Smile, boys, that’s the style
What is it that elevates a place from somewhere you lay your weary bones and nourish yourself to being allowed to be home? I have yet to work out the why and the what and, in truth, though it is a notion that captivates me, I probably never will find a finite answer. For four years until this September, my home was a village in the North West of le Cantal. This was hugely significant for me since, for reasons honestly too dull to share, I had moved house eleven times in the previous fifteen years. Suffice to ingest that only one of these moves was by choice. 2016 saw me seldom in this really real home as I was allowed by the Government of the mighty United States of America to reside in Massachusetts with my two-brained husband and, believe me, I mean truly believe me, I was and remain grateful. This year we spent the first half in Grenoble together languishing in a vast apartment complete with corinthian columns courtesy of the institute for whom he was doing a tranche of work. 
During all this time, I stoically avoided the entirely socially graceless elephant in the room. This elephant was the elephant of good sense which clumsily, due to it’s enormous size and laudibly serious regard for it’s purpose, reminded me constantly that I needed to give up the place in Cantal that I clung to as home with it’s lino floors and terrible light-fittings BUT beautiful high ceilings, exquisite front door, lovely park and outlook beyond and the, to me, deliciously enchanting sound of tiny children taking their first steps on the long road of compulsary education in the classrooms and playground below – the house, you see was built in the 1870s as the village school and still functions on the lower floor as the école maternelle (nursery school). Eventually I crumpled and admitted defeat just before we closed up our grandiose Grenoble apartment and my husband flitted back to his day job in Cambridge MA and said in a Winnie the Pooh’s stoic friend Piglet-like decidedly small voice ‘we need to let go of the flat and I will stay on in Grenoble’. And thus and instantly it was decided. I moved into the flat in which I now live in the heart of ‘The Capital of the Alps’ …. of that more soon, which I did promise you two months ago – I honestly do keep my promises though deadlines can be a fluid concept chez moi.
Now all my life lies in boxes on the ground floor. It is time for me to take up the story which I dropped when I moved to the US last year and I will now promise you a Marcolès Monday every week for the next several to bring you up to speed with the work that we have done in the last two years and particularly the work we did in the 6 months that my husband was living on the same continent as me for once, earlier this year. We have much still to do and we have now put the house in semi-mothballs …. I will go once every couple of months and carry on, but on a dust and air budget progress is very slow. But the real thing is that we are doing it – no ritzy contractors, no contractors at all just sweat, occasional blood and epic tears. One day they will be tears of joy when we finally manage to say ‘our work here is done’ … that will be a day for champagne and dancing. And I, the optimist, look forward to it.
And there you have it. The why I have been a little absent. My heart felt the leaden wieght of sorrow because my safe-place, my home, my warm hug, my protective cloak, call it what you will has gone. But the future is ahead – it always is, we have no choice in that and it is for me to take up the drum and beat out the rhythm of life again, live it to the full appreciating all that I have and not (as I caution others but on this occasion have fallen foul of myself) getting stuck in the pesky rear view mirror. The mantra I brought my children up with is planted to seed and bloom in my own heart once more … everything changes, nothing stays the same.
PS: The title comes from World War One Marching song ‘Pack Up Your Troubles’ written the brothers George and Felix Powell. If you have a mind you might read about the ultimately tragic story of the song here. Whilst I would in no way compare my recent mood to the ill-fated Felix, the melancholy of his story somehow seemed to fit the mood of this piece.
Your bonus: ‘Oh What A Lovely War!’ which never ceases to remind me that I have absolutely no right to any blues whatsoever:
Pack up your troubles
in your old kit bag
and smile, smile, smile
while you’ve a lucifer
to light your fag
smile, boys, that’s the style
What’s the use of worrying
it never was worthwhile
so, pack up your troubles
in your old kit bag
and smile, smile, smile
Pack up Your Troubles
Felix Powell
Oh my heart goes out to you. I count myself lucky that all but one of my many house moves have been to ‘a better place’ and have given me great pleasure and excitement as I anticipated a new adventure. But the one which really was a wrench left me feeling battered for months after. The thing that pulled me through was the people – new neighbours, soon to be new friends.
Thank you so much for understanding. I was a single mum who preferred to earn than be on benefits and got no support from my daughters’ father. He moved to Ireland and became untouchable. As a result I was this jolly mummy endlessly moving as landlords wanted houses back or hiked up the rent so I couldn’t afford it any more, always assuring my girls (four of them) that it was an exciting adventure. Here the rentals system is so much fairer on the tenant …. 3 years with no disturbance and the right to extend for a further 3 or 6. Landlords of course get the short straw but it is less of a business than it has become in the south of England. The emotion of moving, the letting go and shutting the door on a chapter is far from kind if you didn’t want to go. That said …. we bought Marcolès simply as a foothold in France and knew it would be a long-term project. Not quite so long-term but it isn’t habitable yet and I chose to stay in Grenoble for numbers of reasons. My flat here is wonderful and my neighbours are kind and generous to a woman on her own. Next year sees another move which I can’t talk about yet for fear of upsetting the apple car which is not in my control and 2019 will see us settling into whatever we choose as our forever house. Life is never simple and attitude is all. I think my positive halo just got a bit dislodged this time. Thank you so much for you kind words and I am SO delighted to have found you 🙂
“The emotion of moving, the letting go and shutting the door on a chapter is far from kind if you didn’t want to go.”
In my experience downright painful!
Dead right. And I am sorry you have been in that position. I hope things are mended in your heart now and that you have a lovely place to lay your head.
I’ve missed an episode, I think, about the flat you’ve had to leave in Grenoble. Marcolès I remember, and that’s where you are now? Hope your heating’s better than ours. Your removal men sound rather like ours. Did the 16 year old have hairy wrists? Oh, What a Lovely War breaks my heart.
I wrote a piece in September which outlines the move from the original flat (corporate let) to the place I am in now. That was the last piece I wrote before descending into a mire of malaise. Leaving my hokey flat in Champs was always going to be hard and I am still sad. Marcolès won’t be habitable for years (zero funds) and meanwhile all my things are piled in boxes which makes me sadder 📦 📦 📦 However, I have this lovely flat in the centre of Grenoble which we are renting (hence really having to let go of the other rental). I could have gone back to Champs and not stayed here, but here has life and it was becoming unhealthy for me on my own in what, as you know, is a pretty inaccessible part of France. You have had your own moving and settling to contend with and I hope that is going well. Rather a convoluted response, I’m afraid – I appreciate it’s quite hard to get heads round my slightly complicated circumstances. Next year will bring another move (can’t talk about it yet) and a year or so from there we will be fully able to settle into whatever we manage to buy as our forever home. It cant come soon enough ….. Our 16 year old was an absolute poppet and had no superfluous hair as I recall and I would recall. Oh, What a Lovely War is one of the most heartbreaking of all films, I think. In the clip I posted, the stand out has to be the nurse saying to the injured man ‘don’t worry, we’ll have you back at the front in no time’ … bitter irony.
It’s the Champs episode I wasn’t clear about. Marcolès sounds like here, except that at least in the village you can pop out to buy a loaf of bread without it being a full scale expedition. Agree 100% about OWALW.
YOu can pop for a loaf so long as the bakers wife is not dreadfully ill resulting in him not being able to bake. Last time there, he seemed fine. So I left Champs (my original roost) in mid-September but in truth I had not lived there full time for over a year because of going in Massachusetts and then Grenoble. This was why my good sense elephant had succumbed to. But I did love the place. If we could find the right place there at the right time, I would move back in a heartbeat but not into the village itself. Marcolès always represented une petite maison secondaire and a place that people will be welcome to stay in, never a permanent full-time home because it is in the middle of the village …. in the end, bread or no bread, I’m a solitary bee that prefers much unimpeded space around me. It’ll come. When it’s ready. Oh What a Lovely War has been much on my mind recently …. I suppose it’s a November thing.
