Summer's Here!

Our first guests of the summer are  now well into their second week.  Weather has been a bit mixed - some heavy showers, but also a lot of warm sunshine.  After they leave this weekend, we only have the following six days when the house is not occupied all the way through to 12 September.

We hope that all the guests who go there this year have a great time - enjoy sunny weather, good wine, tasty food etc!

Improved Kitchen

As promised, here is a photo of the improved kitchen.  Earlier photos were taken before the dishwasher, and this photo now shows the new wall unit, used for the crockery (of which there is also now more!).  Also note, the photo shows a much tidier kitchen than the previous ones, we may even include this on the website!

Castelmoron d'Albret

In an earlier post (here), I mentioned a village that we found when going for a drive near Sauveterre de Guyenne - Castelmoron d'Albret.  We went there again just before Easter, and I took a camera.  Here are some photos.  It really is a delightful village!

Improved Kitchen

When we installed the dishwasher last year, we took out a 600mm width cupboard which was used for the crockery.  The only place to store the crockery then was in the dresser at the other end of the dining room, which was a bit of a hassle.  As a result, we went to Bordeaux and bought a new double wall unit to go above the draining board.

This now houses mugs and cups as well as all the plates and bowls - perfectly placed near the dishwasher!  There is also now more space for the glasses, having moved the mugs across.

Unfortunately no photo as yet, but as I will be going out soon, I will take a photo to upload.

The Entrance Hall

One thing we had been planning was curtains for the large windows at the front of the house.  We had curtains made with thermal linings, so it will be good insulation both summer and winter.  Together with a relocated sofa, the area now looks like a proper room, and is a great space to chill - perhaps with a glass of wine and a good book?

What a Great Week!

We've just come back from a week out at La Matha, and the weather was gorgeous!  Early 20's every day, except the day we were heading for Bordeaux airport!  Pip even went swimming (this time next year when we have the heater working, I will join her!).  As well as the weather, we enjoyed the usual good wine, we went to Duras and Eymet markets, had some good meals, and had drinks with the neighbours.

More importantly, we completed a number of improvements.  Firstly, and most importantly, the shower room is now virtually complete.  Just one small thing to rectify, which I hope to do when I go out in a couple of weeks.  Here are some photos:

Compare this to before we started:

Wine - again!

Taking a van down to the house with furniture and stuff means that there is the opportunity to bring some wine back.  Bill and I did a bit of shopping - I say a bit: we bought about 700  bottles.  They are not all for us - some friends had placed orders - but I need to work out how to store it all!

We bought so much from the Co-operative shop Univits in Les Lèvès that the man gave me 18 bottles of a nice red wine, 6 of white, 12 of crémant, and three bottles of St Emilion!

Here is the van loaded up: