Sunday 14 August – Summertime, and the living is easy …

This week won’t be a very long blog.  We have had a really lovely week and have had a good balance of work and play and enjoying the fabulous weather we have been having – and looks like will continue to have for the majority of next week.

Last week we had some great friends stay with us, as they did last year in our first season, and they liked it so much they returned with their young son (3 ½) and even younger daughter (1).  Last year they had a week in Priory and this year they stayed in Granary – thankfully they love them both.

I mentioned in last week’s blog that I had started to dismantle the old wood store and there was about a day’s worth of work left to complete. I was right in that it took a day’s worth of work to clear the remainder of the slate but I did it over the course of 2 days (see above for the reason!) No sign of our builder to mark out the footings however – I hope we haven’t made a poor choice …

On the work side of the week has been lots of routine maintenance and fault fixing – either temporarily or making a more permanent repair – and a valuable lesson in keeping on top of work we have previously completed.  You may recall that I had cut most of the hedges around Kergudon a few weeks ago however, I ran out of time and left the hedge between the Granary garden and Hent Gorreker uncut – and the ‘border’ underneath it left to grow wild and potentially choke some of the new hedging plants that I transplanted last year.

The lesson was that we had cleared the space last year – and planted the hedges – but had not kept it clear so it had been taken back by the weeds and brambles taking another day’s work to clear again before I could even start cutting the hedge.

It was one tasks that I hoped to achieve during the week and thankfully, while it took a few days longer than it probably should have (see above for the reason!), I achieved it.

Hedge Cut

It was lovely to welcome our friends back to Kergudon and allowed us to relax a little with them and catch up.  Each evening we spent with our friends and (as the weather has been so good) we (or rather they!) BBQ-d twice which meant that we had to end our working days earlier than we normally would – it was excellent!

The one thing that has become very evident in the last couple of weeks is that, no matter how good we think our gîtes and properties are, it is Garratt and Brandon who take all the attention (and how fickle Garratt is with his affection no matter that we are the ones who feed him 3 times a day!)  We have hosted some lovely families recently (and since we started the business) but very recently our guests, or at least their children, have really enjoyed playing with our dogs who win everyone over with their calm and affectionate characters.

Puppies

Best of Friends

Yesterday we also said goodbye to 2 families who had stayed with us for 2 weeks which was very sad and, while it was almost our second ‘Super Saturday’ of the season, our guests in Stable were staying until Sunday and all other gîtes were empty before 8 am it made our work much easier.  That’s not to say that we didn’t work hard and, when our new guests had arrived, we took the opportunity to go to Lac du Drennec for a quick dip in the evening – something which was so enjoyable we did it again this evening.

Drennec Beach on a Sunny Day

Tomorrow, as the weather continues to be fantastic (30 degrees tomorrow and Tuesday) we have awarded ourselves a day off at the beach – it is holiday season after all and people need a break (even those who work in holiday businesses!).  We are going to take the opportunity to explore some of the north coast as there are more dog-friendly beaches to visit and will report back, and on Thursday we are visiting friends on the south coast of Finistère – well, there is no point in making the move to France for a more balanced lifestyle if we aren’t going to have a balanced lifestyle and visit the beach when the weather is good.

À beintôt.