IT'S MY HOUSE!

I had to forget about blogging while I was in France last week. I didn't bring my beloved Mac with me and blogging on other laptops is hopeless. I know, I know - it just takes getting used to... but I'm an impatient soul, and when I spent ages downloading photos I merely gave up.

Besides, the sun was shining, the weather hot, the wind cooling and the water refreshing. And the wine was excellent. September is the best month in southern France - no arguments accepted. There's still a holiday feeling about and the warm weather is usually stable and predictable.

Another advantage about not blogging while in the process of reclaiming my property after weeks of tenancy, is that I become a raving LUNATIC as I inspect cupboards, furniture, bookshelves, dishes, cutlery, glasses etc. Tearing open doors and drawers, yelling at impossible and invisible tenants who've switched everything around so that I can't find ANY of my stuff, searching for lost property and cursing careless people who have broken my beautiful things. All this while my husband points to his head and makes circular movements with his finger. I wonder why he does that?

One of a set of three bowls that I'd seriously considered stowing away from the tenants, but decided not to. Luckily the porcelain god smiled upon me and the shop still had one left - the LAST one!

There are some objects that get broken every year - especially sun beds, glasses and plates. This summer we also experienced a dead oven, a broken coffee machine and a bathroom tap that only produced cold water. Everything happened while the tenants were there - but my caretaker neighbour is fantastically solution oriented, so everything got fixed before the tenants even had a chance to complain. One family departed without paying for cleaning and left the house in a terrible state, rubbish everywhere, furniture switched around and dirt trails on the floors. That's when the security deposit comes in handy.

These flowers are brilliant - they could survive a drought

My newly planted chilis from the Thuir market

What I do wonder about though, is why tenants don't bother to water the flowers, so that they wither and look ugly - or why they leave lanterns with candles out in the sun at 40 degrees so that there is melted candle wax all over the tiles. Hmmm... it taught me that next summer every candle stick and lantern will be safely packed away. A pity though, because they give a lovely "ambiance" in those velvety southern nights.

We've been letting our house in France for eleven years, and - to be fair - nothing really serious has ever happened during rental periods. This is what my husband reminds me of when I spend my first "reclaim" day ranting and raving - things might have been much worse, for instance broken window panes, ruined furniture or paintings. You never know. "But I need to get it out!" I shout, moving my spice jars from the plate cupboard to the food cupboard and the plates the opposite way. "It'll only take me a few more hours and then I'll be back to my usual calm and blithe self!"

And - in time - peace and quiet descend on me once again and I give myself over to my lovely French house, the spectacular views of the nearby Pyrenees, the long and lazy lunches on the terrace - and my very own swimming pool.

The tenants disappear hazily to the back of my mind - until next season.