ETC Gites

Well has been a while since I’ve written, obviously, but to ease me back in to it gently (and with much persuasion s.p. from bro) I will reply to being tagged (which btw took some finding out what it was to be tagged!!) so my 8 random facts:

1. I’ve been with my hubby for nearly 20 years and love him more than when we first started going out when I was 15 (In fact I fell in love with his backside when I saw him walking up the drive when I was 13 - fortunately although we are a little bit older now - his backside hasn’t changed and is still as wonderful!!!).

2. Between Carl and I we have managed to raise a very beautiful and sane 19 year old daughter who we are extremely proud of - if you know us both you’ll realise the miracle (sorry T xxx).

3. We have been living in France for the past two years and we can now have conversations and understand lots in French, random but hey that’s what you wanted.

4. We are both holding down jobs in France and actually understand what our bosses want us to do (miracle!!) although sometimes we wish we didn’t!!.

At this point I think I’ll do some about me ….

5. Ray Mears got me lost in the New Forest (actually I think it was Carl’s fault but we were on a weekend tracking course with Ray).

6. I was in a Spice Girl’s video (Mama) … well you can see my hands, I swear it’s me I recognize the rings but I was there.

7. I can still to the splits, although now it tends to hurt for several days afterward, and I need a lot to drink beforhand!! (when don’t I).

8. Typing this I’ve realised that I can still just about manage to type 100 words per minute, not bad!!

That’s all for now. Will try and update, between working, very soon. Hope my loyal followers (Flotsky and Terrie!!) will forgive the lapse!!

Lots of love to all xxxx

What’s been happening - where to start!

Friday evening our friends that are going back to the UK for a month (they are having a house built in Marciac) came for dinner and to lend us their Sky while they are away. As you can imagine, Carl is very, very happy! sport, cartoons, sport and all in English he’s in seventh heaven!! Had a lovely meal (Shepherd’s pie), a few glasses of wine and had a really chilled evening.

Saturday we had some other friends over who live in Roques (about an hour away) with their three kids. They arrived at about 11:00am and we had a lovely roast chicken lunch, had just finished eating when some friends from the village arrived unplanned, Gary and Marie-Ange, anyhow Carl, Dave and the kids went fishing (well they took a rod and made the right noises I believe) and I sat with Lisa, Gary and Marie-Ange and chatted rubbish which was lovely.

One of the things I love about being here is people drop in all the time, just to say hello, borrow a DVD or just to have a coffee or glass of wine. I can’t remember ever doing that when we in the UK without it all being planned beforehand. It always means no days ever the same which is great. Mind you I don’t think I’ve ever talked so much in my life! (Carl, however, might disagree with me on that one).

Lisa, Dave and the kids left at 5:30 and Gary and M-A left around 8:30 so all in all a pretty good day. It was lovely also to show them the house and how things have moved on for us. They have a huge house in Roques with the only downside being they have no land with the property, just a small courtyard, so you can imagine the kids had a wonderful time running around.

Went to see Michel regarding work for Carl and he is starting on site at the end of this month / start of next so very exciting and at the same time nerve wrecking but Carl will be fine. I think the work he has achieved on the house has given him a lot more confidence in his abilities which is great.

Had an email this morning from a chap I sent my CV to just after Christmas. He has an estate agency in Maubourget (about 15 mins up the road) and I sent my details through on spec. Has has asked if I’m still interested in work - which of course I am so will wait for him to come back to me.

Monday morning my job search continues and I will go to Marciac, which has quite a high population of English, and throw around my CV just in case!

Well will update next week and wait as ever to see what the new week will bring! Ciao for now.

Well back to reality with a bump as it were, spent most of the day in Aire sur L’Ardour searching the agencies for work … at the moment to no avail. First stop was Manpower who took my CV, I did explain that I’m happy to do anything, cleaning, grape picking etc etc she nodded very seriously and said that it is quite difficult for women to get a job in the area!! Next stop was Adecco who looked at my CV and said it would be easier for me to sign on on line mmm to much hassle you think!

Finally went to the local equivalent of the job centre and though explaining to the very enigmatic lady that my French was slightly limited spent the next hour and a half explaining the options she felt were available to me (including retaking my schooling so my qualifications were in French!) in very quick and technical French.

