Today we are 1

(Almost) Finished Gite Exterior

Final render has been done, scaffolding removed, newly painted shutters put back on and it is all looking good. The remaining work is polishing the concrete stairs and painting the railing on the steps. Et voila, we are done.

Gite launch

The gite is now up and running! We are very pleased with the interior and have already slept there a couple of nights to test it out. Merv and his good friend Pete, visiting from the UK, did a sterling job constructing the furniture, ably supervised by Pete's wife Phil and Merv's granddaughter, Jamie. Budgie (another visitor) and Jane scoured the local vineyard trails for wild flowers to help 'dress' the gite for photos - at this time of year there are plentiful poppies and irises, plus flowering herbs etc. It is an amazing transformation from the original 'dependence' and we think the result was well worth the effort ... and money. 

Now to start getting rentals.

And naturally we had to have a glass or two of bubbly to launch the gite ...

The Library

We have now moved our desks from the main lounge into our new 'office' aka the winter lounge. Where Merv's desk used to be is now our library corner. Complete with Kiwiana artwork from good friends in Napier, NZ.

Work recce's

This was an unusualy dull day on Le Caroux plateau and we ended up in the clouds (1,090m). We've since been back in sunshine, with clients, and been able to see the amazing views across to the Pyrenees and Mediterranean. 

For more details check out Mountains and Maps.

Easter weekend

On a recent trip to Montpellier to IKEA for gite furniture and bits and bobs, we just happened to go into the Apple shop. We came out with a whole lot of new computer stuff, of course. Which lead to thinking we needed a better office space as we both had our desks in the main lounge. Which had worked OK, but we were becoming surrounded by paperwork with nowhere else to expand. So we set to over Easter and stripped the old wallpaper off the 'winter' lounge, painted the walls white, sorted out paperwork, found space for Merv's extensive collection of maps and now have a fantastic office space. 

The original wallpaper:

Fixing the walls:

First Render

On Tuesday before Easter, the rendering guys turned up and had the first coat of render on almost before we'd had our first coffee. We had a bit of heart-stopping moment over the colour, as it's not what we chose. However were reassured that the next coat will be the right colour render. Unfortunately the best day we've had since then to do the next coat was yesterday, Easter Monday, when of course there was no work. We wait patiently, and sometimes impatiently, for the weather to return to our usual standard of continual sunshine, so that work can continue.

 

More tree cutting pics

The pruning of the magnolia has been the talk of the village. Everyone has an opinion on it! Mostly positive, and our neighbours are very pleased, as they'd been concerned a branch would fall on their roof someday. We now await the regrowth ...

Asparagus season

Woohoo, the first French asparagus is now in season and in the market (Spanish asparagus has been around for a few weeks already). It comes in varying sizes - we prefer the thin green ones, but the thick white asparagus is very popular here. The season doesn't last long so we make the most of it when it comes. 

Off with the old facade

The old facade on the gite exterior has been removed to reveal lovely stone work in good condition. Various bits of metal that were sticking out of the wall have also been removed. Next they will come and render over the top of this for a nice new smooth finish. Better quality of scaffolding this time too!