I know what you mean about the village atmosphere. We moved from the city, being surrounded by people, for a bit of peace and quiet. You don’t get that in a village. Still have people on either side, roads and cars, and often a race track if the village straddles the départementale. There’s nothing here and when the place is habitable (which it isn’t) it’ll be lovely. Just have to grit our teeth and bear it until then. Yes, it’s the November feeling. Lasts until March…
I wish you weren’t quite so far away … if I was in Cantal I would drop down and bring rowdy stories and inappropriate quantities of alcohol. I may be there either side of Christmas – I will let you know because I think I could detour quite effectively via you and make a nuisance of myself. And if I have been staying in Marcolès for a couple of nights I will be quite literally frozen as there is no heating – last winter when we were working there I slept in woolly hat, gloves, fully clothed including jersey and two pairs of socks. I was still too cold. 😀
Sounds familiar. We have installed one woodburner. It worked yesterday so we had one room that reached 17°. Today it won’t reach 15° The other rooms were not much above freezing this morning. Looking for another stove… Bring thermals and a tent 🙂
I will be in touch …. hopelessly behind after my decline into bluesville but feeling much perkier and will pop you an email in the next week 🙂
Do. The cold makes me depressed. Seriously.
I know it does. You have that in common with my younger brother though for different reasons. We had nightstorage heating when I was growing up and he used to lie on one under a blanket to keep warm …..
I remember those. My grandma had one in her hallway. I lived with her for my first year at secondary school and I used to sit on it before taking the plunge outside to get the bus in the mornings.
They were worse than useless in a house with cavernous rooms and high ceilings but we made do …. my brother subsequently moved to the Far East where he has lived ever since!!!
I hope he has found warmth and peace 🙂
Warmth certainly and the peace of a lovely wife and little girl relatively late in his life (he must have been 48 when she was born). Peace was shattered when he was hit on a pavement in Bangkok by a speeding motorcycle. He survived after two major brain ops but he is an Airline Captain so losing his
Right to fly has been very hard. He has a three years ban from flying passengers. I have to remind him from time to time that life is precious and though the knock is a hard one at least his daughter was not left fatherless, his wife a widow
I imagine those kind of arguments work immediately after the accident. As the shock recedes, maybe the irritation and sense of injustice increases.
Very much so. It is entirely understandable that he feels as he does but sadly no amount of pain and fury will change the rules. Fortunately his Buddhist wife is extremely serene and calm ….
How much of the three years is left to run?
A year and 9 months …. it will pass but not quickly enough, I think 🤔
Nope.
I actually feel so sad for you reading this as it is hard leaving a loved home. All I can offer is this…..
Happiness always comes from within, and it is found in the heart of the present moment by making peace with the past and looking forward to the future.
I have missed a few posts and for that I am sorry but I am sending you (((hugs)) and thoughts for the new memories you are about to make.
As for the New place….well perhaps we can share stories of DIY mishaps as I take on the old house whilst you take on the French old house!
Loving those photos and you have a wonderful way with words, Osyth.
Sophie
Xxx
Sophie that is a lovely message and I thank you. Your take on happiness is absolutely perfectly spot on and I have copied it into my pocket book. I don’t know that you have missed anything – my last post was in late September (!) about the place I am living in Grenoble. We have actually owned our little old house since March 2014 and progress is slow. It was never intended as our forever house but bought as a foothold in France and on the surface had just a few adjustments to make. It will be beautiful but the actual horrors we uncovered have set us back and back but you know …. that’s part of the adventure. And I am wholly determined, with no idea why I have been so drawn to it and driven by it, to return it to some sort of glory. I will happily share our DIY mishaps with you …. I’ll bet you’ve got some corkers! I know we have. Thank you again for the hugs and the encouragement …. Now that I’m blinking in the new dawn I feel really quite spritz again! Xx
Good!
I will be ‘with’ you holding your hand! xx
Yes, you do have a wonderful way with words, and I think the way forward for all of us is, as my maternal Nana would say, is “onward and upwards”
Nana has it spot on! And you are a shining example of one who is doing that and also entirely responsible for me committing to write about Marcolès again 😆 x
Happy to enable. Looking forward to MM’s
I could call you ‘Badger’ but always with affection 😊
I would hope so! You’ve seen my grey streak then? Interesting epithet…..
I would happily be called badger though I still strive to keep that stripe at bay 😉
Sorry, you got am extra “is” there xx
Jeez !! “an” not “am” … F*******g phone !
As you and I are the same age (about 18 in cat years), I know how much harder change is as we get older. We cling to familiarity for comfort and wonder how we had the oomph to move all over the world in our younger days, not looking once in the rear mirror. 2018 will arrive with fun new challenges and friends to meet, sparking us both with a kittenish glee. Your friend, Kerry. ❤️
Kerry, I love that we are 18 in cat years … this thought has energized me and given that next year is an 18 year I am definitely revving up to seize it with that kittenish sparkle you reference. You have been such a good friend to me, and you know a little more than most …. next year is going to be exciting 😉
Miaow!
😻
Wow that’s a lot of moving, I feel your longing for a permanent home. Nearly there, pet. 😊 Looking forward to following the progress on your house, but I’m exhausted already, I’ll need a few sleeps and cups of chamomile and then I’ll be ready and alert. Good to have you back 💜
Thank you. You are such a kind and sensitive soul …. you always have the right words 😊 The progress on the house is all retrospective so I just need to get my thoughts ordered and sling it into logical chapters and we are away. I have never professed to being an expert … But I do enjoy weaving the story 😉
That’s quite a task in itself, take your time, we’re not going anywhere 😊💜
Great story, beautiful photos. Having moved four times in the last year, I feel your pain . . . and excitement.
Oh Ray! Four times in a year is highly excessive (and having just read the two installments of why, must have been very taxing, draining and harsh) …. All is ahead and now that I have binned my resistance (which in reality is what that headspace was) I’m all set for the next installment and determined to really enjoy where I am. The song ‘Love the one your with’ was almost the title of the piece 😉
Oh bless you, my friend. Moving brings such upheaval to heart and mind, let alone possessions. When Poor John was in Australia’s diplomatic corps we moved regularly, usually accompanied by floods of tears. But you are right ‘everything changes, nothing stays the same’.
Thank you Peggy …. I remembered conversations about your endless moving actually and knew you would ‘get’ what I was saying. I have a big move ahead next year if all goes to plan so for now I must make the most of being in this lovely city and stop fretting about the thing I can’t fix until after this next chapter. The little house in Marcolès will come together and all in good time but for now we have other things to focus on. I do value your friendship very highly … you are amongst those whose writing has kept me going through this melancholy phase 😊
I’m hanging off one of your comments (but not quite a promise) to stop fretting about things you can’t change or fix. So stop it.
We can both go with the flow, so just do it. If it helps, I will do my utmost to visit you somewhere in the world. Plus you are always welcome in Australia.
Well now you have me blubbing like a baby …. you are so right and I WILL stop it and I WILL just do it. Promise. And we WILL meet somewhere – as I am fond of peddling to others and momentarily poor at remembering myself, things have a habit of fitting together in their own way in their own time! Hugs my dear friend
I needed to read this today, especially these words: “But the future is ahead – it always is, we have no choice in that and it is for me to take up the drum and beat out the rhythm of life again”
Next year may very well see us moving and, try as I might, I’m not thrilled over it. Not even mildly amused (and I don’t live in a place nearly as lovely as yours). It does seem as though the older I get, the more resistant to change I become. Which doesn’t please me at all, but there you have it.
Looking forward to your Monday reports. 🙂
Trust you, C.J to highlight the one line in the entire ramble that I was reasonably happy with! I’m sorry you are facing a move … it is always, always hard and if it is not something you are delighted with, doubly difficult. As you can see, I am something of an expert in the issue and foolishly thought I was bulletproof …. hell no. I will be right here with kind words and metaphorical cups of tea (I’m British, it’s our thing – even if you hate tea, we have to make it for you in times of woe and war) if this comes to pass and please do feel free to contact me privately if you want a batso ear with sealed lips. Meanwhile, I can’t complain because I am living in a stunning apartment which is really a privilege to dwell in for a while. Take good care, lovely lady
I find as I get older the good by’s are sadder and the hello’s more reserved. I am happy your meloncholy is lifting my friend.
