It’s ours!

Brave new year…

2017 has started well for us – after a truly magical Christmas of returning offspring and their loved ones. Simple and delicious: we ate and drank and talked and laughed and really appreciated each other’s company – bliss!

Beth and I recorded a little song, which was a great honour for me – her biggest fan! (although I was a bit croaky after the cold that seemed to catch everyone we know wherever they were in the world! ) –

Arty edited our annual Christmas video – taking the mantle from Beth now that she’s away studying…

And on Boxing Day, we went over to the farm and cracked open a  bottle of champagne while we were all together (before Harry and Armel returned to Paris and Beth flew back to England), even though we were still a whisker away from completing. We drank champagne and all played a magnificent and rather bizarre game of hide and seek!

Off to the Notaire’s…

So having finally received our mortgage offer just before Christmas…waited the obligatory 11 days taking us to just after Christmas (29th December) – we signed and initialed a mountain of mortgage papers at the bank.  We drove over to Tence on Wednesday 11th Jan 2017 to the Notaire’s.  The weather was beautiful – clear blue skies and perfect snow to left and right (but none on the road to hinder us).

All went smoothly – our charming, witty and meticulous Notaire went through our 57 page (I’m not kidding!) act of purchase, which we all duly initialed and signed… and the deed was done! … and the deeds were ours!

I was trembling with anticipation in the Notaire’s, adrenalin flowing…in fact we’ve been pretty fuelled on adrenalin ever since if I’m honest!

We went to see our great friends the Aicardis to share our news – and the four of us went over to the house, which was gloriously wearing it’s winter cloak – I was dying to see it in the snow… and it didn’t disappoint!

So now this thing we’re doing is really happening, and no longer a ‘fingers crossed’, ‘if all goes well’ affair…

To do list…

It’s time to reconnect the electricity… (after 10 years), and turn the water back on. Then we need to set up a temporary on-site office… probably in here – if we can get that little wood burner going!

There’s a few concrete floors to dig out; the floorboards of the grange (the barn) to take up; pretty well all the windows to replace; the fosse septique (septic tank) to put in; and a whole lot of fun to have!!

Watch this space! And thanks for reading!

xxx