Hi there & welcome to edition #4

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Friends, fixes & fires

Snapshots of the Domaine Les Plonges ‘journey’ every week.

So far, there have been some ‘turn right at the ruined church and left at the big tree’ style of directions. Not foolproof, as confirmed by the number of “I’m lost” calls from harried delivery drivers.

I spy their car across the valley disappearing in the wrong direction. The ‘big tree’ guidance is a little subjective. A few loops of winding lanes later, and after many arrival hugs and some excited shrieking, I’m leading them up the steps to ‘Madame’ for the first time.

One of the main reasons I bought this place, and second only to the plan to expand my career portfolio with the ateliers (not completely ‘change’, given my event-heavy CV), was to have a space where family and friends could gather with ease. ‘Madame’ is absolutely meant to be full of life and people.

H & S are the advance party, braving the sticks of furniture stage and lending a hand with the essential early set-up. I’ve been warned that S has already determined my toolbox will be woefully inadequate, so he’s taken matters into his own hands, loading their car with a veritable Brico’s worth of tools. Apparently, he’s itching to go around fixing things. To be fair, that’s not an inaccurate assumption. Brilliant DIY-er is not one of my key strengths.

We spend a happy, busy week catching up and exploring the area. In between, S potters around the property fixing doors, putting up hooks, paintings and more and often things I hadn’t even noticed needed doing. 🤦‍♀️ Excellent helpful guest behaviour! It's mid-October, with beautiful clear sunny days and slightly chillier evenings.

Fire safety in an old timber-framed house with an open raised hearth means removing the fire and ashes at the end of the evening. S had dutifully shut down the fire while H and I tidied up. Not much later, as we let Romy out for her bedtime ablutions, H and I stood admiring the still just visible view.

“Amazing how you can see the mist rolling in so clearly” she mused. “So pretty’ I agreed. “I’ve only ever seen the morning mists across the valley.” A few minutes later, “Hum, can you smell smoke?” she asked.  

We both headed around the terrace to discover that our gentle, romanticised mist was, in fact, the dining room ashes re-igniting into a giant, now roaring, garden-bag fire right outside the kitchen window. Yikes!

By morning, all that remained of the hosepipe-drenched garden bags was a pile of ashes and some worryingly scorched concrete. All a little too close to the house for comfort, lesson learnt: even seemingly dry ashes are not to be trusted! 

Later, when my new friend and neighbour B saw the evidence of this near disaster, she asked why we hadn’t just used the heating system. My brief explanation was cut short with a very French harumph: “Donnez-moi le portable! Et donnez-moi le numéro de référence du client. C’ est pas acceptable.”

She then proceeded to yell at Antargaz for five minutes and the next day, I had a delivery!

*NB: since then, very recently, we’ve all been given actual addresses, whoo!

The bells are back

Recently, I read about rural-urban transplants (like myself), though from Paris not The Hague, complaining that their idyllic country weekends were simply far too noisy, disrupted by animals, tractors, church bells and more. Apparently, this has become a thing. 

Here, I find rural life is both quiet, and yet, reassuringly, not always completely silent. The usual sounds of the countryside don’t detract from its charm, and are very much part of its appeal. Last year the church spire was struck by lightning, silencing the bells for almost a year. Happily, those chimes were restored this week and only now do I realise how much I’ve missed their daily rhythm. 

All perfectly summed up by this brilliant sign that greets you as you enter our village.

Possibly you found your way here via Instagram? @domainelesplonges? If so, an extra Bienvenue! You’ll already know I love a good visual. So here I’ll share others and a little more context behind the images…

Whether it’s discovering unique work by artists and designers from near and far or rummaging through vide greniers, brocantes, and hidden treasure troves, I’m always on the lookout! I’ll be sharing my favourite artists, designers and sourcing spots here 😄 

These old doors…

The first-floor corridor has always been a challenge. Essential, as it connects the principal bedroom, bathroom, dressing area, and study, yet previously gloomy and burdened by a lack of natural light. 

Although for a good eight months, light wasn’t exactly an issue given you could look upwards, through another entire floor, and see roof tiles (albeit through a jungle of dangling pipes, wires et al). Once the new floor, ceiling and wall structure were in place, the light conundrum was once again evident. But this time, with the false ceiling removed and the height raised to expose the beams, a larger floor to ceiling option became possible.

