Greetings from Perth

We got to Perth early last Saturday morning after the flight from Heathrow was delayed 4 hours which meant that we missed our connection in Singapore. But as we were with Quantas all the way, they sorted it quickly. So after about 3 hours sleep (the hostel kept our room for us), we went to Fremantle to see an Aboriginal display which was very good – dancing and digeridoo music.

Next day we went to a suburb called Subiaco where there was a great market and some interesting traditional old houses.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Chris was working but Judy managed to do the tourist bit in Perth city, especially King's Park and the Botanic Gardens.

Thursday we picked up a hire car and went via Guildford, an interesting old town with more old buildings and the Aussie Eton School, then spent the evening with an old friend and family. Next day went for a long hike in the John Forrest National Park up in the Perth Hills (Darling Range). 

 

Cooled our feet in a waterfall near the end.

Then off to spend a couple of nights with other old friends from our walking group who showed us around the area.

Tomorrow we're off to the southern bit of Western Australia for a week to see the beaches, trees, wildflowers and mountains and whatever else takes our fancy – nothing planned. Then back to Perth to change our car for a 4WD to head a long way north into the outback  until the end of November.

Busy Times

Well, the invasion happened at the beginning of September.  14 walkers arrived from Devon (1 from Wales) and spread themselves around Montreal.  The weather was superb all week, a little hot for some, and a good time was had by all.  We walked, feasted on French lunches, drank and sang in the evenings under starlit skies, saw some of the sights and languished by the pools of the respective accommodations.  We hope that now our whereabouts is known people will return when in the area.

While the group were here I had a message from my mum saying that my nephew was getting married suddenly to his Indonesian girlfriend.  The wedding was to be in Jakarta.  Could we go?  Fortunately we had a week in between two other commitments and were able to book flights and a hotel.

First we had to recover from the group visit, tidy up and get back to normal, then we had a long weekend walking in the Spanish side of the Pyrenees (Sierra de Guara) with our walking group here.  We left at 6am on Friday morning arriving in Spain in the evening.  On the way we visited a sanctuary which is enormous, a place for travellers and pilgrims.  Beautiful architecture, mosaics etc. but one does wonder if the money would have been better spent on the people of the area.  Anyway the hotel was good with a pool (needed as it was very hot).  We walked Sat, Sun and Mon leaving for home in the afternoon.  I managed short walks of about 4 hours so was quite pleased, Chris of course did the long ones.  Spectacular countryside and pretty mountain villages.

Arrived home late Mon night and were on the plane for Jakarta Tues pm.  Jakarta is huge, polluted and noisy.  The traffic never stops.  We did manage to find backpacker area (the only place where there are bars as far as we could tell).  We did a tour of the port which was very interesting, visited the museum and did loads of shopping in the covered clothes market which is huge.  So much stuff!  To start with we thought it expensive until we realised that the prices quoted were for batches of 12 items!

So on to the wedding.  So glad we went as we were 'in loco parentis' for the day as my nephew's parents are hippies and have no money.  I had the full make up treatment - even false eyelashes, and hair back-combed and lacquered until stiff as a board.  We were provided with traditional dress and then had the ceremony itself.  This involved lots of talking among the men agreeing the wedding contract and then the bride arrived and vows and rings exchanged, in all about 1.5 hours.  Fortunately there was an MC who translated things into English.  After this there was a bit of refreshment and a change of clothes for the evening reception.  Baubles, bangles and beads were the order of the day.  We as 'parents' were up on the stage receiving all the guests (about 1,000).  2 hours later we got some food and it was all over.  A really great experience.

We arrived back on a Tues midday and were off again the next morning to the UK.  Had a great 10 days catching up with friends and family (Chris did a bit of work to keep his hand in).  Came back several pounds heavier as everyone had cooked yummy food.   The weather was foul while in Devon and made us realise why we are here.

So now we are back for 2 weeks before going to Australia for 2 months.  Lots of things to organise, people to see, events to go to, so no time to be bored! 

The house is having its outside coat on which will hopefully be finished before we go. 

Other than that not a lot of progress as no time but would like to tidy the garden a bit before we leave.  Next blog probably from Oz or next year!

Waiting for the invasion!

It's been 8 weeks since Judy's fall and she's improving all the time.  She's getting some physiotherapy and has finally shed the metal corset.  That was a relief, it was far too hot and sweaty.  She can now climb the ladders again (with care!) so the spare bed which she was sleeping in downstairs is now up in the spare room ready for visitors.  Also got the office finished.  Hooray, things are tidier and can now find paperwork which has been residing under the bed for a couple of months.  The computer has also gone back upstairs to the office. 

The second week in August was Montreal fete with a big mediaeval fair on the Tuesday evening.  Chris had volunteered to help and ended up helping to cook confit de canard - they served 360 as well as the same number of chicken legs, 325 kilos of chips, over 1000 meals in total.  Thursday night was a short walk and then Friday to Sunday was constant partying, although we were helping.  Judy sold meal tickets, Chris helped set up the bar, and so it went on.  But we did take Sunday night off to watch the end of the Olympics.

