First Week at La Godefrere
Posted by Graham Parish on Sunday, August 26, 2012
We became owners of La Godefrere on Tuesday 21st August. It's a bit daunting to take on a house, gite and barn which needs restoring together with 5 acres of grounds. Thrown in were two cats and a chicken which come with the house!! We also have temporary care of three sheep in one of our fields. We let them graze for a neignbour. Add to this of course that we have taken on all this in a new country with a new language for me to learn, Kate speaks good french thankfully.
I have managed to amend the website and have found out how to set up this Blog, but it is work in progress at the moment and I have much to learn.
So far in the first week we have been mostly shopping at Super U and various DIYs and garden centres getting the basics to help us get settled into the new house. Kate has already fitted a new gate to her "potager" (vegetable garden) and started a new herb border near the house. I have discovered the joys of having a workshop, with a bench and a really big vice and lots new tools. Of special significance was the acquisition of a pool table. Not usually the first on the list but I happened to mention my masterplan of converting the stable to a wine cellar and games room to one of the many English people here and was lucky enough to find out that one was avaiable at a really good price. It made sense, to me anyway!
We also managed to sort out our phone and internet requirements with France Telecom (now Orange France). Setting up the wireless installation using french instructions was a bit of a challenge but now am fully conversant with french internet terminology.
The two cats have carried on as if nothing had changed, they make sure we feed them and when possible take advantage and occupy the sofa for long periods. Trigger is a very good mouser and regularly brings back mice from the fileds. Archie is a bit lazy and usually gets Trigger to catch mice for him. Our chicken is a very stately old girl and she wanders around the grounds looking for food and helping dig over ground. At around 8pm she takes herself off to her hen house for the night. We have seen quite a few birds including a buzzard which dive bombed the chicken. I didn't know chickens could move so quickly.
The best bit about France of course is the food and wine and we have been reintroducing ourselves to plenty of both.
My grand plan is to update this blog weekly but I might get bored after a while, we will see, but keep watching this space.
I have managed to amend the website and have found out how to set up this Blog, but it is work in progress at the moment and I have much to learn.
So far in the first week we have been mostly shopping at Super U and various DIYs and garden centres getting the basics to help us get settled into the new house. Kate has already fitted a new gate to her "potager" (vegetable garden) and started a new herb border near the house. I have discovered the joys of having a workshop, with a bench and a really big vice and lots new tools. Of special significance was the acquisition of a pool table. Not usually the first on the list but I happened to mention my masterplan of converting the stable to a wine cellar and games room to one of the many English people here and was lucky enough to find out that one was avaiable at a really good price. It made sense, to me anyway!
We also managed to sort out our phone and internet requirements with France Telecom (now Orange France). Setting up the wireless installation using french instructions was a bit of a challenge but now am fully conversant with french internet terminology.
The two cats have carried on as if nothing had changed, they make sure we feed them and when possible take advantage and occupy the sofa for long periods. Trigger is a very good mouser and regularly brings back mice from the fileds. Archie is a bit lazy and usually gets Trigger to catch mice for him. Our chicken is a very stately old girl and she wanders around the grounds looking for food and helping dig over ground. At around 8pm she takes herself off to her hen house for the night. We have seen quite a few birds including a buzzard which dive bombed the chicken. I didn't know chickens could move so quickly.
The best bit about France of course is the food and wine and we have been reintroducing ourselves to plenty of both.
My grand plan is to update this blog weekly but I might get bored after a while, we will see, but keep watching this space.
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Graham Parish is a former UNISON Trade Union official who retired to France with Kate (a previous self employed gardener and now resident gardener here) to start a new life of wine, cheese, french bread and a vegetable garden on a large rural french farm with holiday gite, and associated animals.
