Last week we looked at a few apartments in the area but in the looking we decided that it really wasn't such a good idea to change house for the season. The places we looked at were so tiny and the rents just shocking, Paris prices, wow! I had no idea you could charge so much for a studio 30 minutes outside the city. Even with what we saw, a closet sized bathroom with bifold doors, there was a list of interested people and the owner would get to choose who he wanted. Hmmm, bachelor with a company backing his rent or married couple with two children under five? It was likely not going to be us. It didn't matter because we weren't all that interested in being squeezed into a tuna can.
So we've decided to stay put and invest in our house instead by making the temporary basement kitchen/bath quarters more liveable. During the really difficult periods we can take off to a gite for a week or so. In the end we may spend just as much as if we'd rented an apartment for a season but at least we'll be putting the money into our house and investing in something tangible.
Meanwhile we're the gossip of the village with our living conditions. The two neighbors who dropped by to see the work before we left on vacation must have talked....to the whole village! The first day of school at least five people gave us downcast eyes and said "do you need a place to stay for a few days, a shower, meals ? And didn't you look for an apartment yet?..." It was well meant but embarrassing because Seb was with me, it being the first day and all, and I felt like he thought I'd gossiped & complained to these women. Even their husbands knew all the details and Seb had to explain to them so I know he felt awful, like the unfit father. I'm not at all the gossip type and even if I might blog openly about problems I'm more apt to keep a stiff upper lip and say nothing in real life except to really close friends who've known me for a few years. He believed me because he knows me but it did kind of put a damper on our first morning with Little S at school. The two women who saw the house saw it the weekend we were transferring the kitchen downstairs so the room was just piled with boxes and appliances and the real kitchen was full of that behind the appliance dirt you see when you move stuff after a year. It all looked frightening but now I think it looks pretty good with our kitchen all arranged downstairs. I'm a little put out that they gossipped about me though. It was clearly a "the poor dear how can she live like that?" kind of way. I really hate people feeling sorry for us.
Hopefully this will all be over soon and people will be gossipping about how beautiful the house is instead of how it smells like a cave. Someone actually said to me, "E said you're having a hard time with the weird cave smell" which was funny because I said "no, no not really" and she felt stupid because she'd just got caught repeating gossip. It was pretty hilarious because then she quickly backpedaled and said "oh it must have been someone else...my brother's renovating too." Blush!
5 comments:
your story made me think about when our house was renovated when i was little.
we stayed there at the time (rather than going to a different house or apartment), i was very young at the time, but looking back i assume it was to save money.
i have nothing but great memories of being there, having the fridge in the yard was the coolest thing to me and my brother (when they were putting the new tile in the kitchen).
Ha ha! Small town. I know about that. You take it so well! I am very impressed.
We renovated when I was in middle school. My parents totally redid the kitchen and living room and entire back wall of the house. We lived without a wall for awhile if I remember correctly, but it was no big deal. It was actually kind of fun! All my memories of that time are very positive: washing dishes in the bathroom sink, doing all the cooking in a toaster oven (also in the bathroom!!!), being able to have water fights in the house.
It looked beautiful when the work was done. I can't wait to see pictures of your finished house. It is going to be so worth it.
I'm really sorry you are having to deal with this small minded, provinical 'bavardage' ... what a waste of energy (for all parties involved). I do have to say it is one thing I've noticed here in the countryside ... and I'd have to reconsider those 'friendships' ...
Sara/Jen - Thie kids don't mind the house all torn up so much but they are having a hard time with their rooms in a mess. I think they'll be happy when they can unpack their toys again! They're driving me nuts about that.
njnrr - It doesn't bother me in one respect because I don't think they're being mean spirited about it, just sympthetic (and big mouthed!). Maybe they don't realize how private I really am. There are lots of people in the village who I don't want knowing all about our personal affairs and I assumed that was a given. Hmmm, guess not. I've been below the radar a lot more lately because of all this.
heh, I grew up in a house undergoing renovations for years. We joke about how my brother's bed was "wherever he could lie down" which was sometimes the hallway floor. I don't know if people gossiped but they sure loved coming over as it was the center of all family parties, renovations and all. Recently my brother renovated his house and my sister said rather scathingly "I don't know how anyone could live like this! How awful for the kids!" I reminded her that SHE lived that way for many years as a kid and clearly it wasn't so damaging because she forgot all about it. Of course now she seethes with envy about my brother's house.
In our current house, all our neighbors are pretty much in the same boat. In fact, many are in more disarray than us, so there's no gossip, just comiseration ;)
Good luck with the renovations and everyone will be jealous when you're done!
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