Bernadette, you have such a lovely way of expressing feeling. Our lives are like stained glass, we need the light flooding in to illuminate them and sometimes the sun goes to sleep for a while. I got fed up with waiting for him so I stuck my head in the washer and put it on spin and that did the trick 😃
A lovely read on a grey Monday morning and now I can look forward to Marcolès Mondays for a few weeks to come. How lovely 🙂
Ah my friend, you are such a support. I shall sally forth and set out the stages for the story of Maison Calamity and hope not to be a disappointment after such a lovely comment 😊
From your picture your new home looks charming. The best to you in this new transition. Moving is such a mental, physical and spiritual adjustment.
I hope you will join me and find out more about the little place we have been renovating for seemingly EVER! I write the story with humour rather than professing any expertise and I’m looking forward to showing off the latest set of calamities each Monday! You are right about the adjustments one makes when moving …. and laid out in your kind words it seems unlikely that I wouldn’t have had a bit of a tumble from positive grace! I’m so glad to have found you and I would like you to know that yours is one of the blogs that have kept me going through the melancholy cabbage patch I found myself in. Your story moved me from the start and your artwork never ceases to delight me and indeed has proved to be more of an inspiration than you can know. I send you warmest wishes from France 😊
I always find moving and getting settled again to be challenging, especially when you leave a place that’s so well loved. Thinking of you, Osyth and sending hugs. ❤️xo
Thank you for the hugs, Tonya – very well received here 😊. Moving is challenging – the closing of doors, the stashing of memories the not quite knowing what the new door will bring. But positive I am in spirit, as you know for which I give daily thanks and in my favourite Sister Julian of Norwich’s words ‘all shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well’ and they shall! I am so much better now and though that piece is not maybe in my usual vein I knew I had to get it out in order to get back to writing regularly. I’m lookin forward to being back on the pony! Finally, may I say that I may not have been commenting all the time, but your blog is one that has kept me going through this melancholy …. it never ceases to delight and remain delighted to have ‘met’ you in this etherous place ❤️ xo
During transitions, a positive spirit is certainly key. But, we also have to honor how we’re feeling, too. After all, authenticity is important. The highs and the lows are just part of our journeys. And, thank you so much for always sharing yours so beautifully. ❤️
You are kind, Osyth. I’m happy you’ve enjoyed my blog. It really means a lot to me to know that it was helpful. Take care, and I look forward to reading your future posts!😊❤️xo
I only ever say what I mean and I mean that anyone who wants to find a place that is delightful and restul and thoughtful and peaceful should visit you. They really should. xo
I always try to put thought, creativity, and effort into my posts. And, it’s a real compliment when someone notices and comments in such a kind and generous manner. Your words are much appreciated. Thank you. 😊❤️xo
All meant and glad they are well received 😊
Thank you for sharing – beautifully written
Thank you so much John – I should thank you …. yours is one of the blogs that has kept me going these last couple of months (except Shocktober 😉) … I thoroughly enjoy it and though I may not always comment, I read all your articles with delight.
Thanks for reading my stories, i know that some are not for everyone’s tastes, but I try to have something new every day and cover all areas of interest to me…I don’t get a lot of views on some of the book stuff but I dont care I love to share that as well…and I like reading stories like yours…help us all remember what people go through in life – everyone has their unique adventures!
Like you, I don’t have anything to sell and I don’t have a particular form to my blog I just do as I please and if it pleases people I value all the better! Keep your ecclectic mix coming my way – it’s a gem!
Thank you!
Well, you surely have moved around a fair bit! For me that’s hard to comprehend as I have only moved once in our 20 years of marriage! Understandably it would be extremely hard to part with! Wishing you well at this time dear friend, look at it as a new adventure. 😉
Thank you for the well wishes … all shall be well as Sister Julian of Norwich said. And it shall. I just found this one particularly hard but I’m over the hump and I wouldn’t want anyone thinking I don’t love my Grenoblois home …. I’m spoiled and it is a treasure. As for our renovation project … three years in and several to do but THAT really will be a treasure (as will the forever house …. I don’t know where or what it is, but I know it will be wonderful!) xx
As a nomad I know how difficult moving can be. I feel for you. Good luck with the renovation work and settling down, albeit for a while, somewhere new.
I’m enjoying my stint in Grenoble … it’s a great city – not too big. I will be sad to leave but I do know what the next installment will be just not when so I don’t tempt Providence by talking about it. In 2019 we should be in a position to settle permanently and to finish the restoration. I wonder if I actually do want to be settled … it’s a soul search I do from time to time. Perhaps I share your restless spirit ….
I have been through 8 shifting incidents during my single days, and 9 displacements since I have had a family, excluding the minor, transitory nesting. These have been an undying source of deep cuts and bruises, not to mention the unmentionable gashes on my soul, and that thing we call heart. How I miss Mumbai! I can relate so much with your experiences, particularly with the unscrupulous transporters. That account was penned by the tendrils of your emotions. I look forward to reading more about your semi-picaresque life.
I so love your comments! You juggle dexterously with words and speak from the heart and with emotion. I hope you are settled for now and I am sad that you have had to leave Mumbai which clearly runs in your veins. Thank you for the lovely and welcome empathy
Oh my gosh! You win on the ‘busy’ stakes. So you have sosld your little abode in Cantal?
After many years of rootlessness, ass you know, we have put down our raciness in the money pit in Bourgogne.
But interesting (and not surprising…) that you have written this, as I have a little ditty prepared for, when I have a suitable recipe to accompany it, posting in a much more modest way, but echoing your sentiments about what makes a place a ‘home’ and the whole concept.
I have just added up and I have lived in 16 different places in 3 different countries (counting Wales as a separate country, as, of course it is.
I shall look into TGV links to Grenoble and try and get to see you in the new year – sinon, I am here at Pareee.
Much love LIndy V
I will run this Monday series for a few weeks to bring you up to speed on Marcolès (Cantal) …. I think I last wrote before I went to the States and I was writing retrospectively so there is quite a bit to cover in installments. It hasn’t been an easy ride – trying to do things when one’s husband is in the US or travelling most of the time is taxing. The village I moved from was in the NW of Cantal and Marcolès is in the SW of Cantal. I will have news on the next move in the new year (around March-April I think) and then a year on from that, maybe 18 months, we should finally retire. That will be the moment for the forever home and in frankness it can’t come too soon. However, I am not wishing my life away so I am trying to appreciate what I have here (Grenoble) there (Marcolès) and to come (secret squirrel) xx
P.S. My father used to sing this to pat me to sleep when I was very young,
I instantly knew where it was from – brought back fond memories for me, thank you x
I love the song … I’m glad it brought back happy memories for you xx
Sorry me again – my father used to say ‘kit bag’ (pack up your troubles in your old)
And I have a ‘Lucifer’ that belonged to my mother’s father from the trenches……
You father was correct … if I’ve written it out wrong I will correct it 😳 eminently possible since I was watching Chasseurs d’Appart with one eye as I was writing! Treasure that Lucifer …. those men (and the women who nursed them) should be kept in our hearts and minds for all time. The unthinkable sacrifices they made irrespective of whether then made it back to Blighty ….
As you know, Osyth, I, too, have been forced on several occasions to pick up my life again. That is perhaps why I would have shared your reluctance to leave that grand old place. Although I don’t anticipate ever moving again, I have for some years now found comfort in knowing that home is where I am. I trust you will settle soon. This, is, as usual, beautifully written.
As I was writing this, I had you in my mind Derrick …. you have had a life filled with moments that most would be felled by. That house will always have a roost in my heart but it was time. I have one more big move to make sometime in the first half of next year (which being superstitious, I am not talking about until it is fixed and certain) and then we will start making preparations for my husband’s retirement. We have always intended that we will nest in France forever but of course politics and healthcare and all manner of dismally dull things may in the end force a different decision. Wherever it is, it will be home and you are so right, home is right here in our hearts. I take your remarks about my writing with the greatest pride – you are a man who truly knows his worms 😊
I saw ‘War Horse’ on ‘The Empire’ on a recent visit to The Pool….very emotive from a horsey and human point of view, unimaginable hell that they went through for such a prolonged time.
