It’s been a while since I posted about renovations or changes we have made. This year seems to have flown by. We learned some lessons from France with regard getting things done on arrival: PPS (Social Security) numbers being the main one because you can’t do anything in Ireland without one, not even buy a house or car. Registering for work, medical cards, registering the van, and driving licences. Add to that moving us and our furry family from our rental to our new home, which was an hour and a half away. Then add Wiglet into the mix and it’s been a busy and at times challenging year.

Of course we did this all in the middle of a pandemic, which meant we couldn’t get our PPS cards until June, which then impacted on changing our van over to Irish plates and changing our driving licenses. Then add to that the paddock, and trying to tackle that for the puppies, and wanting to spend time in the here and now whilst we still have two beautiful Welshies, and renovations had fallen by the wayside.

There was another reason that I haven’t blogged about our house and changes we have made, in that we found ourselves caught up in a toxic situation where our furniture in France was concerned. It was stored in someone outbuildings, and after only three months of arriving here they were demanding it was moved. I don’t want to give their toxicity credence by writing anymore in this post, but our furniture was finally freed from it’s prison and is now stored somewhere safe, until we can get over to France and collect it. But all that is for another post, the only reason I bring it up here is because every time I posted about anything happy we were doing it triggered the toxicity and we would immediately receive a troll like message from said toxic person, it made me wary of what I wrote about. I find it so sad that people have such bad energy.

We chose our bungalow mainly because of the injury that I have to my leg. I have now been to physio and been told that I actually I have a serious injury to my sacroiliac. So it was for the best that we were also thinking of the future, as we starting to accept the frightening prospect that sixty is looming on the horizon. Our bungalow is tiny, but with all the land we have there are possibilities ahead should we wish to take them.

But we have learned to live in a house first before making any big decisions, so we decided to simply paint everything white: doors, kitchen cabinets, walls, ceilings, built in wardrobes and on and on. It’s still a work in progress but now that I feel ’free’ to share what we have done, this one’s for all those that love a bit of ’housey’ stuff.’

This is what our living room looks like after some work. I have dry brushed and shabby chic’ed the mirrors that had been left here, bought some £1.00 wooden hearts and metal hearts from a local reasonably priced shop, and it is starting to look like our home. You cannot beat some crystal handles to change something to something special.

Our bedroom had these lovely (bloody awful) dark wooden built in wardrobes. We’re not even fans of built in wardrobes, let alone dark brown ones! But at the moment they are our main source of storage, so we need to live with them. RD did his magic. He painted over all the dimpled wall-paper, and the high ceiling, and he set to on the dark wooden wardrobes and five coats later all in our bedroom is white. It looks so different. We have added crystal door knobs on all the doors, and it is now a space that is more like Mois and RD.

Despite having seventeen mirrors trapped in France (yes seventeen!) we needed a mirror but were loathe to buy another. We also needed a larger statement light, pending our chandelier coming back to us. So off we trundled to the charity shop and were ecstatic when we came away with a glass chandelier, a mirror which RD painted white, a large white ceramic bowl (I am so short of bowls) and a copper heart which now sits proudly on my mantelpiece, all for twenty five euro! We do love a bargain, and we have missed charity shops! Of course we had everyone talking to us, the Frenchies as it appears we are known, interested to hear the story of the two people who are not afraid of a big move!

The hall is totally encased in tongue and groove. Now I actually like a bit of tongue and groove, but not when it is orange!! RD did his magic, painted it white and after six coats it looks so much better. For the new year we plan to crack on with painting every part of the kitchen white. This is all to tide us over until we decide whether to extend the house.

Now the house is dressed for Christmas. It had stood empty for what we think was over a year, and you can feel that it’s energy has lifted now that there are people here who love it again. Native Americans believe that everything has a spirit, a manitou, and I understand why. I have lived in so many old houses, ones that have felt unloved, that haven been lived in for years and you could feel it, there sadness when you walked in. Then as we transformed them, warmed them, thanked them for giving us shelter you could feel them come to life, their spirit was re-ignited, and that is why we have then found it so sad to leave them, we felt their sadness as we were leaving. This, I believe in the here and now, will be our last home, and it feels like home.

Rosie