Talking of which, what a god-send for Judy.  As she couldn't work she had to do something useful so watched all she could and shouted for Team GB!  I'm sure they only did so well cos of my support!  I'm so glad we have our satellite trained on Astra 2 so we can get Brit tele.

It's been flat out on the house trying to get the first spare bedroom ready for our walking group visit next week.  A friend came to help Chris put up the plasterboard which took all of one day, but then he could plaster the joints (getting better at that), paint, lay the floor etc on his own.  Then another couple helped get the floorboards upstairs. 

So today we finished assembling IKEA furniture and it's habitable if not perfectly finished. 

Spent another jolly day with the quilles (skittles) teams at the French Championship.  Unfortunately no-one did as well as expected, but the food and drink flowed as usual, the sun shone and it was a jolly day out.

We did manage to take some time off last week when we could see the end of the bedroom in sight.  Slobbed in the sunshine at some of the local swimming lakes for the best part of three days - it has been hot!  In fact, it's been too hot for our lettuces which died despite watering.

Yesterday we went out for lunch at a nearby village - it was billed as an Asterix theme, magic potion to start and did we eat a lot of roast boar!  We drank far too much to drive home so walked the 7km back.  Judy managed fine and it did sober us slightly.  Didn't need food in the evening!

So now we wait for the English invasion - 14 walkers/party goers descending on Montreal Monday for a week.  Not all staying with us I hasten to add.

What happened to June? And July?

So, after "what happened to May?"  What happened to June?  And July?

Having finished the bathroom we moved to our shower room which had never been finished.  Now it is!  Hooray - it's so nice to use a finished room, bit easier to keep clean as well.

Well I did play for the ladies quille team and we didn't do too badly, got into the semi finals and were then beaten fair and square.  It was an extremely hot day so was quite glad to be able to retire to the shade.

We went with the quille bunch to a day of local games.  They all took it quite seriously and won quite a lot.  We however were in a team of 3.  We played petanque in the morning fairly badly although we did win one round.  In the afternoon we played quille also fairly badly but that wasn't surprising after the very liquid lunch.  It was another beautiful day and a good time was had by all.  It was rounded off by a bar-b-q back at base so having left home at 7.30 in the morning we finally returned at 10.30 in the evening.  Good practice for the French as we are still the only Brits who play.

Having finished the shower room it was time to start on the study.  This is quite important cos at the moment the office is under the bed!  Not always easy to find stuff and there seems to be the constant cry of "where have you put ...?"  Mind you that's quite normal.  This is it part done - more later.

There was also the usual walking and badminton, the badminton season finishing with a very convivial end of season dinner in a local restaurant, and a very good evening of music by the local brass band with, of course, the attendant eating and drinking.  We've also offered to help with the local fêtes so that will be interesting and will hopefully meet more people here.

We are still doing bits in the garden, and have a small veg patch at the bottom of the plot.  There are steps down to it and Judy sowed a load of wild flower seeds that are looking fantastic.  We're eating our own tomatoes - grown outside, no greenhouse! 

 In between times we had to make a visit to Bordeaux for Chris to swear the oath in the British Consulate for the probate on his mother's will.  So we did that and did a bit of shopping - went to Ikea for bedroom furniture and came out with all sorts of other bits and pieces as one does but I do like Ikea.
The Consulate said they'd post all the papers to the probate office in London so we went away happy.  Two weeks later having heard nothing Chris phoned the probate office who denied having received anything from France.  Well the air was blue as we are waiting for probate to be able to sell the flat - buyer all ready to go.  Panic and lots of phone calls later we made an appointment to re-swear the oath while in UK for the wedding of the year (and to catch up with friends and family).  So all that was arranged, papers sent, all organised ....

So with painting nearly done on the study and trip ready to go I decided to fall off a ladder.  Nightmare!  Whisked off to hospital by the firemen and deposited with one broken rib and a fractured vertebra not to mention a hole in my head.  (The doctor asked me this morning if I had any trouble with memory, difficult one that but the answer was no more than usual).  So was in hospital for 12 days and am now languishing at home with a fetching metal corset.  Poor Chris had to install a downstairs toilet pronto which he managed with the help of Nicola who was fortunately able to come out for a few days.  It now also has 4 walls and a door!

So things are now strolling along, I have a sun lounger so I can go outside and am walking for half hour stretches.

Hopefully all will be back to normal in a few weeks.  So all work on slow, wedding missed and the oath swearing had to be rearranged back in Bordeaux.  All that is now done and posted by Chris with a track on it so should happen this time.  What a palaver!!  So I must thank all our friends who sent cards and made phone calls - very much appreciated.

The study is nearly finished, just need to oil the floor and put the skirting on.  Chris learned how to wire up RJ45 sockets in the process.

Chris and a friend went to celebrate the 14th July at a meal in town, and now, after three weeks, Judy is up to going out for meals again, so we arranged a group of 12 to join a walk and meal in another local village. 

Another classic French evening!

What happened to May?

The second weekend in May is the Bandas festival in Condom with three days of music and merry-making.  We went with (French) friends and a jolly good time was had by all especially as the Montreal band won a prize for best local band and another for musical quality.  They've never done that before so were as high as kites.

