Monthly Archives: December 2015

Welcome 2016

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Hello Dear Reader,
I love new, a new day, a new week, a new term, a new coffee jar and especially a new year. I like change, I like different and I like fresh new starts. No matter what goes wrong, what gets broken, what hurts, what ticks me off, I always know there’s a new day tomorrow and everything can start again afresh. So, I love the first of January better than any other day. DB and I got together in 1996 so it’s our twentieth year. We are both in our 50th year and we’ve got a whole load of fresh and exciting things to look forward to.
If you’ve read my blog for a few years you’ll know I started off in debt, took two years to pay it off, paid down our mortgage and downsized our house. At one stage we were so frugal that we lived without heating, didn’t buy any clothes, didn’t have a day out let alone a holiday, never bought a coffee, didn’t have a glass of wine, a bar of chocolate and lived and breathed frugal. Even then, we managed to have a good time, get out on our bikes, walks, days out and as I’ve so often said, it didn’t kill us.
We’ve been debt free since 2011 and have a tiny mortgage left that’s ticking away along with regular overpayments. We’ve squirrelled away savings which has meant we’ve been able to renovate thrift cottage and take holidays. We also made a retirement plan that we’d buy a cheap house in lovely Brittany in readiness to rent out our home in Cornwall. We did so with an inheritance that we could have banked, that we could have cleared our mortgage but we decided to live a bit!
That brings me to my New Years resolution which is to live a bit more.
This year, DB scaled back his work and now works term time only which means we have the time to live a bit more. We’ll go to France more, we’ll have more time on the beach, more time with friends, more time visiting interesting places.
For us, we’re still definitely thrifty people. I still menu plan, portion control, buy new clothes every other year, carefully monitor energy and water usage, buy bargain toiletries, get our cleaning products refilled at the local hardware store, heat our house with wood, bulk buying, batch cooking, drying our laundry on the line or in front of the fire, down loading library books for free, read magazines and newspapers online for free, collected pallets and chopped them down for kindling to start our fire. When we splurged on a holiday, we shopped around to get 10% cash back renting through owners direct buying through Quidco. We also found a beach front flat to boot. We bought a loyalty card so got 30% off our ferry crossings.
Our thrifty and frugal isn’t the same as yours, or his or theirs. It doesn’t need to be. We run our home on a budget, save more than we spend every month and when we do spend money do so on what’s important to us.
It’s important to us to live a bit more and we’ve resolved to do so. It’ll be worth being thrifty for too.
I hope you have a wonderful 2016 and however you do it, I hope you get to live a bit more.
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxxx

Rescue dogs

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Hello Dear Reader,
I remember well, when my children were young and out of sorts, they’d just spend all day on my lap and everything else would be put on hold. My four legged friends have been a bunch of sad faces and have needed a lap day. They are all rescue dogs. Bobby Dazzler was the last pup no one wanted and languished in a dog run until he was six months old. His previous owners just wanted him gone and we found him cheap in the free ads! He’s been a wonderful companion for the last nine years.
We found Scruffy, we’re his third owners. He was rehomed by a family with children and horses and was just too much for them to cope with. He was advertised as ‘good home needed’ and we took him home. He’s also nine years old and he’s still extremely needy! He’s a lap dog who is happiest when sat with us.
Finally, a Dolly the three year old bichon. She also needed a ‘good home’ after her owner was rehoused in a flat where she couldn’t have a dog. Having three rescue dogs is hard work. They need daily grooming, weekly bathing, endless hugs and cuddles. People also underestimate the time and cost of having bichons as they need their fur clipping as they are non-shedding breeds.

We had a rough trip back as storm Frank blew us back in a force 8 gale and we didn’t sleep well last night as the storm battered our house. We consider ourselves lucky as there are dreadful floods that devastated communities. Whilst I’m cuddling the dogs, my heart goes out to the families who are suffering so much.

I hope everyone is safe and well,

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxxx

Uniquely French

France

Hello Dear Reader,
A little share of something I love that is uniquely French.
Bins. When i say bins, I thought I’d mention rubbish in general. The UK is a throw away society, France is so much more measured. Above is the bin for the entire hamlet of ten or so houses and the families generate so little waste. Bread as an example, has no packaging, you just carry it off in your hand. Most packaging is recyclable, goes into a yellow bag and gets turned into something else.
Something else, in the UK, there is rubbish everywhere. People eat on the move, throw rubbish out of cars, allow their bins to overspill and make a mess everywhere. There’s a different culture in France and rubbish is a very rare sight. Councils in the UK have made so many cuts that parks, hedges, verges and roadsides are overgrown and weedcovered. Here there’s an army of workers keeping the place beautiful. That tells me that taxpayers value their local areas and are prepared to pay for it. I love this about France and I already feel very proud to ‘live’ here.
On the last note for some time on life here, we left at ten this morning with the tree surgeon cutting down trees.
We’re just about to get on the ferry and go back to Cornwall.
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxx

