Keeping Busy

Well I have to do something with my days while I wait for the elusive job to appear so I have been doing some re-upholstry - remember that sweet deal  I got back at the beginning of the year.  We have been living with it in it's grubby state for a while but I finally got around to doing something about it.  Here is the before, have to admit to liking the previous fabric and it went well with my colours but it was definitely past its prime.

So I headed out to find a replacement fabric, so hard.  I would enter a store with something in mind, but always on a budget, anything I liked was pricey, so I would wander around getting more and more overwhelmed - well this is what I finally settled for.

 I have to say I am pretty pleased with the result.  In order to do the work I had to get a sewing machine (all of these things I have in France!!) so found a second hand one for $40, it works perfectly.

Loving my second hand bargain hunting.  I have another couple of projects to get my teeth over the next few days, a dresser for painting (picked up online for $25) and another upholstery project picked up this morning at the thrift store for $7.99 - I am thinking toile de jouy -what do you think?

Hello.....Again!

If anyone out there is interested, let me bring you up to date.  Can't believe how from being totalled enamoured of my blog, I just couldn't find the time to post.  But back again - must have time on  my hands!

Well I did get that job and it lasted a couple of months, I think it could have gone longer if I had wanted it to and we didn't decide to leave Quebec, but that is what happened.  I love the city of Montreal, it has a lot going on, festivals, music, fashion etc. but they don't make it easy for one to settle in.  And the French language issue is huge.  As you know I lived in France for over a year and admittedly I wasn't looking to work but in Quebec you are definitely prejudiced against by 1.  not being Francophone and 2. not being fluent in French.  As it turned out the job I got didn't require French at all!!

Anyway we have now relocated back to where we started, back in the same city as our daughter and grandchildren in South West Ontario, just half an hour from youngest son who is at college in Toronto.

We have rented a cute little house in the downtown area of the city close to the lake in a lovely leafy neighbourhood.  I have spent the last month furnishing the place from consignment shops, charity shops and second hand sites on the Internet and am totally hooked on "thrifting". I am very happy with the end result, it is very cosy.  I don't think I will ever pay full price for anything again.

So now I am back in the job hunt, looking for temporary office work, so that I can take the essential  trips back to France several times a year.  We were back there for a couple of weeks in late July and are off again at the end of next month. 

So far so good.

Good news!

Well after all my moaning in my last post, I have now got a little temp job.  Not sure how long it will last but am trying to make myself indispensable.  At the moment it is just reconciling orders and invoices and filing.  They have a big backlog.

As I suspected, it was more a case of who you know, not what you know!

So from having too much time on my hands, life has become a little hectic; have had to pass on the French classes for a few weeks, put off the yoga class on Friday mornings, postpone a much needed pedicure (lovely Mother's Day present from daughter :)  ) and cancel my dog walking with a new friend.

Still the money will help finance the flights back to France in July.

Keeping Busy

I am trying to fill my days here in Montreal. I am feeling frustrated at my inability to find a job here. Although I spent a year living in France and felt quite confident in my French there, here in Quebec it is quite intimidating to use one's French when absolutely everyone is bilingual.

I find it hard to judge just how good/bad my French is when as soon as I open my mouth people realise I am not a francophone and they immediately speak to me in English. However in the job market it is a necessity that you have a good knowledge of French and I do know I couldn't hold down a job in French.

Ho hum, so (to answer aims' question) not sure about Quebec mainly due to this issue.  We came back to Canada rather than other options as we felt I should be able to work here. I have sent out many MANY applications, these days everything is "online" so my resume is floating around out there in the ether and I have heard nothing back.

So in order to keep myself from going mad, I have been refinishing some second hand furniture. I got these two side tables from the thrift store located in my old neighbourhood (where daughter and family now lives) for just over $10 the pair and I have painted them. I am very pleased with the end result. I picked up an old sewing machine table at the side of the road and that is my next project.

They look white - but more of a cream colour

Great detail - just one coat of varnish to finish off

I know I didn't work in France but there was plenty to keep me busy, here I am in a rented house, in the 'burbs' becoming a bored housewife. I have signed up for French classes which start next month. Sorry for the moaning post but that's how I feeling right now. PS: France was gorgeous, weather amazing, time there much too short. Roll on July.

