We weren't the only ones working over the Christmas & New Year period. The builder we'd organised to make the window openings in the barn arrived as promised on the day we left for the UK. Thanks to Gilly we knew he'd been working hard in our absence and the photographs she'd emailed to us showed how well things were progressing. Seeing the work he'd done in the flesh only went to endorse our delight at how the barn looked. There was a great view from the opening in what will eventually be the living room & the sunlight flooded through the double doors that will open onto our bedroom. There's a lot of work to be done on the barn but looking at those window surrounds we should some day have a really good looking property. The Regourds had also been busy and both en-suite bathrooms had shower trays, toilets & hand basins in place. It was time to get tiling & grouting. It's along time since I did any tiling but after a slow start both showers were completed by Wednesday lunchtime & we were off to the Regourd's to let them know we were back in the country & ready for them to do the next fix. Friday morning & Stephané arrived to fit the shower in what will be the guest room, it meant that on Saturday morning we'd be able to pull the 'tardis' down & finish the plaster boarding in our en-suite.

The thought of finally having our own bath spurred us into action & by 10:00 the temporary shower cubicle we'd been using since May was down and in the cellar ready for the next project. Now all that was left was to plaster the hundreds of joints in the plasterboards, some of which were anything but flat. We'd managed to do quite a bit of work in our en-suite already & after just a little patching up Barbara was able to rub the plaster down & apply the first coat of paint, while I continued to plaster the guest bedroom and en-suite.

I did find time to go to the recycling site with all the plasterboard offcuts and unlike the numerous trips I'd made to the tip in Tunbridge Wells I was greeted with a 'Good & Healthy New Year' and hand shake. I was then helped to unload the trailer and place the items in the correct skips, a complete contrast to the gentlemen in Kent who said 'put it all in there mate'. Sunday morning was glorious & we couldn't resist taking an hour off to pop in to Najac for bread, a coffee and a croissant. We were a bit taken aback when we entered the local café, there was a distinct lack of smoke. The ban on smoking in cafés, bars & restaurants had come into force on 1st January and we were surprised to see everyone abiding by the law. Despite it being pretty cold there were half a dozen people smoking outside, all of them English!

Must go, Jamie's 'Incredible roasted shoulder of lamb with smashed veg & greens' is on the table waiting for me and it's accompanied by a rare treat in France, a bottle of Rioja. Aldi's best at €3.76 per bottle. Expensive!