SOME INTERNAL CHANGES

FOR SALE, OAK REFECTORY TABLE AND FIVE CHAIRS. Why does nobody want my pride and joy?

The old Ikea kitchen unit - Yuck!

The new kitchen - Quite French I think.

We inherited a really grotty Ikea kitchen which we replaced with the one above. Before the kitchen was fitted we knocked the wall down between the kitchen and sitting room so we now have a large open plan space, which is very light and airy. Too light sometimes as the glare from the sunlight can be blinding (not difficult when you are half blind already). We have replaced all the internal doors but I would really like to be able to replace the bathroom. It is a good size, just badly laid out and the colour scheme of large white tiles with a mustard coloured trim along the top is not my taste. We have a walk in shower but no bath and we would both like a bath occasionally! Maybe someday!

We have had to get rid of a lot of furniture, some we have given away and we are trying to sell one or two antiques which do not fit in to this "modern villa" My pride and joy was my oak refectory table which seats ten to twelve people and is just too big for us now. I have been trying to sell it for nonths but there are no takers and I will chop it up before I give it away!

Improvements to outside are on-going.

These photos show the old terrace and the new pergola and tiled terrace. The tiling and pergola also run along the side of the maison, and hopefully this time next year there will be sufficient climbing plants to make the "extension" of the living room look more lived in. The problem with gardening here, apart from the fact you need a pickaxe and not a trowel, is the fact that many plants I would have liked to have grown do not survive the quite severe frosts we have here in the winter. I had no idea it would be so COLD. One of my dreams was to grow Bougainvillea which is fine in the summer but dies of shock in the winter. Still I did manage a few flowers last summer and I will try again in the spring.

We have recently bought a few trees which should help but garden centres here in France are not cheap and I have to choose my plants carefully in order to get best value for money. The "compost" they sell here is absolute rubbish and expensive rubbish at that, so we have bought a compost bin which hopefully will give us some decent stuff. I started filling it up and would you believe it the wind blew the whole bin right across the garden, so now we have to secure it with stones to stop it blowing away again.