I saw it at the NT and considered taking my mother to the West End when it was running there as her 80th birthday present. So 5 years ago, I guess. It is absolutely brilliant … one of the most emotional theatrical experiences of my life. I haven’t seen the film nor read the book. To be rectified, I think 🙂 xx
Maybe don’t bother with film, but book is great.
Off to Burgundy very early in the morning, so no net again – don’t post anything until Monday lol.
I think I have missed / lost most of your American adventures, but want to keep up to date with the Frenchie ones xx
I can see why all these moves have knocked the stuffing out of you. I felt so sad reading this post. It brought back so many memories of my own house moves, and one in particular which broke my heart. I so hope that everything flows beautifully for your next move. You are indeed blessed to be hugged by so many kindly people. Your French removal firm will be thrilled at your photographs.
I’ve sent the removals boys the piece – they will have a good laugh, I’m sure. I knew you would get it. Reading your book struck so many chords and I remain in awe of the grace with which you have come through your life and it’s challenges, the emotions surrounding so many moves, included. Thank you for being in my world 🌸
Thank you for being in mine. 💚
Well I know where your coming from for sure and feel for you. I came to France from being affectively homeless. My three years of landlord aggression has actually left me reeling about England and like you, I wont go back. We have rather a similar history as we have chatted about before. My two teenagers were literally dumped on others when we found we had no roof over our heads and a client footed the removal bill to get our belongings over in our van. I was too petrified to hand all my few belongings over to a removal company and we did two turnaround trips in a week with a hire company.
On the first day the axle broke and were stranded in a car park for two days whilst they replaced the vehicle. My nerves were in shreds. Your property will be home if you can stoically keep at it. Every bit of mortar I shove in between stones makes my home my castle and no-one will remove from here without enormous compensation. At fifty I feel its time to think about my own life. We had some bad news this week which might mean some time in UK, but I have to put roots down in France for sanity, healthcare and the necessary evil of taxes.
I am glad you hope to settle in Cantal as you have honestly, with your welcoming comments over the last months on my blog, made this place feel like home – having a connection here is very welcome.
I think that given you have a strong survival instinct you will take these changes on with stoic courage. But in times where you waiver a little, feel free to throw emotions my way. Happy to support you.
Thank you Judi. It isn’t always easy but when one waivers, one has to look full ahead and remember what it was that called us on in the first place. You will settle in France, I’m sorry you have to go back to England and for longer than you thought. Our little place is a true labour of love, as is yours. Down the line, if all goes to plan, we will have a ‘Maison Familiale’ which is not set in a village. Whether that is in Cantal or whether we decide that Marcolès is sufficient for our needs and we settle somewhere else all remains to be seen. My mother, quite a wise bird cautions me often not to think too far ahead. As frustrating as I find it, that is correct. All shall be well and maybe not as I envisage it but WELL and that is the important thing. Thank you for sharing your tale …. it’s a leveler, that’s for sure and don’t get me started on renting in England – grrrr!
Definitely, a wise woman that mother of yours 🙂
Very. It took me years to accept it though 😉
Beautiful telling and pictures. As a serial mover before the age of 45 I have flashbacks of all the packing of troubles in kit bags, and for many years my IRL kit bag was always packed, under the bed, and ready to go.
Exciting times ahead for you again. Enjoy, and smile, smile smile!
What a lovely comment, Pete – I promise I will … smile, smile, smile!!
A lovely piece, as always, and your choice of title and its source is particularly appropriate given that this is the time of year for Remembrance. I wasn’t aware of the background to the song before: it’s rather sad, but fitting, isn’t it. I hope your project comes to fruition, and I’m looking forward to your updates on how it goes. You really do live in a lovely place, with lovely people, and that is something to be really grateful for 😊 xx
No kidding I’m fortunate. The updates will be retrospective to the point we are at now and progress for the next couple of years will be very very slow but I do know that when we eventually reach the finish line we will have a polished gem rather than the molested jewel we took on. The title certainly fit the time of year, something that didn’t pass me by, and OWALW is always worth an airing – I find it one of the most effective films of that dreadful time. By the way, when the house is finished, the intention is for it to be used by as many people as possible. We will be in residence from time to time but we hope that people will want to come and stay and sample what the area has to offer. You would particularly like LezArts every August 15th which is the village street music and theatre festival. Although the population numbers around 500 we have thousands of visitors from all over France and further who know that they will get to see some class acts. The ‘steampunk’ trio on stilts they had this year were something to behold …. and as for Monsieur Frigo – I need to write a post. The French are very uninhibited about fêtés and what is lovely is the truly eclectic mix of artists and the fact that all ages attend. Even lovelier is that we get many Adults and children with learning disabilities and they are able to wander freely because the town is sealed off. I have some beautiful pictures of a young adult with Downs just grinning as he dances to a duo singing something reminiscent of The Carpenters in their heyday. And for the avoidance of doubt, we won’t be charging people to stay. I prefer the idea of sharing my good fortune (even though this was a bit of a bluesy post). This house was always intended to be a little second home …. we bought it under quite bizarre circumstances and it remains something that I feel passionately I have to get right. Where the main house will be who knows …. decisions to make at the effect of politics and healthcare and pensions in the next year. I’m a lot better today, by the way …. I knew I needed to get this grunt onto paper and it appears to have done the trick 😊 xx
The updates will be great, it’s always interesting to follow that fine old British tradition of watching someone else work 😉
That’s a fantastic idea to open up the finished house too – it does sound like a wonderful place to be and I can see why you chose it for your second home. Given the state of politics in the US and the UK I’d humbly suggest that you could do worse than choose France for your first home too, when the time comes. Assuming, of course, that Theresa hasn’t built a wall to keep Johnny Foreigner out and John Bull in!
I didn’t mention it, but I did sense a certain less-than-100%-ness behind your post – I’m glad that getting it done was cathartic and you’re feeling better today xx
Yes, I think if you know me, you can tell I was not entirely engaged with the process 😊 In the end it will fall to healthcare and pensions and exchange rates. My heart is in France so I am just praying it will be possible. Exchange rates play a huge role ….. Theresa needs to be bricked in, a fine British tradition that could do with being resurrected 😉 xx
That’s pretty clearly your choice, I just hope it’s possible for you. As for Theresa, phrases like ‘build that wall’ and ‘lock her up’ do spring to mind, don’t they! xx
Yup. I dread to think what I would do if I ever met her. But I’m quite strong as an ex-Olympic oarswoman 😉 xx
Are you? Didn’t realise you had that string to your bow. Just be careful where you insert the oar xx
Yes, I sometimes think I will right about it and then I think nah …. it was a time in my life and I loved it and that’s that. I occasionally still get into a boat and I am pretty deft with a ‘blade’ as we call an oar to this day. I could do some serious damage 😉
It’s probably like riding a bike: you can always pick up the old skills again. As far as I know you’re the only Olympian in my blogosphere, but I can understand you wanting to leave it in the past. I bet there are some good stories to be told, though…..xx
There are. Romanian women are very very scary when fit!! Xx
Tempting me with thoughts of fit Romanian women is only likely to make me pester you to tell the stories 😉 xx
That’s a heck of a song, isn’t it? we used to chant it all the time while we packed up our bags. My mother had, and has, nomadic tendencies which made my youth unstable in the extreme. It’s not easy to make a new home but it is possible. books help, like bringing old friends with you…and a glass of wine to settle in with. Best wishes.
