Over the past several weeks I’ve been trying to clear as much stuff as possible from the house, the garage, the workshops, the bike shed and all the other outbuildings. It’s been a mammoth task, but with the help of some very good friends, I’m making progress.

Last weekend was my vide maison (garage sale); Nico and Edwige came round on Thursday to help me install trestles and planks as makeshift tables and to move all the stuff I’d collected together onto them and elsewhere in the garage. Every time I came into the house, or anywhere else, for that matter, I’d find more bits and pieces; but eventually I felt I was as ready as I could be. I spent Friday pricing every item; mostly at 1 or 2 euros, way below what stuff was worth, but every item sold would be one less to dispose of later.

Saturday dawned cold, but with the promise of warmth in the afternoon. Maithée, Mart, Nathalie, Fleur and Régine turned up to help with the steady flow of people. Things I hadn’t thought of selling, such a plants in pots, were requested, so I sold enough stuff to be able to see a difference.

Sunday was a filthy day; rain, hail and sleet were all blown into our bit of shelter by a driving wind. It was bitterly cold; I was frozen, in spite of 5 sweaters and jackets and thick tights under my jeans. I’m not sure if Isabelle, Laurence, Mart and Paul were wearing quite as many layers, but we all took turns coming into the house to warm up and make hot drinks.

Naturally, we had very few visitors.  We did, however, have a very enjoyable day, with plenty of conversation and lots of laughter.

At the end of the day we packed the less saleable stuff  into my car for the tip on Monday and the rest into boxes.

An English couple who live not far from the charity shop in Eauze, and whom I’d never met until Saturday, offered to come back, with their trailer, on Tuesday morning, to take whatever remained to the charity shop for me, which will save me hours of driving back and forth in my little car. They say that they received so much help from strangers over their first few months in France that they’re passing on the kindness – what an amazing ethos, it restores your faith in human nature.

I’ve been amazed, more times than I can remember, by the kindness of total strangers, who’ve turned up in my life, out of the blue, just when I needed them.

One day, not long before Christmas, a man messaged me; he’d been talking to a fellow teacher who’d been to my house to buy books, and who’d told him of my glut of bikes; he said he was a cyclist and enjoyed renovating bikes and could he come round? 

He’s been an absolute godsend! He’s taken bikes, stripped them down, cleaned and serviced them, often swapping parts between them to make them more saleable; he’s then put them on le bon coin (an internet selling site) and brought me the money. He refuses point blank to accept anything in return, saying that he enjoys doing this and that I obviously need the help. What a star! It must be driving his poor wife mad, I’m sure she must have things she needs doing; I know how that feels – Nick was exactly the same. Jean Michel told me one day that his wife had asked if she ought to be worried about him spending hours every afternoon at the house of an English woman; “no, of course not”, he replied, “she’s old!”. Thanks, Jean Michel !

The last English class I taught at the “clan”, a former student and lace maker arrived, bringing me a lace book mark that she’d made for me before covid. She was my only student that day, so we chatted for a while and I discovered that she’d recently started to learn to play the saxophone. I mentioned that I had three to sell, so she put me in touch with her teacher, who very kindly had a look at them and advised me what sort of prices to ask for them.

Times like this seem to bring out the best (or sometimes the worst) in people; I’ve certainly learned who my real friends are.