Oh boy that was some month! Lots of ups and downs this month…some of them very tricky and some very nice. I`ll start with one of the very tricky ones which is appropriate as it happened at the start of the month.
We were all geared up to sign the Compromise de Vente on the house on the 4th October and the notaire rang us to confirm the appointment. No sooner had we hung up on that call, when our agent rang with the devastating news that the buyer had pulled out of the sale, citing money problems and that he didnt after all want 2 houses. To say that we were shell shocked would be an understatement! However, plan B was immediately put into action. Remember the couple who turned up in the garden the evening we returned from holiday? Aurelia rang them and happily they were overjoyed that the house was back on the market and the next day put in an offer at the asking price…more than the previous guy had offered. Talk about a silver lining! We told Aurilia to recontact them, as we had forgotten to discuss the fosse septique problem when we did their whirlwind tour in the rain, and they consequently offered a sum which took replacing the fosse into consideration…but this too was above the previous offer so we accepted very quickly. PHEW!! So, we were on all systems go again for signing the compromise, but as we now had different buyers and a different price, there was a bit more work to do on the paperwork and a new date of 17th October was set for this. But the story does not finish there, as a couple of days before we were due to sign we received message from the notaire, saying that Mr T had discovered that we have a quarry nearby (which we do) and had been reading letters sent by our neighbours to a recent enquiry for the extension of the quarrys licence, saying how noisy and disruptive it was, and he was worried that we hadnt mentioned it, as their objective here was to have peace and quiet. Now, I need to say here that one of our neighbours HATES this quarry with a vengeance and will do anything to get it closed down. The reason we hadnt mentioned it is, in fact, that we dont really notice it. It doesnt run every day, never works on holidays, is closed for most of the summer months and when it does it makes a sort of chugging noise which frankly, we dont find unpleasant. It is strictly regulated on things like dust and I dry my washing outside all the time without any worries. Our only beef with it, like all of the inhabitants in the commune, are the lorries which use the road to Sauxillanges when they are working and they drive too fast sometimes. Mr T wanted to come and check of course, and so the signing of the compromise was put back for another week. He arrived on the Friday afternoon, having done his homework and having had a walk up to the quarry (which of course was not working!). We talked him through our side of the story and showed him our Livre dOrs (guest books) in which all our guests comment on how nice we are (!) and what a haven of peace, calm and tranquillity it is here. He also took another look around the place and went off happy we thought. He asked if he could return the next day with his son, who lives in Clermont Ferrand and we, of course, said yes. He also wanted to visit the Marie in the morning and we advised him to have a meal at la Margalou where he would almost certainly encounter some of the locals and could have a chat about anything which was still worrying him. The next afternoon he came with his son, having been reassured by the guys at the Marie and chez Viviane, had another long look around, verified all the furniture and appliances we were leaving, went for a very long walk and told us he was very much looking forward to living here. He also assured us that he and his family would look after our lovely house in the future. PHEW again!! And so, the compromise de vente was dutifully signed (on every page as usual …this is France after all!) last Thursday. We are now in the 10 day “cooling off” period, which is obligatory here, for either side to pull out without incurring penalties, but we don`t think that there will be any more hiccups. Fingers crossed yet again. One thing which did annoy us when we signed was being told that as we are in an agricultural commune, we have to wait for the local farmers to say ok and that the land (our garden) is of no interest to them. Even the notaire said that this is a complete arnaque (scam) but if we wanted to speed up the process (which we do, as it can drag on for ages) we could pay to do so, which we agreed to very reluctantly! Anyway, we are just now awaiting the date for the final signing. Mr T wants to spend Christmas here with all his family so we are hoping that will be in early December.
There has been progress too on our purchase of the flat in St Aygulf. We are going down there this weekend to sign the compromise on the flat and of course to have another look around and see the garage which we are going to rent. We sign this compromise on Monday all being well.