Thanks my dear – I was a reluctant nomad with my children and it is hard. Many years ago I knew Jenny Agutter quite well – she always said that so long as she had her cashmere throw, a bottle of wine, and her go-to scent with her, any old hotel room was home in no time 🙂
I’d add a pot of flowers gathered from a local hedgerow, but yes, it’s true. 🙂
I guess that’s not so easy in Beverley Hills 😉 but you might be amused if you could spy the little coffee table here complete with jug from the rented china cupboard full of ivy and leaves and branches with bright red berries …. home 🏠
Firstly, I had to laugh at the big truck going through the narrow lanes 🙂 Nerves of steel!! Yes, sometimes leaving a sanctuary is never easy. Hopefully, you will see your next challenge as a good one. Eventually, the place shining with your creativity and fun spirit 🙂 Kia Kaha [Maori for stay strong] Sorry I didn’t see your post sooner Oysth as I enjoy reading them, not sure why it didn’t show up in my reader!!
Please please don’t apologise …. I have no idea what goes on in WordPress but I do know that sometimes I miss things. I love that Kia Kaha – I shall write it down and keep it my pocket, I rather think. The next challenge will be interesting and it will be enriching in its own way. I will reveal what it is when I am confident it really will happen! Providence is such a tricky temptress 😀
It is indeed 🙂
PS. We have lived in a few houses that needed renovating, even had our engagement party on the lawn with scaffolding around the house 🙂 Painting had to resume the next day!!
Love it! This one is a real labour of love. We bought it on a whim (or rather the process started) just before we were married. We took the keys a year later and it was a further 9 months we were able to actually get in and start work. So I guess we are not quite three years in now. It is being mothballed on account of the secret squirrel project for up to 2 years but at that point we do hope that we will be able to make the big push and get it finished. Meantime there will be a little here and there mostly to the outside because it stands right in the heart of the village, is it’s heart really as it was originally the village watchtower and the cellar and up to the first lintel all round and second lintel 2/3 of the way round are the oldest building in the village. So we feel responsible that the village should have something nice to look at even if it’s a calamity inside!!!! I’m feeling quite gungho today – really the infusion of good folks like you in your kindness has lifted the last of the blanket of dispair. Thank you 🙂
It is amazing the old places that are having a revamp, to be honest if our bodies could handle another renovation we would be into it. Though when I say renovation nothing like the ones that needed on the old houses/buildings in Europe. You are most welcome Osyth 🙂
I am glad that you are feeling rather more the thing…and have something for which to cross your fingers! I do hope that it goes well and without a hitch.
Do you think that the years of being forced to move from pillar to post have made you so attached to your houses?
I think I resemble the Bean…she is happy where you are and I am happy where Leo is. We have had some stunning houses in our time but he always has itchy feet so it is on to the next…..the joke amongst friends is that where wherever I hang my husband is home…..
I just feel lucky to have lived in those houses, I don’t feel that I have lost them as they live in my mind’s eye.
And now as we prepare for the brief trip to Guatemala he has the old gleam in his eye…wondering if we will see anything tempting there…
It’s no empty threat that I may come knocking on your door one day … you and Leo are the epitome of what I find wonderful in humans (there is little but you manage to bottle the lot) ….The Bean is a very stoic little thing and certainly relies on me to make her choices. I have huge issues with the rentals laws in Britain. It was that (and a husband who went and sat on a toadstool in Eire and never paid any child support and couldn’t be touched) that forced the moves. I don’t have regrets but I do wonder from time to time what would have been different if I had followed my heart in 1997 and moved to Spain with the girls. I so nearly did it. Hey ho. Next year will be interesting and as we glide gracefully towards Christmas 2018 Two Brains faces retirement though he is already announcing he may stretch it a little further (that’s his gleam in the eye and it will be important that he is able to keep his hand in with his Science world otherwise it won’t work at all.). Wherever we end up it has to have lots of land around it (non-attenant is NOT possible) and be an old property, it must at least be in view of mountains and it must have some certainty of snow in winter and sun in summer. It’ll turn up or something else will turn our heads …. in its own time. I will be agog to hear what happens in Guatemala …. truly agog!
I had a feeling that your husband would not care to take a complete retirement…it is not a job to him but a passion.
So if the health provision is in the the U.S. when he qualifies, will you be dividing your time between France and there, do you think? Or will you wait and see what turns your head and go with that?
Having learned that the city buses are known as the tomato assasins from their colour and the nature of the activities carried out within them he will inevitably choose them as his preferred mode of transport….so I wonder if I will have a ‘phone or a camera after a couple of days…
Still, we were told horror stories about San Jose…and Granada in Nicaragua, not to speak of Managua…. so it all might be devilish dull!
It’s hard to say but I will go with the flow. My heart is in France but we will always have Marcolès in some state of liveableness and last year we decided that if it comes to it we will buy in Vermont – the North East Kingdom (only the Americans could come up with such a naff name for an absolutely stunning area) which stretches up to the Canadian border is beautiful and actually quite French in feel (Canadian influence doubtless). Tomato Assassins …. oh my gawd as my ex-mother in law would say! I wish you great adventures (not dull as dishwater please) but reasonably safe and I know when you write about it dull won’t feature!
This must be a real wrench, and I’m so pleased you at least had a lovely removals company to assist you. It can mean so much when people are kind and supportive, and there is little worse than watching people treat your beloved possessions without enough respect. Anyway, I hope you will be happy in the months ahead, and I look forward to reading updates. My long nomadic life – sometimes lived only out of the bags that I could carry – has long been replaced by a settled one. I wish the same for you in the very near future x
Thank you so much for that lovely comment. These boys were absolute treasures as was the entire set-up. The move from England was a nightmare but long put to bed. However, you are so right – having respectful, careful movers really does make a difference. I’m safely tucked into my flat in Grenoble for the next few months and after that – well after that is after that is the best approach, I think. I will be settled in good time and I will really appreciate it. For now I am feeling better every day and I can tuck all the good memories of that place safely in my heart ❤️
I am so glad I had the chance to visit you in Champs. What a super time we had and I have the memories and photos to prove it! Then we were able to get together again in Grenoble with Two Brains too! Brave decision to give up that idyll in Cantal but Grenoble is a super city, you already know one or two people and have an exciting new career. I know you will once again “carpe diem”! Love and hugs from all of your Cornish cousins, human and otherwise!
Thank you so much, Jenny! It was the right decision and I am loving teaching the children to speak English properly 😉 Champs was where we were married (with you in attendance and John giving me away) and it will always have a place in my heart but in honesty, we have a final push before we can find that forever home and you are damn right ‘carpe diem’ must always be the operative phrase! Love to you, so much love xx
Leaving a home you love is always a heartbreaking task – the memories, the feelings, just the general sense of home that grounds you. I don’t think you ever truly forget those homes you loved.
At least, for now, you have some degree of being settled, even if a further move is impending. And, there is some degree of settled life on the horizon, as well. I hope the prospect of that future settled life (and the champagne!) is a comfort to you.
It’s the champagne that calls me on Sarah – rather as bacon does Choppie 😀 Thank you for your kind and empathetic response. it felt all wrong for a while but in truth now it feels alright 🙂
What a tale and how I feel for you O. I have missed you these past weeks and hoped that you hadn’t been dealt a dud hand. I’m so pleased that you’ve come back into the light.
I have to confess I’ve always enjoyed moving house. After a while I get itchy feet and start looking over the fence to see what I’m missing. But the one thing I can empathise with is having all your “stuff” packed away, looking forlorn in some garage or storage shed.I sometimes wonder if, when I’m no longer around, what a stranger would make of me, based on my “Stuff”. Probably best not to know.
I hope you settle down again, regain your tranquillity and peace of mind and, you little tease you, it sounds like there’s goodies on the horizon for you. I hope your ship sails in loaded to the gunwales with everything you want and/or need.
I@m out of the blogging loop at the mo, In fact taking a sabbatical from all soc. med. I was beginning to wonder what/who was driving whom.
Anyhoo, looking forward to your posts and tales of derring-do on the diy front. Take care of yourself.
Teasing further – I know the next chapter will not be my choosing but I also know that if I get it write the final chapter will be worth the wait! thank you so much for your support … Social Media is a double edged sword with one very sharp blade that shreds the unwitting and makes one reconsider. I wish there was another way. Thank you for continuing to read me even in your own drought. What are you up to at Christmas …. open question 🙂
Was that a Freudian slip “if I get it write…”? 🙂
I love your posts and will continue to be a faithful follower.