Have come away with a few ideas of local companies to contact (including the Caves which import and export their wine and might have the need for an English speaking administrator - free wine?) and on Friday will start doing more tours around the area dropping off CV’s directly. What seems to be the norm is that agencies out here seem to work quite differently from ours, i.e. they actually have jobs! But hey, live and learn.

On the otherhand, we were in the bar last night, had to meet up with some friends who are going back to UK and say our goodbyes etc, and bumped into a chap who does new builds in France, with a team of two other guys, and is looking for a fourth to join his team. A few glasses were quaffed and we’re meeting up with him tomorrow to discuss Carl going to work for him - I keep trying - it falls in his lap, of course. The only downside with it is - if I went out to work, Carl can carry on doing up the house ready to get on the market, if he goes out to work (which now looks likely) I’m limited in the work I can do i.e. plumb a new bathroom and although I can do the painting and collumbage etc it will slow the process up slightly, however, at least it’s money coming in!!

Carl had a productive day and got some of the framework up in one of the back storage areas to change it in to a bedroom, our friend Steve came round to give him a hand and it has moved on quite a bit - really exciting!!

Anyhow, have a busy next couple of days so will catch up all the gossip at the weekend.

Well got back home on Wednesday finally, wow what a trip. I think we’re still recovering as are both so tired but then again, could be the fact that we didn’t stop when we were in England.

Fairly straightforward drive to the airport in Pau on Friday morning, went to the bar to get a beer and wine and said hi to our friendly waitresses at the bar (strange they recognize us and know exactly what we drink!), asked for an ashtray - sorry you can’t smoke in here anymore (new laws brought in the day before banning smoking in working areas but not yet in pubs / bars / clubs). Gutted, so it was outside to have a quick ciggie or two and wait for the plane. Fortunately arrived on time and got through pretty easily.

Carl’s dad and T met us at the airport so good to see her, she looks so well. Got back saw Carl’s family for a quick hello and then next door (my parents and Carl’s live next door to each other!!) to my M&D’s where my bro and his wife had come from Oxford for the weekend. Had a great evening, went to pub after (of course) naff music (which was great) came back and my M&D were still up so had a few more drinks and went next door to bed.

Saturday had quite a chilled day, watched the rugby (didn’t realise it was going on) and went up town (St Albans) for a meal for my Dad’s birthday, Terrie’s and bro’s. Ate in Cafe Rouge which was nice, the service however never changes (still not quite sure how Agneau translates into beef but hey). Went back had a few more beers and feel into bed exhausted.

Sunday had a bit of a lie in, went to say goodbye to bro and mrs, then the family were round for the birthdays on Carl’s side and T’s of course, was a bit manic but fun all the same. Went out for a meal with John to Zizzi’s which was very nice, back to the pub for a few and catch up with some friends and then back to Johns to check out his new plasma screen (cool) and a few more bottles of red. Poured into a cab at some stage and managed to get up the stairs to bed, just.

Monday was T’s birthday (19) and had promised to take her shopping to Bluewater (330 shops argggh). Now shopping never has been my favourite past-time ten minutes and I’m done so seven hours later it was time to say enough is enough and go back. She had a great time though fortunately. Took her out for a meal at Barney’s (just the three of us) and had a lovely meal. She had to work the next day so was tucked up in bed at about 11pm phew!

Tuesday being last day dashed around to get a few bits and pieces but not much really, went to Vision (motorcycle training) where Carl used to teach on a weekend and caught up. They are coming over to do a track day at Nogaro (20 mins away) in early March but it doesn’t look like anyone we know will be coming but will go for moral support (and the crack) anyway. Ate diner with Carl’s parents, went round to say goodbye to mine and then three of us went to the pub to down a few - have a few tears and a few laughs but good all the same.

Up ridiculously early Wednesday morning to catch the flight but got there in good time, checked in, went through all the safety checks eventually (had to leave behind the decorators caulk though) and hung around. The plane was 15 minutes delayed but on the whole went smoothly. The car started first time (fortunately) and we were back in Plaisance seven hours after leaving the house in England so not bad going really.

Went straight to pick up Asbo who was very pleased to see us, caught up with our friends at the bar and then came back to a chilled evening.

