Spring has begun! Stories about February – April 2023

Between all of Joop’s busy work, she managed to replace the entire toilet/bathroom in the gite. That means taking everything out (toilet, sink, shower, tile, wall plaster), installing water and drain pipes, and then rebuilding everything as well. And a classic French skill: grouting the walls ”mur-en -pierre.” It did take a number of conversations with God, but the result is worth it. Very clever of her. I don’t emulate her.

Between rain showers, we remove grass and other deep-rooted weeds from between the gravel. And just when you think you’ve removed everything, the first sprigs loom behind you. The shrubs and trees here grow as much as a meter a year. A good workout.

In the month of February, we also began the renovation of the mill. The floor between the second floor and the attic is completely gone. With the help of Koos and Tjalling, work began to build a new beam structure (level!) that will serve as a support for the screed. A new screed was laid in May/June. Ah, you don’t get bored here in Avrée.

Due to work on the bathroom, nothing was done to clean the gite for a long time. After the last baseboard was attached and the brush was run over it, we started cleaning the gite. All the dust, cobwebs, ladybugs and other scum have been removed. All pans, cups, glasses and cutlery were cleaned. We are ready for it and substantial booking has already been made! The Gite is now listed on cottages.com and on Airbnb but of course you can also email/call us directly.

Henri planted a vegetable garden. Due to past experience, we started with a 4x2mm piece. Not too ambitious but there is a start. The first tomato plants and zucchini are in it.

The snails were also very happy with our initiative. The 2x 12 lettuce plants planted were gone in no time. Now a mesh has been built around it to keep the snails from munching on the healthy vitamins. We kindly moved them back outside the fence.

How fast the grass grows here. And then the riding lawn mower breaks down too (V-belt cut in half). Before you get all that fixed, you’re about three weeks away. And then don’t think the grass will take this into account. No, that grows nicely on. So Henri could start all over again. Since we have to lug around a lot of garden tools, we made a trailer that can go behind the riding lawn mower.

The first quadruped has arrived, named Milou. Milou is a mix, of Australian shepherd, Golden Retriever and a Benner Senner. After a few weeks of getting used to it, she is now the queen of our ”estate.” She has 2.5 Ha to play on, catching mice, jumping in the water, running after birds and rolling on the ground. In short, she lives as a god in France.

Henri is going to get help mowing. Two more quadrupeds are joining Joop, as he has bought a horse. And because it is pathetic for a horse to stand alone, a second horse is added. In this blog, we update you on this!