Changes all around.

We spent the day over towards Lorient with Dave and Annie, but things were happening while we were away.

Actually, this photo was from yesterday...changing the shape of the garden...

and this one...

and this... I'm standing on ground that was previously a bank.

And this one of Michael and Bev. There's some lovely colour coming through in the flower bed.

All day long there was noise from Yvon's woods.  We'll have to investigate tomorrow.

The girls played cards last night.

Look what's happening next door. All the old planks are gone and a concrete base has been laid.

When we got back, they'd made good progress. Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow.

It's getting dark but we just had to have a nosy in Yvon's woods. This is the brute that was making the noise yesterday.

Over 300 trees have been cut down.

This section of the woods is unrecognisable.

So much open space. Therese, Marina and Yukki who we passed on the lane are sad to see it all change.

I'd just come down from spraying the wasps nest tonight to find the girls toasting marshmallows.

Yummy!!

Nice to have Bev back home.

I unwrapped my copy which was delivered to England and brought back to France by Bev yesterday.

I'm on page 87 already.  Fascinating!

My commission is finished and has been picked up, so I'm free!

Time to fill in some more dips

Aimee struggling with the pick-axe.

Emm grabbed the camera again.

After lunch we drove to Vannes for swimming. 

Approaching the pool.

I'm not supposed to take photos, but I positioned myself so I couldn't be seen by the attendant.

Aimee just wouldn't do a summersault...

and Emm just wouldn't dive.

They came down at least fifteen times. This is where I read most of the 87 pages of Serendipity...while Bev showed her brother around Vannes centre.

Jon has just Skyped to say hello and we are in front of a roaring fire, watching The Adjustment Bureau.

It's been a good day.

2nd October

We visited Sarzeau for our anniversary as well as all the little coves and harbours around that area.

The weather was considerably better than our wedding day 39 years earlier.

It was a lovely day.

We'd planned to end the day with a meal in Josselin, but we were so tired that we gave it a miss and had our celebratory meal the following day followed by ANOTHER (surprise) meal shortly afterwards at Barry and Lorraine's place.

End of September

Monday was all mine...

... so I took advantage of doing a bit more on the roof.

Tuesday morning, and yet more progress. If the weather holds I would have finished this afternoon.

But we had to dash off to LeBono to do more decorating. 

It's still there just to the left of the photo.

There isn't a single spot that we haven't touched.

Walls, ceilings, panelling, windows, doors, skirting. All painted...two coats.

We ended the evening with a fresh pasta meal provided by Clairline and Benjamin before arriving home just after 11pm.

Bev went back to LeBono today to clean the windows, floors, tables and anything else that needed cleaning before they open tomorrow. I stayed home to finish the roof.

All tiling finished and watertight for winter. Just the facia tiling to do, but that isn't urgent. I've been very lucky to have such glorious weather. It was a joy to do this side as the morning sun is on my back to keep me feeling toasty.

I've left the ladder so I can do the flashing around the stack if the mood takes me. I had to silicone the narrow top bits at the base of the stack (the last one is propped by a narrow tile until it dries).

Lots of tidying up to do.

Now I really must get on with some painting.

There goes another September.

Let's start with Bev's birthday.

The petals on the table are real...freshly picked from just outside the door. The rest are plastic (it's the thought that counts). I made her breakfast and propped her mail against a glass of juice before I called her.  Later, Dave and Annie treated us to a Chinese buffet at Pontivy.

We've spent most of the week at LeBono helping to decorate a creperie for friends. It was really hard work with long hours, but it's coming on nicely. All of the orange is gone. It all looks quite classy now. (sorry...no pics).  They open next Thursday and there's still a lot to do.

Our helpers for a few hours back at Bel-Air.

Filling the dips.

More tiling...

but I forgot to put the edging strip along the bottom to raise the first row, so off they came. I've capped the top of the chimney to stop rain from getting in during winter.  I knew those big ceramic bathroom tiles would come in handy one day. Not long now before it's all watertight. I'm looking forward to Monday and the whole day spent on the roof.

We had the Jeromes for lunch today (the Creperie owners). After  two hours at the table we were ready for a walk in Yvon's woods. Yvon was there with his wife so we had a really good chat. The kids loved feeding the goldfish and checking out the different mushrooms.  Yvon told us which ones were edible, so the Jeromes picked a few for breakfast. If they're still alive next week, we'll try some :

The week was difficult but enjoyable, and we are pretty tired now.

A nice week despite the weather.

This is my painting week, but there was still progress on the roof.

The weather was unsettled but I was determined to do something on the roof.

Just look at the size of our molehills! Actually, we are having help here getting rid of that bank of soil. It's handy for filling dips and topping up the flowerbeds.

We took a trip to Leroy-Merlin and bought ridge tiles for the bread oven along with insulation and boards for my temporary studio. I worked on the roof as well as the doorway to my studio... which isn't leaking now. Then I got stuck into painting some commission work.

It's Saturday and the forecast is good, so we drove over to St.Malo for our day out with Dave and Sandra.

We arrived in good time to have lunch, then had an interesting ride on the sightseeing train.

It was a lovely bright and warm afternoon...perfect for a stroll along the harbour...

and beach...

No colour manipulation here.  This is how vibrant the colours were.

and the fortifications.

Then for a walk through the walled city.  I remember painting this scene about 12 years ago.

We were surprised to learn that a lot of it was bombed by the Americans in WW2, thinking the Germans were holed up there...they were elsewhere.  Fortunately they didn't destroy it all.

We visited a number of galleries as well as interesting little shops.

Back onto the wall...

passing some quaint chimney pots..

before making our way down to a little restaurant bar for hot chocolate.

Then to our car parked opposite the harbour, here. The sun is going down and it's been a beautifully long day.

We'll need another visit to take in the things we couldn't fit in this time round.