The slow but special month of March, 2023March was a slow but special month. We definitely didn't get as much done as we had planned but we are still making progress on the house, garden, and our personal life here in France.
What have we accomplished to this point? - at the house: 1. We have tiles!! We picked out the tiles and other things for my room, the bathroom, the toilet, the closet, the utility room, and the kitchen. We have an amazing tiler who prepped, laid, and grouted every for us so now we can work on getting the wallpaper mounted and the furnishings in. By early April, the bathroom and downstairs toilet room should basically be done (minus some finishing touches). 2. We have a great start to the garden! I've decided to employ the "double dig" gardening prep method which basically means that you dig up the first layer of soil, remove it, dig up the layer of soil under it, mix in compost and do that for the whole bed. Plenty of folks show ways of doing this where they are only removing a small section and then working in quadrants. For whatever reason, this did not feel like enough space for me and was simply not working for me. We ended up just removing the first layer of soil completely. Then I fully dug up the second layer (while waiting for the compost to arrive) and, since I have also decided to add in vermiculite (which I am waiting to have delivered), we'll just mix in the compost and vermiculite to the second layer when all the amendments are available. Then we'll back fill with some of the native dirt we removed, mixed with the compost and vermiculite. At the end, we'll top the "double dug" bed with 3-4 inches of compost and then it'll be ready for planting. 3. This isn't really an accomplishment but, we lost our electrician! We have NO idea what has happened to him as he has seemingly just dropped off the face of the planet. He was scheduled to start the electrical work at the beginning of March but has been completely MIA and unresponsive to calls from either us or Francis' parents. Thankfully, we did find an alternate electrician who was able to squeeze in the bathroom and toilet room to unblock the progress on those 2 rooms but we still have the rest of the house that needs to be rewired. Ultimately, we're still trying to get in touch with the original electrician, especially since he left equipment at our home so we could safely continue to work while the main power is shut off to the house. Thankfully, the alternate electrician said to keep in touch with urgent needs and he will see what he can do to squeeze in small jobs between his other work but he was hesitant to commit to the whole house. With his help, we unblocked the 2 rooms but we really need the electrical done throughout the house to be able to finish up the rest of the work. What else is new? 1. We got MARRIED! It was a small event that will have a big impact in our lives. We met in May of 2016 and have been together ever since. We moved in together, on a 1 year lease, sometime in 2018 but we had to move again in 2019 so we decided to sign a 3 year lease instead. After 3 years, he decided it was time to move back to France and I agreed to follow him. So, now we are here, living with his folks, renovating our home and we got married because it made sense and is, by far an away, the most secure way for me to be able to stay with him and not have any issues. 2. We have started the application process for my "carte de séjour." Getting married means that I can officially apply to stay in France for family reasons. Up to now, I have been living here on a long stay visitor visa which grants permission to remain in the country for up to 1 year, and that expires in 2 months. By applying for my carte de séjour, I have been given a supplemental document which extends my current visa for an additional period of 6 months. It also grants me permission to work and I was advised that I am also able to travel freely while I am waiting for my final carte de séjour. I was *also* advised that I'll be called in to sign a residence agreement AND will need to pass an A1 level French language exam AND will be required to attend and complete 4 French civics classes...sounds riveting. It is very interesting to see how different it is for a foreigner moving into France than for a foreigner moving into the United States. 3. I've enrolled in driving school. Definitely not so exciting but necessary. I have been enrolled in driving school because the state of California DOES NOT have a driving agreement with France. I was surprised that these agreements are negotiated at the state level and not the country level. Alas, the good 'ol state of Cali has not made a driving exchange agreement with the country of France so I am forced to go through the whole thing...as if I have never driven (even though I am driving on an international driving permit right now :/ ) I am currently training for the theory test, which is only offered in French - again, unlike Cali where we offer the written driving theory exam in quite a few languages (at least last time I checked). France also restricts your license if you learn on an automatic so, I'll be taking the opportunity to learn how to properly drive a manual but I need to master enough French driving vocab in order to be able to pass the theory test. What's next?? To be honest, I really have no idea what's next... Until we reconnect with our first electrician or find another electrician who has time to do the work, we are kinda stuck. We're also still waiting for the draft plans of the kitchen. I do know that the bathroom and downstairs toilet rooms are unstuck and will get finished in early April. The upstairs mezzanine work should be able to finish. I think we'll be able to start and maybe finish the upstairs toilet room (minus electrical). I think Francis and I have decided to do the wall paper in all of the rooms EXCEPT the tall and giant entry room/mezzanine. Most things are really hung up on the electrical work and, since we don't really know where that will end up, it's hard to plan what's next. Out in the garden, we will have plenty that can get accomplished. We've ordered posts and received the fencing wire to fix the fence and enclose the potager but I'll need to think about gates/access and probably some sort of wind break on the west side because the winds can get pretty intense. We're expecting the vermiculite soon and we already have the compost, mulch, weed barrier, and barrier staples so we can start getting some of the beds cleaned up, composted, and ready for planting. I still need to give some thought to extra irrigation though. I have a bunch of seedlings that are trying to do their thing in my makeshift indoor grow space. I'm hoping they will be big enough to plant by April but I got a late start so I'm not sure. Ultimately, this season's garden will mainly be an observational experiment. I am planting some things because I really want to but I really don't know anything about the terrain so I'll be learning through experience this year and planning to iterate based on that experience for next year. It should be fun and I am looking forward to it. Again, for WEEKLY wrap ups, check out my YouTube Channel. It's faster to video record with voice and put together short updates than wordsmith what I want to say on a regular basis. As stated last month, I will try to post a similar summary on a monthly basis for those who prefer reading something. Thanks for reading and I'll catch you up next month!
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AuthorI was born at Stanford Hospital and have always lived within about 30 miles of there. This is where I'm documenting my move from CA, USA to the South West of France. Archives
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