We worked on the bathroom a bit.

Then there was a mid-week walk at Montreal with the people and families from the local home for people with learning difficulties (very appropriate for our French!) where we met some lovely people over another long lunch.  Next day (Ascension) was off with the walking group for four days in the gorge of the Aveyron river.  Weather wasn't particularly good with heavy rain at times, but very convivial all the same.  We walked (sometimes in the wrong direction!), visited castles, caves and towns and even ate and drank a bit.  We shared a mobile home with two English ladies who have become good friends.

                                           This notice is at the top of a really steep climb!

Then we worked on the bathroom a bit.

For four weeks there's 'art' in five different places in the area, some a bit strange but one fantastic bit of computer-generated rose windows projected onto a huge sphere in small church.  The pattern changed all the time - quite stunning, like a giant kaleidoscope .

This one was in the gardens of private chateau.  The art wasn't up to much but the chateau is beautiful.

And we worked on the bathroom a bit!

We had hoped to have the bathroom finished by the end of May, but...

...it is finished now.

If more enjoyment doesn't get in the way too much, it's the bureau and bedroom 2 next.  Although, having said that, today was a meeting of the quilles group with aperitif provided by one whose birthday it was, and the next two weekends seem to be full already!  Judy will be playing for one of the ladies' teams next Saturday.  Team Z I think.  But we have also found someone who wants to play petanque in the next village fete so we'll be a team of three, I just hope he's not too good as we definitely aren't!

Along the way the plumber finally arrived to install our solar hot water system and we spent an hour with a very helpful French tax inspector and later managed to fill in our French tax declarations.  But we're still waiting for quotes for the final render coat outside.  We've also organised a trip to Oz from the beginning of November until 10th January, including a bit of work for Chris in Perth and a conference in Sydney before heading to Donna's for Christmas and New Year.  Really looking forward to this.  Donna has a new job which she is really enjoying so finally all is good for her.  We'll also get to meet our step grandson which will be nice especially as it looks like he'll be the only grandchild we'll have!

A year in the Gers

Well, we left the UK on 3rd May last year and arrived here on 4th, so it's our first anniversary!  What's happened to a whole year?   All in all it's been a wonderful year, but very busy.  Fortunately no regrets about the move!

The house progresses (slowly) and we now have a working mechanical ventilation heat recovery system (MVHR in England, VMC double-flux in France) which means we're not in danger of dying from asphyxiation when it's all shut up.  This has been a boon because the weather in April has been FOUL!  Rain, rain and more rain just like UK but a bit warmer.  Fortunately we now have a roof complete with guttering and surprise of all surprises the final bill came in lower than the estimate.  That doesn't happen too often I can tell you.

We're now waiting for quotes to do the final render coat - too tricky for us, waiting being the operative word, getting quotes from firms is nearly impossible.  We've also started on the bathroom (for guests) and have the dividing walls up and wiring in; plumbing next and the decisions about how to do the tiling.  Holiday home well on the way!

Our plumber called (amazing) to apologise for not having done the solar hot water system because the weather was too bad to work outside, and hopefully it will be installed this week or next, holidays permitting.  May 1st and 8th are hols here, as is 17th ... etc.  as with plumbers everywhere we are at his mercy.

Still walking and even get the occasional mention in the local paper as 'sympathiques randonneurs anglais'.  Did a walking quiz (about 14km and 20 questions en route) and came 3rd because one of our team members was French and knew who to ask for tricky answers.

Needless to say, the walk was followed by a superb lunch!

The fete in the next village where we play quilles (skittles) and belote (cards) was nearly a wash-out with the weather, and we did end up playing play quilles in the rain.  Chris had been called up to help raise the marquee, and it was necessary for the meal, which was very good and where we met more nice people.  They all think we're totally mad cos we walk home (only about 4km).

Missed one walk by going to another protest at our local (50km away) nuclear power station.  Quite a good turn-out and the weather held up.  Probably won't make any difference but one has to try.

 

Afterwards our friend Danielle gave us a guided tour of a famous local village, very pretty.

This weekend we decide to relax and appreciate the anniversary of our move, so Saturday morning we went to support the quilles team (who won) then stayed for lunch (free!) which lasted the usual 2-3 hours then had a quick game (badly) before coming back to enjoy a bottle of bubbly on what will one day be the terrace. 

Sunday was a local walk with an amazing half-way 'snack' including wine and Armagnac, then stayed for the village lunch.  Monday we worked on the house but because Chris had helped put up the marquee, we were invited for the post-fete dinner, also enormous and copious drinks - free again!  And again we walked home - still mad!  We seem to have been adopted by the quille players and get invited to everything.  Tuesday (8th) was another holiday (Armistice in Europe) so we had some friends round for lunch.  Two French, one American, one German and one Fench-Cambodian.

Seems to have been one long round of eating and drinking, but that's life in the Gers!! 

What with badminton, quilles, belote, jazz, French lessons, walking, eating and generally having a good time in between building the house and planting the garden, and getting our head around the way things happen (or not) in France, it's a very full life.

As Judy said at one point, we really can't imagine living anywhere else.