Tag: Move to France

Before leaving the US

Ghost of Christmas past

Boxed up ChristmasHere’s a photo of what 60 years’ worth of Christmas decorations looks like all boxed up. Some of you will note that Bill and I have been together only 30 years; therefore, some of this has to be from a long time ago, right? Not so much.

First off, that stack of blue containers on the left is full of lights, both indoors and out, so you know those can’t be too old . There are wreaths we got for specific doors in our current house. The same is true for the miniature trees that go on either side of the front door. There’s a mantle cover that Bill made and custom fit to put over the fireplace where logs are burning nicely right now as I type. Continue reading “Ghost of Christmas past”

Unknown's avatarBob2 Comments
Before leaving the US

Under the radar

Dark German Rye
Bill’s rye bread fresh out of the oven

When we first told some of our neighbors that we were moving to France and, therefore, selling our house here, the reaction was very positive. There were lots of congratulations but the real excitement seemed to be centered around the house. Everyone appeared to know someone who would buy it and true to their word, we did have visitors. In fact, one brother and his fiancé returned twice but their bank has not been forthcoming with a mortgage. We certainly aren’t opposed to using a real estate agent, but it would have been convenient to have passed “under the radar” and sold directly to a buyer. Continue reading “Under the radar”

Unknown's avatarBob1 Comment
Before leaving the US

Chip off the old block

Heather with her favorite toy
Heather with her favorite toy

We took Heather for her annual checkup this morning and and I’m happy to say that she came through with flying colors, as usual. The one difference today, however, is that she got chipped. In preparation for the move to France and getting her own pet passport, Heather had to have an internationally-accepted microchip ID tag implanted. As gross as that sounds, it truly is tiny and fits through a syringe needle, so in theory was no more uncomfortable than getting the rabies shot that she also had to have at the same time. Continue reading “Chip off the old block”

Unknown's avatarBob
Before leaving the US

Call for a dumpster

The thought had crossed my mind that I might have saved a bit too much wood and drywall from our basement build out but then again I was not thinking that there was a move coming in our future and someone else might not appreciate the bits and pieces stored in the basement. Yesterday I headed into the back storeroom of the basement and started emptying all the one gallon milk jugs of water that were for emergency use “in case of a hurricane”. Well then I started to look around and next to the shelving unit there are carpet remnants that we saved to use as door mats and they work very well but who needs enough to last 20 years? There are also oriental rugs with their pads that should make their way to Goodwill for someone else to use and camping equipment that we will never use but we kept just for that emergency that has never happened (thank goodness). The same room has much more “stuff” that will not be going to France and so it must be thrown out or given away.

Lumber & stuff under stairs
Lumber & stuff under stairs

Continue reading “Call for a dumpster”

Unknown's avatarBill6 Comments
Life in France

Back from the future

Bill between the cité (castle) above and the city below
Bill between the cité and the city

We’ve just returned from a couple of weeks in Carcassonne and if this is any indication of what life is going to be like there, we’re in for a real treat! As on numerous previous vacations, we rented an apartment through a holiday home agency so that we could pretend that we lived in whatever location we had chosen as our base for the vacation. When we first booked this trip the purpose was to find a place to live. Since that had been taken care of weeks prior to our departure, we were free to pursue an even more personal goal of meeting up with people. Continue reading “Back from the future”

Unknown's avatarBob3 Comments