Spring in Suburbia?

Since my last post and all that snow, "spring" has seemingly arrived. I live in Quebec in Canada now and this is unheard of at this time of year so we are all assuming this is just a blip and trying hard not to get too excited. Although it was 26 degrees C yesterday and today.

So the gardener in me couldn't miss the opportunity to get out there and tidy up. Above are pictures of my current garden here in suburbia - a bit of a blank canvas but backing onto the woods. I think a container garden is required, one that can move with me to the next location - wherever that may be - we are not planning on removing ourselves too far but this is just a rental at the moment.

Tomorrow however we off for a week in France and I cannot wait to be sitting in this garden instead. I am hoping the weather will cooperate and then try not to be too sad when I have to return to Canada, to the work/shopping involved in the new garden project.

We've had a little snow!

Well here in Quebec nearly a foot (!) is hardly worth mentioning. Last Friday it started snowing around 3pm and by 6pm we decided it was probably best not to drive so decided to walk to the closest restaurant for dinner - from the looks we got when we arrived, we must have looked like snowmen. It was very heavy driving snow and we were pretty much bent double trying to keep it out of our faces. We also had the added joy of trying to avoid all the snow ploughs out clearing the parking lots and sidewalks. We were only doing this as our youngest son was staying with us and he wanted to watch the Hockey game.

By morning it had been snowing for over 12 hours and there was a lot of snow! This picture is actually a couple of days later at our next house when we had had a chance to clean off the car.The following picture is of the deck at our new house where no-one has been living for a few months, so there is about 18 inches of snow, not the entirety of the snowfall this winter, as we have had a couple of thaws in between.
Roll on spring - we have confirmed our flights to France for a week at the end of March, and keep receiving updates on the weather there, it sounds wonderful and we cannot wait.

Sweet Deal!

Well son and I did go off to the second hand furniture warehouse (an exciting week with the parents as you can see) and I managed to pick up a sweet deal. A very nice armchair and ottoman for $25!!! They are a little grubby and I will give them a good clean. I intended to get something as an upholstery project but they look pretty good as they are at the moment. There is an oil stain on one corner so if anyone has any tips on removing that, please let me know.


Most of the stuff there was absolute tat, dusty and dirty with these little gems just sitting there amongst the mess.

There was also an interesting chest of drawers I might have to go back for next week. At these prices I would be a fool not to. But I will leave that until we have moved, just less stuff to transfer. We move into another rental on Wednesday, this time for six months. Gypsies - who us?!?

Family Weekend

It was what is known as the Family Holiday weekend in most of Canada (no holiday here in Quebec unfortunately) so our daughter, son-in-law and the granddaughters drove the 5 hours from Toronto for a few days.

We had a lovely time but you really do forget how intense and exhausting a young family can be. Annika is now 2 1/2 years old and great fun, tons of energy, talks non-stop with plenty of questions. Elise is now almost 7 months old and when in a good mood, an absolute delight with big smiles and lovely noises. However she likes her routine and it was messed up big time this weekend so she was not always so happy and she makes it known, believe me.

Anyway Kate and Mike got to have a nice night in downtown Montreal while we babysat, and then Sunday was a lovely cold but bright and sunny day and Annika got her first go at ice skating downtown on an outdoor rink in Old Montreal and then we all had lunch out in a nice restaurant.

They left around midday for the drive back, and I am now sitting here enjoying the peace and quiet. I have changed the bed ready for our 19 year old son to arrive this evening to spend the half term week with us. Not sure what we will do with him, but I am hoping he sleeps a bit more than his 7 month old niece and won't talk as much as the 2 1/2 year old. I have plans to go to a second hand furniture warehouse this week, do you think that is his scene?!

Photos!

I promised photos of my handiwork, so here goes:

Before

During

And after!

I have to admit to being very proud of myself. It was a lot of work, but so rewarding. We were thrilled to find the corner stones around the windows and door. Quite a transformation.

Where in the World....?

....have I been for FIVE months? ........am I living now?

Sorry I haven't been blogging - funny because I thought once I got to France I would have lots to say but I guess I was too busy doing to write about it.

Well it was August when I last posted and just off to visit my family in Canada, to meet the new granddaughter ( who is now 6 months old). I had a lovely time, it was very relaxed, well as relaxed as it can be in a house with a two year old and new baby!

Once I returned it was back to work in the garden, bringing in my harvest and tidying up.

Then I decided to transform the front of the house by taking off all the crepi/cement/gray stuff - a big job requiring a big tool. It took me about four weeks (not non stop as it was very hot) to get it cleaned off and about three weeks to then re-point it. A very rewarding job, I did get pointing injuries but was thrilled with the result. I will post pictures but at the moment am having issues with the internet on my laptop, hubby's which I am using seems fine.

That took me through to about November, meanwhile hubby was at the new job and hating it. So decisions had to be taken. Working in France for him wasn't turning out to the be dream he expected, work for me seemed non-existent. After much soul searching we decided we needed to change something. Hence we are now back in Canada! Yep I know! But this is where a job came up, we can be together all week, we are closer to the children (they are in Ontario we are in Quebec - about 5 hours drive apart) and hopefully life for hubby will be much more fulfilling.

We intend that France will always be our base, and hope to end up there eventually but for now this seems a much better arrangement all round. So here we are, in a rental amongst the piles of snow and sub-zero temperatures whilst our little house in France sits empty for now.

We are planning to go back for a week at the end of March and hope to get back there as often as possible, still getting work done. The main house is pretty much finished, just a few kitchen cabinets to be installed and then Phase 2 can begin.

I will try to post more regularly, especially now I have so much time on my hands, as I wait for a job to materialise. I am keeping my fingers crossed on that front as even after a year in France I am not sure I have enough French for Montreal!

Another two months....

Yes amazingly another two months have flown by here in our little village. I honestly wonder what I do with myself all day but the days just whizz by. How did I ever manage to have a job as well!! What have we been up to the? Well we have have a few visitors, the in-laws were here for a few days in early July, it was very hot while they were here and luckily they didn't want to do too much but we did a few bits, took them to Oradour sur Glane, visited nearby Chateau Guillaume, and went to a vide grenier so feel they got an all round taste of life here in the country.

When they were here the garden was looking very scorched as we had hardly any rain for months. Since mid-July however we have had plenty and all the water butts are nicely topped up....this after several weeks of having to water with the washing up water and from our well as there was a ban in the area.

Also we have made some progress on the kitchen, there is still a way to go but the units using my stripped windows are now in place and we also have a cooker!! Whoohoo - its beginning to resemble a kitchen.

Then just a couple of weeks ago, my brother, sister-in-law and two of their children were here for a week, again took off on the tourist route, trip to Limoges with a lovely walk along the river, a bit of a tortuous afternoon on the Velorail, and a tiny bit of house hunting!!!

Also, big news, second baby granddaughter, Elise Ann, was born weighing in at 8lb 10ozs on July 21st. Everyone doing very well - Annika has taken it all in her stride and I am off to Canada to see everyone a week today. Hubby just started a new job today, still in Toulouse, so not able to take time off to come with me. It will probably just be a couple of weeks of shopping with daughter, and spending lots of time with my granddaughters, I cannot wait.

Watching The Flowers Grow

Well where have I been for FOUR months, I promise I haven't just been watching the flowers grow, but saying that just look how they have grown - first picture a year ago April, second picture this morning .....

Note the railings and pillars have gone, much nicer and more open now.

The concrete pillars actually ended up in the kitchen floor ....... hopefully you can spot the difference.

I love it, I have a work top - bliss. I have to say I love the tiled floor, all my own handiwork.

We are having the cabinets made by a local craftsman on a piecemeal basis, I will eventually get doors, but the next phase is a wall cupboard using the old back door windows and a larder cupboard using the original kitchen windows. I have been busy stripping those

As you can imagine this wasn't too tough a job out there on a sunny afternoon under the shady pergola.

Got to admit many an hour has been lazed away out here.

This was one of our best investments. It is so lovely out there. What with the seemingly endless hot sunny days we have had so far this year, it has been a godsend. It is a little cooler this week and we have actually had a bit of rain, believe me - no-one is complaining.

Here is another one that is growing like a weed. Thank heavens for Skype. Her little brother/sister is due in six weeks.

A Belated Bonne Annee!

Just noticed that it is a month since I last posted. Where has the time gone? To think we are a 12th of the way to next Christmas! Ugh!

