** we'll be the wild ones running with the dogs today

all those rushing about

with lists and wishes to fulfil

take a moment if you can

to breathe

we did that here yesterday

on the hills of Sonnac

we sat 

the sound of cowbells

birds

 fresh crisp air

we gathered juniper, pine and rosemary

then back home I put them onto my fireplace

a festive forage

happy holidays my dears

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.

— RAINER MARIA RILKE, LETTERS TO A YOUNG POET  — 

++ if you want to know the things we see

the "Dread Room"

has gradually been transformed

the lower section of the wall 

had been painted in a very old

oil and earth mix

which proved problematic when painted

as it kept bleeding through

we scrubbed it with a solution of this

then carefully rolled a thin coat

of oil based matt paint

and prayed

it worked!

then the task of scraping off years of paint

from conduit and sockets

and finding a match for the skirtings and doors

it pains me to tosh over these beauties

on top of all the really bad paint already on them

but time and budget won't allow for now

all I need now is furniture 

and a lovely light fitting to replace this pathetic bulb!

now it's The White Room

like that scene in Bruce Almighty 

when he meets God

"we spin, we turn, watch and wait
as the world just creeps on by"

** out of season

most towns have market day

but my village only has a night market

in the summer months

so we visit Mirepoix on Mondays

their market is all year round

with it's stalls of produce

fresh ingredients

seasonal goodies

artisans

and shops

Mirepoix is a pretty medieval town

with 13th century houses 

supported on beautifully carved pillars

giving a covered arcade beneath

we recommend the coffee at 

Cafe Castigniolles and people watching 

"" changing rooms

 how's the decorating going?

lots have asked

slowly is the answer

the stripped walls have been sanded

but are still incredibly lumpy and bumpy

you can't buy lining paper in France

stuck in the 80's when it comes to

all things interior design

yep anaglypta and something called

toile de verre are the wallpaper choices

we have been told to use this

stuff on our walls to cover the cracks

meanwhile the ceiling has been painted

after we borrowed a tower to reach it!

12ft is a long way up

we've used up this massive tin of paint already

paint here is expensive and not very good

you can buy Dulux but at a premium

so it's a challenge indeed

✦✧ village life

every Tuesday morning 

three men arrive in La Place

outside my house

 this chap sells grapes and vegetables 

he has grown 

this man makes a huge paella

from scratch and sells it

for €9 a portion

by midday he has sold it all

then there is the knife sharpening man

this is him yesterday in Mirepoix Market

on Friday nights a little Pizza van arrives

a good sized pizza freshly cooked for €6

I like how people rock up, set up and sell things

in the Summer months 

there is a night market in La Place

with music and stalls

something to look forward to

:: history

there isn't much I know about this house

despite it's age

La Famille Jammy

lived here for many generations until

fairly recently

a little story I was told

when GrandPere Jammy died

they held a wake in the dining room

all the family gathered in the room

to say goodbye

then they heard one of the hall stairs creak

since then it is called "Grandpere's stair"

}}{{ no back breaking

in the distance you can see 

my house to the left

and the covered square

la Place, to the right

this bridge goes over the river L'Hers

and over that bridge

is this gate

and behind that gate is my potager

well the land is mine

but it is worked by Pierre and Albert

who live in the village

they have chickens for laying 

and poulet for eating

a shed for their boxes and tools

a place for the onions to dry

there's a covered area for the chickens feed

and lots of green veg growing in neat rows

there is an arrangement with Pierre and Albert

which I have continued

in return for the use of the land

I get free vegetables and eggs

what a win!

- - colour me

 so we started stripping the red bedroom

at first it was a painterly thing

revealing old walls

these ceilings are over 12ft high

and the walls are really bad

hundreds of years of filler

it is taking forever

as the paper only comes off in tiny pieces

and the steamer is a no-no

but we will get there

>>> elec-trickery

have a little think about how many electrical

things you have 

and how many plugs they use

in the UK our plugs have 3 pins

only having a few adaptors to use them in 2 pin sockets

got boring after a few days!

a quick youtube search 

and I was soon re-wiring

12 plugs

there's still more to do

but it's a start

;-)

depart/arrivee

one week ago

my house was packed up

labelled and loaded

onto a huge truck 

we had a few days without any furniture
{apart from some beds I purchased from the previous owner}
one frying pan and a saucepan
two borrowed deckchairs
and some random crockery 

by the third day, the truck arrived
the whole village suddenly wanted to walk their dogs
or visit the local bar
to see what was going on

within a few hours
everything was unloaded
most of the boxes were piled in a side room 
on the ground floor

we call this 'the room of doom'
much of it won't be unpacked for some time

so this is my new home
in La Bastide sur L'Hers

plenty more photos here ~ 
https://www.instagram.com/chocolategirl64/