Henry

Our lovely characterful and cuddlesome cat, Henry, has disappeared. We no longer hold out any hope of him returning as it has been almost two months since he left us. Along with Wellington, he would have been 2 today and we miss him a lot, but know he had a happy life here.

The best of Henry as a kitten:

And the best of Henry as a cat, demonstrating his unusual sleeping style ...

Organising the Cave

Merv is busy getting the bike maintenance area sorted out and the storeroom for all of his outdoor gear, now known as The Shed. Wellington helped supervise.

 The bikes are now racked against the wall:

 and the bike maintenance board is up and in use.

Today, Wellington is 2 years old

He's very relaxed about it - although he did catch a mouse this morning so is enjoying a rest.

Meanwhile back at home ...

In only two weeks away everything in the garden has gone ballistic. All the fruit trees are in leaf, the lettuces and beetroot have doubled in size, so it's definitely time to get more vegetables in the potager. This year, the clematis has already reached the entrance stairwell banister, the roses are starting to bloom and the jasmine is taking off too. After all the upheaval last year, the garden is really starting to take shape and grow well.

The wisteria is in out in full force:

and our first Sweet Pea are flowering too.

Spring Walk in Dorset, UK

We're just back from two weeks in the UK, spending a few days in the Lake District, where Merv caught up with, and unexpectedly ran into, almost everybody he knew from when he lived in Ambleside. The weather was 'mixed'; ie. rain interspersed with some periods of no rain. We managed to get in a couple of walks and had a lovely time catching up with friends. 

Last week we were in Dorset on a walking trip with HF Holidays, a company which Merv used to do a lot of work for many years. We stayed in Lulworth Cove, which is absolutely beautiful - as is the surrounding countryside: thatched cottages, derelict castles, lambs, daffodils, Norman churches, old quarries, sweeping coastal views, rolling green farmland and smugglers coves. Plus, wonderful old pubs serving local excellent Dorset ales. We were blessed with fine, sunny weather for most of the week with just two days of walking in sea-fog, which was slightly unsettling for walking, knowing you were alongside very steep coastal cliffs that you couldn't actually see. 

The area also is home to an army base where they practice shooting machine guns and cannons, amongst other things they no doubt do. It's quite unnerving walking in low-visibility, sea-fog and hearing gunfire which seemed to be far too close. Just had to trust their visibility was better than ours was at that point.

More signs of spring - we've moved the terrace furniture and umbrellas back outdoors. 

It's been fine enough to paint the old reservoir in the garden a fetching shade of 'asphalt'. Which does look stunning.

We've also planted a few pots for summer, mixed with the left-overs from winter e.g. the pansies, which are still going strong.

Plus, we've got a new wifi doorbell and buzzer at the gate. Such progress!

Concreting starts

Let's all admire the big truck first:

 And then get into the real work:

Day out in Provence

On Sunday we went to Toulon to watch a rugby game, Toulon vs Leicester Tigers. It was a gorgeous day so we had lunch by the harbour which was very busy with rugby fans from both Leicester and Toulon with the same idea. It's a beautiful city, the game was terrific and atmosphere fantastic. Toulon won (21-15) thanks to the hero of the Toulon team, Jonny Wilkinson.

Important, but dull

We've had a lot of new electrics put in over the past month. New wiring, sockets, light fittings etc. Most of the liveable part of the house is now rewired so there's much less likelihood of a shock when pulling out a plug. It also contributed a lot to the dust, with new channels needing to be drilled in the walls for the wiring. Lots of work for little visual change, but nonetheless important. We still have some temporary lights in while searching for the right light fittings.

We do have another new light in the hallway, which will make it much easier to see when coming in on dark winter nights. This fitting we got from a brocante in Narbonne for a princely €7!

Garage progress

Day One of levelling the cave floor in preparation for the concreting, The metal frames are almost all in place and Thursday should see the concrete pour begin. We can already see how much more useful and functional this space will be. Not sure how much the cats will like it, needing to be banned from their usual cave entrance for a week.

The digger's back!

Work begins on the cave floor. So, once again we have a digger at our house. 

Bathroom update

Shower basics are in. Now waiting for some walls.