Well we had a lovely trip to Canada to see family, although with all the travel and rushing about my cold did stick around into the New Year. We left Canada on Boxing Day returning to the UK only to find that a week after the snow the carpark where we left our car was still a skating rink. Some nonsense about if they grit they are liable - how ridiculous. Is this what society has come to?

Anyway we then spent a hectic three days in England visiting friends and relatives and getting in some all important shopping, mostly in B & Q and Tesco. I was actually standing in an M&S where they were having a fantastic sale, but with hubby sitting on my shoulder I couldn't enjoy the experience and we left....with nothing!! Him oblivious to the fact that a trip to M&S (to buy stuff) had been an important part of my holiday!

We arrived back in our village late on the evening of 30th to find that someone (our builder) had kindly set the fire for us. We put a match to it and stood back, only to have the room alarmingly fill with smoke. So badly in fact, we had to throw water on it to put it out. It appears our builder had done exactly the same thing a few hours earlier, hoping to warm up the house for us! Apparently in our absence the chimney had become a little blocked so it was off to a chilly bed for us. Not the best welcome home. Up bright and early the next morning with our neighbour (and friend and wonderful dog sitter) round with her chimney cleaning kit to clean it out and hey presto, it was nice a toasty again.

So what have I been doing this last few weeks, well the builder got the ensuite installed and I have painted all the woodwork. We are very pleased with the results. Also finally got around to pointing and rendering the feature wall in the bedroom which meant we could finally return the little scaffold tower to its rightful owner. It is wonderful after 6 weeks to be able to negotiate our bedroom to our ensuite in the middle of the night without having to remember to climb through the scaffold!

A couple of photos of the results......

A couple of other bits of gossip, daughter and son-in-law are expecting baby number 2 in July! Very exciting news, guess where I will be spending my summer hols.

The next less happy news is that hubby's job down in Toulouse is just not working out, he is not happy and so we are looking around, will keep you posted on that one. On the positive side it has put a little bit more urgency into my "to do" list.

With scaffolding ........

and

without scaffolding!

Greetings from Canada

Currently sitting in my daughter's living room at silly o'clock in the morning drinking a hot lemon drink as I have managed to catch a nasty cold for Christmas. We set off for Canada via the UK last Saturday morning at 4am, worried about the snow that was forecast and how it was going to impact our journey. However we made great time through France, avoiding Paris, and took an earlier ferry across the Channel.

As we reached the English coast however we were in the thick of a snowstorm, so thick you could see the shore at all. We slid off the ferry (yep -absolutely no attempt by Seafrance to grit/clear the ramp or the route out of the port). Good god - these people are in the business of moving cars around. It was shocking. Then a knuckle clenching 5 hour trip from Dover to Gatwick. In that five hours we did not see one gritting truck, plough or policeman. Shame on those who are in charge of these things, knowing that this storm was coming no-one seemed to have made any effort to prepare. Not even hills were gritted, lorries jack knifed all over the place. Anyway we did make to the hotel with minutes to spare, just in time for the Strictly final - yes I have to admit I got totally hooked on this programme in the last few months and missing it was not an option !

We spent the entire day Sunday at Gatwick airport, i.e. 8.30am to 9.15pm, with thousands of other people on tenterhooks all day watching the departures boards as there was so little information and you really weren't certain whether anything was taking off or not. Once in the airport you didn't even know if it was still snowing outside. It wasn't! Turns out it only snowed for about two hours on Saturday lunchtime! We listened to announcements from various airlines for example Easyjet, just saying X, Y and Z flights are cancelled, will those passengers please leave the airport and re-book online! No apology - nothing. I am amazed there weren't riots!

Anyhoo finally arrived in Canada at 5am French time - picked up the rental car and made our way home and collapsed into bed. Never going to travel to Canada via UK again, too much margin for problems all around.

But we are safely here and I know many hundreds of people haven't been as lucky so we are duly grateful. It is wonderful to be with family again, Annika has grown up a lot in the past three months and we are taking every opportunity to babysit. Our daughter is loving the in-house babysitting service.

I wish everyone else a wonderful Christmas and happy and safe New Year. Back in 2011.

Winter has arrived!

A couple of pictures to tell the tale....