Batten down the hatches

France

Hello Dear Reader,
We’ve shut up shop and headed back to the rented gite early. Poor DB bashed his head on a low door and we’re both shattered. We’ve liaised with the artisans who are working on the house. New back doors and electrics by the end of January. Tomorrow, the tree surgeon arrives to start taking the trees down.
We’ve researched the red lichen and as it’s so common, there’s an easy solution. It get sprayed with something called anti-mousse. It dies and doesn’t come back for ages. It’s another job we’ll do ourselves.
Whilst we’ve been cosied up in the warm, we’ve drawn up some kitchen plans. We’ve found a ‘basic’ kitchen that we can buy a few units at a time, bring them flat packed in the car and build it as and when we can afford to do so. I’ve no intention of busting the budget as this adventure can unfold all in good time.
I hope to see the trees down tomorrow, fingers crossed he turns up in time.
I’m off to rub deep heat where it aches, this might be the first Christmas I lose weight instead of putting it on.
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxxx

Christmas in Huelgoat

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Hello Dear a Reader,
I hope you had a wonderful mid winter bank holiday, ours was lovely. We went to our house in the morning and did some work. We then took ourselves off for a walk around Huelgoat and the lake. There were very few people around, no cars rushing anywhere and there was a real sense of peace. No restaurants or hotels open, no bars just a quiet day off.
We had lunch with a local family. Lovely nibbles, salad, pate, corichons to start. Pheasant, wild mushrooms, with potatoes cooked with lardons, a cheese course and of course some gateaux to finish. Plenty of wine, lots of chat and the loveliest hosts.
We’ve been hard at it at the house today. Lots more painting, gardening in the form of removing ivy from the house. We took a sandwich each and other than sitting for a bit to eat those, we worked all day.
We will be able to show some before and after photos soon. Even though there’s so much to do, I would already be happy to move in. It might need kitchen units, oh and furniture, curtains, rugs, cubboards and do in but they can all be gleaned from here and there over the years.
Our next trip over will be about fettling, titivating, gardening and building paths. It’ll also be about village markets, moorland walks, traipsing through woods and visiting lovely sights.
We’ve got a couple more days and we’re determined to get the painting finished.
Totally worn out but having a lovely time.
Until tomorrow.
Froogs xxxxx

A walk around Huelgoat

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Hello Dear Reader,
This lovely sight is just around the corner from my house. I didn’t even know it was there. We took a walk to the market, bought leeks, cabbage and cheese and spied an alley way. We had to have a look.
We’d already found one lavoir in Huelgoat and found another. Beautifully preserved.
I almost wished I could wash clothes here.
Also, a Fontaine or well in English.
Water still flows through it.
We’ve worked all day again, more painting, cleaning, wall scraping and drying the house. We’ve left a dehumidifier running over night and we’ll be back there tomorrow to do some more work.
I’m really enjoying this time of year. I hope you are too.
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxxx

Painting, Christmas shopping and feral cats.

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Hello Dear Reader,
DB took the photo above of me in the supermarket today at four this afternoon. Notice anything unusual? Nope, neither did I! No gorge-fest here! No panic buying going crazy spending hundreds of pounds, just a normal day! There are a few differences. Boxes of oysters stacked high, buckets of every variety of crab, foie gras (staying clear of that!) beautiful floral gifts for hosts and boxes of chocolates. Other than that, just a usual day. I like Christmas here, no hype and no hassle. The local neighbours have invited us for lunch on the 25th and I needed a small gift for them. I opted for chocolate.

