The end of an era

We've been living in Aude since mid November now and luckily the move went really well! We managed over a three day period to sell Chateau Moorhen, drive down south with the three cats in the Moho then buy our new house with no hitch whatsoever, phew! Whilst the removers were moving our furniture in I sat outside so I could direct them to various rooms, and enjoyed not just the amazing view but warmth from the sun, despite cool air temps. The cats seemed to enjoy their time in the Moho, but no, we won’t be taking them on Moho holidays with us! 😁

I think the boxes are all unpacked now but we are still putting pictures and shelves up, and Keith has just erected Ikea cupboards for the laundry and utility rooms (we have two utility rooms!) because although the house is a decent size with plenty of cupboards, it’s much smaller than our old house. Talking of which, do I miss it? No, not one bit! I’m very happy here. I don’t know what to call the new house yet though. 😄

Not long after moving in we had a break from the unpacking and drove two hours away to the Herault dept to a Christmas market. There seem to be quite a number of British organised Xmas fairs in the Languedoc region, so plenty of choice. This one was held at a beautiful Abbey, the Abbey of Valmagne, which is also a wine estate. We had a very enjoyable day and ate a tasty Chicken Tikka Masala for lunch, with a mince pie later on, to get us Bah Humbugs into the Xmas spirit (didn't really work, after all it was still only November!). There was also a fish and chips van! There were hundreds of stalls through the cloisters and the church as well as outside. 

My brother came over for Xmas as he is alone now that mum has gone, so I went to the trouble of putting a few decs up, and cut a few small branches off a conifer which I stuck in a vase then decorated like a tree. I forgot to take a photo though, but it looked really good until the branches started dying. We had some great outings, the best being lunch in Roses in Spain on Christmas Eve in 20 C sunshine! That was what I had been dreaming of for several years, occasional really warm days in winter and being able to ‘pop’ to Spain now and again. It’s just over 2 hours away via the autoroutes, but the journey is superbly picturesque so the time goes by in no time. What a day that was, sitting outside a restaurant eating tapas, looking at palm trees and the beach. Bliss!

Yum! So much better than French food!

Looking towards the marina at Roses

On the corniche road near the Spain/France border, on the way home

We had more outings with my brother so I hope to get those photos posted at some point, but bear in mind the depression has not lifted completely, it's very weird as I feel so much happier, yet I still face certain things which are Impossible Tasks, blogging and posting regularly on social media being one of them. Replying to emails. Sending Christmas cards. Getting out of bed in the morning. Having a shower/washing my hair. I didn't realise that this was a 'thing' until my husband came across this article, then it all became so much clearer and he now understands why I don't get up until lunchtime most of the time. I haven't even sent change of address letters yet. However, it's great feeling happy again, and I have managed to write this post. Small steps!