two favourite groups - Interior design in France or Love French Barns