In the meantime, the decluttering continues and I have started to pack up boxes ready for our epic move. Its amazing how many boxes I still have from moving here…the removal firm never came to get them back and of course I have put them to very good use as storage for bedding etc for the B and B…and other things! Slowly but surely, they are being refilled with stuff to go to Carlisle and to St Aygulf. I have to say that I find all this very depressing, not to mention tiring and until we get some final moving dates sorted out it is difficult to pack everything up as we still need to live here! We have now taken 2 carloads of stuff to a charity place, but there is still more to dispose of. I am getting quite worried by the number of boxes going to Carlisle in particular, as there is absolutely no storage space there, like an attic or big cupboards. Fortunately, Hazel and Phil do have an attic…and a garage which I am reliably informed is being cleared as I write! Now is that a trick …or a treat for them??
I have now officially retired and have the documents to prove it at last! It was a bit of a struggle but we got there in the end and all the relevant departments such as the tax people, the chamber of commerce etc, etc have been informed. Getting these documents also meant that I, (or rather Geoff!) could complete my dossier for my French pension, which has also now been submitted. It did get us thinking though, as to what people actually do for money whilst waiting for all this paperwork to be completed. We are lucky in the fact that we are used to not having much money from my business in winter, plus we also know that the pension I will receive will be diddly squat, but there must be a lot of folk who have no income during this period. Very tricky for them I would have thought.
We have also completed our dossier for our Carte de Sejour at long last (we sent off the original request in January remember!) and had our interview at the prefecture in Clermont Ferrand earlier this month. It all went very smoothly, just a tick box exercise really and we should be able to collect our 10-year card in December. We are still not sure we will need this, but with all the Brexit shenanigans still going on, it is better to be safe than sorry.
There have been some nice treats for us too this month. We were invited to give a little talk about rural tourism to a group who were part of a day long conference organised by the parish of Issoire (& beyond I think). People came from all over the area and had talks in various venues around St Genes la Tourette about all aspects of living in the countryside. It was a nice way to spend a morning and we enjoyed participating…and the “Jacobs joint” lunch was good too 
I went out with my art group for lunch one day at the beginning of the month. This group is very small now and with my departure soon, will be in danger of collapse really. Its such a shame, as I have enjoyed being part of the group and although I can now paint on my own, its still nice to have the support and encouragement of others. I hope it survives, but they really need to find some more members.
Another outing was a very pleasant afternoon`s trip to Clermont with my good friend Julie. We had a nice visit, having a drink at the bar which her daughter manages and then went to see Downton Abbey at the cinema. This was a bit of a challenge for Julie as she has never watched an episode of DA and so did not know anything about the characters at all! We enjoyed it though…it was tosh, but amusing tosh as always! I will miss Julie very much when we move. Despite being a fellow Geordie in exile and therefore having many things in common, we have never been in each other’s pockets, so to speak. But we have always enjoyed each other’s company and I have known from day one here, that she and Jean-Luc would be there for us if ever we needed advice or help in any way. I hope very much that we will see them again when we move to Carlisle, as they come across often to visit family in the NE and so a meet up should be on the cards.
We are now very much into Autumnal weather with a mixture of rainy days and quite warm sunshine. The garden is beginning to look very neglected as we havent had a lot of time or inclination to spend time on it, if we are honest. It already feels like it isnt ours anymore which is very sad. I did get around to trimming a few shrubs the other day but frankly, my heart just wasnt in it. My hens too seem to have packed in laying and one of them looks dreadful as she has moulted and looks almost ready for the oven at the moment. With the clocks going back last weekend too everything animal wise seems sad and depressed. Maisie cat cant get her head around the clock change and sits mewing pitifully for an hour before feeding time each day. Xena also knows that something is afoot as the house fills up with more and more boxes. She has cheered up today though, with the arrival of our holiday house neighbours who have come for the weekend. I`m not going to tell her it’s probably the last time she will see them or her best friend Janka ever again 
We do get one more treat this weekend with a short trip to the Med to sign this compromise. And then we will see what November has in store for us all
A bientot mes amis…