You know we love a coincidence...the ugly house!

 

We were doing a wee bit of reminiscing last Friday night with  friends and we repeated the 'ugly house' story which a few of you have heard. Back in 2002 we were victims of unscrupulous banking tactics which led to us to have to sell our large house (below). 

It meant we had to downsize and start trolling the local estate agents to find a new house/project. In one of their windows we spotted the house (top) with a SOLD sign across it, I said to Pauline "imagine someone buying that,it's a bit ugly,is it not" After a fruitless search we were heading up to Fife to look at a potential new life running a B&B when the phone rang and it was one of the estate agents telling us that a house had come back on the market as the sale had fallen through.I asked him to describe it to us and he did, making it sound interesting. We immediately turned tail and returned to said agent only to be handed the schedule for the 'ugly house'. We decided that as fate would have it,we should at least check it out. So after a visit to Fife where we decided the place was not for us, we did a drive-by of the house on our return and decided to knock on the door and ask for a look around which they agreed to...the rest is history and it became our next project - which after a bit of redesign produced results below.

Property sale history

Imagine our surprise when on Saturday morning Pauline was on Facebook when a post from an estate agent in Kilmarnock was displaying a video of the very house up for sale!! 

We actually love what they have done with it while retaining most the changes we had made up until 2008. The original kitchen I fitted is still there!

Below is how it looked when they bought it!

Previously for sale: November 2021 to May 2022

Really interesting to see its history and quite the coincidence!

Just when we thought there would be no more...

Managed another alfresco night in the courtyard last night with friends.Big change early this morning,waking up to flashes of lightening and thunder. 

Chicken run at the 'Fête de la Zarbi'cyclette' – Abilly.

Our local cycling troupe put on quite a show yesterday...can you identify the participants left to right?

The last alfresco dinner?

Had friends over for dinner last night and as the temperature touched 30 degrees it seemed like a great chance to dine alfresco. It turned out to be perfect as the evening temperature provided a great accompaniment to a fun night.

In the still of the night.

The last rose?

 This rose suddenly appeared on our rose bush last week...perhaps the last we will see this year. It has been a good year for the roses.

This could be your rose bush - house for sale.

Tonight's sunset in La Guerche.

 

From the bridge over the Creuse in La Guerche.

A busy weekend...Sunday, Patrimoine,brocante and music.

Yesterday we headed out with Angela and Dennis in search of some visits for Patrimoine - with our first port of call being 'Domaine de la Boutelaye' where a friend had visited the day before and recommended it, only to discover it was in fact only open on the Saturday! Undeterred we continued on our day out and headed to Angles-sur-l'Anglin for their brocante plus to visit some nearby sites there.  

On the way there we passed through Coussay-les-Bois and noticed the the Eglise Saint-Martin was open to visit so popped in for a look. We were met the ladies of 'Les Amis de l'eglise Saint-Martin' who explained that the main church in the village 'Eglise Notre Dame'  was closed as it is currently unsafe and their association is helping to raise funds for its restoration.

The brocante was a little quieter than previous years but as we were supposed to be there for the walk it did not really matter.

There was the usual variety of 'stuff' on sale with this stall holder having items just in case you needed them.

This one was offering some bear legs.

As I said we were only there for the walk but couldn't resist these glasses (12) which were still in their display boxes for 6 euros the lot! Only problem was we had nothing to carry them in so asked the stall holder to hold them for us and we would pick them up later.

As luck would have it a stall near him had this shopping trolly at 5 euros so the problem was immediately solved! Angel and Dennis bought a few items including some paintings as they were searching for something to hang in some spare wall space they have. After finishing our walk we stopped in at cafe 'Le Bellevue' for a refreshment only to find we were wearing our cloaks of invisibility. After waiting a bit to long and seeing people who had arrive a bit later than us, we got up, thanked them for their lack of service and left. 

We were more fortunate at our next stop in Vic-sur-Gartempe where we had headed to take in another visit at Villa des Iles. We decided to have lunch at 'Ô Bouchon Vicquois' where we were told we would have a wee bit of time to wait as our host was chef as well as front of house. We decided to wait and were delighted with our lunch.

After lunch we walked down to the house, which we understood would be reopening in the afternoon, only to find the gates locked - another disappointment.We then decided to drive down and have a look at the 'La grotte de Notre Dame du Bedoué' just outside the village.

Apparently the grotto was made to save the parishioners of Bedoué the trip to Lourdes to pray to the Virgin Mary, a statue was installed  in this small cave in 1920. The cave remained a local pilgrimage site until 1965.  It is still maintained by the owner and decorated with flowers by visitors.

Next we headed to Château de la Brosse but unfortunately my sat-nav took us on a road that was only designed for tractors. So after a number ups and downs and a couple of knocks underneath the car we eventually arrived at the gates of the chateau but not surprisingly it was closed. I did manage a couple of photos from over there hedge. 

Although we had failed to fill our day with heritage visits, with good company and a good lunch we had a good day out.

To end a busy day we headed over to Celtiqua's final gig at the Lavoir in Preuilly-sur-Claise where they put on their usual good show with a bit of audience participation.

With two of our friends showing some good moves.

A busy weekend...Saturday, music and fireworks.

After a lovely lunch to celebrate a friends birthday in Le Grand-Pressigny I headed over to 'La Poterne' in Preuilly-sur-Claise to set up for a concert with Gerard on its terrace after setting up our equipment and audience chairs the bright afternoon sun was far to hot to play there so we had to reset ourselves up in the shade of the walls of the internal courtyard. Below is 'Only you' one of the songs from our set.

There was a good mix of friends and locals as an audience.

After the concert Pauline I joined friends Angela and Dennis to watch the fireworks down by the plan d'eau which accompanied by backing music proved pretty spectacular!

A few pics, from another fun 'Games Day' with Sally & Chris.

This was the setting for friends Chris and Sally’s 'Games Day' over in Montebœuf yesterday,where as ever, the company, food and set up were excellent.

A lovely day out...

Yesterday we headed down to Saint-Savin in the la Vienne to their brocante along with friends Angela and Dennis.

This charming town is located on the left bank of the Gartempe river is famous for its Romanesque abbey, a UNESCO World Heritage Site which makes for a great backdrop to any events here.

Pauline and I currently only use brocantes as a casual walk as we have more 'stuff' than we need while D&A still look for treasure and bargains.

These items do not fall into either category - try before you buy comment. 

After our walk around the brocante and a coffee,we took a walk down to the river to take in the great views over the river.

As we headed back north we spotted a sign for a 'Marche Gourmond' at nearby Archigny, these are local producers' markets where you can buy and taste local specialties on site in a festive and friendly atmosphere.

When we arrived we found there was also a small brocante and display of tractors and motorcycles as well as the producers' stalls.

As it was lunch time we were hoping to take advantage of some of the food on offer but found that unfortunately it was obviously so 'local' that you had to have made a previous reservation. 

So it was on to the next option - La Roche-Posay where we settled down for a light bite at the 'Epicure' cafe which proved a good choice.