We spent the day painting. We have a good system, I do the fiddle faff and DB whizzes around with the paint roller. I’ve had the fire going all day, it’s helping to dry the house out. If you know anything about thermal mass, then you can imagine how cold the house is when it’s been shut up and unlived in for five years or more. The walls, chimney are cold. That causes condensation which feels like the house is sweating! We’ve also got a dehumidifier running. There is some damp but that can be sorted with ventilation. As there’s a real fire, the house has air vents. When we’re not there, we’ll leave the heaters on the lowest setting, on a timer, with the wood stove doors open and that’ll create an air flow.
We crossed another few tasks off the list. We now have bank cards and a cheque book. Banking is an officious and laborious process here as a non-Domicile. British wages slips, P60 to show where I pay tax, passport to show I’m a European and everything but a blood test before I could take my cheque book and card away. Those people rocking up in Europe whether out of desperation or desire to work are in for a shock if they think it’s easy to live here. Last time I opened a bank account, all I needed was a pound!
I shouldn’t moan, security is important.
Oh, the other task. BUT arrived with our ‘white goods’ and were bewildered by the tip. I thought they deserved it. I don’t have a garden path and they carried everything from a cooker to a fridge freezer uphill over mud and thick wet grass. They were also very helpful in showing me how to write a cheque. Nice boys who like every other French service we have encountered have been on time, very polite and welcoming of strangers. We met another neighbour today, he encountered DB who doesn’t speak any French and although I could hear them, at a distance at total cross purposes, they both seemed to get on just fine. The immediate neighbour’s dog and I have made acquaintances but the semi feral cats of next doors don’t seem happy that they can no longer use my garden as a toilet. I’ve hissed at them every time I saw them in the garden and they’ve run away. They’ll soon disappear when my three fluffy dogs turn up.
Here’s the view from the top floor apartment. In the winter, you can see the lake through the bare trees. Tomorrow, I will be fettling, unpacking, appliance testing and adding more paint. Our final appointment tomorrow is with the wood burner fitter. The stove there is not good at all, it’s rusted through, the grate is warped, the heat just whooshes up the chimney and I’ll have it replaced with something Eco friendly that heats the room and not the sky.
We unloaded the van and everything is stored in the flat, stupidly we didn’t pack any mugs! We are now the proud owners of two bright red hot chocolate mugs we found in the supermarket. No one else was doing any Christmas shopping and those two mugs were our gifts to each other. We know how to live.
We’ll be hard at it tomorrow as there’s a deadline looming.
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxxx

Renovating a house in Huelgoat

France

Hello Dear Reader,
Thank heavens we can get into the house as the rain’s coming in side ways! We need to dig some serious drainage in the garden, dig out for pathes and get some sand and gravel down as affordable solution to a very wet problem. Here as there’s so much rain people don’t have solid paved paths, they have sand and gravel so water can soak away. We’ll also leave the trees at the bottom of the garden so they can suck up some water.
EDF came today and reconnected us to the mains electricity. We have heat, light, hot water and working sockets. We bought ‘inspection lights’ which are great to work with and will make an industrial minimal light fittings when we’ve done painting. The heat has made the spiders crawl out of holes and I’ve been catching them and evicting them out the window!
We’ll run the fire as much as we can as it’s sucking up the damp and keeping us warm. I’m damp treating some of the walls, DB is painting the ceilings and I’m stripping the kitchen ceiling of polystyrene tiles. We’ve even fitted the smoke alarms.
I must apologise for the screenshots, there’s very little 3G out here as I’m in the middle of nowhere. But, you get the gist. I’ve cleaned the studio flat upstairs and touched up some paint work . We’ll live in here until the main house has dried out. It’ll take a summer with the doors and windows open. We’ll also store furniture up here.
It’s a spacious flat but as you can see, there’s no kitchen and we’ll improvise until the house is habitable. It’s already drying out, even after one day with the fire lit. The stove is literally sucking water out of the walls. It’s like painting a sauna! Whilst we’re gone, the heating will be on timer, the stove doors left open and the warm air will suck the air up the chimney.
It already feels homely, light, warmth, hot water and the fire lit and I’ve already made a mess. DB has been a total star, he’s rigged up lighting by wiring into the light fittings we’ve brought with us into French extension leads, he’s also retired the oil filled radiators we’ve brought with us to have French plugs. He’s sawn branches, lugged coal and firewood and kept the fire going all day. The man is a flippin’ marvel!

Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxx

House renovations in Brittany

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Hello Dear Reader,
What a day. We arrived at the house at eight to wait for Veolia to come and turn on the water. It was still really dark when we arrived to we used battery lanterns to see what we were doing. Even with that, it wasn’t light enough so we sat on the back of the car, with a flask of coffee and watched the world go by. We met the bin men, we me La Poste, the dog walkers and the lady next door taking her dog out. The light arrived by nine and we got on with more work in the garden.
We’ve unearthed slate slabs by the front doors, pulled more ivy off the building, and I cut three hydrangeas down to the ground. They all grow again. We’ve removed three entire shrubs, took out every branch of a small tree and are really beginning to open up the garden.
The man came from Veolia at ten am and now we have running water! Everything works, nothing leaks and we’ve found the water meter, an outside tap and where the French hide their water meters.
Here’s the remnants of the trees. Next time, we’ll bundle everything in a trailer and take it to the dechetterie. It sounds exotic but that’s the recycling centre to you and me.
The slabs in front of the house were covered in a tangled mat of grass roots and it was lovely to find the old slates. They have a hole in one end that makes them look like ancient roof tiles.
I’ve used some soap and water to have a scrub of the exterior walls and the ‘rust’ came off easily. We’ll hire a jet washer and I’m sure it’ll all come off. We headed back to the gite for lunch and then made our way over to Poullaouen to the Notaire to sign the official papers for our house. That meant we could get on with some work inside the house.
I’ve scraped down walls, and scrubbed and washed down some woodwork. As the light was fading, we lit the fire; just a small one as the chimney, nor the house has had any heating for six years. It will have ‘to do’ but it will need replacing as it’s rusted through in places
Tomorrow EDF come to switch on the electricity and we can start work on the inside of the house. It will be great to have light and warmth, to clean it thoroughly and to start painting it.
We’re physically tired at the end of each day but a hot shower, glass of Breton cider, feet up by the fire and some films on the lap top for a perfect ending to a busy day.
See you tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxx

