We've been here in France a month and so far we haven't killed each other, so things must be going well, even if not the way we'd hoped or anticipated.

Firstly, the work we're having done on the house is likely to increase, as we've been seriously considering getting the shop converted to a lounge - which it's going to be - before winter, rather than next year. It's a toss-up between spending the money now and saving on heating bills or retaining our little bit of a financial buffer and relying on it not being 'kin' freezing this winter like it was this late last year - early this one.

Decisions, decisions ...

On a more positive note, we have created our business, though we haven't exactly been inundated with requests for our services. It does however make not having to pay the IRS anything when publishing stories possible by being able to get an EIN number as a business owner, which is fantastic. It means that more of my stories will be hitting the virtual shelves later on.

Our car has also gone straight through the Control Technique test in preparation for the Carte Gris. That has been a real headache, as we didn't know whether we were going to have even more work done to bring it up to scratch. Not bad for a fourteen year-old car that's done 218,000 miles! Then again it is a Volvo diesel with a Volkswagen engine, so it's barely run in.

We're getting frustrated with not being able to work on the house, but there's little point until we've had the electrics and plumbing done, so we're learning patience ... sort of. Well, we're learning that 'demain' (tomorrow) has a slightly different meaning here in France than we're used to. The Spanish say 'maá±ana' and I'm sure that most of you out there will have experienced that. It just takes a little getting used to.

In the meantime, the weather here is fantastic and has been all week. If like England, this week will be regarded as summer, we're going to make the most of it. So on that note, I'm off to enjoy the sunshine ...