End of 2014 overnight trip

A quick trip up to Millau - home of the amazing viaduct and where beautiful leather gloves are made.  First stop Couvertoirade, on the Grand Causses. It's a beautiful fortified village, run by the Knights Templars from the 12th century. Today it is the home of many crafts people, artists and cafe's. 

Onto Millau, for a late lunch and a stroll round the glove factories/stores. Amazing selection of beautiful gloves - some are made for the Paris fashion houses; Chanel, Hermes, Louis Vuitton etc. However, the ones we bought were a cheaper style - but still lovely!

The 'other ' major attraction at Millau is the viaduct which is hard to miss. A fantastic structure; functional as well as a thing of beauty.

On the return journey we took a longer route via Roquefort to look at the cheese caves - and buy some of the renowned cheese. Then up into the Haut-Languedoc where there was snow at the top - the temperature never rose above 2C all day. A lovely drive, on a cold but sunny day. A nice way to end the year with some time out in our 'backyard'. 2015 we'll be back into renovating ...

Kitchen Wall

Work on making our new kitchen has started. We've already had the wood burner put into the main lounge and decided to expose the stone wall which was behind the fire. Have taken off the plaster covering it - resulting in a LOT of rubble and dust. We took buckets of rubble out the window and bagged it up in the garden, which saved some of the dust from getting in the rest of the house, although despite our best efforts there's still a lot of dust around. We also discovered the back of an old oven in the wall and are still deciding exactly how we are going to use this feature.

Next we had to remove the old grout around the stones which is very fine and also very dusty! So far we think we've taken around 20 bags of rubble and grit to the tip. Now we've started on the repointing.  Another new skill! It's going well and we're pleased with the result. It will be a great feature in the kitchen - eventually.

The first stage of removing the plaster - and discovering the old oven.

Half-way through the repointing:

Summer's almost over

We've had the last swim in the pool for this year - the water a lovely, 'refreshing' 20C - always quite a sad moment realising summer is definitely over. Packed away the sun umbrella, deck chairs and sun loungers. 

Today we put on the winter pool cover and cleaned the terrace tiles - mainly because we are about to go away for a few weeks. Temperatures have still been in the mid-high 20C so still warm enough for swimming. Washed all the pool towels before they get packed away for winter too.

Also,

Oh I forgot to mention; the large radiator right next to the fire will be removed too. A bit superfluous now. It will be put at the other end of the room as when we don't have a fire in winter, we'll still need some heat in the lounge.

Fireplace almost done ...

The chimney has been plastered, the original mantelpiece and surrounds reused and new tiles fitted around the wood burner. Which means all there is left to do is some painting, grouting the tiles and finding some slate to put in front of the wood burner. And then we can start on the kitchen. 

Fireplace progress

Fireproof surround of wood burner and chimney now in place. We can re-use the marble mantlepiece and facade pieces. Just ordered some nice tiles for the front too, so we are getting there.

Back to dust, rubble and noise ...

Work has started on moving the wood burner from what is currently our office - and will become the kitchen - into the main lounge. A sure sign that summer is nearly over.

We've moved as much as possible out of the office and lounge to protect them from the inevitable dust. Here's how it did look:
Office side. The mantel piece has fortunately been removed in complete pieces without any damage so will be reused on the other side.

Lounge side. The dresser has been emptied and moved to another wall, as that is where the wood burner will go. The radiator to the right will be moved also.

Here's where we're at so far:

Late summer activity

Our summer is still going strong and is actually hotter than in August. Merv is home for a couple of weeks before heading off for the last two weeks of cycling trips for this season. In the meantime we had walking clients here for a long weekend - so no break for him - and this week some self-guided walkers staying in the gite. We've been sorting out winter cycling training routes in glorious sunshine. Also, stopping for the occasional 'grand creme' and croissant while we watch all the activity happening for the grape harvest.

Summer

Well it's been some time since I last put up a post. This summer has been very busy - Gîte Magnolia has been fully booked since June and continues to be busy into October. Merv has been away a lot with Marmot Tours cycling trips. He's mainly been in the Alps, plus trips in the Dolomites and Corsica. Soon it will all be over! In the meantime I will put up some retrospective posts on activities over the past few months. Over summer we don't do any renovation work a) because it's too hot; b) we don't want to disturb our guests and c) we need a break from it. 

The garden has grown beautifully, if we do say so ourselves. We wanted it to be a 'wow' factor for guests and it has been. The magnolia tree is more densely leafy in the middle since its radical tree surgery and provides wonderful shade. The pool is a big success and we wonder how we ever thought we wouldn't need one!

Early evening nap ...

The bath is back!

Finally, the bath is back in the renovated bathroom and looks great. It takes up less room than we thought it would so that's a bonus too. Now just need a cupboard to store bathroom 'bits' and we are finished in this room.

Meanwhile, another room is in disarray as our bedroom is renovated. What started as a quick repainting job has turned into a new window being fitted, window-sill replaced and new insulated and sound-proof plasterboard. We've also gone for having one wall papered and the rest painted. Work is in progress and is very nearly finished. We need to be back in our bedroom before lots of visitors arrive at the end of the month, so no mucking around!

The pool is now back in use.

The winter cover is off and the pool vacuumed so now looking pristine and inviting. The water kept very clear and clean over winter. Now for lots of sunshine to heat it up. Still a chilly 18C which even for hardy Kiwi's isn't quite warm enough for a dip.

Just add a bath ...

Almost there with finishing the bathroom. The bath tap is now in place - just the small matter left of lifting a heavy cast iron bath from the cave up the stairs to the bathroom. We've roped in several strong men to help get the bath back to it's rightful place this weekend. Fingers crossed it works.

 We've also put in a lovely new wooden window sill, which needs some protection treatment to be all finished too.

Fruit tree blossom

Both the pear trees have much more blossom this year - we think it's because we've stopped the espalier pruning. They have better shape and it looks as though we'll get a lot more fruit this year too. The wisteria is just about to come out in flower, the plum tree has already blossomed and is now in leaf.

With warmer weather, Shadow and Wellington have now moved from their favourite winter sleeping spots: our bed or in front of the fire. They now command a sofa each in the main lounge or else sit together to watch the village comings and goings. After which, Wellington needs a nap ...

Back to bed ...

After a spell of gorgeous spring weather, we've had a few chillier days (around 16C!). Shadow and Wellington, after spending their days outdoors enjoying the sunshine, are now back curled up on the bed all day. Big softies!

Head for heights ...

The wood facade above our lounge needed re-varnishing. It is south-facing, therefore gets maximum sun and the first job (done by contractors) had faded rapidly - basically after just one summer! Fortunately Merv has a good head for heights and has been up the ladder re-doing the wood. He's finished three coats, which we hope will last a few more years than the previous paint job. Note the sunny, blue, cloudless sky!

Meanwhile, our neighbours across the road are constructing a new building - we're not yet sure what it will be used for, other than it's for wine production. The second floor is just going up. The new building has meant the dogs, which used to be housed opposite our front gate, have now been moved to new kennels at the back of the property. Lovely for us, as we now don't have them barking each time we go to the car. The huge fig tree has also gone - another bonus as sticky fruit won't be falling on Gite Magnolia guests' cars anymore.

Hallway completed

We've put on the skirting tiles, cleaned up and the hallway is now a completely different space. It is seems to have so much more light and space, so were are very pleased with our work! 
From this:

 To this:

Hallway update

Almost there with the hallway renovation.

Here's yesterday's work; first coat of the walls and door frames all of which are in the same colour. With seven door frames in the hallway, we decided not to use a separate colour for them as thought it would look too busy.

And today was final coat and starting on the entrance doors. Colour of the walls is a soft grey to match the tiles. Very pleased with the final shade - it was worth all the test pots! Entrance door painting meant having to put masking tape around all the windows - again. However, previous experience has taught us it really is the best way to paint these doors, even though it is time-consuming.

First spring flowers

Arriving back from a few days away on a snowshoe trip, discovered the first bulbs were in bloom - such a cheerful sight after the winter months. Many more bulbs yet to come plus the pear tree is on the verge of flowering and our forsythia is covered in yellow blossom too. Love the colour and new growth of this time of year.

Snowshoeing in the Pyrénées

Back from an energetic five-day snowshoe trip at Ax les Thermes in the Pyrénées. Had three days of fantastic snowshoeing with clients; two days of brilliant sunshine and one of light snow making for a lovely ethereal walk through the forest and over some cols. Everyone enjoyed it and the hotel, food etc was great, as was relaxing tired muscles in the superb thermal baths at Ax.

 

Spring's coming

Early signs of spring arriving with the daffodils, tulips and hyacinths coming up. The daffodils usually flower first and they're almost ready to brighten up the garden with their bright burst of yellow. 

Weekend work

We started, and finished, lining the walls of hallway in 'our' part of the house this weekend. Got into the groove and finished it without too much hassle ... or swearing. The no-straight-walls of our house does make this an interesting job to do but the finished effect is well worth it. The drop from ceiling to floor is almost 3m and the length of the hallway is 7m, with six doorways to get around too. The hallway is considerably lightened, making it seem even larger, although it is at the cost of covering the original vine painting. 

Next job is painting.

Saturday:

 Sunday: