The Olives, all 150 kilos, have been harvested, taken to the mill, the oil has been collected and is now ready to bottle. A lot of hard work for me but worth it for our own Olive Oil.  We have just about emptied our little vegetable garden so that we can do a few alterations to it over the winter and add a herb garden. The last of the tomatoes have just been eaten in a salad for lunch and the leeks will be dug up tomorrow and made into soups for the freezer. 

The weather in the last couple of months has been lovely and we have had quite a bit of sunshine. The vines have been fabulous in their autumn colours this year and Bryan has been out and about with his camera a couple of afternoons capturing them.  We even managed a few days off in late November in the camper - A visit to Collioure, a lovely small fishing village, near to the Spanish border, where the Pyrenees tumble into the sea. We ate lunches on cafe terraces looking out over the mediterranean and Bryan had a potter on his motorbike for a little rest and recuperation. There were people swimming in the sea and it was just like late summer. Fingers crossed there are more days like these to come. 

All guests have now left and our season is finished. We can now work on the new house without having to worry about disturbing anyone. The foundation walls are built and all pipes and drains for bathrooms, kitchens etc are in place and (hopefully) by Monday we will be casting the floor. You can now see the outline of the downstairs rooms and the curve of the staircase.  Our son is here for 3 weeks to help with all the manual work and the concreting - He has saved me a lot of shovelling - my bad back is very grateful !

Phew - What a summer

The last couple of months have been hot, hot, hot so we have been working inside the garage, getting it up to Bryan's standard of a 'workshop'. Just a few small finishing touches and all is finished, (except for the exterior finish which will be done at the same time as the pool house). Tomorrows job is to put up the guttering. We have also put up our new sign at the entrance and we are very pleased with it.

The Bride & Groom

We have been on lots of photo shoots for properties, music videos and even a wedding and the summer has flown by.  It has also been 'fete season' with something happening in Cebazan and the surrounding villages most weekends. I'm secretly looking forward to the darker nights so we can stay in and have a rest !!!!





In the veg garden we have been picking Tomatoes by the kilo and my cupboards as now full with sauces & chutneys etc to keep us fed all winter. Next job in the garden is to harvest the Olives. It's looking like we will have a good crop this year despite the dry summer.

Villa Picholine has been fully booked since May with guests arriving from France, UK, Germany and Australia. Family and friends have also been to visit and a good summer has been had by all. I am slowly loosing the will to live from Ironing all the bed linen and we are now hoping to grab a few days away in the camper before the next wave of guests arrive.

It's bee-n a buzzy kind of day !

The last few weeks have been busy, 'comme d'habitude'. The weather has been a bit changeable so the photo shoots that had been booked have had to be re-scheduled. In fact we did two in one day the other Saturday. I don't think we will do that again. Luckily at the second one Yvan & Maryse had just got their new beer pump working when we finished. So of course we had to try it out - sometimes its good to be the photographers assistant.

Here at Les Oliviers the gravel delivery arrived and I have finished mulching 3 new garden borders. 1 more to go and then we have to sit down and plan the last phase after we have finished all the groundworks.

The first potatoes, carrots and beetroot have been picked (and eaten) and the strawberries are ready too. Tomatoes have been planted and are beginning to flower. The first job of the day is to wander up the garden and tie in all the new growth. We have blackbirds nesting in the hedge and its so peaceful to listen to them singing while I work. The Hoopoes are back nesting in the old barn opposite and are proving a little elusive to photograph, but you can hear the little ones calling for food.

Today's excitement has been provided by our old house, La Vigne. There were a few bees buzzing about around the shutters of the bedroom window on my way past to do the cleaning at La Remise so I went in to investigate, (the owners live in America), and there was a very large swarm. Luckily we have a friend who is a bee keeper. She arrived this afternoon and moved the colony into a box.

She has left it there for the moment and will return after dark and hopefully take them all away. I shall look forward to tasting the honey this autumn.

Where to start......

The work on the garage is forever ongoing ! The roof is finished, window in, doors in and the mezzanine for our junk is done, (thanks to the help of our 4 year old Grandson, Harry Bear). He was put to good use when he came on holiday for a week with his mum, dad and big brother Oliver. He was in his element helping grandad drill holes -  He even brought his own tool kit with him.... Now that IS dedication.

Villa Picholine is now completely finished. I managed to fit in a spot of door painting last week and that's the last job crossed off that list - Don't worry I have other lists - Much to Bryan's disgust !

The gardens are looking very well established and full of colour and it is lovely and private. We are so pleased with how it has grown.  Our daughter in law's favourite spot for her early morning coffee was on the swing at the bottom of the garden...It's also a nice place for a nice cold beer at the end of a long working day.... I suppose we will have to give that privilege up when the first paying guests arrive next week.



The sun has been shining this week and I have been alternating my time between weeding, lawn mowing, mulching to conserve water and office work. I must admit the outside jobs are my favourites; well until the 10 ton of gravel arrives next week they are !!

No pictures of the progress on the final house - The man & his digger arrived on Friday afternoon and has now left us with trenches all over the rest of the plot. Hopefully after next week when we have finished putting all the pipe work in Bryan might get his camera out for some record shots. We have 1 week to finish before our guests arrive so no time off for us...

I'm so tired my tired is tired..........

I'm not sure if time flies or it just takes us longer to do things when you are getting older.......

The thermometer outside is registering 19 degrees in the shade today and we have had a fabulous week of sunshine. Little by little the garden at Les Oliviers is coming to life. The Mimosa is in full bloom with it's little pom poms of sunshine and last week we saw the first Almond blossom too. The daffodils & tulips are out & the Iris lining the drive are full of flowers. On the down side the weeds are growing twice as fast as the flowers and it's taking up quite a lot of my time waging war against them.

Sunday morning saw us out in the petit potager planting our potatoes, carrots, beetroot & peas. Peppers, Tomatoes and lettuce are sown and growing away nicely in my cold frame. The strawberry plants are showing small flowers & the thought of  eating these in a few weeks is making my mouth water.

The garage seems to be taking forever to build - not surprising looking at the size of it. It is not much smaller than Villa Picholine. Bryan's excuse is that it has to be big enough to fit the camper in. I'm hoping that he doesn't find enough room for any more bikes - 4 is quite enough for one man - Surely.......
Needless to say I will be keeping a close eye on him next weekend at the Salon de la Moto in Narbonne.

The foundations are in for the final house. After 8 days of preparing placing & tying in all the metalwork & pipework in the trenches we were both fit for nothing and decided that in order to protect our bad backs we would pump the concrete into the trenches. What a good idea that was. It was the easiest lot of concrete we have ever laid and I am sure when we come to do the floor we will be using it again. The plan of attack for the next couple of weeks is to get the garage watertight and secure and then we can concentrate once again on the house.

Our little house, La Remise is all prepared and ready for the holiday season. It is with much sadness that we have decided to put it up for sale and so this may be our last season.   If any of you reading this are looking for a maison de vacances you can find it on
www.creme-de-languedoc.com reference no 20015