The project
Last month I wrote about the big kitchen reno we undertook during our season here this year. So this was the 'Black Galaxy' granite tile that came from India that we had before.
Before
Obviously, this was the during
TA -DA!
Before
During
The wine fridge replaced the trash compactor. The farm sink was a new addition.
Every time we return for our season here, there are always some substantial bits of maintenance that we must see to. Not always very showy or sexy, they still need serious attention. Every 5 years for instance, we have to get the septic tank pumped out and the Palm trees trimmed. Not my favorite idea on how to spend money but it's got to be done. Then there are concrete terraces that need re sealing, a deck that needs to be re stained and on and on and on. We are thrilled that we have 3 acres of privacy here but man, this stuff doesn't get done on its own. We need minions to give us a break.
Our Palm trees getting a haircut.
Janice has been busy doing a little landscaping clean up.
Post 'hard labor' cocktail by the waterfall on the lower patio
We do remind ourselves of how fortunate and blessed we are to live here. I know we brag about our different locations but really, how can we not? Check this 1-minute-long video of our coastline and beaches immediately below us. Do make sure to view it full screen. We feel your pain as you will soon begin to shovel the snow out of your driveway :)
or: https://youtu.be/AJwnqCsd3f4?si=UgQ_phBB44OQll7q
Sunset from our upper deck
Just another day in paradise. My kind of weather.
So, you thought that we were kidding when we said we were living in abject poverty. How would you like to haul your bark for landscaping in this 'Jed Clampet, Grapes of Wath' like trailer? I had to humiliate myself 5 times in getting load after load to cover over 3000 sq Ft (280 sq meters). It is not an easy life we lead.
Food for thought
The Epistle is not an advice column and Ann Landers doesn't work here. * I only started writing this years ago to keep in touch with our kids and a few friends. (*Ann Landers had a newspaper column to help people with relationship issues)
I recently viewed a TV series on very rich historical figures and was struck by how many died having passed the torch of their immensely successfull lives on to their children without having said a proper goodbye. No such luck for my kids, but what stayed with me was the importance of saying goodbye before it was too late. I am not planning on pushing up daisies anytime soon, but we never know when we will be circling the drain.
I guess my point here is that I want to be very deliberate and aware that the people I am with (kids, friends, whatever), I might never see alive again. I am not trying to be morbid here and I am not suggesting tearful goodbyes. I guess what I am thinking is that I don't want to take for granted that there will always be a next time for them or for me. If I have something to say or to share, I better not assume I can always do it later. When they or I die, I want them to know how much I loved them because I will have TOLD them, and not in a casual way. OK, onto more pleasant subjects...
We are DONE
Done Done
no really...DONE!
I am usually quite reluctant to share something until it has happened or is done. People often talk about what they are going to do and sometimes, it just doesn't happen. Janice, on the other hand, is enthusiastic and likes to let the cat out of the bag before we have a cat or the bag.
In August of 2022, I wrote that we had bought a property next to our villa in France and we wanted to have a pool built on it. Figuring that we had paid for it and signed the legal agreement to purchase and that our homeowners association had voted to sell it to us, we were good to go. The fact is that we only became the actual LEGAL owners (signed, sealed and delivered) just a few weeks ago. It would be impossible to list the number of delays in the procedures that we had to navigate and circumvent (or the extra fees and costs that kept being piled on and invented) to bring this to its conclusion.
This is our 3rd property purchase in France since we stated coming here 21 years ago and to date the process has been an absolute nightmare in 2 out of the 3. The roadblocks to finalizing the purchase seemed deliberate at times and our trust and confidence in not only our lawyer but the surveyor was shattered. This is a family publication so I will hold back on how I really feel about them and restrain myself to only describing them as bottom feeding, scum sucking, incompetent, bed wetting, thieving, swindlers. There now, that feels better.
I went Mario Puzo on them, but being 6000 miles away, they just blew me off and made up more reasons to delay. Getting them to act was like trying to nail Jello to a tree. French friends themselves say that their administration is breathtakingly glacial. Finally, a few friends with a little pull (one who refers to himself as my cousin), put his 2 cents in and the ball began to roll. A testament once again to the fact that its not what you know, its who you know. Oh, and and the fact that I really do need to keep my mouth shut until things are a truly a done deal.
Would we buy another property in France? I think we will call this one good enough.
Meanwhile...
Christmas is upon us, and all of us here at the EPISTLE would like to wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Mucho Batswana or whatever you celebrate at this time of the year. That is all of us including our entire staff, our writer, editor, investors, groupies and hangers on, followers, friends and family, the gardener and maintenance crew.
I apologize if I missed anyone as I am trying to be diverse, equitable and inclusive. If you believe that I have swamp land in Florida to sell you.