At Christmas I’m home alone, happy with that. If I choose I have friends in the village I can bore but at the mo. I don’t choose. Mainly because i shall be in hospital early January and want to get as much done with the next book, in the house (total bordel at the mo) and, weather permitting in the garden. If however you wish to stray afield and visit the Aude/Ariege border you will be more than welcome.
It was indeed …. interesting, very interesting slip. I am alone at Christmas also (though not preparing for hospital fortunately). I do have a thought that I will go over to Marcolès just before or just after and I might make a loop further south west on the way home. In the interests of researching areas for the forever house, you understand. Ariege is a contender for that prize. If I do more than dream the notion I will be in touch and perhaps you would grace me with a cup of something or other 🙂
Absolutely, it’d be my pleasure. Just drop me a line and i’ll pm any necessary details.
Ah Osyth, my very movable friend, you always make the best of the moments, and isn’t that how we all need to learn to live our life. (there probably should be better punctuation int there, but what the heck, it is what it is). To move through the mists takes determination, to leave behind that which you love is to leave a little of ourselves behind also, and that takes time to replenish. Your story is ever-evolving (as a life should) and you have, by all accounts, had an interesting one. Your photos here show a wonderful place that was, and a new one waiting to be. The Universe has a plan, but unfortunately the Universe doesn’t seem to work on our expected time-lines. 🙂 I know that you will be you, no matter where you live, and that the mists will wisp away, as you settle into your new domicile. That sadness that you feel is just a tribute to how much you loved, and something to be perversely pleased about, in the moments when you can think that way.
Wishing you all the absolute bestness that the Universe can provide.
*that sadness you feel is just a tribute to how much you loved* …. bottle that – you have me and the essence of how I believe life should be taken right there my very sensitive friend who has had more than her share. Thank you x
no, thank you. 🙂 I am a better person for having “read” you 🙂
Moving from a place that you love would, indeed, suck. What does your adorable little dog think about all of this?
She thinks she adores you more for thinking of her first which is entirely right and appropriate. I always say that she visibly relaxes and relinquishes her guard duty when we are all together. She is humbling in her acceptance of her lack of choice in life. She likes Grenoble especially the mountains, she likes Marcoles where she can sit on the doorstep surveying the village and keeping the cat population on their toes, she is fond of Massachusetts where she has a great big yard but she always knew even after a 1,100 km drive when we turned into the driveway at Champs and she would sit up ready to bustle round the park and then settle down in the flat. I wish she could talk ….
Finally you are back!
‘What’s the use of worrying
it never was worthwhile
so, pack up your troubles
in your old kit bag
and smile, smile, smile’
Love, love the wisdom behind these words and the moustache and the spirit of the general (?) who rattles out, ‘Pull yourself together!’ I shall twirl my own imaginary stache and repeat it to myself when I need a pick-me-up.
Marcolès is charming. Those cobbled alleys so narrow that I am surprised the lorry could squeeze through them at all. Your neighbour sounds like a proper nosy-parker but also a wonderful prospect for picking up the village goss. I cannot wait to read about them. A tight hug for these times of upheaval and change, Osyth. You are a stellar woman and I know you shall get through these times with your nose up in the air, The Bean by your side. Are you joining Two Brains in the Cambridge MA soon then? xx P.S.: Also, 11 changes!!! We need a book on the travails of 11 upheavals. xx
Sergeant Major, I think. I can never watch Oh! What a Lovely War without bawling my eyes out. My Grandmothers were both nurses in The Great War and I wonder how many platitudes they had to feed the men they nursed and yet I know they were the absolute embodiment of the spirit of that song as we’re they all …. And if they could in those circumstances then who on earth am I to moan? Marcoles is a tiny gem … our house remains uninhabitable but we shall get there eventually. I reckon in two years we will be in a position to make the real push and get it done. The old lady is hilarious… quite direct and lacking in discretion 😉 I can’t comment on what next year brings (I’m reality who can?) But if you send me your email I will tell you privately … the book (books) of those years – one day 😊 xx
I shall have to watch it then. There must be so many stories in your memory jar about your grandmothers. You are not a moaner and in any case it is healthy to moan once awhile. I should know 🙂
I cannot wait to see what you achieve with your nest in Marcoles. Maybe we shall get a home tour post someday. And along with that a feature on the neighbour lady of distinction please. I like the sound of her and I would love the private chat. It is dippydottygirl@gmail.com 🙂 xx
Thank you …. do find the film – I think you’ll love it. I’ll email you later xx
Absolutely. I shall get on the job 🙂
Where do I start on this post…The Bean looks so stoic and strong standing at attention at the front door. Vinny has that same look at times. I have always wanted to visit Europe and see the ancient villages with their narrow streets…but not in a truck! (Good driver) I love the simple and clean look of the pillars in that apartment, open and airy make me comfortable. There are 2 places I have lived that I truly miss. Cape Elizabeth Maine where I lived as a child with the ocean beside us and my dreams first felt, and Strong Maine where I tried to give my folks a comfortable place to live out their lives. If you decide to move here permanently, northern New England will give you all the open spaces, snow and sun, and the village atmosphere to make anyone feel at home.
She loved that place and I would love to have been able to explain to her why we didn’t go back home that day. However, she has had three years of making her presence felt on and off for a few days here and there in Marcolès and is very content scanning the street for rogue cats! Here in Grenoble she has a garden which she enjoys and in New England she has real space which she thrives on. That driver was very very good …. I’m glad you have seen the post and viewed the picture with a technical eye! The places that we miss have so much to do with the memories we make there, and I guess part of this cathartic post for me was coming to terms with the fact that the memories will serve me well as I go forwards. As for settling in New England …. it remains a possibility and will turn on politics, healthcare and pensions in about a year from now. Watch this space. But if we do decide it’s your side of the pond for life then rest assured it will be Northern New England for us (we won’t remain in the Masshole that’s for sure 😉 )
LOL! Northern Vermont or Northern New Hampshire are your best bets for beautiful mountain views, low taxes and friendly but not close neighbors!
Oddly enough, that’s exactly where I’ve set my cap so thank you for endorsing it with the comforting remark about neighbours!!
(Smiling broadly)😁
Dear Fiona I now understand how busy you have been! I can understand those many moves and the feelings! Warm hugs dear friend ❤️❤️ Your writing is always beautiful even if its sad ☹️Much love
Thank you so much Lynn … I know you understand the need to nest permanently. It will come. In it’s time 🙂 I send much love to you, of course I do xx
Oh my dear friend….HOME, where is it, I have lost my real home too. I used to think home is where you lie your head on a pillow, but as I have grown older I have learned, well for me anyway, home is where your heart is. For years, in my heart, I felt like my real home was on a beach in Washington State, Kalaloch, the National Park in the beautiful northwest. I am pretty sure that my family has gypsy blood running through our veins. Over the last 55 years of my 60, I have moved 21 times. I swore when I married my current love of my life, that when I moved into his home of 49 years, I was finally home….big sigh, finally a place I could make my own and never, never have to leave….nope, funny how life changes your plans !! With lung disease in full swing the need to find dry, hot weather for him was a must. So yet once again I have moved to the desert in a tin palace!! Let me tell you sister, for a woman, who has never been far from a big body of water, Pacific Ocean, to the dry, hot Sonoran desert was quite an eye opener for me and I hate that I have belongings in 2 different houses. I couldn’t imagine not having my most favorite possessions with me. That is what makes a house home. I feel for you…all this time I have been so jealous that you are living in such beautiful places, the Alps, (on my bucket list) and France ! In my mind I had you sipping coffee in little cafes looking up a the high mountains, enjoying the ambiance of the quaint little city where you are, I realized when you had to move from the lovely apartment where you were, to another place, I imagined a wonderful little place you would make your own. I am so sorry that it is furnished, to bad you couldn’t put there stuff in storage and have the comforts of your own….I feel for you…now I understand your absence on your blog. Come back, share with us. I love that the truck drive and the finesse to get between those buildings. Great pictures…..The Bean ! Keeping watch over the land for you, love that picture…and then her all wrapped up in her little bed. It is a wonderful feeling to know that she has been the one thing that never changes, always there no matter where is, ahhhh, the love of your pup !! That is always something you can wrap your heart around. I am sure she feels the same as you do about change, but her constant is always having you at the end of the day….whether it be moving day or just another day in the week. I can only imagine how difficult it is to be apart from your love, and to be on your own there, but remember my dear sister, we are all here for you!!! Sending you hugs, smiles and laughter….xx
Oh Kat! Where do I start with that beautiful comment …. I know you understand … I remember when you moved to the desert and you were all jolly and LOL on the surface but I could tell it was not where your heart lies but with your heart full of love for your man you did it. And then the dreadful fires this year and the fear for your home. I know you understand. The stoic little Bean is my constant it is true and honestly this place IS lovely. I have a few of my things … some little dishes to put olives and other nibbles in when I have a glass of wine in hand, my own bedding, my father’s plants and a few books so it isn’t all in boxes just nearly all. And clothes. I DO have clothes!!! I love this city and you would too though possibly not at this precise moment as it is snowing in the mountains and raining in the city and when that happens it is bitterly cold, windy and you can’t see the mountains for greyness. It should lift by Friday. I’ve ordered it because my daughter and her husband are coming for the weekend. I am going to write more (realized I was silly to have committed to a full 7 days with guests at the weekend but after that ….) and I do feel your love. I do. Thank you for the hugs, the smiles, the laughter – what on earth would life be without them. Xx.
