Absention

The other day I received a lovely mail from the very talented Anna Scott from Anna Scott Embroidery enquiring if I was alright. It made my day really. I replied that I was fine, just being badgered by life and an imminent move that seems to have been imminent for months now.

As you will have read in past posts I was supposed to move to a nearby village having found a beautiful old house with an English type box hedge garden. It was perfect, high ceilings, black and white tiled floors and most of the details from it's original build. I had found out who owned it via the local chateau owner, it was his son. I managed to write them and asked to rent it and they so liked my enthousiasm for the house that they said yes. During an onsite visite they showed me plans for the renovation and it was amazing. The thing is I didn't want to live in someone elses version of a boutique hotel, I wanted the slightly faded old house that I had seen on my first visit. I wrote to decline as nice as I could without citing their taste in decor. 

During all this period I had packed boxes, taken down artwork, put my miniature work on hold and generally froze my life. Then came the period when I felt lost, trying to decide not only when to move but where. I decided that nothing comes to those who hesitate to I got back onto internet and began searching further South in the Dordogne region of France. Better climate and more dog walks. In my village four local dogs were killed by a wild boar so walking dogs has been out of the question further than the football field. 

I found a wonderful 18th century townhouse that had been used as offices for over 25 years but still had it's original features and also a large kitchen giving onto a South facing garden. It was also minutes from stores despite being on a quiet little square that had as it's neighbour a medieval abbey and a tiny theatre. PERFECT! The girl who dealt with the house on bahalf of the owners was delightful and we chatted for ages on the phone. The owners then decided to sell rather than rent so once more my plans were shelved. I again searched and found only horribly renovated houses or houses that were too small. My current house is a potentially 7 bedroom house with dining room, back kitchen plus kitchen, two bathrooms, a garage and a large outbuilding that used to be a cottage. The dining room was my workroom, the back kitchen was the store and laundry, three top floor bedrooms became storage for paintings, fabrics and winter clothes. It was going to be tough to downsize.

I did find one beautiful old mansion house, built by the owners great grandfather. It had many rooms and lots of land but was isolated from town and once more I would be in the middle of nowhere dependant on taxis as I still do not drive.

Then the lovely girl from the townhouse agency phoned and told me about a house she was going to take on and that it was perfect for me. She was giving me first option, it was not far from the first house in a small town. She described it's size and layout, 5 bedrooms, two bathrooms, laundry room, dining room, Library, internal courtyard and a garden across the small road. PEFECT ! She had no photos and didn't give me the adress as yet so I got onto the innevitable Google Maps and virtually walked around the town looking at streets and shops and dogwalking parks. I then came across a beautiful old house and thought, wow love that! I checked the adress and wrote to the agent and asked if by any chance the house in question was this house. She was amazed and of course chance would have it, it was! She then went to the house and took photos to quench my desire for a peek and the photos were amazing, I felt at home immediately. 

THEN came this horrible health scare that I will not name and everything is on hold and once more my life, as is the life of everyone, is frozen. I am using this confinement to pack up and prepare without any paperwork being done, it's a risk but in life you have sometimes to just leap and expect a soft landing.

I am posting two photos, the living room giving onto the courtyard and the upstairs Library with lovely shelving. I had always wanted bookshelf ladders ! I will be able to have a large upstairs workroom with lots of light and quiet and I can open the windows wide. I will finally have to right walls for my artwork and a gorgeous kitchen giving also onto the courtyard. 

Perhaps I shouldn't be so enthousiastic as things are not yet signed but I wanted to explain my absence and share my plans with my dear followers. 

I hope that you are all coping well and using this time to do things that you usually cannot. 

Wishing you all good health and better times.

HUGS