It’s occurred to me that I haven’t written a blog post since June, and while normally I might feel guilty about that – I think I have some extenuating circumstances this time…
This summer, our first in France, I have married the person who makes me the happiest, and as a result, I am supremely content with my lot. I’ve taken some time to enjoy that experience and also to conversely work through one of my worst experiences, which was to lose my beloved Ginger cat who was hit by a car and killed while I was away on my first visit to the UK since moving to France.
It’s taken me a while to get used to both of these very different life events, and I now feel ready to get back into my writing and drag you all along for the ride as I scour France for bargains and ways of approaching the necessities of life here in the beautiful French countryside with a strong frugal slant.
So I’m planning to write some posts which I hope will be useful to those who are navigating some of the same administration as we have – I’m thinking about a post dedicated to “How to get married in France cheaply” and ways to save money when going though the French administrative process for the marriage of British citizens. Do let me know if this would be useful to you and I’ll follow up on it.
It’s September tomorrow, and I have already started to notice the leaves turning – on our weekly drive to the reclamation yard this morning we noticed them falling, and I am reminded that this time last year we were beginning to look for houses here in the Limousin.
I can’t believe so much time has passed, and while I have a list as long as both of my arms (!!) of things which need to be done on the house and ideas for businesses or ways to make more money working remotely, I am conscious that we have already done so much.
We have moved our entire lives to France, we have both started new businesses in our second language, we have made lots of lovely friends and learned so much French – though there is always room for improvement!
We have made a neglected house livable and even decorated half of the rooms (well, don’t look at the skirting boards, they are outstanding).
We have taken care of some serious landscaping jobs in our garden and somewhere in there managed to get married and submit our carte-de-sejour applications (though who knows what good they will do in all this whirling uncertainty of Brexit?!).
So you can expect many more words from me in the very near future, as I get back into work in time for la rentrée, but of course, if you’ve been missing my updates there is always a steady stream of pictures over on my Instagram account @frugalfrance or, and if you’re interested, things are always busy over at my Facebook group The Noz Appreciation Society where we have over 1000 members!
Do feel free to join us as we take pictures of our #Nozwins and generally get overexcited about cheap beer and condiments…
A bientot!
Laura
Hi Laura
Great to read your post, but so sorry to read about your cat !
We too made the move to France. We sold our house at the end of July and moved in to our home last Friday. Now trying to settle in and unpack before we return to working next week. Keep up the posts !
Andy
Oh wow congratulations! You’ve chosen a much better time of year to move than we did 🙃 hope everything is going well and if I can be of any help do shout! 👍👍