Enjoy the weekend with one of your angels and her love…..hugs……kat
Double trouble .. i have one arriving Friday and leaving Sunday but we collect the tiddler Sunday morning and all spend the day together before the biggie goes back to London. Then baby-cakes is with me for a week – I cant tell you how happy that makes me!!!! Xxxxx
I am so happy for you, nothing like having your babies in the nest together for whatever time they can give us. I only get to see my daughter for a few hours before the fly away to a castle in England for the holidays, so many emotions, happy for them, jealous of them, sad for me LOL at least I get to take them to and fro from the airport and that’s a good 2 hour ride…LOL I am counting the minutes for this trip, them my loving son, I thought we were going to share the holidays together, nope, I get about 8 days with him, not including Christmas or New Year, he has a new girlfriend, lovely young thing, he is going to New Mexico with her and her family then back for 2 days, then I get to give them a ride to the airport where they are jetting off for Singapore, and Australia to go camping. I am so happy he has someone to travel with and that he can do all this traveling in his young age, but it saddens me that I am left in the dust. LOL Just really happy that they are both healthy and happy with there lives. Enjoy all the noise and love you will be getting….HIGS>>>>>>Kat
How you speak my heart and how well I know how you feel. I realise how little I understood how my mother felt… we squash the sadness and feel happy that they are embracing life but we feel dusty and left behind. Cherish the moments my darling friend. Xx
XXxx
WOW and wow again…. This is the first article I read of your blog (came over from Susan’s as you surely figured out for yourself, you clever, wonderful woman) and I nearly created a health hazard for myself for nodding so intensely, crying out and shaking my head while hurrying on in my reading of your (yet another) removal story.
When we returned to Switzerland from Devon, we too had the removal company from hell – not in all things, they did a few things wonderfully right, but our stuff also got mixed up with other removals, things got broken and although every single box was lettered in huge writing WHERE it would have to go, they just dumped it all more or less on the ‘terrace’ of our narrow, tiny, but oh so lovable maison mitoyenne from the 14th century!!!! What made me laugh was that in the end they also picked up two huge tiles from the original roof of our Victorian pile (1886) which I stored decoratively nearby a wonderful, wonderful, sweet smelling climbing rose which grew up the wall of the our house front. They just grabbed them and put them to the rest of the lorry.
Parking was about the same problem as it was with your FRenc mover. They had to put planks from the side of the very long van over the stairs to the terrace and I still shiver with Angst thinking of them bringing Hero Husband’s precious piano over those planks and a lot of empty space onto our terrace.
But it ALL was alright because we had found our paradise. Or so I thought then. HH didn’t find a ‘forever’ job and was never at home. Every week I brought him to the Lausanne (Switzerland) train station for the 1st train to Germany and fetched him back on the 11pm train on Friday night. He was unhappy and when one day a Californian headhunter, who had his dossier from years back, called and offered him a job here nearby Paris, he jumped at the occasion….. Oh, it would take WAHAYYYYY too long to tell all the stuff which happened since then but I DO hope that we might be moving back to CH in the new year. We did however buy the most beautiful house and garden here and it will be a true heart-break to leave this wonderful place. For all the rest, I don’t care, I want to live in peace, happiness, with serenity and in a beautiful surrounding.
So, should all things go well, you may tell all your wealthy friends that they should get in contact with us, our 1920 stone house (meulière) is so full of beauty, soul and stories…. And we are a mere 3’ on foot from a RER station and 35’ from the heart of Paris! YET it’s also totally peaceful and quiet, the house stands on a hill which in summer is hidden behind the greenery of the trees along the street. I often joke that I could die and nobody would ever find me unless HH would return home at the end of the week …. We have very similar stories to tell (although your man is REALLY way too far from here…. and I thought I had to complain! 🙂 – but I don’t!) and also I don’t have any dependent children. Four girls, what a job!!!!!
You are a wonderful woman and you look so good too! We will become best friends I know it and I’m so looking forward to it. Must leave you now – have to prepare a huge ‘goodie’ bag of Christmas decorations for church decoration…. And with the hope of maybe moving one day, I will make this a donation and not a ‘loan’, so I gotta be doing something good – it’s for Christmas not for the dump. 🙂
Hugs and exciting greetings, Kiki
Kiki I am SO happy that you are here and guess what? YOu planted the 50th like on this post – that has to mean something … Oh Boy.. Your story makes my toes curl … I echo echo echo and I really do empathize and understand. I have those same curled toes crossed for your return to your beloved CH. Your place in Paris … I would happily put the word out for you to find the prefect buyer ( I was once a not estate agent and I do love to find the right person for the right place and the right place for the right person) if you let me know where it is. My email is osyth.storyteller@gmail.com and I charge nothing but smiles. Ouch – you should write your experiences. Kiki – je t’embrasse xx
I shall write to you as soon as I can find my brain amongst the debris of my daily life 🙂 🙂 Who knows?
You are one of many who told me to write down my life but then I find it’s just so ordinary…. just busier, different, and I hope to be soon at my forever place, wherever it might be.
You see, I have already FOUND my paradise on earth. It’s called Lutry and it’s located right at the shores of Lac Léman (for the ignorant lot Lake Geneva but we hate that name), Switzerland. It was that very, very old house, narrow breasted, impractical, 2 small rooms per ‘étage’, steep stairs, in full need of much renovation and when Hero Husband was called to a job in France, I sold it to the one person who heard about it, in 20’ flat. I didn’t even have a price, I just added our own renovation costs and promised to have the 2nd bathroom finished by the time they would move in…… As you said: I charged nothing but smiles 🙂 And we are still in contact with the buyers, they are utterly happy and so are we – and sad because we will never ever be able to live there again, it has become so upmarket. We were 2’ on foot from the débarcadaire (can’t think of the English word), 3’ from the bus stop, 5’ from the train stop. I went swimming with my bathing costume on and a tent-like frock over it, on my bike, was there in 4-5’ (they also have this beautiful ‘bathing place’ with showers, cabins and an excellent little café/bbq/pic-nic place, a jump-tower, trees and benches…. I told you, the paradise…. Oh the stories waiting to be told!
