It's been more than 14 years since I first set eyes on my run down old farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, rural Hauts de France. I distinctly remember my sensible dad saying to me "this house is a money pit" and telling me I shouldn't touch it with a barge pole. I bought it on the spot, not because I was a rebellious daughter but, it cost less than some handbags and I knew it had massive potential. If I'd known that all this time later I'd still be working on fulfilling that potential, I don't think I would have believed it! Yet here I am, rendering walls, painting shutters and laying steps and with a fair bit still to do.
I wish I could say it's the final run but of course it isn't. I wish I could say it's been fun but of course it hasn't always. I'm thinking of the exploding septic tank incident, breaking my fingers when I dropped a concrete block, having the bejeezus scared out of me when I disturbed a nest of rats when we opened a boarded up room and having tiles dropped from the roof onto my head amongst other things.
I would though do it all again if I had to make a choice. The house has changed from a damp (think water running down the walls), cold (ice forming on the inside of windows in winter), hardly habitable (dirt floors and corrugated iron farm doors) barn into a cosy, comfy and charming home.
It's changed me too. I've gone from being a corporate office worker to a builder, gardener, dog and cat maid and chicken keeper. Though I still can't cook, I know how my food is grown, I grow a lot of it myself. I'm no longer a city slicker (well not 100% anyway) but a rubber boot wearing country bumpkin and proud of it too!
I would have never thought that I could do half the things I've learned to do - from standing on the roof to help with the tiling (I have a fear of heights), to plastering walls. I've fulfilled a dream to write a book based on my new life and made thousands and thousands of new friends through writing a blog and sharing it on Facebook.
Sometimes life takes a diversion from the course that you thought you had planned. There's an old saying "we travel not to escape life but for life not to escape us", so if you're dreaming of a new life in France and you're not quite sure or you have any questions about it, feel free to message me, I'm always happy to give advice where I can. One of the other things I discovered about living in rural France - sharing makes us happier...
Janine, Editor of The Good Life France
My Good Life in France...