Initially, I’d considered skipping a formal wall entirely and instead patching together a whole wall of antique and rescued door and window frames. Obviously the team were thrilled by this! In theory, great. In reality, wildly impractical. After too many brocante and salvage yard expeditions, I had to admit that sourcing enough ‘nice’ pieces to build this wall would take forever.

Fortunately, I found these fabulous doors via Laurence at Portes et Boiseries – initially through the Proantic website. Their selection of antique door and window frames is incredible, and they can arrange delivery across France (and possibly beyond).

Originally exterior doors, they needed a little (ok, a lot) of stripping, sanding and fixing. Um, and they’re still not quite finished! I also lost my first battle with the opaque decals for privacy on the lower half of the doors and haven’t quite found the energy to tackle them again. Soon…

However, the tricky dark hallway is gone, and this bathroom now has a suitably dramatic entrance 😄 

Finding your tribe

Most of us have most likely made at least one friend through the usual built-in social networks of school, college, or work. Add in travel experiences, parent activities (if you have children), clubs, and hobbies, and these generally become our go-to sources for new friendships.

But do you still actively try to make new friends as an adult? I’d wager it takes a little more effort than when we’re younger, especially if you move around a lot. Personally, I feel fortunate to have gathered great friends over the years, and living in different countries has definitely forced me to be more proactive.

As we hurtle through life, what’s your best advice for making new friends as an adult?

Lucky us - helpful tips on lists & urban streaking (!)

Last week I asked if anyone had any brilliant tips for managing list overwhelm, and my old friend Andy Fieldhouse delivered. He’s offered not just one, but three, suggestions, which I’m sharing below. Thank you! ⬇️

Andy is the author of Getting Teamwork Right and creates bespoke team-building workshops for in-person, hybrid and remote team events via his business The Team Space. We met at university, endured some dodgy student housing, and have had each other’s backs ever since 😄 so it was never a surprise to me when Andy became an exceptional team building coach. He was made for this.

That said, there is one particular team skill I doubt he includes in his workshops, one that he is equally brilliant at: the art of maximum comedy effect post-pub team city streaking… without getting caught! If I mention that Andy is rugby-mad, for some that will explain all. For everyone else: back in our uni-days during the early 90’s (yikes, feeling old), the rugby lads had quite the penchant for streaking. And not just on special occasions! Any pint-busy Saturday night, boozy dinner party or even a moment of sheer boredom could set things in motion.

Since I have always been the photographer in our friendship group, I’ve amassed quite the evidence stash : ) Andy’s backside features frequently in this rogue’s gallery, always leading the group’s charge, vanishing into the darkness, all of them starkers except for the essential 90’s Timberlands. After all, one must protect against broken glass, dog pooh, and other urban hazards! One day, these photos will be worth their weight in gold. Haha! Ps: he’s allowed me to tell this story, merci : )

Oh, and remind me to write up the Irish wedding streaking story, it’s a classic. 

1) Urgency Level - great for emails, this can also be adapted for those pesky lists. Create three folders: FILED - if you’re done with it; TO DO 1 - the address it NOW stuff, ie: within 48 hours; and TO DO 2 - for everything else that isn’t junk. With lists, assign similar priority levels: TODAY - non-negotiable; CATEGORY 2 - must-do this week; CATEGORY 3 - needs doing at some point. 

2) END - when you have a long list of things to do, identify each one with an E, an N or a D. 

• E = energising – the stuff you love to do, get excited about and look forward to.

• N = neutral – the things you don’t mind doing, but don’t particularly excite you. 

• D = draining – it’s a vital and necessary task, but you don’t look forward to it and find it quite draining. 

Then when it comes to deciding which ones you do in which order, you can use this classification to help you get them done. Up to you how – for example, start with a quick win of an E, then tackle a couple of Ds then reward yourself with an E, follow up with an N – etc. 

3) - The Eisenhower Matrix and the important vs urgent equation. An option to combine with the colourful post-it notes!

Creative chats

There are number of creative chats with artists and artisans in progress, these will start to feature in the upcoming paid subscriber editions.

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I did a LOT of research on platforms and I’m happy to explain why etc in more detail, just ask. While I’m still only scratching the surface of all the bells and whistles Beehiiv offers, I will say, for the less tech-minded amongst us, it is pretty straightforward to use.

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