Chez le Baron

Sorry about the lack of posts...

2012-01-19T11:44:00.000+01:00

I'm really struggling with January, and despite my best intentions [road to hell, anyone?], I'm not managing to overcome the blanket of inertia that has me trapped.

If anyone wants to see our Christmas decorations photos, I promise I will do them at some point, but don't hold your breath.

I'm hoping that this feeling of swimming-through-porridge will ease shortly, but until it does I hope you're feeling well, & will forgive me for my lack of pushing-through-it-ness.

ETA: I'll be back as soon as I can.

Happy New Year for 2012

2012-01-05T16:00:00.000+01:00

I'm going to do a few [lots of?] posts to update, but for now it's just news about the Christmas cake...

It's absolutely fine - very moist, but not undercooked or soggy, so the decision to add extra liquid seems to have been the right one!

In fact, I will try and remember to do the same next year.

Yes, it's very different that most fruit cakes I've ever eaten, but I don't think that a deliciously-moist cake versus a dry one means that it's wrong!

All of the people offered a slice ate the whole thing, and most people offered a second helping took one [and I don't think I'm going to draw a negative conclusion from the refusal by our neighbour who's undergoing chemotherapy; she says her appetite has been affected, and didn't eat much of the other food].

Taking it to France in the cooking tin didn't seem to do it any harm, but we have now found a cake tin, so it all feels a lot better.

I'm posting the picture so you can make up your own mind about it, but unfortunately that can't tell you that it tastes nice!

It's snowing!

2011-12-16T10:52:00.000+01:00

Ingredients

OK, so there's more rain than snow and what little snow there is is very soggy-looking, but it's snowing!!!

That's starting to feel like Christmas; more so if you see the television news - lots of places have snow settling on the ground.

I've been concentrating on going to the gym - mainly swimming, but some really good classes, too - and haven't had anything to post...

Fruit & cider

Apart from the Christmas cake, but obviously I didn't do that!

Short story shorter: I made the Christmas cake, I'm not sure it's OK [I used wholemeal flour, and couldn't cook it till the next day, and then worried that it would be too dry, so scraped it out of the tin and added (probably too much) more liquid] as the top cracked [too much extra orange juice, I think?], and as all the cake-cooking/storing kit is in boxes in France, we are taking it still in the cake-tin and greaseproof paper!

I've "fed" it, so hopefully that will keep it happy, but ultimately there's no way of knowing whether it's a good one or not until we take it from the tin and cut the first slice...

Needs boiling up

It's also one of the most expensive cakes I've ever made: all the cake-baking stuff is in a box somewhere [see above], so we had to buy a mixing bowl, cake-tin, greaseproof paper, cooling rack, etc., and I got mixed up in my head and believed we needed a 9" tin which was a real shame as there was an 8" tin on sale. I thought that would be too small, so didn't get it, and had to buy the full-priced 9" tin.

So, reading the recipe and finding out the 8" was what was required, we decided to increase the quantities and use the 9" tin [rather than waiting another week to buy an 8" tin], so that means the cake is 25% bigger than planned.

Who knows, maybe this year there will be enough for other people, too?

Boiled fruit

[Assuming that it's edible!]

Have I got my Christmas presents?

Some, but not all.

Have I done the Christmas cards?

Mine, but I offered to do David's, so I'm only halfway there.

Mixture ready to bake

Am I ready for Christmas?

No, but yes...

[No, I'm not Vicky Pollard!]

The main point of Christmas is to relax and spend time with my lovely husband, so in that respect I'm totally ready [we have a cake, some drinks, candles, & wood-burning stove (and food, obviously); what more could we ask for?]. If you include having all presents bought, wrapped and sent to relatives, house tidied etc, then no I'm not ready.

Fnished cake

But who cares; we get a second bite of the cherry with distant relatives by having a present-swap after New Year, and I know that last year those same relatives hadn't bought our presents at this time, so I'm only following their precedent.

