So much to say but, as per normal over the last couple of weeks, so little time to sit down and say it. Take this evening for instance - I have just finished building two Ikea drawer units that are destined for the bedroom in the studio. I could have waited until tomorrow but I just can't stop myself these days - if there is a job that needs doing then I better get on with it.
I remember the days in London when I'd get home from a day in the office and pour a glass of wine and just sit in front of the telly all night. How my life has changed - can't seem to sit still for a minute - and even though I did watch some football on French TV this evening, I just had to go and build those drawer units right away. What am I trying to say? - not sure really - maybe that my priorities have changed.
We had our first paying guests last weekend which was a bit scary beforehand and very exciting at the same time. I think it all went very well. They wrote a lovely comment in our brand new visitors book and sent me a very lovely email afterwards thanking us for everything - so I think they had a good time.
Of course, we are seeking to offer perfection which we know we haven't achieved yet - hence the ongoing feeling that there is always something else to be done. Nothing wrong with that as long as we keep it in perspective. If all our guests have a lovely time then we are still staying ahead of their needs which is the idea from our point of view.
Blah blah blah - have just re-read what I've written and what a load of bland nonsense that is. So - my head is still full of snot from the the cold that I picked up in London last week and which I can't seem to shake off. I've been working all hours as per first para so haven't really given it a chance to sort itself out and, of course, I breathed germs all over our first guests - they have probably retired to their beds by now, cursing, and planning to sue me.
Well, maybe not - life isn't actually a set of extremes - just feels like that sometimes. I do have a cold but it's just a cold. Our guests did have a good time. I have had lots to do but I am enjoying my new life. We have more visitors this weekend but they are friends and I am really looking forward to seeing them.
Life could be better in many ways but it could be a lot worse too. I'll take where I am for now.
Wednesday, 20 February 2008
Thursday, 7 February 2008
Moving out of the kitchen
I am loving my new office space. I thought I would always end up back in the kitchen with computers and cables and paperwork getting in the way of eating. But no. It is great to walk out of the office and leave the computer there and have an empty kitchen table to sit down and eat at or sit around to talk without computer distractions. I hope it lasts. I hope the Mac doesn't start creeping back into the kitchen.
I realised this today on two occasions. Firstly my neighbour from upstairs, Brigitte, came and had lunch with me and it was good not to have to clear all the crap away before being able to set the table and sit down to eat. Secondly, my good friends David and Pierre came in for a nightcap this evening on their way home and again we could sit down around the kitchen table without any of the clearing up or tidying away that has become the norm over the past year or so.
In fact, both sets of visitors were in awe of our fabulous office space. Both sets of visitors were in awe of the entire apartment and both sets of visitors expressed the view that perhaps we aren't charging enough for our weekend rentals or our daily rate. Brigitte knew what the place looked like before and she thinks the difference is enormous - she asked if the previous owner, M D'Arzac, had seen the renovations because she thought he would be astounded. My very good friends, despite my elaborate descriptions of the place to them, were totally blown away by it when they saw it first hand.
They all may be right. I have lived here now for the best part of a year and a half, on and off, and, probably, take the space and the grandeur a little bit for granted. When someone sees it for the first time I guess it is pretty impressive. I hope that when the first visitors start coming and taking back the news first hand of the beautiful, fabulous, opulent suites available for rent in Carcassonne, the news will spread - I certainly hope so.
I realised this today on two occasions. Firstly my neighbour from upstairs, Brigitte, came and had lunch with me and it was good not to have to clear all the crap away before being able to set the table and sit down to eat. Secondly, my good friends David and Pierre came in for a nightcap this evening on their way home and again we could sit down around the kitchen table without any of the clearing up or tidying away that has become the norm over the past year or so.
In fact, both sets of visitors were in awe of our fabulous office space. Both sets of visitors were in awe of the entire apartment and both sets of visitors expressed the view that perhaps we aren't charging enough for our weekend rentals or our daily rate. Brigitte knew what the place looked like before and she thinks the difference is enormous - she asked if the previous owner, M D'Arzac, had seen the renovations because she thought he would be astounded. My very good friends, despite my elaborate descriptions of the place to them, were totally blown away by it when they saw it first hand.
They all may be right. I have lived here now for the best part of a year and a half, on and off, and, probably, take the space and the grandeur a little bit for granted. When someone sees it for the first time I guess it is pretty impressive. I hope that when the first visitors start coming and taking back the news first hand of the beautiful, fabulous, opulent suites available for rent in Carcassonne, the news will spread - I certainly hope so.
