The roof is complete

Somewhere there amongst the mayhem of the wedding we received the news that the roof in France was now complete and I have been trying to upload photos. Our good friend and "project manager" always sends us photos but to make it easier and quicker he sends them as .pdf files and it takes all my brain cells (which are getting fewer by the day!) to work out how to import those photos to Blogger. Fingers crossed that there are some photos with this post.

As you can imagine we were very excited by the news, thrilled with the results and cannot wait to get out there and see it in person. Looks like we may be able to squeeze in a trip in late October, once the wedding fallout has been assessed. The house is still a long way from being habitable and our usual accommodation in a very nearby gite is unavailable this time, it appears they are no longer trading as a gite, which is a bit of a pain. So we are scouting around trying to find somewhere to stay as close as possible to the village.

We are hoping to make a little progress towards making the property "habitable" or maybe a better word would be "squattable". We want to try and get a woodburning stove bought if not actually installed and talk to artisans about the wiring and installation of a hot water tank and shower. One of these days I guess we also have to take the bull by the horns and flush the toilet - believe me that is scarier than it sounds, we have no idea what state the septic tank is in and nobody has lived there for many many years. When we were there in April, we noticed a leak in the loo and bought what we hoped was the required part, however, never got around to fixing it. We strategically left the part on top of the loo seat in the hope that if the builders wanted to use the facilities, they might fix it for us. Probably very wishful thinking on our part, for all we know they just went ahead and used it, leak and all!!

It was a perfect day

OK there were a few raindrops but nobody cared - it all went swimmingly. All the overseas visitors had mustered at our house by 7pm on the Thursday evening so 21 of us headed out for a delicious pre-wedding meal at a very nice local restaurant.

Then the bridesmaids and bride all settled down for not too late a night at our house.

Come the big day, mother and father of the bride were awake very early and chomping at the bit, the feeling was "OK we've stressed about this day BIG TIME for the last few months - nothing more to do but let the plans fall into place" and they did.

We had a lovely relaxing morning at our house, the bridesmaids, bride and mother of the bride having their hair and makeup done, a few sandwiches with father of the bride and a quick restorative beer and things got underway.

We had to call indoors or outdoors at 11am and it was decided due to the somewhat overcast and very humid day to call indoors. From that moment we could all relax about that decision.

Photos in the garden and a glass of champagne and the cars arrived to whisk all away.

The bride's brothers were in charge of whipping the inside venue into shape, laying down the aisle runner, sprinkling petals, setting up the fall planters to give the room some colour. They did a great job. Not that I think the bride would have noticed an elephant in the room, father of the bride said she was shaking like a leaf by the time he marched (no other word for it!) her up the aisle.

They made their vows in emotion filled voices but without incident and from then on I could visibly see her relax and start to enjoy herself.

With my feathers (see photo) sometimes I wasn't sure whether or not raindrops were falling but if they did, they dampened no-one's spirits and if anything added something to an already fantastic day.

The bride was stunning, the groom nervous and handsome (sometimes looking at his bride as if he couldn't believe his luck), the vineyard lush and beautiful, the reception meal spectacular - we couldn't ask for more. It was a perfect day.....

Where did all those years go.....?

What a day – it brought back many memories! I remember 27 years ago, as I sat in the rocking chair watching my daughter sleep after nursing, having fanciful thoughts that I could see glimpses of the beautiful girl she would grow up to be. Even to myself I thought this was a little silly.

Over the years, through the battlefield of her teens, we have had heartache and tears, but of course also laughter and tears. I can remember her shouting at me in times of stress and argument that she “wanted to try everything, do anything!” As you can imagine, as the parent of a willful teenage girl, that scared the life out of me.

However as I watched her on Friday and received all the wonderful compliments from everyone on what a lovely girl she was, it was all worthwhile. The rules laid down to be butted against, the battlefield of emotions through the years. I knew everyone meant “what a lovely person” she is, inside and out. Full of appetite for life, full of fun, full of integrity, loyal to her friends, concerned for her world and those around her, a lovely well rounded girl. Her dad and I swelled with pride.


In her speech, she addressed her final words to her chosen life partner when she said “It took me a long time to find you, and now that I have I want you to know I love you and I can’t wait to see how our story unfolds”. We are all waiting with baited breath …..baby girl.

Anyone to the Rescue?

NOTICE: Two healthy but hard up twentysomethings looking to spend a month in Europe in October/November. Any suggestions as to accommodation, location, anyone looking for cheap labour in return for bed and board, any advice at all.....gratefully received. They hope to visit our little piece of France for a day or two but then it is off to anywhere and any many places as possible, spending as little money as possible.

As you all know by now the wedding is just days away, stress levels are peaking but lists are thankfully getting a little shorter. The decision as to jewellery with the outfit still not made (there are currently three options!!).

Went out with elder son yesterday to suit him up for the wedding and very cool he looks too. It was a huge decision, to look appropriately dressed but still retaining his sense of self. His girlfriend joins us tonight from Victoria, and then it is pretty much all systems go through the weekend. This time next week I will probably be dribbling in my teacup!! A washed out rag of anti-climax and exhaustion.

I may not be blogging for a few days but I will be visiting everyone.

Stagette Fallout

We had a lovely afternoon on Saturday.  The weather cooperated and we sat around the pool, a few people actually took the plunge.  We had all got together to get just a couple of big presents and we gave my daughter a nice expensive blender and some great flatware.  The rest of the time was spent drinking, eating, chatting and laughing.

Shower Part II - the Stagette.  Some of the diehards (me included) headed out in the evening to go downtown.  Now the proceedings got serious.  Shots were imbibed!  Several of them, I remember saying at the time "this is going to hurt tomorrow!"  And boy did it, Sunday was BRUTAL.  I needed to sit quietly, with eyes closed making that age-old pledge "never again!!!".

We managed to get escorted from one bar by the bouncers, due to my daughter and friends dancing in the booth.  All in all, you could say it was a very successful Shower/Stagette!

So now it is onwards, 9 days and counting.  The bride and groom are off to the airport this evening to pick up her younger (not youngest) brother.  We are all excited about that as we haven't seen him for a year, he has been out west, in Banff and most recently in Victoria BC.

We seem to be in a holding pattern at the moment.  We keep checking the lists, all seems to be in hand.  We just have to wait for the big day.  I think this is the toughest period.  I am looking for chores to do, to make the time go quicker.  The bride is just wishing herself on the honeymoon.  It is VERY exciting.  A friend assures me the weight will just drop off me over the next week - she better be right as I do have "serious foundation garments" still left on my list!! Ladies - you know what I mean.