Swimming Pool

This is the best feature of the house, and will be extensively used on those hot, hazy, lazy days in the Summer.

Swimming Pool 
The pool was closed off at the end of September by a charming and very efficient local pool maintenance fellow who lives in Vouille. I hope that we can enjoy it in 2005 as soon as the weather heats up. Our heating is solar, so we need good sunny days to keep it at an adequate temperature.

Brushcutter

Brushcutter 
This has already been extensively used. The nettles are prolific around the river, and will require regular control in the Spring and Summer.

My new Chainsaw

Chainsaw 
There has been a lot of publicity about the chap who was using his chainsaw while standing on a ladder, with his wife below. The saw slipped out of his grasp, and chopped off his wife's head. At least she couldn't complain about it!

Blower & Vacuum Shredder 

Hedge Trimmer

Hedge Trimmer 

I can't wait to try this one out

Tooling up for a rural life

In readiness for the maintenance of the 2 acre garden in France, I am gradually acquiring new tools. Yesterday I became the proud owner of a Stihl Chainsaw, which is a petrol driven gadget. I'll be using it to reduce the size of the hundreds of logs that are already under cover, being dried out. I'll be using them as firewood, as we have a grand log fire in the dining room.
I already have a Stihl petrol driven Strimmer that has already been put to good use clearing all the nettles.
I've been reading the manual for the chainsaw very carefully. It describes the awful possibility of the chainsaw kicking back when the tip of the saw comes into contact with the wood. The chainsaw will fly upwards, and possibly strike one's head. A fatality is inevitable. Other reactive forces are called "pushback" and "pull-in", and all are dreadful in their outcome. Needless to say I will study the techniques required very fully before firing up the equipment.

Selling isn't painless

We have a buyer of our UK property who tells us that his chain is short. His buyer is a divorcee, and her house sale does not need to be completed prior to her purchase of his house. I will only believe that when the exchange of contract takes place. I have engaged a conveyancing solicitor obtained via the internet, at a very competitive rate. See http://www.conveyancingsolicitors.biz/index.htm and check how much it would cost to sell your house. The firm they selected is based in Newcastle upon Tyne, which is about as far away from Kent as one can go. However, their service so far has been exemplary. They send documentation to me via emails with pif attachments that have been scanned. They even reply to my queries!
My buyer's building society sent a surveyor during the week. She arrived with a collapsible ladder which she intended to use for access to the loft. Apparently, few houses have loft ladders, so she has to use it on a regular basis. She drove from Northampton, a goodly drive to Kent, so it indicates that all parties are taking the purchase seriously.

Moving to France

I'm shortly moving to France with Amanda, and our cat, Thomas. We are leaving behind our three children who are well settled into their respective careers and social scene in the UK. Our house in Kent has almost been sold - we waited 18 months to get an offer, and that only happened as the price was dropped considerably.

We have bought a house in Lavausseau, which is near Poitiers, that is next to the River Boivre. In fact the river runs right through the plot of two acres. In the winter there is always a possibility that the river will burst the bank, so we have to take special precautions to thwart the ingress of water to the house.