Tuesday, 5 February 2008
Problems
What a frustrating day it has been. I've spent pretty much all day trying to solve my blocked kitchen sink drama or trying to make an inadequate amount of cash keep a business running in London. Happily I seem to have finally solved the first issue, the second may be beyond me.
I leapt out of bed early, determined to solve the sink problem and then get on with the other jobs that still need doing before the first guests arrive in less than two weeks time - eek. At 6 pm this afternoon the sink would still not drain properly and another day had gone by. I was feeling very down about life.
I made two trips to Tridome today (at least the car started without having to whip the battery out and give it a charge which is always a bonus). I thought my Tridome visiting days were over but it seems that I will always be making a little DIY trip every now and again. First off I bought a pipe cleaning tool (a sort of long spring that you push down the pipe to try and clear the blockage) and a bottle of caustic soda (approach number two being to dissolve the blockage).
I took out the trap from under the sink and shoved the coil at least two metres down the pipe - no obstruction and no gunge coming back out. The only thing that happened was that I burnt my fingers and wrist on left over caustic soda from yesterday's attempts to clear the blockage. I decided to put the whole thing back together and try more soda, only I couldn't stop the system from leaking because one of the washers had become a bit mangled - and of course, in all the left over plumbing bits from a year and half of construction there weren't going to be any washers of the right shape or size - so back to Tridome I went.
The sun shone very brightly and warm and the mountains glistened with their snowy peaks and even that didn't cheer me up.
Back home again, I finally got the pipework back together again with no leaking - half a day gone and progress so far - zilch.
This afternoon I poured the second bottle of soda down the sink and then, on the very wise advice of Debrah, as much bleach as I could get my hands on. In fact I poured bleach down every available entrance to the same waste system - toilet, sink and shower/bath - so much so that the whole apartment smelled like a hospital. Finally in the late afternoon, I made one last tired effort with the plunger over the sink waste - first time, nothing - second time, nothing - one last go and hey presto - a gurgling of air and a disappearing of bleachy water - hallelujah!
Another confirmed booking this evening should have made me feel good - but actually I just feel tired and am going straight to bed.
Tomorrow will all be about cash flow rather than water flow - actually it will be about non-cash flow just as today was about non-water flow. Here's hoping for another late afternoon solution to a problem.
I leapt out of bed early, determined to solve the sink problem and then get on with the other jobs that still need doing before the first guests arrive in less than two weeks time - eek. At 6 pm this afternoon the sink would still not drain properly and another day had gone by. I was feeling very down about life.
I made two trips to Tridome today (at least the car started without having to whip the battery out and give it a charge which is always a bonus). I thought my Tridome visiting days were over but it seems that I will always be making a little DIY trip every now and again. First off I bought a pipe cleaning tool (a sort of long spring that you push down the pipe to try and clear the blockage) and a bottle of caustic soda (approach number two being to dissolve the blockage).
I took out the trap from under the sink and shoved the coil at least two metres down the pipe - no obstruction and no gunge coming back out. The only thing that happened was that I burnt my fingers and wrist on left over caustic soda from yesterday's attempts to clear the blockage. I decided to put the whole thing back together and try more soda, only I couldn't stop the system from leaking because one of the washers had become a bit mangled - and of course, in all the left over plumbing bits from a year and half of construction there weren't going to be any washers of the right shape or size - so back to Tridome I went.
The sun shone very brightly and warm and the mountains glistened with their snowy peaks and even that didn't cheer me up.
Back home again, I finally got the pipework back together again with no leaking - half a day gone and progress so far - zilch.
This afternoon I poured the second bottle of soda down the sink and then, on the very wise advice of Debrah, as much bleach as I could get my hands on. In fact I poured bleach down every available entrance to the same waste system - toilet, sink and shower/bath - so much so that the whole apartment smelled like a hospital. Finally in the late afternoon, I made one last tired effort with the plunger over the sink waste - first time, nothing - second time, nothing - one last go and hey presto - a gurgling of air and a disappearing of bleachy water - hallelujah!
Another confirmed booking this evening should have made me feel good - but actually I just feel tired and am going straight to bed.
