Back Home!

I am sorry that it has taken me so long to get back to my blog, but it really has been non-stop since I arrived here, and things are not going to change much until the end of April! At least I have an internet connection!  After staying overnight with my friends near Montreuil, I drove down through France on Sunday 27 March. I did stop to take one photo of a sign that I took a fancy to, but the day was for driving and not photography!!!  Sorry! The French do have exceptionally lovely road signs though! Plenty of blog material there!

I arrived home to discover that the heating was not working! David, my neighbour, had had a repair job done on it a few weeks previously, only to find when he tried to turn it on, so that I would arrive to a warm house, there was a new electrical fault! He had kindly put electric heaters around the house to try to warm it up for me and as soon as I arrived, I also lit the woodburner. This is very effective and warms things up very quickly, despite the thick stone walls. When the heating guy arrived (after a few days!!), he managed to fix the boiler  temporarily with a bypass, but he is supposed to be getting me a quote on the new part that we need. This could be a shock (it's a Viessmann boiler), but I guess it has to be fixed!

I have managed to get all the weeds out of the vegetable garden, but it still needs digging over. On the only really dry day we have had since I arrived, I managed to cut the grass, but very high, so it will need cutting again soon. Needless to say, I have not managed to do the edges yet. 

;

After the first cut.

There are various flowers in bud around the garden, so I hope very soon there will be some colour. The cherry trees are already losing their blossom, but the apple trees are just coming out.

Apple blossom about to come out.

If any one can tell me what this, I will be very happy. It has large dark evergreen leaves and only flowers in February-March. This was the last flower left. I have had an email saying this is possibly a Bergenia, the photos look right to me, I wonder which species?

We moved this bay tree a couple of years ago and as you can see it is very happy and flowering this year.

The camelia is blooming well

I just caught the cherry tree before it lost its blossom.

Sunday 3 April was the local annual luncheon for the pensioners and a very good time was had by all. Perhaps a bit too much wine was drunk but……….

I am at the back left getting a cuddle!

Later this week,  my roofing man should arrive to help me put a ceiling and insulation into the upper part of the barn. The lounge is in the lower part of the barn and with the extra insulation, I hope this will help to keep the lounge warmer. We hope in time to put two offices upstairs, one for each of us, and another small spare room. I have also arranged for the artisan who made our entrance gates, to put a built-in wardrobe into our bedroom. He is a cabinetmaker who specialises in furniture, so I am sure we will get an excellent job. Although we have many cupboards in the kitchen, we have a serious shortage elsewhere in the house!

The sun is out again and I am off to cut the grass once more. I will be back soon, but bear with me awhile, until I catch up with the backlog of work :-)