Bonfires and fruit trees.

We decided to start a small orchard. The previous fruit trees were old and covered in ivy which weakened them. So in true French style we said "Off with their heads" So off they went.  We now have a small square of fruit trees. A pear, an apple, a nectarine and a cherry with large fruit. Plus more horse poo for the garden and  an extension of the veggie garden. Yummee.

Fruit trees with the remnants of the "bon feu" to the right

Apparently a grand bonfire was held with our elderly neighbours not exactly dancing around it , but almost. They love a "bon feu".

The delights of a bonfire. Young or old (or the more mature as I am getting older)  everyone loves one.

See Robert getting stuck in and enthusiastically chucking things on.Not bad for a 90 year old.

And the younger set!! John and Raymonde looking a little sad that the flames have died down.Maybe not John.

Getting ready for Winter

Even though its late November, the birds are still chirping, tomatoes and flowers still growing. Its upside down time in France weather wise. But we know Winter will be coming. Its icy fingers curling round the window frames and under the door. So to keep the house cosy warm, we have added..shutters. I say"we" very loosely as its actually John who has made these lovely wooden shutters. Dont they look grand.

The brand new shutters 

 ......and even smarter when they are closed, saying "Yah Boo" to the cold winds. Well done John

The very neat hand crafted shutters.

New house in Chabanais. Owl watch

Back of the house from the 100 metre long garden.

So buoyed were we with the success of the renovation we decided to buy another house to do up. Not really... when I went over in June, I realised that  though Le Moulletier is a beautiful, beautiful place, as John and I age, I think we might need to be nearer services and people who speak some English. We both spent ages researching as I had decided I wanted to be near a river. John must have seen about 400 houses on the website which he cleverly narrowed down to 4. I had first seen Chabanais on the website and went "Not really...."  but when I went to see it, it has everything we want. A river at the bottom of the garden. A train station. A small town with services. In our price range and affordable. Structurally sound but with the possibility of a whole new refit inside. So thats what we went for.

Bottom of the garden

The river at the bottom of the garden

We want to rent out Le Moulletier to those who are seeking some peace and quiet. A place to rest for a while whilst the madness of the world goes on outside.  A place for birdwatchers. A place where you can only speak French and meet  some great French people.


John has now made a little patio and a garden round the front which has herbs in it, built a seat for the elderly to come and rest a while on their walk around the hamlet.

Aussie neighbours in Le Moulletier

And here are some not so elderly Aussie visitors, sitting outside on the patio in Le Moulletier, in front of the chiminea we shipped over from Australia. A good time was had by all by the looks of them when I skyped them later on. But not the next day apparently when all the previous nights  joie de vivre had caught up with them all!!


John  has installed a camera in the barn and we are getting ready for the owls to visit which is a bit of a worry too , as our elderly neighbour tells us when owls come visiting .. a death is around the corner. I think she thinks it might be hers.. but we just think it will be the mice. Its a tricky one. You have to be sensitive. And I love her to bits, so I don't want my owl to be the cause of her demise.





Here is a picture of the house in Chabanais. Watch out for the  before and afters unfolding before your very eyes.

Back of the Chabanais House

Front of the Chabanais House

A new wood heater

Winter slowly creeps in as Autumn begins to say cheerio and I recall the old adage of "Form  follows function".  A normal everyday saying, in the Moore household. Well I should have applied  it to the last wood heater instead of just going for a "look". Give me pretty any day. Whoops. So though the wood heater looked splendidly gothic, it was useless as a wood heater! The logs couldn't fit into a triangular shaped fire box for one thing. Plus the idea was that if all power/heating went off, then at least the wood heater would work and we could boil a kettle for hot drinks, hot water bottles, on the flat surface and heat up soup etc. Doesn't work on a gothic shaped surface.What was I thinking of. What were we thinking? A collective madness must have settled on both of us as we bought it together. So we splashed out and got a practical, well made rectangular one Here is a picture of our neighbour Pete, sledging the old one  over to the  blacksmiths cottage where it looks quite in place.

And now in its new home, in the blacksmiths cottage.

 And  the lovely rectangular one with the red sides, throwing off lots of heat, staying in all night and keeping  the house cosy warm. Bliss

Blue windows

No, I am not blue but the windows are. Don't they look lovely? It's such a good colour.

The painters are also going to come in and finish off the interior house painting and then thats it. La maison est fini. So whats the next project ?

If you want to have a holiday in France and rent a house. Rent ours!!


Here is a close up

  and then finally, hidden under the eaves, the owl hole.

The house revealed

The scaffolding is down and the house is revealed in all it's beauty.

Here it is again.

Did I tell you about the Blacksmiths Cottage behind our barn....?

Maybe not. Along with 2 barns and the cellar and the land with 2 building plots we also have what was the Blacksmiths Cottage. It's small, it's run down. It's more of studio than a  cottage. No toilet, bathroom, cooking facilities as we know them. The usual story.

John and I have been dreaming....,  what this might look like and how fabulous it might be with the new french windows leading out onto the small, walled garden.

And how it could be the perfect office or a small holiday let, or a dreaming studio for those audacious dreams of how to change the world. Oops... lots of real work to be done.



So I think the first conversation is with the stonemason to see what the problem with the bulging wall at the other end might be. Always a good start.

That shorter bit in the photo is where the chickens used to sleep apparently as it's right over the bread oven (nice and cosy warm). I would be quite happy to sleep over the bread oven on some of those cold nights.

The back of the house which could have windows added 

If we take the tree down and make some windows then we could build an enclosed garden for those  quiet times we never seem to get.

Oh and remove that asbestos roof which for some reason is just on one side of the building.

One bright suggestion from a french workman was to take it down and bury it in the garden. Oh I don't think so. I think it's get the specialist in, with all the necessary masks and equipment, take it off, cart it away, clean out the whole upstairs and then we start the next phase!

Nearly finished and we have chairs with seats in them

After 5 months of waiting and cajoling  we finally got the chairs upholstered. A miracle. Do these people want our business or not. They nearly didn't and it was only a final threat (in French)  that got the move on. Weird.

The finally finished chairs. No one was murdered in this process, but could have been.

However one person who never slacked off was the stonemason. Here in all its scaffolding glory is the house - repointed, repainted to a less glaring colour, with the little patio at the front. Well done everyone.

And apparently the vegetable garden is going gang busters too. How exciting.

All the pointing has been done and the scaffolding about to be removed.

We have had a lot of visitors this year and hopefully.. many more to come to share our little bit of heaven in France

The red paint has been changed. What a relief

Hi, after seeing how startled the house looked with its painted red brickwork, the stonemason got more paint and toned it down. What a relief. He has cleared out all the old cement, taken out a row of bricks which were originally to the right of the front door and replaced them with stone and is now repointing the whole front. This includes the brickwork around the windows and cools it even further. It's going to look absolutely fantastic, with the little patio at the front and the car space. Haven't we done well?  Yes we have. A big pat on the back for everyone concerned I say.


The new look house

  .....  and this , my friends is how it started off, over three years ago. That is Andrew the estate agent in the picture.