Tomorrow will all be about cash flow rather than water flow - actually it will be about non-cash flow just as today was about non-water flow. Here's hoping for another late afternoon solution to a problem.
Monday, 4 February 2008
Getting there
Debrah's weekend visit disappeared in a flurry of socialising/networking and sorting/box clearing. The poor thing never seems to get a break at the moment and, of course, the weather turned a bit changeable just as she arrived and looks to be settling back down again just as she's returned to rainy London.
On Friday evening we finally got out to Simon and Juliet's place at Mailhac and were introduced to their friends Peter and Sally, who have run a hotel barge for several years but are now embarking on a new venture in a similar field to us. All useful contacts and business exchange opportunities a plenty, but more importantly, just really good to meet interesting people down here with whom we can have a really good dinner party - how terribly seventies does that sound? - have finally turned into my parents.
Today we met Jamie and Greca, who run the Languedoc Roussillon version of the French Entree website. They came for lunch but we subsequently realised that Debrah's flight was an hour and a quarter earlier than we thought when we made the arrangement, so it was all a bit rushed. Still, good business contacts and nice people too who could well become more socialising type chums who know lots of other interesting people here and in the region.
In between times we managed to empty or move every single last one of the boxes that were still in the dining room to be, which is now thankfully very nearly empty, after 18 months of operating as a builders yard and general storeroom - mind you the walls have taken a bit of a bashing and a final paint touch-up is needed. It would all be a lot less frustrating if the furniture order from Ikea would just arrive, but that is proving as difficult to arrange as it ever was and looks like it may be another last minute, skin of the teeth situation just before the first guests arrive.
Yes, we have guests arriving in two weeks time and we have a whole load of others following on behind them. Today has seen no less than two bookings and four further enquiries including our first potential honeymooners and the latest enquiry just moments ago as I was typing this very paragraph.
All of which makes the fact that the kitchen sink is blocked up very very very frustrating. It showed signs of backing up this morning, after working perfectly well last night. This afternoon I tried the plunger - I tried opening up the U-bend under the sink and I tried some caustic soda crystals designed for the task. The result is that while, this morning, the water drained away but slower than it should, it now won't drain away at all!! It seems that my attempts to clear the problem have made it worse, which shows what a genius I am at DIY - Chris, where are you when I need you?
I guess I need to be able to cope with the unexpected - so I am not going to panic. In fact I am going to go to bed and look at it afresh in the morning when I'm sure a solution will present itself.
On Friday evening we finally got out to Simon and Juliet's place at Mailhac and were introduced to their friends Peter and Sally, who have run a hotel barge for several years but are now embarking on a new venture in a similar field to us. All useful contacts and business exchange opportunities a plenty, but more importantly, just really good to meet interesting people down here with whom we can have a really good dinner party - how terribly seventies does that sound? - have finally turned into my parents.
Today we met Jamie and Greca, who run the Languedoc Roussillon version of the French Entree website. They came for lunch but we subsequently realised that Debrah's flight was an hour and a quarter earlier than we thought when we made the arrangement, so it was all a bit rushed. Still, good business contacts and nice people too who could well become more socialising type chums who know lots of other interesting people here and in the region.
In between times we managed to empty or move every single last one of the boxes that were still in the dining room to be, which is now thankfully very nearly empty, after 18 months of operating as a builders yard and general storeroom - mind you the walls have taken a bit of a bashing and a final paint touch-up is needed. It would all be a lot less frustrating if the furniture order from Ikea would just arrive, but that is proving as difficult to arrange as it ever was and looks like it may be another last minute, skin of the teeth situation just before the first guests arrive.
Yes, we have guests arriving in two weeks time and we have a whole load of others following on behind them. Today has seen no less than two bookings and four further enquiries including our first potential honeymooners and the latest enquiry just moments ago as I was typing this very paragraph.
All of which makes the fact that the kitchen sink is blocked up very very very frustrating. It showed signs of backing up this morning, after working perfectly well last night. This afternoon I tried the plunger - I tried opening up the U-bend under the sink and I tried some caustic soda crystals designed for the task. The result is that while, this morning, the water drained away but slower than it should, it now won't drain away at all!! It seems that my attempts to clear the problem have made it worse, which shows what a genius I am at DIY - Chris, where are you when I need you?
I guess I need to be able to cope with the unexpected - so I am not going to panic. In fact I am going to go to bed and look at it afresh in the morning when I'm sure a solution will present itself.
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