The postman always rings twice…..

…. or at La Maison Cèdre pips twice as he/she pulls on to our drive, so we can dash out and retrieve whatever goodies have arrived. For just over a week there have been daily deliveries from a well known department store; no it’s not additions to Mrs T’s boot collection or the latest technology for Mr T but package after package containing the bed and bathroom linen for our Chambres d’hôtes.

Just the first of many.

When pulling together our linen requirements it surprised particularily Mr T how much we needed. So far we have received more than 60 packets and there are a further 30 items to come. Luckily we have a sizable linen cupboard ready and waiting.

Our linen cupboard

Little did we realise many decisions would need to be taken just regarding the linen for La Maison Cèdre.  It would be fair to say that Mr T appeared only to have been partially engaged in the discussions Mrs T is sure they had. But he was relieved to see the arrival of Egyptian cotton bed linen and towels plus feather all season duvets (with a hypoallergenic  option for our more sensitive guests). Also fair to say that he had a very limited interest in mattress toppers and covers.  Only today Mr T asked why we had bought synthetic pillows, Mrs T responded that only 2/10ths of our pillows had arrived and the feather ones were yet to come. We hope we have covered all bases and that Mrs T’s painstaking research into all options and many suppliers will bear fruit – only time will tell.

Opening our Chambre d’hôte begins to become more and more of a reality each day. New beds and mattresses are on order. We have just about settled on curtains, cushions, throws etc with the very patient help of Mrs T’s sister (Mrs S –  we couldn’t have managed without you) who has taken endless trips to a range of soft furnishing stores to match up the real thing with paint samples. Whilst we are very gratefull for her help we suspect it has been a bit of a busman’s holiday for Mrs S who has worked in the technical end of the “rag trade” for many years.

Room planning

Now we are focusing on finalising our outstanding furniture requirements and painting the one remaining guest room. Mrs T is keen to point out that this does not mean an end to decorating activity. There’s the office, laundry room and our bathroom still to go.  Outside would you believe there is still some wall requiring a couple of coats of “Weathershield”. The walls are covered in vines so we have had to wait until now for them to die back. Mrs T has had her eye on these walls since we first visited the house as potential buyers, “they need a lick of paint” she commented, little did we know!

There are also three bathrooms requiring attention. Mr T has been busy removing the current fittings under the watchful eye of Mr G who will be fitting the new ones. Mrs T senses many more happy hours surfing the internet wearing her poor old iPad to the bone whilst we gen up on new showers, loos, vanity units, towel rails and the list goes on. Work to re-fit the bathrooms is scheduled for March and April. Mr T has offered his services as labourer to Mr G, aiming to keep costs down and improve his DIY skills. Mrs T will been keeping well out of the way!

1 Gone.

2 Gone.

1 To go!

So we continue to have high hopes of opening La Maison Cèdre for business from May onwards. What are you doing this summer?  Have you got time to squeeze in a trip to the beautiful Lot Valley and enjoy the benefits of the brand new La Maison Cèdre and its georgeous surroundings? We’d love to see you.