Sue & Steve Save the Day

I've been feeling overwhelmed by the amount and complexity of the work we have to do to renovate our French properties, but a little visit to Sue and Steve's newest venture has set me back on track with a revitalised 'can do' attitude. I mean, look! Their barn has an entire wall missing, yet they can already see the beautiful gite it will soon become. They have no fear.

They made us a cup of English tea, boiling the water using a generator... because their property does not yet have the luxury of electricity. We have electricity. The water came from their dilapidated well. We have mains water. They didn't moan or flinch. They even gave us chocolate biscuits! No problem!

The wall to the right of the door fell down when they removed the ivy. They rebuilt it. The window fell out. They put in a new frame. 

This is the existing electrical meter. It's not connected to anything. It's ancient.

There was no clear boundary to their property, They planted 400 hedge saplings. They've only been there a couple of weeks!

EDF told them they could not just have the electrical supply reconnected from that big post to the receivey stick on the house; they would have to wait months to have a new supply, as though they were a new build. They managed to convince EDF that a simple reconnection was best. And that's what's going to happen. Next week.

While they were working there, the chimney fell down. All of it! They're rebuilding it, with the help of a friendly builder. There's some of it on the grass.

There's a massive fox hole/mound in the cellar. It's spectacularly huge! And a bit scary. They don't care. They'll deal with it when they're ready to.

The world needs more Sue and Steves.