Yesterday we had a little dusting, but it was bright, sunny although definitely on the chilly side - that's our little house with the blue van out front

Then today the snow is really coming down, it is grey and wet out there

It is very hard to tell, but there were huge fluffy snowflakes falling when I took this. And to think I thought I had left this all behind on the other side of the Atlantic! I think it might be time to put away the sunbed........

Early Riser

I find that the older I get, the earlier I wake up. I have always been an early bird rather than a night owl but it is getting worse. Usually I am awake and up (because I cannot stay in bed!) by 6am. Here in deepest rural France it is very dark at 6am, currently I think sunrise is around 7.45am.

I was just letting the dog out and opening the shutters when I heard the 7am carillon from the church bells here in the village and it struck me that I have already done the following:

Re-set and re-lit the fire

Hung up the overnight wash (indoors as more rain/damp is forecast)

Swept through to get rid of all the firewood mess and dog hairs, a daily if not twice daily chore

Checked my emails

Made the first cup of tea of the day

Oh yes....and written this blog

Is this sad or industrious?

I mentioned in my last post I have started on the bedroom and here are some photos of my progress:

The before shot, lots of mud and dust everywhere

The during shot. I love the look of the stone in this state but due to structural, cleanliness and insulation reasons we have to point it. That will be a learning curve for us so stand by for the after photos. The brick on the chimney is not very attractive so we are going to render that to give some contrast.

The rest of my day shapes up as follows:

Shower, dress, breakfast, walk dog, post Christmas cards, drive to next village for bread, maybe pop into neighbour on way back for coffee, then back upstairs to carry on painting the bedroom.

Little by Little

I cannot believe it has been a month since I last posted! I have been keeping myself busy so I thought I would post a few pictures ...... I painted the living room before all our "stuff" arrived on 2nd November. It is a warm cream colour and just having all the walls the same colour made a big difference. Here is the before..
And after...

It is a lot nicer snuggling down here after a hard day! I have to say the black and white checkerboard tiles are getting me down though, just too busy so we are going to change them for a uniform terracotta tile. So as usual two steps forward, one back!

My next job is to do the bedroom, which needs the un-plastered chimney wall taken back to the stone for rendering and pointing. A very messy job. So I have today packed up the bedroom ready to start that, then the beams and A-frame need brushing down with a wire brush, treating against infestation and then oiling with linseed oil, before I start the marathon job of painting all the walls and varnishing/waxing the floorboards. Somehow I don't think we are going to be sleeping up there for a while but there is still a bit of a deadline as our builder is due back around Christmas to install the ensuite bathroom fittings and fixtures.

This is the bedroom before .....

Let's see how long it is before I can post the after photos.

As I mentioned all our stuff arrived safely, goodness me, two weeks ago tomorrow. We had shipped our car as well as some furniture and belongings and getting the car OFF the container was causing a bit of a headache. It had been driven on off a loading bay in Canada but no such thing exists within 20 km of our village so we had to improvise...

As always our great friends came to the rescue and we managed to borrow a low loader from the local builders' merchants and some 3 metre long ramps, those together with some planks and lots of ingenuity, the car made it safely onto French soil.

Now just the registration to get.....remember - this is a vehicle which has come from Canada and was constructed in Mexico!! Fellow importers will understand my trepidation. :)

Keep Busy!

That is going to be my mantra over the next few weeks and months while I get used to life here in rural France. As you know there is LOTS to do on the house, but just on an everyday basis, there are plenty of things to keep me busy.

My new schedule starts each day a lot later than I am used as it is so dark and quiet here! After breakfast I take the dog for a good walk, usually around 45 minutes. The first few days here the weather was gorgeous, starting a little cool but perfect for a walk (always uphill as we live in a valley) but by midday it has been in the 20's so no complaints there. Then I have to clear out the fireplace and lay the new fire, as it cools off quite a bit again in the evenings.

Then there is laundry, or cooking or gardening to do. I am trying to be disciplined about shopping, not wanting to be constantly driving back and forth to the shops, the nearest of which is a 15 minute drive away. So I stocked up well and got gas. This new lifestyle is all about downsizing and becoming more thrifty and green.

Then in the afternoons I have been attacking the very long list of jobs that need to be tackled. The first day I just cleaned the house from top to bottom in an effort to get rid of a lot of dust and cobwebs.

