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Maria ~ Living in Rural France

@shadowofachateau

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Life in rural France - Old Houses & New Gardens.
I like big beams, a pretty powder room, and blousey flowers.
Sister account: @the_ramparts_project

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*sound on*

I'm just leaving this here because it rained enough to raise the level in the container pond in the courtyard.

I might even risk getting a few little fish to enjoy for the next couple of months.

#intheshadowofachateau
#containerpond
#waterfeature
#courtyardgarden
#ruralfrance by @shadowofachateau

21

6

a month ago

A little architectural content for you today - the Guard Hut.

This is an old guard hut turned tiny old farmhouse and now makeshift storage at the top of the Moat Garden.

For the first time in a long time, I actually got near to it today. I had let it get completely wild and the the meager paths stop just below this section. The grasses, wildflowers, and various twining vines make it impassable when it hasn't been cut.

I did nothing to anything that grows on or near this structure this past year. One of my June projects is to do ivy control on the public-facing side to keep it from going through the rafters.

As for renovating, it's a last thing on the list kind of job. Right now, it's holding project wood and some old wooden wheelbarrows and such. It's also been home to an owl for at least one year.

One day it will be a little garden hut to sit and read or dream or make garden notes. It has no windows, save the broken ones on the door, and there is no heating or electricity. The side door doesn't close because when we finally cleared all of the growth from the outside, we discovered the lock is stuck in the locked position but the door had been left ajar. It's a long story that I'll share at a later time.

The reason we are all here is because of the vegetation growing on it.

Do you see what that grapevine is doing there? It did that all on its own! There are old guide wires (1970s likely) attached to the building, but I did no pruning, shaping, coaxing, or encouraging. It found the wires and just did that!

I also missed the blooming of the rose to the left of the door. Today I cut it back and rearranged some of the long canes that were hanging to the ground. I left half of the spent blooms for hips for the birds this winter.

Next year I'll be better about shaping this little corner of the garden. I will say I'm not mad at what it did for itself though.

In the meantime, we have the fall colors of Virginia Creeper to look forward to out here. (📷 1 & 2)

📷 3 Cherries on the tree today
📷 4 The hut when I bought the property in 2010.

À bientôt !

#intheshadowofachateau
#themoatgarden
#frenchcountrylife
#oldstonebuildings
#ruralfrance by @shadowofachateau

13

6

4 months ago

• Looking Back ( reboot )

It's my second Christmas since the renovation chaos ended here at my little French home, and I am so glad I didn't give up.

I first published this stiched 'then and now' in April of 2024. It's a solid reminder that living in a renovation project is a lot different from going to a renovation project that you can walk away from at the end of the day.

I'm not saying I don't remember that day when I just wanted to tell everyone and everything renovation related to get out of my house.

I am saying that I am really happy that it is a distant memory. 😊

Wherever you are in your renovation journey, consider this your reminder that it always gets worse before it gets better and you, and your home will be better than ever after it's done.

Bonnes Fêtes !

#intheshadowofachateau
#thenandnow
#barnconversion
#renovatinginfrance
#myhomeinfrance
#beforeandafter
#afterthechaos by @shadowofachateau

14

2

10 months ago

Sunsets. That's why.

And because I got to decide. Not a builder. Not someone else. Me.

The golden hour light, sunset over the countryside rooftops, and a good soak after a day of renovating?! I mean, of course I did that!

Because I am not unreasonable, I did meet with the builder to ensure the floor beams would support the weight of the full tub plus a person and also allow the plumbing to pass between the beams. It was a win-win on all accounts. 😃

A tub with a view | French skyline | Sunset | Renovating in France | Golden Hour

#intheshadowofachateau #americaninfrance #ruralfrance
#RenovationDream
#bathroomdecor by @shadowofachateau

13

8

23 days ago

...you only get this far cleaning up before you need a nap.

I had a little lunch at my house for a wonderful woman in the village who has decided to sell her home and move up north to Brittany. Between the four of us, we only consumed a half bottle of crémant and a bottle of rosé.

Three pm came and lunch was over.

I really wanted to clean everything up before relaxing in the cool shade of an umbrella, but the wine said, "Nope. It's nap time, my girl."

I'm blaming the wine.

Here's to long lunches with friends
and a sunny Saturday sieste.

À bientôt !