I’m not having a blog (yet….. – I say that for at least five years already!!!) but I have a few rather nice photos with a story (that’s very important for me) on
https://www.flickr.com/photos/vol-au-vent/
KIKI!!! These are fabulous … I would buy several as my Christmas cards and others for other occasions and yet others I would want on my walls. You talented lady … I am SO honoured you have chosen to follow me and reach out and all that other bloggers stuff. Really. I am humbled. YOu are extremely talented. Period. Hugs x
Love you already….. not because you like my photos but because you see the scene behind the scenes! My son is my greatest fan; I search forever pics I once made and sent him but can’t seem ever to find the originals any longer. I’ve been searching for a specific ‘pic-nic bench in the (French) woods – actually it was one of the many wonderful motorway stations….. Still haven’t found the original! But sadly my eyesight is so bad now that I can only spend very little time at the computer and therefore my priorities have shifted much. As much as I ADORE making picture-stories, I haven’t got the fascilities to bring them up on Flickr. And then I only post when I’ve also time to comment on my friends photos…. therefore, it’s very limited now. But thanks for your kind words. I don’t always make my own Christmas cards but ALWAYS write personal messages in them. I also add to my bestest friends a short resumé of the year which is silly because those who are so close to my heart know already everything 😉 Only, you should hear the cries of ‘negligence’ when one year or another I do not add a letter to my wishes…. Last year was one of them! I still hear the howling of some of the lot!
I know what it is to long for a forever home. I’ve been on the move since I was a child. First my parents moved me endlessly across continents and then across the world, and then I did it myself, for many varying reasons. I even bought a boat and lived on that for a while because at least when I moved I’d be taking my roof with me! The only treasures that have travelled with me through all of this are my photos (my memory bank) and some books. I tell you this because I also want to give you hope. I have now found a place where I feel at home. Like you we bought an old beat-up house. It’s age is unknown but it is mostly made from the ransacked stone from an 12th century Cistercian abbey which now lies in beautiful ruins across the road. We have exposed the stonework in a few places and I at last feel like I am part of that march of history. I have a place. It’s been a long, hard slog and it’s not finished yet. For years our kitchen was in ruins but we finished it (mostly) last month. I’m now sitting in a beautiful, colourful room looking at abbey stone (how many people have touched it, lived by it?) and enjoying the warmth of a solid fuel range ( so cosy!). Everything in here is second hand or built by a not immensley talented but good natured friend, and all of it painted by me. It feels like home. As does our front room that enjoyed much the same treatment. There has been a lot of sweat and mess and tears but this is my home more than anywhere else. I believe you too will find your home. And I believe that we will meet one day because I feel we are kindred spirits and I predict at least one evening of wine, laughter, stories, the inevitable serious bit, followed by much more laughter and a hazy, slightly nauteous breakfast 🙂 x
*that should say nauseous!
😂
Oh. My. Blinking. God. You kindred – you are right to think we are. You totally get where I am coming from and you totally give me hope. I would love to see your place – made by kind hands and painted by you and based one the stones hewn myriad centuries ago. Yup. Me on a plate. And the moving – me on a nomadic plate note necessarily of my asking but probably of my perpetuating. I’m stuck into the last of a bottle of Gamay and I raise my glass to you. And yes. .Please. I would love to meet. I will be in England In January. Xx
Sorry for late reply. For some reason I didn’t get a notification that this was written. I hope the Gamay was good 🙂 Will be in touch!
It’s fair to say that I have become a little obsessed with Gamay since moving to this area it being one of the main grapes used in Savoie and Isère wines. Do not, please worry that you are late on parade …. I am just grateful for your kindness and empathy 😊
Chickenbrain & Osyth; count me in – let’s make this a threesome 🙂 🙂 🙂
Yeeeeeehah! Xxx
Seems like you’ve had it rough turtle dove. Things will get better. Perhaps your move was for a reason. I’m sure good things will come out of it. Sometimes you’ve gotta do what you gotta do. Am glad your writing again and so are all of your followers. Amazing your numbers are for a 2 month drought. You are certainly not alone
Thank you, lovely fella … I’m feeling much better. When you find yourself at the bottom of the ravine, the only way is up – so let’s hold hands and reach for those stars. ☄😉
I truely and honestly admire your resilience…wow..
I am usually the kind who never runs out of words to say but i am right now…i am in awe…my heart is bleeding..i dont know how you manage it without breaking down..in my 41 yrs of existence i only made three “moves”…and those three were already emotional and devastating…and i haven’t even gotten over the last one which was way back years ago..
But you..you dealt yours with such gracefullness and dignity…i applaud you..🤗🤗🤗🤗
It’s just the hand of cards I was dealt and I have gotten on with it… this time a little less enthusiastically but I’m all in one piece and the cloud is lifting (though you wouldn’t think it looking out of the rainbow at a truly miserable afternoon) … we get one life and I am doing my best to really embrace and appreciate what I have (whilst still hoping that forever home comes in the not too distant future). You know … one of the things that calls me on is the joy of ‘meeting’ truly lovely and talented people such as you. I give thanks that our paths have crossed and hope we can walk side by side the rest of our lifetimes 🙂
Oohh …i am happy to know that…i too am glad that despite of the many challenges in life we have a little venue to unwind and unleash ourselves…WP has been an amazingly wonderful venue for that…reading your post (though you literally are from the other side of the world)..widens my horizon and understanding of life..it also has made me more tolerant of our differencies and diversities …
There’s a thing. I refuse to allow any difference get in the way of getting to know someone. So long as they don’t sully the path with prejudice nor refuse to allow air for a different opinion I am open to all. That is probably my strongest driver in life. And decency. The art of decency must be the most important of all. Hugs across oceans my friend
Very well said Osyth…if onlh we can all have that kind of mind set….the world would be a better place..
Oh, Fiona – I was worried you might have been kept prisoner of those awful black dogs in the last months because you didn’t write a new post and I kept checking every few days to see if you have. But I didn’t want to say anything on fb about it… now I know and I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you. It must be so awful to move that often especially when you have to leave a place that has become so dear. And before I forget: please make sure to send me your new adress as I already have a handmade card waiting to be send off to you before Christmas 😉
I look forward to your Marcoles Mondays! Sending you big and warm hugs, sunshine, positive energy and lots of love! xxxxxxxxxx
My dear sweet friend who is going to enjoy Marcolès one day with her mother …. it was hard to move from Champs and I shouldn’t moan because I am in a lovely place but I felt so DISplaced again. All shall be well. – actually all is getting weller by the day as the pesky black dog returns to his rightful basket. Actually – your glorious Berkshire Pig is going to get a bit of attention in the next two weeks. I have daughters coming to stay tomorrow and Sunday (a cross-over of two daughters for a whole day will be heaven) and then I am on my own til mid-Jan when I head back to England for a couple for weeks and return with another daughter for a month ((will she survive)) … so the point of that diatribe is that I have to re-discipline and one of the things I have to do is say some thanks (because I want to) to some special people. You are beyond special. Expect a little bit of blogging and facebook love to come your way (and I will send you my address in an email). So much love to you and please keep sending sunshine … it’s been a little ‘flou’ these last days X
I think you have every right to moan, Fiona! It´s just awful to uproot yourself again and again and start living in a new place, no matter how lovely they all are. And I am so glad the black dog has retreated once again and that your lovely daughters come to visit you and cheer you up! The naughty side in me is just contemplating the possibility of you drugging your daughters with the most perfect croissants and Madeleines so they don´t want to leave you 😉
And thank you for making me smile with that sweet warning of yours to expect a bit of blogging and fb love 😉 You´re just golden! 😀
Wish you a blissful weekend with you daughters and keep sending you warm sunshine, love and hugs! xxxxxxxxx <3
Home..I’m here in Florida now, but this trip isn’t home anymore.. Out of all the moves I’ve made in my life, this will have been the hardest after all is sorted out and settled..
Throughout your post I saw your heart move with you through the disappointments and losses along the way.. You never lose hope because your heart is never left behind 💛
I just got off the phone with the man that does the landscaping here, praising his work and assuring him that he won’t lose the account.. It was so nice to read high praise included in your post of the movers.. No matter what is going on in your world, you don’t lose appreciation.. Respect, love and kindness is what I see to be your lasting legacy..
All “things” can change.. But as long as you don’t ever lose heart, you will always be home..
What a beautiful comment. Thank you from the bottom of this heart of mine 💛