Chateau Moorhen is sold

The house is sold and we will be moving mid November to our new abode - in the Aude dept of Languedoc Roussillon! Bet you weren’t expecting that, were you!

Well things have changed around here - if anyone is still following this blog then you might have noticed the distinct lack of posts over the last few years. I’ve mentioned having depression before, which, despite taking medication for, just didn’t help that much..... when I was home. Miraculously the depression lifted totally when we were away in the Moho, or even when I was in England (where I was a lot last year as my mum was poorly and passed away early this year). Every time I came home from a trip I fell into a slump again. I no longer loved this wonderful property and doing so little about the house and grounds made more of a burden upon Keith, as I’d be crawling out of bed about midday and then doing very little after that as I had little energy or enthusiasm. Something had to change. 

After 15 years here one hectare of land and a three storey house was too much anyway; it was starting to get too much to look after even pre cancer. We aren’t getting any younger, and we always said we’d give it 10 years then think about it. The thought of moving though, with all these years of accumulated junk both in the house and in the barn was enough to put us off! A fire in October which burnt the barn down saved us clearing through all the stuff in there so we now only have essential tools in our nearly empty replacement barn. We did think about moving a few years ago then decided to stay, but my depression got worse so 18 months ago we decided we would put our house on the market in the spring. However where would we move to? That one was easy. Where did we holiday, a part of France we loved, sun, sea, mountains, exotic (to us) birds and butterflies? Around the Pyrenees of course, in the Aude or Pyrenees Orientales departments. But it’s hot down there and we don’t like very hot weather....... however, the more I thought about it, if we had a pool to jump in when it was boiling, and aircon at least in our bedroom so we could sleep at night, then why not? What attracted me the most is the amount of warm days during the cooler and cold months. How fab to be able to jump in the car to go to the beach in temps of 17c or more in December or February instead of freezing cold up here (seems that is when we get sunny days mostly in winter in Brittany, the frosty days). The more we thought about it the more interested and excited we became. We also wanted to be able to keep our Moho at home too, as it’s a pain having to take her back to her lock up after each trip, not to mention only being able to park her outside our gates, so a bit of a walk up and downhill when loading/unloading.

A bit of tarting up in the paint department and the house was duly put on the market, we excitedly awaited viewings..... then nothing. From May to the following February we had precisely two viewings! Then things changed for the better earlier this year, and we had approximately two viewings a month. All middle aged couples, but nobody wanted to buy..... Frustration after frustration for us and we were sick and tired of cleaning and tidying ..... then one more couple arrived. I was home alone that morning, sitting in the barn whilst the agent took her clients around. After they left (or so I thought) the agent came up to me working in the garden saying could they go and sit at the dining table because the couple wanted to make an offer. What, now? I was flabbergasted! This wasn’t a second visit! The most amazing thing is that this couple are youngsters, both only 27, but they fell in love with the house and land straight away - a coup de coeur as the French call it. I’m so happy they are buying it as they love wildlife and nature, and when they came around with their parents later on to show them their new house, I spent quite a while discussing various insects with the guy! He will be in his element here, as they currently live in an apartment. 

So, Compromis de Vente duly signed we set off down south to view properties that we had lined up. I’d been watching the market for about 18 months so had a number of favourites, some of which had reduced their prices whilst I’d had my eye on them. I could tell which houses were overpriced and which were reasonable. We visited my favourite house first and all the houses we saw after that were all compared with that. There weren’t any houses that came close to it, and none which ticked almost all the boxes like that house  did. The only downside is that it is the furthest from the coast, so less ‘Mediterraneany’, but with sunflowers and some vineyards around mixed in with the more regular crops like wheat and maize it will be different enough. Plus the view from this house is incredible! The village is perched up on a hill like many of the neighbouring villages and the house is set on the crest just a few minutes walk from the village. You can see the Montagne Noir round to the Corbieres hills, with the peak of Bugarach rising high above them. A pool, aircon, beautifully maintained house and low maintenance nice and tidy garden, no brambles in sight..... Sold! It was a very reasonable price too. Funnily enough, the sellers are English and are returning to England after 15 years in France. 

So we will be moving in a few months, in the Moho with our three cats, which should be fun! Not as fun as originally planned, which would have included Andrea, the Last Chicken Standing, still going strong and laying at about 8 now! Luckily for all of us though, our buyers have offered to adopt her, so she will no doubt have some new young hens to boss around soon. I’m so pleased about that.

What will happen to the blog - well I don’t plan to close this down then start a new one, but what I am hoping is that with renewed enthusiasm I will be able to post about my new area and the things we discover - from bugs and birds to beautiful medieval villages - and more mini breaks in the Moho. I did think about doing short posts with just a few photos but more often, as I felt I could cope with that. However, as I spend most of my time on my iPad rather than my iMac, for the life of me I cannot figure out how to get a photo from my iPad onto Blogger. If anyone knows how, please let me know!