Wind!

Wow, its been another windy day, although very mild, and I spent the morning doing those little jobs which I keep promising myself I will do - in other words housework!  I also baked my first baguette, and did the finishing touches to the kitchen decoration.  Its only taken me three weeks!

The kitchen here is unlike any kitchen I have never known before, and while it is taking some getting used to, I do like the 'feel' of it.  It is very 'French' - in other words unconventional!  There are no built in units - in fact the day we moved in all it had was four walls, a floor, a sink unit, a woodburner and a piece of worktop about 75cm long.  Here are a few piccies of it when we first viewed it back in July last year.....now imagine it without anything in!

Anyway, we have had to make the best of what we have, and other than my brand spanking new Rangemaster Professional + oven (*big cheesy grin*), we have basically just given the walls a lick of paint - we kept pretty much to the original colour scheme as we liked it.  You may also notice the lovely mosaic tiles, which were done by the previous owner who was a bit of an arty farty type person.  Not to be outdone, I decided to trace one of the mosaic flowers, and stencil them on to the walls with some leftover paint.  I am quite pleased with the result, and think they brighten the place up a bit.  We also bought a second hand sideboard for €120 and have another one to collect and restore from a second hand place in Brive-la-Gaillarde - it is an old wooden unit, quite ornate, and it has cost us all of €20 - bargain! The biggest challenge is going to be getting it on to the roof of the car and bringing it back!  Watch this space.  Anyway, here are some piccies of the finished kitchen with our own stuff in it.

I would still like some blinds for the window, and a new curtain to cover the under-sink area, and I am trying to find a cheap way of doing so - would love to make something myself out of a nice bit of material, but 1) I am not very artistic and cannot sew! and 2) I can't find any material I like.  I will attempt something though.  Watch this space!

This afternoon, after sampling my wonderful home baked baguette, which tasted authentic, but did not look authentic due to its shape, I pottered around outside, planted a row of peas, and then some more wildflowers.  And I had the most wonderful encounter with a blue tit, who came and sat under the terrace and watched me work (although personally I reckon he was after my cup of Yorkshire Tea!).  Anyway, here is the little fella - in Wedley tradition (well after my dear Mum) I have named him Bertrand (he was called Billy in England).  Isn't he cracking?

And that was pretty much my afternoon.  5pm was our appointment with the Doctor.  The blandness of the waiting room was certainly made up for by the jolliness of the consultation room, which was painted a lovely shade of warm yellow, with a mezzanine examination area painted bright orange.  Like no other doctor's surgery I have ever known in fact, and certainly not as cold, uninviting, sterile and stern as the ones I encountered in England.  The Doctor himself was younger than me (is that possible???) and did not seem phased by my nutter declaration.  He chatted to us about our plans, and I actually think the only reason he got us there was to practice his English.  And it cost us €23 for the pleasure - the bloody cheek of it!

Anyway after our dinner of Turkey Cordon Bleu, pomme de terre boulangère, and salade verte, I am just about to wind down with my final cup of Yorkshire tea of the day......

Bonne soirée à tous....

Alison
xx