Last week has been one of those satisfying weeks when we feel we have been very productive and I feel we have made good progress with things as well as allowing ourselves a little time off.
As you will understand our ‘to do’ list is ridiculously long and the number of projects that we want to achieve is significant. The greatest challenge is doing them all in a logical order and prioritising appropriately. There are tasks that we would like to do following suggestions from last year’s guests; things we had planned to do to the gîtes but ran out of time and things that we need to go back and maintain, touch up, repair.
In last week’s blog I said that I had started to refurbish a lovely kitchen island that we were gifted by some great friends and, as I was doing the refurbishment in David’s fitness studio, while I was working David could not do some of his exercise programme. I am pleased to say (as too David) that I have completed it and it is looking great in Granary’s kitchen. It has shown just how large the island is but, thankfully, as Granary has a sizeable kitchen area it fits perfectly.
Only a couple more minor tasks to complete in Granary’s kitchen and it will be completed!
In Priory, we have achieved a number of outstanding jobs. You will recall that we replaced the small pôele with a much larger one to heat the large space and, I also wanted to improve the insulation in the fireplace to prevent as much heat as possible disappearing up the chimney. While this was a lot more awkward than I had anticipated it looks great and we will be able to see if it makes a big difference when we use the room in a couple of weeks. If it is effective I will do the same to our own house in the summer.
David has also worked hard with the sewing machine and created some fantastic drapes for the four poster bed to make it look even more amazing. Again, the photo I’ve taken is not the greatest but we will be taking a number in the next week or so to publicise a Valentine package (possible left it a little late!) and update the website so will share again then.
The last thing I have done in Priory is to wire in a new socket on the mezzanine dressing and we have put in a new lamp as it was always a little dark – looks great.
As Granary, still a number of other tasks that are on the list until we will consider it fully completed – but I guess these things are never really done!
This week the weather has allowed us to spend some time outside and I have continued to clear and chop much of the wood that we felled in the autumn so that it can dry a little quicker and we can burn it next winter or the one after. The other burning that I am looking forward to is having a bonfire as we have cut so many brambles, holly and other trees as we clear the boundary. Our first bonfire was way back in May (ish) and I thought was pretty big but the next one is going to be even larger – and we have much more to cut in the next few months.
David and I have also taken a New Year’s Resolution (sort of!) to spend more time exploring our new region. We managed to get out and about a bit last year but only scratched the surface and we want to see as much of it as we can so we can speak knowledgeably to our guests. This week we headed off to the north west coast and walked a circular route in one of our guide books around the lovely fishing village of Le Conquet, the fabulous beach of Plages des Blancs Sablons and the peninsular of Kermorvan. It was a great walk, albeit a little blustery and we were caught in a heavy hail storm briefly(!), which had great views over to the isle of Ouessant (Ushant) as well as numerous German fortifications and a more ancient fort on L’Îlette which can be explored at low tide. Definitely one to recommend and repeat in the summer, Le Conquet had a number of lovely looking restaurants for a lunch stop – all closed when we were there so we had to settle for the bar!
More of the same next week ticking off jobs from the task list – hopefully I will be able to report an equally productive week.
À bientôt.