Maria

Life in France | French Windows | Lunch | Saturday Vibes | Sieste

#intheshadowofachateau
#americaninfrance
#frenchdecor by @shadowofachateau

5

6

24 days ago

Moodboard vs. Reality

What do we think? Does it look the way we thought it would?

📷 The first two slides are mostly to show off the waxed lime paint.

📷 The third slide is the original moodboard I posted a couple of weeks ago.

The space is still not finished.

Here's what's on the to do list in here:
• Screen off the awkward corner
that has the towel rail
• Paint the baseboards and cornice
• Paint the window reveal
• Touch-up the ceiling
• Sew the linen window curtains
• Replace the bedroom light fixture
with a proper bathroom fixture
• Ask the electrician to remove the
smoke detector

I'm so glad to finally have this one-time bedroom turned bathroom on its way to its final look and function.

Follow along while I complete the check list. I'll be posting updates in stories.

Bathroom Makeover | Moodboard | Orange and Blue | Lime Paint | French Style

#intheshadowofachateau
#americaninfrance
#renovatinginfrance by @shadowofachateau

6

6

a month ago

This wasn't the post I thought I was going to publish today. I had planned on posting a full courtyard update, but instead we have been closed up inside.

The air quality was too bad this morning to be outside for more than a minute or two and it has only gotten worse. The dog sneezes when I let him out for potty, so you can imagine what this is doing to the small wildlife, like tree-nesting birds.

These are photos showing fire smoke from uncontained wildfires in the Gironde 200 miles away from here at around 10am today. I should be able to see past the contours of the hills in the video (📷2)

The third photo is on a day last Autumn from a bit further up the path. Even with clouds in the sky, you can see the hills in the distance.

This morning I smelled and saw a little wildfire smoke, and thought we must have one nearby.

I consulted the website of the Sous-Préfecture for our depatment (Haute-Vienne) and learned that the smoke was coming from fires in Gironde.

Gironde is a department on the Atlantic, 200 miles from here.

Our prevailing winds come from that direction, so it doesn't surprise me that we would get some smoke, but this is a lot of smoke. This is California wildfire level smoke.

The skies are now completely greige and visibility is even less. I'm not going outside to take more photos, so I took one from the upstairs window. You can see on my grid that we normally have blue skies.

Credible news sources have stated the extremely dry and hot early summer, combined with dry conifers, have created a tinderbox.

According to the Préfecture of the region (Nouvelle-Aquitaine), the fire is uncontained. As of 1pm today, 32,700 hectares (over 80,00 acres) have burned and 167,000 people have been evacuated.

We've got a slight drizzle of rain here now, but we still have concerns over lightening strikes causing fires.

The last capture here shows the damage to the Lebanese cedar from a lightening strike a few years ago.

Wherever you are in the world, I hope you are safe and healthy. If you are in a fire-prone area, remember to pay attention to the news and heed evacuation warnings, even while on vacation. by @shadowofachateau

9

9

2 months ago

A small collection of both significant and fun items in an oddly-placed opening.

This niche high up on the living room wall was once a window whose use has been long forgotten. I didn't even know it was there until we tore down the loft storage area as we were preparing for construction of the barn conversion.

Here amongst brocante finds and a plant are important reminders of my former dog and his cat who were with me for 11 and 16 years respectively and a fun portrait of a dog resembling mine dressed in a military uniform.

The faux shell is a gift from friends received before I moved here permanently and started on the Barn Conversion. It is a nod to the tradition of placing a shell in the roof of a newly constructed house to protect it.

The last photo is the photo of this entire space the day the roof came off in September 2023.

For those of you who have read this far and scrolled through all the photos, I appreciate you more than I can possibly express.

I wish you all a great Sunday and hope you are all cool enough and away from any fire danger.

À bientôt !

#intheshadowofachateau
#barnconversion
#brocantefinds
#extremerenovation
#americaninfrance by @shadowofachateau

6

6

3 months ago

Flowers as fireworks
Heatwave Edition

This is a bowl of almost everything from my young garden that is surviving the heatwave and drought conditions we have here in Central France.

I did not harvest any roses for fear of encouraging new growth that might get damaged in the extreme temperatures next week.

I also left everything purple and a lot of white in the garden for the poor pollinators, so the salvias are not represented here.

There is a sprig of nepeta that I borrowed from my propagation station just for some froth.

