Catching up after a busy French summer

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 extenuating circumstances this time. 

This summer I have married the person who makes me the most happy, and as a result I am supremely content with my lot. I’ve taken some time to enjoy that experience and also to work through one of my worst experiences, which was to lose my beloved Ginger cat who was hit by a car while I was away on my first visit to the UK since moving to France.

It’s taken 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 on some posts which I hope will be useful to those who are navigating some of the same administration as we have – including 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.

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 leaves 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 lots 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, if you’re interested, my Facebook group The Noz Appreciation Society, feel free to join us as we take pictures of our #Nozwins and generally get overexcited about cheap beer and condiments…

A bientot,

Laura