it's urgent

As soon as I have posted a blog mentioning the speed that my house purchase is progressing and that I hope it takes its time whilst I am occupied this spring I get emails.

Karine at the agency is keen to get things moving with the Notaire (solicitors) and there are two other interested parties all of a sudden. All of the questions that I have been awaiting answers on for ages are swiftly answered and it is of the utmost urgency that I sign papers soon.

So, I have an appointment with a bank manager today to open a french bank account. I know the closest place to hire a car, not an agency but the local garage a few miles down the road. I have sufficient documents to start the process and the agent is arranging most of the technical details for my initial visit. With bank account in place, the deposit can be transferred and the process of buying can start.

Reality is starting to hit home as the project prepares to come to life. No longer is it the dream that I visit in my head of a cozy little house with its productive vegetable and fruit garden. A swanky yurt concealed behind flowering borders where people come to stay and enjoy the peace and quiet of rural living. Tranquil days tending crops and explaining techniques to inquisitive gardeners who visit for short courses on things gardening. Reality is an old stone shell in a grass field with no water or electricity. I have an idea of what needs to be done to restore the property, experience of some methods and techniques but no expertise in completing the whole thing. Having to arrange everything in french and deal with the intricacies of bureaucracy in a foreign country, discovering how to arrange temporary accommodation on site and get my useful belongings there. To start a garden and work out how to renovate my shell.

If I think about it all at once my head starts to abort mission, I have to decide how to approach the project and give order to the millions of tasks that will become apparent as I proceed. To stay focussed on one thing at a time, to pace myself, allow plenty of time for each phase of the project and to remember to enjoy the journey. Its going to be a time of lists, with lists for each list and research for countless questions and possibilities that will arise as I prepare. Exciting beyond belief and more than a little scary at the same time. Being outside ones comfort zone is supposed to create the best results so, if all goes to plan, something amazing will surely happen.

A spanish guest just came back into the chalet for the fourth time to collect another something from his room. We wished him a good day again and he shared a spanish saying:

“people with bad brains need good legs”

Which, in his case was definitely true, as all his friends waited patiently outside for him to gather everything necessary for a day in the mountains.