It’s been a long time…

…since I had any spare time to blog or to surf the internet. The hardest thing about being a working Mum is finding time for me. Baby Piglet takes up endless amounts of time and physical energy, then there’s work and at the end of the day I just kind of collapse in a heap on the sofa and fall asleep.

Work has been going well recently, after taking nearly a year off due to problems at the end of my pregnancy and the problems I encountered after giving birth, it feels good to be back and I’m enjoying the thrill of making things happen again.

Baby Piglet is well, she’s coming up to 11 months now, how time flies! I am starting to plan her first birthday party and turning Mr Piglet’s junk room into a playroom for her. She is still not walking or crawling and whilst I’m making the most of this relaxing time, I can see that she is itching to move and unfortunately she does get very frustrated. “Tummy time” was recommended to help build up her core muscles but bless her, as soon as I put her on her tummy she just flips over onto her back!

Little darling Baby Piglet appears to have a fierce independent streak which no doubt will bode her well in time but much to my dismay she decided to stop eating last week. After days of worry that she was ill I took her to the Doctor who cheerfully informed me that Mademoiselle was playing games and that there’s nothing wrong with her! Lo and behold she then proceeded to eat perfectly normally that evening. Score: 0 Mummy, 1 Baby Piglet.

She has also started chatting and saying Dada and Nanan very well. It’s ironic as Mr Piglet wanted to be called Papa and she says Dada perfectly and I wanted to be Mummy or Mama and she is desperately trying to say Maman but can’t get her tongue around the M. Oh well, I can cope with that as it’s helpful that she calls Dada when she wakes during the night.

As for the house, we’ve so much to do! The cold has finally gone, the heating is working and I’ve mastered the fire. The farmer mowed the fields and now we have to tend to the veggie patches, the grass and work out some sort of plan to plant a hedge. The first signs of spring here are all the weeds growing back, oh joy!

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What a weekend! New baby, llama’s and lots of lorries.

I have loved this November so far and have had lots of positive energy, something I have been somewhat lacking previously. What I like even more, is the two bank holidays we enjoy here in France, one for the day of the dead (All Saints) and one for Armistice. I especially liked Armistice Day this year as it was on a Thursday which meant I got to have a long weekend as I closed down on the Friday too!

On Thursday, after over 12 hours of labour, my sister in law gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Alyssa. We went to visit them at the maternity ward in Beaune (such a beautiful town in the Burgundy area) and I was astounded by how something so big could possibly have been in my SiL’s tummy just twelve hours earlier! I left the hospital feeling slightly nervous about things to come for me, slightly older now that I’m an Aunt but overjoyed for my SiL and her boyf.

Bienvenue Alyssa! Born 14.11.10 at 0130, weighing 3.4 kilos

On Friday, we took advantage of the long weekend and visited a property in a town called Groslee. If you don’t get the pronunciation of the town 100% spot on then you end up saying (or hearing) Gros which means fat and Laid which means ugly. So imagine me with my lovely English accent telling someone where I live? Fat Ugly!!! Not good!

I should have known from the start that a property in such a badly named town would not be appropriate; it had to have something wrong with it and the name should have been a warning sign. Needless to say the property was no good and I could have strangled the agent as we had once again wasted our time despite best efforts to eliminate inappropriate properties before visiting.

We had asked our list of questions before arranging the visit, one of the questions being: is the property on a busy road?

We were informed “que non” it was on a quiet village road with little passage. LIAR! The agent is a big fat liar! In the 10 minutes that it took to tour the outside of the property, no less than 5 lorries went hurtling by. I was fuming! It turns out that the road was the main road to a nearby town and it was the only road the lorries could take once they left the motorway. So, a wasted trip!

A shame really as the property corresponded perfectly in terms of size and style – built from stone, lots of outbuildings, spacious inside and beautiful white shutters.

Beautiful house in Fat Ugly

Whilst looking for properties we have also come across some really strange adverts. I think the strangest so far as been for a private sale where the owner is selling their llama with the property.

Yes, you read correctly. The property is being sold with a llama. The llama comes part and parcel with the property! In the property details you get a full description of the property, the land and the llama as well as a couple of photos! I can just imagine the owners considering their llama as being a major selling point and surely there must be something wrong with Mr Piglet and me for not having this as part of our criteria?

Is a llama really a selling point?

Have you ever seen anything really strange whilst hunting for property?

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