February a short month

Almond blossom

Apricot blossom

This is a short month normally with us getting ready for the season and enjoying spring.  The violets smell incredible, there is blossom on the Apricot and Almond trees.  Great views of the snow capped Pyrenees as we drive into La Bastide.  There are some early spring visitors arriving, warblers are starting to sing and raptors engage in aerial displays to woo a mate, but as usual, we are upgrading!

The Grange is getting a new granite work top, sink, tap and induction hob in the kitchen.  We are also sanding the floor, re-varnishing, and adding skirting; a big job as the Grange is so large!  There will also be some new wooden acacia stairs outside, leading to the terrace.

The Cottage is coming along well with a new floor, plus a new Martin Moore kitchen being installed in a few weeks.  All the services are ready.  We will install French doors to allow access to a new deck with views of the valley.

This will be the last year of planned major work and investment.   I hope next year we can really enjoy winter and spring, just performing the odd bit of maintenance and gardening.

Our children have their school holiday and we plan to go to the beach tomorrow.  The weather promises sun and 20 degrees, not bad for Feb.  In fact it got up to 27 degrees and the kids went in the sea in underwear and little else.

We have seen the final Dragon 3 film which even in French I can thoroughly recommend.  The kids want to see Wreck It Ralph 2.0, ride go-carts and eat pizza and burgers which is OK with me.  We may also visit a cave, the Gouffre de Cabrespine.  It's close to Carcassonne, (Aude) and one of the biggest caves in France in which could easily fit "Notre Dame de Paris"!

Janine has gone to Canet en Roussillon for a well earned rest, at the weekend she will visit friends in Perpignan.

The Under barn

Janine's mum's apartment in the under barn is flying along, and in typical French style we just signed the permit to construct, two months after we started the build!  We have met some great people during the construction who are very friendly and always prepared to go the extra mile.  It will be completed by the end of March.

We caught up with friends this week at an impromptu Apéro, great food, wine and company.

During April we have two groups of friends coming to La Bastide, one to celebrate a fortieth birthday, our other friends to experience spring and cycle some of the great hilly trails close by.

Well that's it, another month précised into a short blog.  We have good bookings so far, despite the uncertainty of Brexit.  We even have a booking for 2020!

We look forward to meeting all our visitors and running our Apéro evenings with plenty of wine and beer.  Roll on the summer!

Apéro at six pm!