A message and a change of plan...

It was, we sort of knew,a forlorn hope but we had booked to fly up to Scotland for Christmas to visit our family. Flight has been cancelled,not unexpectedly, so will have to content ourselves with continued social media for contact. The message? - 'Happy Halloween' from the Adadorable one!    

 

A vide maison...

Well, not quite but getting there. At 'Les Balcons' yesterday continuing with our house clearance and meeting new tenants for signing rental agreement - very timely! They have agreed to keep the 'office' set up so that helps a little plus also were kind enough to help in practical ways yesterday, which was much appreciated. Also made an unplanned trip to the déchetterie as could be our last opportunity because of shutdown - very traumatising for me, as those who know me will appreciate!  

Under pressure...we are now!

We started to empty 'Les Balcons' yesterday to allow new tenants in who are renting it unfurnished.We had allowed ourselves a month from our previous tenants vacating it to give us time to rehouse/sell some of the furniture and do a bit of life-laundering and any maintenance that might be required. We made a good start yesterday with the help of Alex and Nicole and were confident that our timescale was fairly relaxed - now we have 'lockdown' again which puts a whole new perspective on things! Hey ho and away we go!

Tallest trees in Touraine?

Are these trees in Preuilly-sur-Claise the tallest in Touraine? 

 

A walk around Preuilly-sur-Claise

 

Simon and Susan invited us to join them yesterday for a walk in the countryside around  Preuilly-sur-Claise on what turned out to be a lovely autumnal day - here are some pics..

Weekend walk through Descates public gardens...

More on Descartes here

 

It's only taken 10 months !

 

When I started my last little project here at the Old Walnut Mill at the end of 2019 I decided that to move things along I would give the glazing of our door to a local joiner while I pushed on with the  building work - never for a minute did I expect that I would not see it again until now! He arrived this morning and hung it although, unsurprisingly, it needs a little tweak and he didn't have the correct tool with him, so not quite there yet!  

Don't forget to put the clocks back tonight...

 

Still busy...

 The Busy Lizzies (Impatiens) here in the courtyard of the 'Old Walnut Mill' are still giving us this colourful display. The begonias behind are from last years plants.

Wall done!

Finished pointing the barn wall at the Old Walnut Mill,a few days of fair weather (plus one morning in the rain) and its done. 

This has been good experience/practice for what will be the 'main event', the back wall at the La Guerche project.

Autumn mornings by the river Creuse in Barrou...

Barrou

 

Idea for nursery school gate to pencil in...spotted down in Provence.

 

Back to the wall...

 

With this fine spell of weather I am back to working on walls - this time it's the back wall of the barn at the Old Walnut Mill.It requires re-pointing, a project that the previous owner started over 12 years ago but only reached head height - only just getting round to it - what have I been doing with my time? Pauline,meanwhile,is working at putting the back garden to bed for the winter.

Celebrating 45 years together...

Had a lovely lunch at the 'Table' of Sidney and Alison at Le Calabash to celebrate our anniversary yesterday before taking advantage of a lovely afternoon to take up a walk up behind the village. We are so lucky that we can still have a degree of normality when so many others are struggling just to keep it together.     

 

Thank you autumn...

 

Autumn at the Old Walnut Mill

Last rose...

 

This year,more than others, we have had a great deal of pleasure from our courtyard here at the Old Walnut Mill as with no guests we have been able to appreciate it from the first rose (below) in April to this fine example as our last.

Still picking strawberries...

 

We picked our first strawberries from the back garden here at the Old Walnut Mill back in May (22nd) and last night I picked  some and had them with natural  yogourt - yummy. 

More autumn views from Mother Nature's pallet

 

Mother Nature's pallet turns what might normally be a drab scene  here in Southern Touraine into something else!.

Autumn in the woods above Barrou...

 

Provence project...

 

Our Provence visit was about a number of things,catching up with Richard and Francoise,helping with the 'la vendange' and helping push on some of the work at their village house project. It was good to finish off a small part I had started earlier in the year with putting the flooring down in the new vestibule.

 

There was also a number of little jobs that needed doing to get it ready for prospective renters,like making the loo of the garage a little more presentable. With Richard concentrating on his (too stressful) job that brings in the money and the distraction of his vines,it has been up to Francoise to project manage the house renovations and be very much hands-on. She has worked hard to get it to where it now is.

A brocante fix...

While we were down in Provence we managed to get an opportunity to do a walk through this pretty brocante display just outside Le Barroux. The one below, in Villes-sur-Auzon, was closed when we walked by but they had their own unique way of displaying their 'treasure'.

More images from Provence