The Wandering Walters

The weather is cooling down and the leaves are starting to turn colors. The Arizona desert was equally beautiful, but this is the first "sweater weather" autumn that I've experienced in the past 5 years, and I'm loving it. We recently started attending French language lessons in Penne-d'Agenais. There are 2 retired British couples in class with us, and we go out for coffee together after our Friday morning lessons. This week, Bill and I stuck around the town after class for a little sightseeing. Penne d'Agenais sits on the Garrone River and is on the list of The Most Beautiful Villages of France, and its easy to see why. It has a midevil section of town that is now home to various artists' shops (painters, sculpturers, glass blowers, etc) as well as cafes and restaurants. There is an abundance of geraniums, petunias and bougainvillea spilling from the planters and window boxes around the storefronts--which added sunshine to an otherwise overcast day. ...

After being housebound for weeks, working on the DIY project list, we decided to take in an Antique and Flea Market being held in the nearby community of Lectoure. I was all fired up to bring home some furnishings, vases and a huge gold framed mirror to hang over the fireplace in the salon. I, unfortunately, went home empty-handed. Very few of the booths, had prices marked on anything, and my inability to speak the language meant I was in no position to ask, let alone negotiate. And let's be honest, that whole bargaining process can be wildly intimidating--no matter the country. The few things I did see that had price tags, were way out of my budget. Because, here's the thing: it may be valued appropriately (how would I know), but its only worth (to me) what I'm willing to pay. So, since this market was all antiques and no fleas, I went home with all my euros. I think I'm more likely to find affordable options in the many thrift/secondhand stores that abound. Also,...

The moving truck with our belongings finally showed up, and after living out of a suitcase for the last four months, sleeping in our own bed felt absolutely amazing. We've been working hard from sun up to sundown(ish) ever since--unpacking, painting, wallpapering etc. The plan is to complete enough projects from our DIY list to put our own stamp on the house and make it a comfortable home, and then take some time off to explore the area abit before hitting the phase 2 projects. So for those of you who've been asking for some before and after pictures, here you go: We tackled the library first. This room used to have white/gray laminate floors that Bill had initially planned to cover with new flooring....until we found out that we'd need a plumber to flush our entire heating system to raise the 2 radiators in the room, so Bill could lay the new flooring under them--at a cost of 400 to 1000 euro per radiator! Definitely not in our budget, so we applied a paint wash on...