The Gite is Finally Finished

I promised I would update you all once the gite was ready, well hang the bunting and cue a drum roll but I am very happy to tell you that the gite is finished and open for bookings – woo hoo!!!  So if anyone would like a holiday and the honour of being the first guest to stay book now to avoid disappointment.

It was a long slog in the end just getting all the finishing touches done (a perfectionist, me? Never!) and not beset with frustrations and set backs completely beyond my control that often left me thinking why am I doing this?

Here are a few photos to remind you of what I started with.

Then a little thing called lockdown arrived and so in a bored moment I decided to make a start on ripping it all out……….and so it began.  Use of a non-breathable membrane by the previous owners had led to a lot of rotten wood and the boxed in beam was hiding a beam that had split in half and supported in the wall by a couple of splinters.

More rotten beams….

Then the work really started

Here is the finished product.  I’m actually quite proud of what I have achieved and of course could not have done it without the help of Builder Dave, Builder Dave Junior and Dennis.

There’s still the gite courtyard to finish off and I was oh so close to getting that done when Covid came a calling and wiped out half the team.  I, thankfully, and have no idea how, have managed to escape it.

Since I last wrote to you Luna and I went back down to Spain and had a lovely week chilling out with M and J.  Friend C and E came over for a couple of weeks worked their magic on the allotment and too many other jobs to mention.

I finally got rid of the ugly swimming pool, knocked down a couple of sheds, and now have a lovely chilled out seating area to enjoy (if only I had the time!).  As well as sorting out a parking area that I now share with my neighbour – it is his land after all!  Just need to remind Builder Dave that it is not his trailer park!

What news of the menagerie?  Well they have been through the wars too.  Luna will insist of chasing bees/wasps ended up at the vets having anti-histamine jabs after her mouth swelled up following a sting and was very poorly for a few days.  Chablis appears to have been fighting all the local cats and is currently sporting various cuts and bald patches on his face and back.  And lastly poor Malbec went missing, thankfully my neighbour found her quite a long way from home and hiding in a large pipe that runs in the ditch along the roadside.  Builder Dave and I mounted a rescue involving a long length of drainpipe to push her out.  A trip to the vets for monitoring and she was in a bad way.  Clearly been attacked by something much bigger than her; face all cut and bleeding, and her back legs had been battered and she could barely walk.  But I’m pleased to say she has made a full recovery but the back legs are very weak.

And that’s all folks!