What I used -
Echinacea 'Milkshake'
Physocarpus opulifolius (nine-bark)'Lady in Red'
Wild white campion
Wild bind weed blossom
Wild Ammi
Queen Anne's Lace
Native grass seed heads
Clematis seed heads
Bright pink pelargonium

So many of these look like fireworks if fireworks were flowers. I especially like the trailing tendrils and the Queen Anne's Lace with the clematis seed heads.

I'd love to know what's doing well in your spaces.

À bientôt !

#intheshadowofachateau
#summerarrangement
#growyourownflowers
#wildflowers
#heatwaveinfrance by @shadowofachateau

7

3

3 months ago

This is a super late post, but I had a lot of chores to do and then I had to put the kitchen to bed.

I said I would share, so here we go.

The Pink Potting Shed needed curtains on the reclaimed single-paned glass windows for two reasons:

1) When the two side windows are closed, my aprons and hats get sun bleached.
2) When the side windows are open, butterflies get confused and try to escape from the front one that doesn't open.

About three or four weeks ago, before the entire continent became a crispy wasteland and we were not all on liquid diets to stay hydrated, I ran into the local animal charity shop looking for something I actually needed and was very much NOT fabric-y.

They didn't have the other thing.

Not one to waste a trip, I rifled through the 3€ fabrics and found these two matching table runners. I just knew they would be the right size for the Pink Potting Shed side windows.

As you can see, these windows are long horizontally, but are not very tall.

Did I have measurements with me? no. Do I ever really NEED to measure? also no.
I was slightly concerned they might be too short on the long edge.

I figured for 3€ if the size wasn't right, I would find a use for them at some point.

After reminding myself about 85 times to grab the surplus rods and rings from the Ramparts Project, then promptly forgetting to do that, I finally managed to get rod and rings and fabric all in one spot.

Another win was installing the rods, which were just long enough when fully extended.

The front window is a different fabric that I got as a freeby from the brocante henceforth to be called the Blue Garden Bed brocante.

It was a single piece of lace long enough that I cut it in half and made a double panel curtain. Again, I sewed nothing. I even created a top ruffle out of the extra length using the pinch rings to keep it all together.

It's so much more serene feeling in there now without episodes of panic-saving a butterfly.

Not bad for 3€ and surplus materials. 😀

À bientôt!

#intheshadowofachateau
#pinkpottingshed
#DIYcurtains
#cottagegarden
#cottagecoreaesthetics by @shadowofachateau

7

6

3 months ago

Everyone is back in their spot healthy and happy.

The shutters are open, the A/C units are off (!!), and the plants are back in their usual locations.

These aren't all the plants - just the ones I spend the most time with in the living room with my desk and the boy's favorite bed.

The last slide is the temporary spot during the 15 days of forced darkness. It's the only glass door without a shutter and faces North with the benefit of light reflected off the retaining wall.

Did you know that only 20% of European households have A/C? If you take into account the percentage of Southern France and Spain that actually need it for very warm or hot days more than a couple of weeks a year, then the percentage is even smaller for the rest of Europe.

Extreme temperature records were smashed during this second in a series of heatwaves in this, the year of the failed war with Iran, with unheard of numbers of missiles, missile interceptions, bombings, air sorties, petroleum and refinery explosions, ships idling during the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and the resultant weather disruptions that come from all of that.

The plant, animal, and human populations in my little corner of France were subjected to multiple days with temperatures reaching 106°F/41C and humidity levels of 13%. That's what a desert feels like for goodness sake!

This is lush, green, central France. The plums are not supposed to be shriveling on the trees. The roses and blueberries are not supposed to need to be watered twice a day.

It was so bad here in France that the government suspended consumption of alcoholic beverages in public venues. 😳

Fêtes, carnivals and village barbecues were canceled. Schools were closed. Old folks perished, and children drowned, trying to stay cool in rivers and lakes.

I tell you this to ask you to keep the most vulnerable of us in your thoughts - the elderly, the young, those who can't regulate their body temperature due to illness or condition, the unsheltered, and of course, our pets and wildlife.

And you...You, I wish a safe and healthy week ahead.

À bientôt !

#intheshadowofachateau
#canicule
#heatwaveinfrance
#notowar
#beattheheat by @shadowofachateau

9

6

3 months ago

Rain! (Sound up!) After 15 days of unrelenting record heat, we finally got a break.

I left the doggo's towels out to dry a bit too long, but who cares?!

I've now got the windows open and the plants back where they belong.

What a relief!

#intheshadowofachateau
#canicule
#rainasmr
#pinkpottingshed by @shadowofachateau

5

4

3 months ago