Daily life at Gaulejac

I wouldn't say that we have developed a routine yet. In fact, I rather hope that we never do; that would be too much like life before retirement. Still, as the house is coming together and the list of things for the workers to do is dwindling down daily to smaller and smaller jobs like corrections and touch-ups, there is increasingly some regularity to our daily life. There is also more comfort, though we are resigned to the fact that it will not be achieved fully until our furniture arrives (mid-January, at last update from the shippers).

As an illustration of our daily life at Gaulejac, I have posted below a series of shots that will give you an idea of what a typical day might be like for us.

Nancy has taken to walking into Montignac (4.5 Km one-way) every other morning.
Sometimes I join her, but some days, I just putter around at home
and make coffee while I wait for her to bring home the day's Le Monde
and a fresh baguette for breakfast. Life is tough ...

On the way, she (or we) will often stop by to chat with the pony
who lives in a meadow by the side of the road, and sometimes give him a carrot.

Here she is again, now about half-way home.

If I haven't joined Nancy for the walk to Montignac, I may trundle up the hill
with my camera. The mist and the rising sun always make for magnificent views,
which I manage to capture satisfactorily only on rare occasions. The shot above was taken in the meadow
above our property, looking down on our house (centre), and our neighbour's (roof to the left).

By the time Nancy returns, the workers are hard at it. In the shot above,
they are cutting capping stones which were much too wide: the mechanical saw
that they first used only cut 3/4 of the way deep, so they had to finish the job by hand.
Behind them, you can see the stairs to the workshop, which used to have a stone border
on both sides that were removed the day before. Looks much better, less monumental now.
The yard is really the only area where we've been dissatisfied with some of the execution.
Mostly because it introduced what we felt were "urban" touches, rigid and bold lines
that just did not fit in with the overall rustic style. Otherwise, we're very pleased with the work , inside and out.

Our daily life and comfort took a major turn for the better when we
discovered that the big fireplace in the kitchen works very well,
even without the finishing touches like the cast iron plate
and the cold air intakes that are supposed to be essential
for it to function properly (and that will be in place soon).
So We now have a fire every night at dinnertime. The house is very comfortable anyway,
but it is December after all, it gets dark early, the thermometer drops to single digits quickly,
and in France as in Canada, nothing says "home" like a fire in the hearth.