Had my french lesson Thursday morning (which went well until she said after 3/4 of an hour we needed to stop and have the final 1/4 conversational French - ouch), and then in the afternoon we went to our good friends Sue & Steve who live about five mins away to catch up on all the gossip. Had a great night (and morning for Carl who came to bed at 5:00 this morning), went to look at another house with S&S and then came back home. Work will be starting in earnest on Monday but have a few commitments over the weekend and then will be raring to go.

Have now had the conversation with all the family back home about selling our house here and looking for something smaller and on the whole it went quite well with everyone understanding our reasons for doing so. Will explain more about that at a later stage but all in all was a really good trip, was so good to catch up with everyone but as always, is so nice to be back home - for however long we can call this house home that is. Well until next time ….

Well sitting here with large glass (well for here) of cheap wine … preparing (not -packed yet) for going back to UK tomorrow, not quite sure how we feel but right at the moment a bit sad. Have dropped of ASBO (yes that’s right) our dog (bless) with his original owner and now both feel like we’ve lost our right (left for Carl) arm. No barking, no affection, no loves it’s horrid. Never having had an animal before to me it’s painful, I suppose all the affection, physically, that we’ve given to him in the last year has been very daughter (T) driven, which means the dog’s had a lot of lovin!!!! I know it’s only for six days (only four full ones in the UK) but tonight it seems like a lifetime. I suppose its the other way round when we leave our other baby (T) in England but never expected to feel it over an animal!!

But hey ho. Looking forward to both family get-togethers, one with my family big bro and mrs from Oxford and us and m&d et T for Friday night and Sat night for all the birthdays, Sunday with Carl’s side, both sisters and hubbys and four ankle biters (which I can’t wait to see!) and his mum and dad, Sunday evening with John (bestest friend!!) going out for a curry (Sooo miss curry - even Patacks by jar doesn’t taste the same) and excellent company. Thus far, for a change, haven’t got anything arranged for Monday and Tuesday (back v. early Wed morning) but Mon is T’s 19th birthday so might do someting for that!!!! ya think.

It’s so funny what you do miss (cheddar cheese), when we go back and see the kids (or they come here) the change is so significant. With your own children (child) you don’t really see it but with family, even though I used to see them every week, they have changed so much in such a short time. I think, with the exception of T, they are the ones I miss seeing the most, I love all my family so much and miss them, but I miss seeing the ‘kids’ grow up and I hate that they don’t react to me in the same way as they have forgotten their Auntie Em - that hurts but it’s part of this - ouch!!!

Anyhow, that’s it for now, will try to catch up en Angleterre but doubt will have the time so until next Thursday (ish) a Bientot! bisous xxxx

Funny sort of a day today (as in not ha ha!). Woke up this morning to glorious sunshine, tad chill but beautiful, fortunately no more snow overnight just absolutely freezing (friends said their thermometer was showing minus 12 at 4pm yesterday afternoon). Came downstairs to have a cuppa and no water! Pipes were frozen (of course), so no water but hey 6 inches of snow everywhere comes in handy.

Had our (snow) tea which was very nice and decided to try and start the car (Citroen) which had been charging overnight. The battery was so dead (and needed replacing) there was no chance. We have another car (Kia) which we haven’t driven (as we haven’t the money to insure it) and decided to charge the battery in that and change it over to the Citroen. Did that but the terminals wouldn’t fit so decided to put it back in the Kia, get the Kia going and drive to Plaisance to buy another battery but then the Kia wouldn’t start (wouldn’t you know).

Fortunately we have some very good friends who live close by and they said they’d come over and drive me to go and get a new battery. Fitted the new one and as the battery had been disconnected the alarm was going off and the lights were flashing and couldn’t suss out how to turn it off and there was nothing in the manual either. So after an hour of messing around I pressed a few buttons (as you do) and hey presto it stopped so that’s good! We just need to sort the Kia out now. Oh and by this time the water was working againg.

Today hasn’t been particularly successful day, Carl was so frustrated with everything but I guess that’s the way things are. He did get two sheets of plasterboard up on the kitchen ceiling and there is only two more to go, and he put French plugs on the kettle and microwave so another job down.

