Catching Up

Our young Placo whipper-snapper, Patrick, striking a pose with the pre-paint walls.

Our young Placo whipper-snapper, Patrick, striking a pose with the pre-paint walls.

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve posted an update. Not much to report while the electrician was rewiring the house and the drywall was being installed. But we’re at the tail-end of that and it’s really resembling a house! I’ve been amassing light fixtures for all the rooms and the plumbing fixtures have arrived.

Now we are waiting for the delivery of the stone and wood flooring, the bath tiles, and the windows, so we proceeded with the expansion of the patio across the back. Ended up tearing all the planters off, along with the floor tiles. Now we have a beautiful new base for which I need to pick new tile! My head is swimming with ideas. It’s over 80 square meters (860 square feet), so I can’t just throw down any old expensive gorgeousness (like continue the inside stone…) ;-D

The new patio curing.

The new patio curing.

 

We were blessed to have friends from La Selva Beach here to visit. We were busy with chateaus, markets, caves, brocantes, dining, walks, cathedrals, and tons of laughs. Mary, my partner in crime selling at the Alameda Flea Market, and I had plenty of fun poking around at some of the area’s ‘finest’ brocantes!

It’s time to start thinking about paint colors. Oh, the pain, the pain! (ala Dr. Robinson). Interior paint quality in France sucks, supposedly, so I’ve been looking at the Rolls Royce of paint, Farrow & Ball. The expense is extreme, so I want to try to do it right the first time. Here is my palette at the moment, in varying degrees in each room.

Springtime continues to arrive. There are baby birds chirping inside a hole in the tree that the clothes line is tied to, the Lalinde Pond swans are expecting and have built a beautiful nest, and the sheep that live a couple lots over have three new baby lambs that we watch grow every day. Not to mention the breathtaking wisteria, lilacs shrubs, and purple trees in bloom everywhere. Happy Spring!

This entry was posted in American Expats in France, Expat Blog, Renovating a Home in France, Southwest France American Expat Blog, Visiting Dordogne. Bookmark the permalink.

9 Responses to Catching Up

  1. Anne-Marie says:

    And so… are you two still living in the home while it is being redone, pray tell? Thanks so much for this installment. You are making SUCH good progress considering French is not your mother tongue! Most impressive. Keep those posts and pics a-comin’.

    • Cindy Loevenich says:

      No way! We’re still snug as a bug in our rental, a 15 minute walk away. Very convenient and no dust! We’re planning to be in the house by mid-June at the latest, end of May the earliest. The progress is amazing thanks to our Portuguese/Romanian workers.

  2. Paul says:

    Looks like you’re making some great progress. I see many a summer morning coffee or evening dinner and glass of wine once that patio is ready for action.

    Best,
    Paul

    • Cindy Loevenich says:

      Indeed. You know us so well!!! We can hardly wait. Been ‘test-sitting’ lounge furniture and we’re dying to order. Waiting for the average temp to get a bit warmer to install the pool liner. And the neighbor’s are nosey as hell to see what all we’re doing with the place. Hilarious!!!

      • Paivi says:

        Hi Cindy,
        Just wait til this curious neighbour gets back in Lalinde! I love your colour choice: my kind of colours!!!

        • thecindy@mail.com says:

          Can hardly wait to see you guys! And last night, I finally perfected my French Margarita. Thinkin’ I need to grow some limes!!! Heehee…

          Still VERY challenged with finding soft seating for the living room, so I’m sure we’ll be sitting on fruit crates for a few months!!!

  3. Bruce Adams says:

    Theo and Cindy, Jan and I so enjoy your blog and can’t wait to join you in our adventure in the fall. Am amazed at the colors of the foliage in your locale, adding so much more to your love of labor with the new home. Looking forward to Mussidan and all it offers from the past to the present.

    • thecindy@mail.com says:

      Glad you’re following along. I’m looking forward to meeting you and Jan this fall. This is a stunning area of the globe and we are so excited to share it with you, and help with your local research and travels as much as possible.

      • Bruce says:

        Can’t wait to see it in person. Our choral groups concert season ends this weekend, then we host a mini reunion for some Cold War military couples we served with in Germany in late June, find a good Space A test flight here in states to test out the system in July, travel to my sister in WA for Labor Day rodeo weekend in Ellensburg, then to KSU In September for Foundation Trustee meeting and football game, and hosting friends here for KSU Stanford game also. Time will fly by and before we know it we’ll be checking Space A flights to Europe in October. Timing for this depends on my sister and her husband getting passports and flight tickets as they don’t get away from the farm much and it will be a kick to escort them on first time to Europe. Close down my rambling now, but this should be sooo much fun!!

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