57. My Helpers in 2011

Apple blossom by the pergola  in my garden in 2009

Through the HelpExchange website I have been in touch with a number of people since February to see who would come to help me with my pottery studio this summer. I first expected a Helper from Latvia to be my caretaker in the pottery house but he had to change his mind in March. So I had to leave the house unattended and empty without water or electricity while I moved to my attic summer abode in the next village.

Then for the Easter long week-end in April a couple arrived from Great Britain to see the house with a view to be caretaker, i.e. occupy the place without a rent but paying their own expenses. I picked them up at the Limoges airport on Easter Saturday and we drove back to St Civran, an hour's drive on the A20 motorway towards Paris. When they visited the house they did not appear to like the place at all but did not say anything. We spent the weekend together in my attic sharing a barbecue in my garden with an English friend and my son and his family. They also went for drinks to a local pub to meet other English settlers. We also walked the 5 km between the two villages. They figured that the area was indeed very quiet and very rural. Being used to suburban life near a large city they thought the place was not for them. I drove them back to Limoges on the Tuesday to finish off their holiday visiting the city. I haven't heard from them since.

At the beginning of May I got news from a young woman Helper from Finland with whom I had exchanged a number of e-mails. She arrived in Chateauroux where I picked her up at the railway station. We've been sharing the attic since then and I have to say we're really getting on well. So far we have been working in my garden and sharing meals, books and stories. Although we converse in English she is a keen student of the French language.

I intend to go to the pottery studio next week with her and spend some time tidying the workshop. But for lack of a caretaker in the house I won't be able to open up to the public this year again... Ah well! Good folks, come again another year!

This blog is a non-pottery blog after all... LOL!!!!