Renovating an abandoned house in Brittany

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Hello Dear Reader,
I thought I would share my thoughts on house buying in Brittany. As we’re ‘cash’ buyers I can’t give any ideas on getting a mortgage but so far it’s been an easy process. To start, you view houses and it’s usual to meet the estate agent at their office and go them to drive you to several houses in one morning or afternoon. Nothing, and I repeat nothing happens during the French two hour lunch break so be patient. It creates a short working day. Offices open at 9.30 and close at five and closes for two hours I between. Don’t worry about this as the best part of France is lunch so just give in and go with the flow.
Like us, you may have suggested to the estate agent that you might do some renovations. In the UK, that means fit a new bathroom, redecorate or install new windows. Not so in France. Our estate agent took us to houses with bathrooms in sheds in the garden, rotten stairs replaced with ladders, half a roof or no plumbing or electrics. Our house certainly needs renovation as it’s been empty for six years. It’s damp, over grown and the exterior render has degraded. However none of that has put us off. Our house is on the edge of a forest and that means six years deep of mulch. As I’m going to build flower beds, all that well rotted compost will be really helpful.
So, there’s a nugget, don’t be surprised if the estate agent shows you farms, flats, equestrian centres, hotels and campsites when you’ve asked to see two bedroom houses in villages. In the end, we found one in the exact village of our choice. The only downside was to afford something in our budget, it would be a ‘fixer upper’. In our case, the garden was totally overgrown, the house has some water damage and the electrics needed updating.
You can see, if you look really hard that we’ve unearthed the granite steps at the side of the house. The balcony and steps get the sunrise and morning sun. It’s also the steps to the main entrance as the back of the house. One day, not promising when, it’ll be really pretty.
We’ve got the keys and the house has been emptied of all the junk. We cleaned out the fireplace. We don’t legally own it until tomorrow so we haven’t lit the fire. Here’s another thing, the electricity and water gets totally disconnected. Once you’ve found a house don’t be scared by renovations such as retiring or minor renovations as estate agents here keep a wall or book of artisans. There are a few things to check for, one being that they have a siret number which means their quotations or ‘devis’ is a legally binding amount as is the date they promise. That siret number also shows they are insured and their work is guaranteed for ten years. We will do the decorating ourselves but major work will be done by French artisans. As Brittany is popular with Brits, local artisans are happy to do business with you. They have a bit of English and with a little bit of French and when you get the written devis by email then you can run that through google translate to make sure you’re happy with their suggestions then you sign the devis and you’ve entered a legally binding agreement to get the work done and to pay the artisan the agreed price. It’ll cost a lot less than the UK but don’t expect it done in a hurry. We agreed a price for work in October and the work will be done in February. Apparently that’s normal.
We are going to have a makeshift kitchen for a while and don’t worry about that either as fitted kitchens are not common here. We’ve kept our eyes open for breakfast bars which are work top height tables that can be ranged around the room with shelving for storage. As a holiday home, it’ll be fine. So there’s another thing about renovating an abandoned house is don’t expect to get everything done in one go. We’ll take years and do the work as and when we can afford it.
We’ve had a good dig and unearthed the back and side steps, cut back the overgrown hedges and have started to reveal the garden.
The garden steps are huge chunks of granite which is fitting as Brittany is covered in the stuff and Huelgoat is famous for its huge granite boulders. As I was digging, I imagined planting ferns, hostas and agapanthus but all in good time. It’s a north facing garden and I’ll need to see if anything will grow here at all. That’d be my advice for buying a house here, don’t rush anything. Don’t buy too much furniture or do too much and just live there a while and get a feel for the place.
Our little old house is going to take time, it’s been unloved for quite a while and we’ll be here for ten weeks a year so it’s going to take a very long time to renovate. One thing’s for sure, I’ll share it all with you.
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxxx