Some news & pics on the build

Last time I wrote we couldn't make a decision about the way to heat our house and hot water and that was delaying us massively. We finally made a decision on a Solar Hot Water system that would use a minimal amount of electricity to run and Underfloor Heating to warm our cockles in the winter. We ordered all the kit, which came from the UK and had a 3-4 week delay on it and finally after a lot of waiting we are starting to lay the Underfloor Heating in the morning, this should mean that we'll be laying screed and thinking about an Oak floor in our Kitchen within the next 2-3 weeks.

We've also had our plasterer back so the Kitchen walls are looking more presentable. Stu has been spending his time putting new floors in the bedrooms, upstairs bathroom and landing. This was a mammoth task as the worst floor had a 5 inch difference in it's level from one side of the room to the other! He spent many hours and days levelling the beams and applying wood treatment to every bit of wood in sight! We now have 2 large bedrooms ready for carpet, our bathroom has a beautiful softwood floor and the landing has an Oak floor. Stu's brother came and helped for a couple of weeks, which was fantastic - he's a Carpenter and Stu turned into his labourer for the time that he was here. They worked brilliantly together and all I had to do was keep the food and beer (mainly the beer) flowing!

Stu has also started fitting our beautiful bathroom upstairs, which has been a complicated job with beams dictating where the plumbing and waste can & can't go. The Solar Hot Water system is going in at the beginning of November, so a bath may be possible before December - woo hoo!

We have a very tight schedule between now and Christmas, we're going to New York for 5 days at the end of November and then home to the UK for Christmas on the 20th of December so in terms of actual number of days left to work - there aren't many!

A moment to reflect...

Living here must be the best way in the world to learn about the birds and the bees; I guess that's why so many people say that they'd like to bring their children up in the country. Our chicks being born was an absolutely fantastic thing to watch - no heat lamps or special pens, no human intervention - pure and simply, a mother hen who knew exactly what she was doing. She sat on those eggs for twentyish days, leaving them for the smallest amount of time to get food for herself, she lost out on exercise, she lost out on the run of the farm, she lost out on the first pick of the food, she lost out on interaction with the other hens, time with the cockerel, but in the end she was the winner because after almost a month of total and utter dedication she was blessed with some beautiful little babies and it didn't end there. I have witnessed her showing them how to walk, how to eat & drink, how to forage for worms & grubs, I've seen her protect them by putting herself in the line of fire and all of that was done with pure instinct. Isn't that fantastic; it's so simple. Don't you think that as humans we spend most of the time just really complicating things and sometimes when it comes down to it, we've forgotten how to even trust our instinct. France has given me time and with time I think I'm learning to trust my instinct a little bit more.

My dad built me the most beautiful swing for our wedding, I'm sure you all remember it. That swing now rests under our huge oak tree at the bottom of our fields and I often spend a few moments sat there pondering 'stuff'. Yesterday, I sat there and remembered my beautiful wedding day, the feelings I had getting ready in the morning, all the wonderful people (you) around me all day, helping to make Stu and I happy with all the different bits and pieces that were going on. People who were simply there because they love us and they wanted to share in our happiness in those moments. Some really wonderful things have happened in the last couple of weeks; another extremely important wedding on the other side of the atlantic and news from a very close friend of a little bambino on it's way. These are the beautiful things in life that put a smile on our faces - it's not even necessarily the actual wedding or baby being born, but just the lovely news and how that person is feeling that will lift us for that day. Somehow being here has enabled me to enjoy those little moments more and has definitely made me realise that our friends and family, those that we hold nearest and dearest, no matter where they live in the world are the most important things we have. That swing is a wonderful place to reflect, you'll have to try it when you come and visit.