Anyway: Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year to anyone who has waded this far, as I'm pretty sure I'm not going to get around to posting again in the near future!

Kitchen - photos

2011-11-24T18:39:00.001+01:00

Starting point: very cluttered

It's been a bit of a challenge, sorting out the kitchen. We could have made our lives easier if we hadn't decided to paint the really badly stained wall...

Lots of stuff stored here temporarily

But now that the wall has been filled, stain-stopped and has two coats of paint on it we are already not 'seeing' it; we're only aware of the dresser in front of it, rather than the awful stains and bits of building materials spattered all over it.

Starting the cleaning/putting away process

So that was worth the pain! By moving the big dresser into the kitchen we have gained a lot of additional storage, and have moved not-used-very-often things into the entrance hall.

Emptying the dressers

All similar things are in a cupboard together, we have a "new" bit of worktop, and by repairing the sideboard we have an extra three cupboards, too.

Moving the dressers

We've managed to arrange all the saucepans together, under where we have the little hob, and have the everyday crockery in one cupboard.

Contents of dressers

I've separated out the food into cooking ingredients, and things that are more likely to be used from the table, and put them into two different places.

Dressers in the right place

We are trying out an arrangement of having a bank of units between the table and the sink (so that we get more storage/worktop when we get around to installing a fitted kitchen).

Cleaning the floor

The trickiest part of deciding where to put the furniture is the fact that the stove is about 3' to the left of where we'd planned it; if Jean-Marie had had his thinking head on, it could have gone there, and we would have had loads of space for the other run of units that we wanted.

Herding the furniture to clean the floor

I'm trying very hard to avoid having the second sofa with its back to the door; that's a really unwelcoming room layout. So much so, that I'm considering asking M. Waeber whether we can lift the steel plate under the stove and move it to where it should have been...

Everything in its new place

I'll have to speak to M. Monnier, too, to see if the stove can be moved. But logically there is no reason it couldn't be. Even if we have to move the flue above the ceiling, I think it should be possible. Still, that's something to think about in the future.

And we can move around, too!

Oddly, today I'm still not feeling very lively, but I'm hoping that tomorrow I won't feel quite as wiped out!

And I've had enough spring cleaning for a while!

Entrance hall

2011-11-24T17:55:00.001+01:00

"Before"

Again, looking at the photos shows me how far we've come, and how much better the place looks after our recent efforts.

"During"

Bizarrely, I don't have a decent photo of the "after" look - I think I just wanted to get as much done as possible and head for the Shuttle!

"After"

I must remember to post some photos of how beautiful it will look when I've gone a little bit crazy with the candles at Christmas.

Study photos

2011-11-24T17:44:00.001+01:00

"Before"

We've come a long way! It's good to look at the photos, as that reminds me how far we've come in the last few months.

"After"

OK, so we've still got a bit of a way to go, but who cares? The over-mantle [hidden behind the table] is just too large to go above the fireplace in the entrance hall, and is too heavy to be stored upstairs (but that doesn't mean we won't try when we have more time!), so will just have to stay there for a while.

"After"

There are books hidden behind the bookcase, but I do have a plan for those: we have an IKEA bookcase that needs some shelves, so we just need to buy some planks of wood, and then that will be assembled in the entrance hall.

But the main thing is that we have a clean, tidy space containing a sofa-bed: we can welcome visitors!

Phew!

2011-11-23T14:16:00.001+01:00

We're back in Maidstone again, and the house is pretty tidy all throughout the ground floor.

I didn't manage as much as I would like [I wanted to "spring" clean the shower room/loo/laundry/back hall], but did achieve a great deal more than I expected. I'm currently battling with the OCD part of me that thinks I should go back before Christmas to do that extra cleaning (and sort out the contents of the boulangère stand; I only dusted the miscellaneous items that are temporarily parked there)...

