Here we come again after many months of absence. Winter was long and everyone was very busy, but it is time to “go back to our sheep” (French saying for going back to business). This time I am alone, decided to face spiders and other creatures that want me to give up on my quest. I haven’t travelled alone in 2 years, back to when we bought the house and I came to paint and prepare our bedroom that would then welcome our guests for our first Working Bee. So it’s been a while and this feeling of being alone mixed with the emotions of working in Le Boulay made me feel all bizarre…
But due to a load of important work, Catherine sadly stayed in London this time.
My priority this weekend was to finish to empty and tidy the garage, at least to make enough space so that we can
move all the furniture from the house there to get ready for the refurbishment. A big work that for some reason I thought I could carry on my own while recovering from a wrist sprain…So guess what… Mission accomplished! Not even that painful (just a bit), and even better, in the winter, there are much less spiders and wasps!
My first day, Saturday, I started to gather all the chemicals/ toxic products, poisons, weed killers, other motor oil, tractor fuel, old paint and so on. Dad was here to help me when needed and I removed few wheelbarrows of metal, wood and straw. Once again, removing nuts and screws from straw and dust, what a pleasure… I finally saw few spiders, but the best surprise was the tiny snake, which looked more like a giant worm. I will definitely need to start learning the names of all animal kind we will find, that could be useful…
That same morning, Franck Gouzil, the guy who is taking care of our natural sewage system project with Aquatiris visited us one last time before the beginning of the works, discussing last details and talking about the linking of the pump to the electric box with my dad. All organised finally, I am very positive on the results and the works are finally planned for end of April, but that took way more time than expected, 2.5 years instead of one.
Future place for our reed beds made by Aquatiris and ATA.
Mum came later to prepare us a lovely meal as usual, some rabbit and gratin dauphinois :)
In the evening I went to spend the night at our friends, Aurore and Sylvain, who live nearby in Renazé and are very excited to be our future neighbours! Nope, I wasn’t scared to sleep alone in my big house by myself!
Back to work the next morning, it was so sunny I couldn’t believe the forecast had been so wrong. I took my coffee and went all around our beautiful property, enjoying the silence and peaceful atmosphere. Until a second meeting with the infamous “snake”, I carried on with the clearing and cleaning of the garage which happens to be quite big in the end. Dad and mum came just on time to save me from this poor thing that was probably scared to death with all the shovelling around it.
Dad finally went to prepare the electric cables in the attic, and I finally discovered how that one looks like.
Once satisfied with my new garage and my goal reached, I prepared to spend my second night but this time at my cousin Raphaël’s place. I had such a lovely night and few people from the family were there which was unexpected and made me so happy. I didn’t plan to see so many people in such a short time but was so glad that I could both achieve my goals and enjoy family and friends time.
Baby steps: set an objective which can be achieved in a day or in a short time that you choose. Gain self-confidence when you reach your goal and become more and more productive. But most of all, do not start many different things at one time that you would not finish. Finally, include some time for extra unplanned “things “.
Before and after, still not sure it will all fit in….
So back soon, from the 19th to 23rd of April, with Catherine this time, to start moving all the furniture in the garage for the summer. If you feel like giving us a hand or just supporting us with a smile and some nice words, you are always welcome of course, no matter if it is for an hour or for 2 days!
On the agenda, round trips to the tip, watching over the reed beds work until we get the final approval from the water authorities, cleaning of the actual septic tank with a jet-wash, and moving all the biggest furniture from the house to the garage.
See you soon for some new adventures my friends!