July is the start of tax de sejour. A tax that you have to charge visitors to the Chambre D’hotes. They have to pay a set fee each night they stay depending on how many and what age etc. It also depends on how many stars your property has been awarded. Well of course I would award myself the 5 it deserves, but seeing as I have not been assessed it makes the price 20 cents a night for each person over 13 yrs. With it goes a whole load of paper work to fill in. All funds go back into improving tourism for the area.

 

Brian was due to arrive on 9^th July but at the last minute the council in our area came up with a property for his dad. So the move to France was delayed while he moved his dad from one flat to another. We put the flat up for sale with hope of getting some funds to help with the new conversion of the barn.

 

Amelia is doing well and feeding from me. Its difficult fitting in feeding around guests, it takes so long. I am not the most stylish of breast feeders, I look really awkward and need lots of cushions so it's best done out of sight in the bedroom. 

 

After a big mess and a poorly car Brian finally arrives at Maison Famille and meets his daughter for the first time………………

 

Lewis is over the moon to have his dad back.

 

Brian hits the ground running and is straight out to give some quotes for doing some tiling work. The plan is to build up some clients and register a business.

Off to a good start.

 

The month is busy with guests but we do get a week at the end of the month to ourselves to spend as a family.

 

August is rammed and there is only one day in the whole month were we have no guests. I cannot complain though as this is what we signed up for. All the running about helps me start loosing those extra baby pounds.

I have to go shopping every three days to cope with all the fresh fruit and veg we are getting through. Mum and dad are in the caravan for most of the month.

 

Brian takes a booking over the phone, which makes us over full, double booked, bursting at the seems. After some discussion we move out our bedroom lock stock and baby into the barn. It is a good job it is the hottest month, I think I got most of the spiders and bugs off the walls and floor prior to moving in the beds. We had to use a torch as the barn has no electric plumbed in and we had to use a bucket for you know what as no toilet plumbed in…………..it was the last time I let Brian deal with a booking.

 

Mum has packed most of her stuff up, the boxes are ready for the return to the UK. I am not thinking about it and avoid talking about it.

 

I have to stop breastfeeding as just cant master it. Amelia has such a strong suck, I am in a mess and the pain is unbearable. She takes well to the bottle. Lewis adores her, although she spends a lot of time asleep. She is no trouble at all and when she is the guests argue over whose turn it is to cuddle her.

 

Lots of friends and family visit this month and we have a ball, even though it is very hard work, and I am exhausted. Night feeds, early mornings and late nights are taking its toll. Still I can sleep sometime during November when we have no guests………….

 

The last of the summer guests leave on 17^th September giving me a chance to catch my breath.

Amelia has her 1^st cold which she catches from Lewis, which he caught in his 1^st week back at school. He is pleased to be back at school with all his friends. He gets bored over the holidays and we have been so busy I think he has missed out on some quality family time.

 

Lewis has his 5^th Birthday this month, it sees 13 kids a mixture of French and English in the house as it is chucking it down with rain.

 

Mum left at 6am on Thursday 11^th Sept. It was an emotional moment as no plans as to when we will see her again. I know we need our own space and time as a family and my mum needs to be with my sister and brother in the UK and her family that she misses. It doesn’t make it any easier though.

 

The central heating is finally finished. We have our 1^st fire. My god it is brilliant, easy to start, it stays in over night. (those of you with experience of a log burner will appreciate my comments) meaning less work the next morning, it has ash pans to empty which means you never have to be without a fire…………I am so excited about being warm this winter. It will be our third winter here this year.

The wall in the living room is plastered and smooth. The entrance to the kitchen is not just a hole in the wall any more it actually resembles a door. New wooden steps have been laid and boxes purpose built for storage either side is now finished.

 

October sees three men from UK here full board for 10 days. They are brilliant with the kids and adore Lewis. He has been spoiled with gifts from every trip they have been on. They have taken him walnut picking and we have bags full, I am not sure we will eat them all.

 

I start a bit of painting hoping to make it look a bit cleaner. I buy a pot of deep red paint for a few accent walls. I paint the wall above the fire. It dries into a colour I can only describe as brothel pink!!!!!!!!

I cannot get a sample pot of paint in any of the DIY stores here. I was not going to make the same mistake again by buying the wrong colour. I have to resort to asking mum to send me a sample pot of brown paint, I add this to the “nice” pink colour and voila the perfect deep red I was wanting.

The snug looks so much better for adding a bit of colour to it.

 

So far work for Brian is going well. The need for another form of transport becomes apparent as I am stuck in the house all day long when Brian has the car.

 

 

The month doesn’t go by without guests, 11 Bikers from Kudu expeditions. The house was one big dorm for boys on bikes. Leathers and boots and helmets everywhere.

 

Brian finds a van on the internet. It is for sale about a 4 hour drive away. He contacts the owners and it seems just right for what he needs. Not to expensive and big enough inside to fit in plaster board and heavy tiles for his work. We drop him off at the train station and he will be collected at the other end by the seller, who is an English guy with a gardening business. Brian was not due to be home till about 2am so I go to bed with the phone. At about 1130pm I get a call from Brian saying the van has broken down, more or less at the same place the car did. I could not believe it, how can this happen to us again.

I left it with him to sort out recovery. I got a call next morning from a very cold Brian who had spent the night on a chair in the recovery garage reception. He wants me to fetch him. He is about two hours away. I am mortified I have both kids and do not know where I am going. I manage to dump kids on a friend with plenty of bottles for Amelia, just in case I get lost. I set off to find Brian; I drive through Toulouse which is my worst nightmare. I follow the instructions Brian gave me and much to my surprise I actually find him without going wrong. Anyway the van gets repaired and we fetch it three days later.

 

The fire and rads are excellent. In fact dare I say…..? we are to hot. We have had to have our bedroom window open all night and have turned the radiator off as it was unbearable. (How good to be to hot in this house, not something I thought I would ever say)

 

 

The boys from Kudu expeditions return, so I think this year we have had guests every month. Not bad for our second year.

 

Christmas is looming and my mum asks if we are making a visit back to the UK. We are being really careful with money as it has to last us through the year. Not like we are getting a monthly wage anymore. What we make in the summer has to last all year, and with all the work we have had done on the house it is very tight. So no plans to go home and no plans for anyone to visit. No guests either. I was at a bit of a loss and was thinking is it worth all the effort for just the three of us. Amelia would be in bed at dinner time and a Turkey would be way too big for us.

Then I snapped out of it and realised this will be our first ever Xmas as just a family. We had never been on our own so we would make most of it. I did a big turkey with all the trimmings. We had crackers and hats. We opened presents galore. The kids had loads brought them from family and friends and were very lucky. The day was perfect and turned out to be the best Xmas day I have ever had. Me and my little family living in our dream house, living our dream life what more could I ask for.