David thinks we're done enough, and I know that we've done enough, but it is not finished. I've got to work more on letting it go, clearly.

What we did achieve was everything cleaned and put away in the kitchen, entrance hall and study/guest bedroom. Everywhere vacuumed and dusted. The bedroom was done in October, but I'd managed to stack up loads of clothes and bedding waiting until we get around to installing the clothing storage in the dressing room, so that has all been temporarily tucked away out of sight! David also assembled a wine rack in the small cellar and took the wine down there, and the various liqueurs I'd made; sorting those out for laying down or using is another job for the warmer months.

Speaking of warmer: it was fabulous weather whilst we were there - pretty cold at night, but warm and sunny during the days - just a shame that I didn't manage to get out into the garden. Obviously the warm weather has encouraged lots of weed seedlings to germinate, so I would have liked to be out there laying waste to the interlopers, rather than spending hours on my hands and knees looking at the floor! Still, it was a good use of our time, even if I'd rather have been in the garden. We can now welcome guests without having to park the folding bed in the kitchen!

Sadly, one proposed guest didn't make it: Alasdhair wanted to come and stay over on Friday evening [it would have been lovely to see him, but would have taken away a fair bit of our working time; I didn't stop before 7pm, and mostly worked later (9.30pm is too late, by the way!) and didn't have a day off whilst we were there, so missing out an evening and morning would have prevented us from getting the entrance hall tidied], so I was relieved that he couldn't make it (and will greatly enjoy seeing him when it is re-scheduled) but not for the reason - his aunt, Luisela, sadly died on Thursday, and he had to go back to Italy for the funeral. An unwelcome reminder that it's now our parents' generation who are the old people, rather than our grandparents (who are all long-since departed)...

And yes, I am feeling my age!

But hopefully tomorrow, not-so-much, and then I'll be back in the swimming pool.

David spoke with Matthias Huguenot, and he was very helpful and agreed that M. Antoni [a different M. Antoni from either of our two previous Messrs Antoni!] would check over the connections for the central heating in the new bedroom (so that we can confidently heat that part of the house, without worrying about an unsuspected leak causing damage in our absence; we love the "frost-stat" setting) when he comes to service the boiler, which should be next time we go.

Having messed us around for over a week, M. Torelli definitively said he couldn't come and do that check on Monday, by which time it was too late to organise Schwartz to come whilst we were still there.

We're going to take a view on what to do about the cracked basin pedestal (& mirrors above the basins) some time in the new year, but frankly I think it would be a lot less bother to order a new pedestal ourselves and ask Schwartz to fit it and the mirrors... The only reason that we've persevered with M. Torelli for so long is that he has really good ideas, and we believe that things could be better if we let him do work that needs doing [the completely-wrong type of water filter specified by Jean-Marie, for instance will need replacing, and he told us of another type that is designed for second home usage].

We're hoping that Laurent will have fitted our door upstairs when we next go, and then we can move a lot of things to a semi-permanent "hidden" home where they can all be stacked up under a plastic sheet to keep the snow off.

Subject to it not being already covered in snow like last year when we arrived for Christmas!

Progress!

2011-11-18T18:55:00.001+01:00

We were totally happy with just the two coats of paint on the wall, so I cleaned the floor in that part of the kitchen this morning, and then we moved the Basque dresser into position.

Owing to my feeble shoulders, this was a more involved manoeuvre than if two burly blokes had done it; we had "baby steps" using other furniture to rest the top on after each stage of lifting it, and I made myself some steps for the last two stages [Ciporex is brilliant!].

Get ready

Get set

Go!

OK, not that straightforward

But we got there in the end!

Once the top was resting on the base, we plugged two table lamps into the wall light sockets [there is a very cagey system the French have that has a small hole into which can be plugged a bayonet fitting or a flush-fitting jack attached to the end of the wiring of a wall light.

