Thank you Valerie....I won't sell anything but I may get commissions.
I can't even draw stick men properly #veryjealous. Whether you sell or not, the fact that you have the opportunity to share your talents with the public is fabulous, and commissions would be brilliant. Revel in it. I think it's amazing. Now, back to the stick men ...
Bees.
Getting an apartment ready for letting in July and August; my dog wanting to be let out as the garden is down through the cave, getting on with new house and having come over on my own getting on with it, go for a lie down sometimes as I find it a bit tiring because it's all so new, love everything French! Hope they forgive my schoolgirl French! Terraced garden and wondering what to do with it...
Hi Fiona. We have built a hive and just about to build a second but can't find where to buy a colony of bees from. Any ideas. We went to the town bee keeper and he said he would come round - 2 months ago.
cheers...jules
Adding to my forum comment about starting a private members dining club. I can now announce we are fully Legal. Watch this space
Re my comment here about our Private Dining Club. I am happy to announce we are now Legal. Watch this space
Our main project is our home, which we bought after it had been empty for 30 years. Locals had thought about turning it into flats but been denied permission, and before putting in an offer we met with the Maire to ask whether we could insert large windows and glass doors into the rear wall while keeping the facade and end walls exactly as they were. His response that if we were going to preserve the facade we could do as we liked at the rear and inside made the decision for us and we were off. Work started in 2006, and when the masons and carpenters left we had a shell with a new roof and new concrete floors but no internal walls and no windows, just holes.
Work was rapid at first, but as we gradually moved into the house a floor at a time, things slowed down, progress being hindered by responsibilities in the UK. Now we are getting ready to clad the rear wall with Cedral Click (has anyone else done this?) which won't need maintenance. Ten years older, I do worry about Phil working at the top of his scaffold tower, aware that he doesn't have much sensation in his feet and his eyesight isn't what it was, but we are both looking forward to this final stage of our renovation. By the end of the summer we should only have a long list of minor snags to put right and can consider our project complete.
Having bought a flat in the UK for late mother and subsequently inherited it, we have not been idle there. The most recent British job was the most drastic, removing the bath and replacing it with a very large shower tray, which involved cladding around it with shiny white panels. This work started during our Xmas stay, and was finished during Easter, only the flooring left to wait for our summer visit.
There are always other bits and pieces to be getting on with, since younger son bought a house with a large and jungle-like garden in Sussex. However now we have taken on a consultancy role, explaining how to do the various jobs and leaving him to get on with the hard work, which he has excelled at. Retirement can be hard work!
I was given an old wooden hive that looks pretty and comes to pieces, I have looked on the internet but can't work out how to assemble it and am in a town by the river with a terraced garden, it gets cold here in winter so I am not sure about where to get bees either!
I make things in wood - small boxes and the Nail chair was for an exhibition.
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I love the nail chair John,very striking.
1. 10 hens, 2 dogs, 3 donkeys, 1 cat, 1 wife, 1 schoolboy and 1 hamster.
2. 1 place names book to edit and then 2 more to write.
3. Lots of students who I invite into my house for a week or two to immerse in English.
Slowly the set up is down and all the legal stuff. I have just been so busy
with barge work and home stuff. Hope to be going by new year
Cool, let me know if you want a plug!