End of the Summer

We're now at the end of the summer.  We have family staying at La Matha at the moment, and one more set of visitors staying at the beginning of October, before we go out on 6 Oct.  We really can't wait, as we haven't been able to go there as much this year as we did last year.

At this time of the year, thoughts turn to improvements we would like to make for next year.  We have done a large number of improvements over the last couple of years, as chronicled in earlier posts.  What more is there to be done?

One thing we would like to do is render the walls in the utility room, and then paint them and the ceiling.  We will probably have the stone walls finished in the traditional "pierre apparente" that we have outside and on some internal walls - strangely, it is a cheaper finish, and looks so good!  Doing that, and then painting the concrete floor should make the room (which is just used for storage and as a utility room) much less dusty and be a tad more inviting than it is at the moment.  Oh yes - we will also have to see what we can do to replace the cracked glass in the sliding patio door in that room.

Another idea we had for an improvement was to build a large pergola on the hard stand to the left of the house.  With some shade over the top, that will be an ideal area to have the table tennis table, which, unless people bring it outside, is a bit cramped in the utility room.  That area to the side of the house is the least attractive part of the grounds, and is in need of a tidy-up even if we don't do the pergola.

A final thought on the pergola is that we have not been able to find any for sale in France, which will mean buying a kit in the UK and taking it over.  That means hiring a van again, which will also be a good excuse for buying a load of wine again - memories of bringing back about 700 bottles last year.........

Further posts will be made of what we decide to do.