Afaid geography means I can't help out, although I have put some windows in our barn conversion. It involved smashing metre size holes in a half-metre thick stone wall - one of the most nerve wracking things I've done. Happily, the house is still standing!Before I took (early, I'm dead young really
) retirement I was a Town Centre manager. Which meant trying to keep happy :- 500 miserable shopkeepers, 200 grumpy market traders, 50 daft councillors, a psychopathic Chief Executive, Chamber of Commerce, sponsors, police, Showman's Guild, press and radio, pressure groups and of course the Great British Public. All of whom think that their priority is THE priority. Which is why most TCMs are burnt out after 5 years. I managed ten before I escaped.
Nowadays I spend my time riding a Fazer 1000 on the road and a TTR 250 in the forests, chainsawing 5 tonnes of wood to last the winter, visiting Provencal markets, eating outdoors, walking in the mountains, growing veggies and drinking 2 quid a bottle wine. If that sounds idyllic, well I suppose it is.
The reality is a little tougher. The winter up here at 850 metres can be hard and long and it's during this time that we stay in watching the pennies. We're not here because we're rich, just the opposite. Renting out our houses in the UK was a way of making ends meet - the French house was bought when my mum died and left us a few bob. Between us we live on considerably less than a single UK average wage, which is why the exchange rate (see elsewhere) is so critical. Not griping though, we wouldn't swap it for the world.
As always, I'll finish with an invite for anyone to come on down to Chauvac. There's one or two of you who've been here an can attest to just how beautiful it is. We get hordes of bikers from all over Europe, yet I've hardly seen a single Brit. Let's try and change that. Cheers.
) the family micro-brewery & pub (which by that I mean ruin the darts teams' chance of winning)
