Nearing completion.....

... on the attic that is! Well, not fully completed but at least it is habitable again. My job this morning was to lob a load more concrete mix into the gaps between our wall and Claudine's walls, using rubber gloves and handfuls of the sandy goo (the space is too tight to get a trowel in). Then this evening, we finally finished putting up the plasterboard which has been a real pain in the proverbial backside job due to the total lack of anything straight in the attic. Not even the walls are straight and the beams are decidedly curvy! So Andy was ready to throw in the towel, not able to face another piece of plasterboard when he had a sudden burst of energy (or was it the death throes! I'm not quite sure!) and said 'one last push' and half an hour later, the last piece went up. Damn fine it looks too! So tomorrow, I can get the room tidied up and cleaned up ready for Trudi and Julian's arrival on Saturday evening.

Yesterday, I should add, was spent travelling up to Ikea near Toulouse in order to fetch the bed settee and 2 armchairs which I have had my eye on for some while now (not the one in the picture. That is an old one for infrequent use only). We also picked up various other housey bits such as a duvet, pillows, cushions, kitchen stuff, a rug and who knows what else. Have I mentioned how impossible it is to find shops here that sell such items? There are no department stores, no 'household goods' shops or kitchenware shops that we have been able to find in this area ... not even in the main centres such as Foix and St Girons. Ikea seems to be our only option and I am damned if we are going to suffer the 3 hr round trip (add on the shopping time and 5 hrs has gone before you know it!) more than once in a blue moon!

Popped down into Massat this afternoon and I think we both realised how lucky we are to be living in the midst of such a lovely community. The village has a lovely feel about it, a real spirit which is rare these days. We are very lucky.