I have sealed the old oak floor in the kitchen, it is not staying in the long term but was in a bad state and never looked clean, it is definitely an improvement.

Yesterday I spent most of the afternoon cleaning up some of the walls in the living room, getting off some very stubborn wallpaper backing, sanding down some beams and getting them ready to paint. I can see the prep work is going to take a while but my goal is to get this one room decorated before our belongings arrive towards the end of the month.

Today I have had a lazier day, after the walk with the dog, I drove into the next town to pay some taxes, and have quick look in the local brocante, it is a great one. Whilst there I spoke to the owner about a broken finial on my lovely old bed and he thinks either will have a spare or be able to make one for me so that was a good morning.

It was very very misty this morning and only 4 degrees and it has taken until mid afternoon for the mist to burn off. It wasn't a lunch in the garden day as it has been the rest of the week.

This afternoon I got the fire going, I do seem to be using a lot of logs - even though I have the woodburner shut right down, about one an hour - can anyone tell me if this is normal? And of course a lovely conversation via skype with daughter and granddaughter (who thinks it is hilarious that Nana is in the computer).

So my next chore it to get some more logs in for the evening! Hubby will be back tomorrow and we have been invited up the road for dinner. And so goes my first week in my new life.

Fait Accompli!!

And it feels a little strange. It is hard to get over the feeling that I am not on holiday and that this is my life now.

As expected it was a very emotional few days, in fact I must admit to feeling a little panicked as the minutes ticked away. But I got my goodbyes and tears done and here I am.

The mission with the dog went a lot smoother than expected, although, as I thought, it is actually IMPOSSIBLE to move between Terminals 3 and 2 at Charles de Gaulle with more than 2 suitcases etc. as it is forbidden to take the baggage cart/trolley/chariot from one terminal to another!! I thought these items were for the convenience of the passengers - apparently not. So I did have to wait for my son in the station between the two terminals so we could take everything off the cart and carry it down in the elevator and get the shuttle train. This was the biggest hurdle in the whole proceedings and why I could not possibly have done it alone. There doesn't appear to be such a thing as a porter at CDG. Anyway it was done and we made it safely down to the house.

My son who works in a nightclub in London had worked til 4am and gone straight to the airport, whilst I had managed to get a little sleep on the plane, so between the two of us we almost made one functioning human being.

The drive down although long due to exhaustion was glorious due to the fabulous weather we are experiencing here. We have had a bit of rain over the last couple of days but Saturday the temperature was in the high 20's. Perfect for lazing about which I intend to do a fair bit of over the next few days, I feel I am entitled after the last few very stressful weeks!

Our son as always is very handy and helpful and yesterday we spent a couple of hours dragging a couple of trees which had fallen over the river back on to our land by chain sawing them into more manageable size pieces. Still no good for the fire yet as very green wood, but in a year or so....

As so life in rural France begins.

The Long Goodbye!

That's how it feels. I leave the day after tomorrow. It has suddenly crept up on me. I am getting more and more emotional as I think about it. In a way I just wish it was Friday afternoon so that I can be happily ensconced in France with a glass of wine and all of "this" behind me.

I know that it great that my husband and I have this great adventure to look forward too, I know it is going to be great fun and we will get a lot of satisfaction out of it, but right this minute I am truly asking myself "why the hell am I moving to France and leaving behind my daughter, son and granddaughter?!".

Can you tell I am getting a little stressed? I am dreading the goodbyes. My daughter and I were in tears when we said goodbye when they left the house in France in the summer and I was going to be seeing them in little over a week! I just keep telling myself we will be back at Christmas (and blocking the fact that I will have to go through all over again then!).

If I am honest it is my granddaughter I am going to miss most. Watching her grow has been an absolute delight so I will treasure the close bond we have formed and will do everything in my power to ensure that bond continues in the years to come, no matter how many miles between us. Thank goodness for Skype.

Of course I will also miss my daughter but she is grown and we have been apart before, but we have become close friends over the last few years, especially since she became a wife and mother. We do spend a lot of time together so that is going to be a big wrench also.

And youngest son ....although I understand he is setting out on his new adventure an that he would have been going his own way anyway. Still it is not going to be painless.