Broadband & moving in

Monday 21st – Off to Lagarrigue early in the hope that M Regourd is on his way to finish off the list of things we need completed if we're to move in tomorrow. He doesn't let us down and just after 8:00 Stephané and gets straight on the with job. The douche is sorted, high level cables between the barn & house removed, handbasin fitted in the WC, holes repaired in the cellars, washing machine waste fitted & lots of other small tasks completed. With Stephané working hard I take the opportunity to do a couple of admin jobs. I'd ordered broadband about 3 weeks ago & hadn't heard anything so I called the company to see when what was going on and was told they'd chase things up & get back to me. About 30 minutes later La Poste lady arrives with a parcel, the broadband modem. What great service and within an hour we're up & running and we have broadband & a UK number local rate number. The afternoon is spent hoovering & clearing up in anticipation of the big day. We're both very excited and really looking forward to seeing all our prized possessions let's just hope that they'll be enough space in the house for them.

Tuesday 22nd – And we're finally going to see all those things we've managed without for 6 months & 22 days. We had expected a phone call last night from the removal company to say what time they expected to reach Lagarrigue so it's fingers crossed we haven't got our days mixed up. We're at the house by 8:00 and at 8:30 we get a call from them to say they're just leaving Bordeaux and hope to be with us in a couple of hours, obviously they must be driving a turbo charged furniture van. They also want us to confirm the address as it's not showing up on their satnav system, there's a surprise. It's a beautiful day so I think we'll just sit and wait for them. Just after 1:00 we get a phone call to say they're just approaching La Fouillade and rather than attempt to give directions I jump in the car and get them to follow me back to the house. They're really helpful and in no time the lorry's backed up and we begin the task of unloading 4 containers. Where is all this stuff going to go and why have we brought 4 beds to what was only ever going to be a 3 bedroom house? The house quickly fills up and we end up nearly filling the ground floor of the barn with boxes and bits of furniture. It all looks a bit daunting but I suppose once we've got the new roof on and the bedrooms built we'll be in a much better position to judge where all our gear is going to go. By 4:30 the removal men are back on the road and off to Spain with the next delivery and talking to them it sounds like half the UK must be setting up camp aboard. Now the fun starts and I'm sure it's going to take a little longer to unpack the dozens of boxes than it took to unload the lorry. We work on until gone 9:00 trying to get as much sorted as possible and then attempt to chill out with a couple of beers. First night in our own bed for 7 months and I think we're going to sleep like logs.

Wednesday 23rd – Slept very well and the shower works well apart from only a couple of small leaks that require a screwdriver & a bit of silicon. It's VDR this morning for haircuts, we're heading back to the UK this weekend to attend a wedding, sort a tyre out on Barbara's car and collect a couple of pieces of granite we'd ordered last week. As normal we're on the minutes and arrive at the garage at 11:50 and are told we'll have to return after 2:00 as they haven't time to fit the tyre before they go for lunch. Two hours to idle away so we treat ourselves to lunch out and do a little window shopping. Back home via Najac to see if work has commenced on P & C's new house and M. Leduc, their builder, is hard at work. The temperature has reached 34ºC and I spend the afternoon putting shelves up in the barn & Barbara continues emptying boxes. Supper on the terrace, what could be better?

Thursday 24th – Babs heads over to P & C's to do a final tidy up & collect the balance of our bits & pieces. I do my bit by putting the hifi speakers in place, always get my priorities right, sorting some shelves out for the 'cocktail' cabinet, more priorities, and hoovering the barn! Don't ask. When we were in VDR yesterday we'd seen some electric radiant heaters in a shop that sells end of line & bankrupt stock at prices well below list and having measured up today we decided to return to the shop & bag ourselves a bargain, we even managed to negotiate a further discount for buying 3. Turns out the shop doesn't just sell new things but they also sell goods on behalf of individuals. I think we might be returning with some of the contents of all those boxes. After all we've only just paid a small fortune to store them for 7 months. Back home to unpack yet more boxes and prepare for the big trip tomorrow back to the UK. We're really looking forward to it and the curry that awaits us, oh, and seeing the kids. Can't wait, to see the kids that it is.

Friday 25th to Wednesday 30th – Back in the UK & how the place has changed since January. Well it hasn't really and it was nice to spend the weekend with the kids down in London, the complete opposite to the semi-rural life we've been experiencing for the last 5 months. It was then up to Northumberland a wedding at Langley Castle. A great venue, a really enjoyable day and the best of luck to Jane & Rob. Thanks to P & C for putting us up for the weekend and to Bill & Les for the tea on Tuesday night. It'll be good to see them out here soon.