So, another 7 weeks of our lives have flown by. We didn’t have time to blink, I swear! It really was only yesterday that we were arriving jet-lagged in Paris to the incredible sight of snow. At least that’s what it feels like. And that’s with the worst March-April that anyone with whom we’ve spoken can recall in more than a decade. We nearly didn’t go back to the BVI as scheduled, sorely tempted to change our tickets and just go back at the beginning of October, but now a very dear friend is very, very ill and so we must return, for a while. With regret, we’ve booked and paid for the TGV back to Paris and the connecting flight back to Tortola from St. Maarten, neither of which had been done until just a few days ago.
Our time here in Sainte-Foy-La-Grande hasn’t been idle. The post-construction cleaning was an enormous job. Staggeringly so. And then there were all sorts of finishing/detailing bits and pieces to be done. Don’t get me wrong, it hasn’t all been work and, to be honest, I’m appalled at how a bit more of my work ethic seems to have disappeared down the drain with the grime from the renovation each time I shower in our swanky new bathroom. I fear that I am going to have to un-install Scrabble on my computer as it is too addictive and a radical time-waster. I’m hoping that a return to the BVI will enable me to rediscover my self-discipline (why?????).
One of my self-appointed tasks for this trip was to re-photograph the house, but I haven’t managed that. I have done the new master suite. One factor has been that the light has been terrible – too dim. All right, that’s my excuse, but I’m sticking to it. However, just a day after our return in June the house is full which means that we will have it all spiffy, clean and shiny and (hopefully) the sun will be shining too, which will do much to fill the rooms with light. I shall photograph then.
What else is there to tell? Last week we had dinner with our immediate neighbours and our New York neighbours during which our recent extensive renovation project was a topic for discussion …. M & A-M have endured an awful lot of noise through the party-wall since we bought Les Terraces back in 2009. They were glad to hear that we’ve finished work (for now). Over champagne and foie gras (!!) we recounted how last summer we’d found a “lost” space in the house that we intend to recover and use and how we have been hoping to find a pair of period doors to finish the access to the space. M & A-M have renovated lots of properties and promised us details of a couple who deal in recycled period fixtures, fittings and furniture who don’t charge the proverbial arm-&-a-leg. Intriguingly for rural France their shop is only open on Sunday afternoons. As their shop is only about 15KM west of La Table Rouge we decided to treat ourselves to a last Sunday lunch there and head on down to the brocante to see if they had anything in stock.
After yummy lunch we did, and hidden away amongst all sorts of merchandise, Graham spied not one but two pairs of doors. One complete with frame. I tried to haggle but the price was firm. It did, however, include free delivery to the house which was a bonus. So we’re now the proud owners of a lovely pair of recycled 18th century wardrobe doors. The frame needs some TLC, but it isn’t too bad given that they’re the real McCoy and come with original door furniture.
A friend of ours who is a carpenter has already whisked the ensemble away to “rehab” the base of the frame in preparation for another new installation this summer.
As I write this post I have to report another episode in the mad weather we’ve had …. sunburned nose on Thursday and then hail today. Not just wimpy pellets, but large stuff and, to add insult to injury, we had a load of washing on the line!
Perhaps it is time to head back to the Windies after all!