Sunday 14th January – Staying in the (Tongue &) Groove

This week has been focussed on one activity (as so many weeks have been in the last few months!) which was continuing with work on Grange.

In last week’s blog I stated that, all being well, I would have all of the internal cladding complete by now – and I would have done had I been able to work on it every day.  I have made excellent progress with the store room only needing a couple of rows of boards on the ceiling and the games room practically complete.  There is less than a day’s worth of work to complete the windows and some detailing which, when done, will be a major milestone and allow me to move downstairs and into the parking bays.

Cladding inside Grange at Kergudon Gites nearing completion

Cladding inside Grange at Kergudon Gites nearing completion

Games Room at Kergudon Gites, Finistere, nearing completion

I thought that the ceiling would prove more challenging as I would be fighting gravity for the most part so on Monday David and I started working together to make it easier to hold the 2 metre lengths of lambris up.  However, it has proven relatively simple so David was able to focus on other tasks and has been preparing the bathroom in Priory for repainting and freshening up.  He has also made a new blind for the window in Priory’s kitchen which is on my list to put up next week.

The reason that I wasn’t able to work in Grange every day was that on Friday I had another task.  Now we have lived in Kergudon for 3 years our ideas of how we want to organise our own home have been able to take shape and firm up.  As such we have decided what sort of furniture we want where – and we need a lot of storage(!) – so we have been using a French website called LeBonCoin, which is the equivalent of Gumtree or Craig’s List to see if we can find the items we want.

The advantage of using LeBonCoin is that most things can be found.  The disadvantage is that France is a big country and Brittany doesn’t have many large centres of population which are always the most probable place where things are being sold.  We did find a cabinet which we liked the look of but it was for sale a couple of hours away however, thankfully, it was sensibly priced so, even factoring in the fuel required to collect, it was worthwhile and I spent Friday driving to pick it up.

David has also been working on a number of new menus and dishes which showcase the great local produce that we are lucky enough to enjoy here.  I mentioned in a blog last year that we have devised a ‘Gastronomic Weekend’ which is the closest we come to ‘all inclusive’ at Kergudon and allows you to enjoy these treats as well.  David’s catering always receives amazing feedback and his presentation is fabulous, these weekends allow David to demonstrate exactly how competent he is in the kitchen with the meals we create.

Our ‘Gastronomic Weekends’ are a 48 hour package in Priory, our ancient presbytery with its magnificent stone work and four-poster bed, where you will be able to indulge in the local food and wide range of drinks available (while Brittany is known for its cider it has some excellent beers and spirits too) and treat yourself to a luxurious break. We have selected some specific weekends in April when this package is available which can be seen on our website.

If you can’t wait until April to come and visit, until 25th March Brittany Ferries is currently offering an excellent deal on short breaks (up to 4 nights) in France.  There are some crossings Plymouth to Roscoff (our closest channel port) between 9 and 18 February (the perfect St. Valentine treat?) or, many more dates are available to St. Malo which is only a couple of hours from us.

We would love to see you.

Salut.