Have decided that as things are tricky with money, we are going to re-do the bathroom and toilet but not replace. The toilet is new so that room just needs painting and a light. The bathroom, I’ll clean and re-grout the tiles, paint the walls and re-mastic around the sink and the bath. We’ll put a new floor in the two and the hallway. The washing machine will go in there aswell (there is space fortunately) and we’ll put a radiator in the bathroom and one in the hallway, all of which we’ve got already. There is piping from the old heating system there so hopefully (very) it should be relatively straight-forward for Carl to do. In that respect its going to save us a lot of time aswell so should be in a position to start advertising very shortly which is good.

Just finished up for the day and going to find something to throw together for tea, might have a quick shower (no heating!) and snuggle down for the night as they say its going to be colder tonight than it has been. That said it was very beautiful tonight when the sun was setting and will attach a picture.

Chin’s are, as ever up and we’ll see what tomorrow brings …

Well here we are four months on from my last / first entry, really must get my arse in gear and try to write regularly (I wonder if that’s ever been written before?). To carry on from my last post we met my parents in Biarritz had the night there went on to St Jean de Luz which was beautiful and came back to Chez ETC on the Monday and had a fantastic week with them here. Really relaxed and chilled; plenty to drink, eat and good company as ever, was hard to see them leave but I think they were relieved to get back to civilization.

So where are we now, well today we’re snowed in under 5 inches of lovely fluffy snow, it started at around 11:00 last night and just went for it, it’s quite lovely actually, the garden which looked dreadful yesterday morning now looks beautiful so it can’t be a bad thing! The roads around us are agricultural (with obviously big ditches either side) so decided on the whole that it would be better to snug down at home and brave it out rather than stashing the car (which incidently we now think needs a new battery as wouldn’t start, ho hum!). We don’t actually need to get anything at the moment (have wine, baccy and food in the freezer, essentials in that order!).

Will go back and write up what we’ve actually been up to in the last four months (or 16 for that matter) but thought it best just to actually write something rather that ignoring it because it’s too difficult.

Carl carried on putting up the ceiling in the kitchen today using the french metallic system which is interesting, good idea in general but a pain in the butt when your trying to avoid heating pipes, electric cables, dogs, cats etc etc. All ready for tomorrow to screw in the the final five or so pieces of plasterboard and that’s another thing off the list. I need to go round tomorrow and sandpaper the joints and then start painting so by tomorrow night my arms and back will be aching.

Things have been a bit tough lately, we’re now in the position that we’re out of money so that’s a bit scary to say the least. I have done all the things I needed to do to sign up for work and when the weather’s better will drive to Eauze (which is about half and hour away) and register with Adecco and Manpower. I have been to the Assedic to get my letter of inscription and then onto the Government run agency ANPE who have referred me back to Plaisance and an agency called Instep so I am waiting patiently (not really) for a phone call to go in and see them to see if they can help me to find a job - what red tape? In the meantime am asking around everyone we know to see if there’s anything I can do so keep you’re fingers crossed.

The house is, at a rough guess, now 95% finished and other than putting in the new bathroom is just fiddly bits and snagging so that’s quite encouraging and also with the weather being so bad, we can’t really go out so means we have heads down which is no bad thing.

T was out over Christmas which was lovely but she didn’t bring enough of her medication so basically ended up with three weeks on the sofa, she won’t make that mistake again. Was a bit difficult speaking to everyone over Christmas (first one away) and got a bit emotional, as per norm, but it was great to be just the three of us for the first time.

Anyhow, was relieved to get T back in one piece without a visit to the local a&e (1 hour away) and that she is now fully on the mend. When she got back she was jobless, which was unfortunate, however within the week she had sorted herself out (atagirl) and is now a trainee hairdresser which I think is fab for her and a great trade (especially for me - quite happy to be a model).

Looking at various things at the moment to earn some money, other than looking for a job, and one thing which seems relatively (I may regret that) straight forward is renting the house out on a long term let basis. To start of with if we get the interest, Carl and I would move into friends up the road and then renovate the barn at the side of the house for us to stay in. Not sure how this will work but is a distinct possibility.

I know this is a bit all over the place at the moment but will get the hang of it eventually and will try to write at least twice a week. Catch up soon xx