Or, as in this case, attached to the end of the flexes of table lights. They are high enough up that we would have to stand on a chair to switch them on or off, but as they are connected as if they were wall lights, we can just use the normal switch. The Basque dresser is too wide to have left the wall lights in situ, so this is a happy compromise, and we get some mood lighting!

The blue dresser has to stay there for the moment, but will go

I think it looks great, and the kitchen feels as if it is finally starting to come together.

M. Baty thinks he will have the gallery to the 'dolphin' dresser repaired by Tuesday, but we are unlikely to manage to collect that, so it will have to wait till Christmas; shame, but never mind! But that won't stop us moving the other two dressers [hopefully] and getting under/behind them cleaned and all the furniture rearranged.

David also planted the very tall echinacea, very short rudbeckia & another rudbeckia together with an eryngium, so more things to look forward to in the garden come next summer.

It was a really lovely afternoon [this morning was very grey], but it really feels autumnal and as though winter isn't very far away...

Too good not to share!

2011-11-17T20:08:00.000+01:00

Alongside my glass of something fizzy (and David's glass of something-else fizzy: dark brown, if you're interested [whereas mine is a pale gold]; Thomas Becket Brune de Bourgogne), we are having some crisps, and are delighted to be able to tell you that a gaping hole in the knowledge-base of humanity has been filled!

Our crisps now come with instructions; finally, we will be able to eat them properly!

[I think this post may end up containing a ridiculous number of exclamation marks, but I feel that this would be justified.]

Apparently, crisps [chips, if you are from North America or the Antipodes] can be enjoyed as a snack as well as accompanying a meal.

[Wow! Using a favourite internet phrase: "/sarcasm" - you can probably work out what I mean!]

OK, we may differ in our opinions of whether crisps constitute an adequate side-order [personally, I would rather have a salad or chips (American/Antipodean: French fries) or even vegetables], but I'm guessing that I'm not the only person out there who didn't realise that if you are serving them as an accompaniment to a meal they should be re-heated for two to three minutes in a low oven.

"They" [Carrefour] advise against using a microwave oven.

Also good to know: should you not be greedy enough to finish your crisps [we're hungry people; we worked hard today], they can be stored in a cool, dry environment, but be sure to close the packet securely.

I'm currently debating with myself whether my grandmother [rest her soul] needs a lesson on sucking eggs...

[/sarcasm, again!]

Had a good day

2011-11-17T19:08:00.001+01:00

We got down to the house about 10.30 last night, and in order to maximise the time we've got here I painted a coat of Stain Stop on the most badly-marked parts of the kitchen wall I wanted to paint. It only needed 12 hours to dry, rather than the 16 I thought, so we were already up on the game.

This morning David contacted Laurent Mazij to see if he would come and fit us a door upstairs...

We've got a large space that's enclosed by three walls and a roof, but we can only access it by a ladder from the barn. There are a few things stored there, but only stuff like chairs that can be carried [relatively] easily up a ladder. If we had a door from the grenier, we could take all the spare furniture/doors/sanitary ware, etc, through to the other part of the house and risk that no-one will want to go to the bother of stealing our "treasures".

And then we will have a largely empty space to use as our "salon d'été", and can quickly find anything through the door if we need it back in a hurry (which is unlikely, to say the least).

We also wanted him to repair the flashing round the chimney; when Angelo and Jonnie swept it last year they told me that the tin has come adrift.

Weirdly enough, as I was just about to climb into my painting overalls, Laurent phoned to say he was coming over, now, so I put off giving the wall a coat of paint until after he'd been. We're so used to people planning a visit and then not showing up that someone threatening to arrive in less than half an hour and actually coming was lovely!

Even better was the news that the chimney is probably watertight, so doesn't need to be repaired. Laurent said to keep and eye on it during heavy rain to see if there is a leak, but the staining is probably from a long-repaired leak from before the roof was replaced. He would have done it, but reckoned that it was unnecessary.

Saves a bit of cash, so we're very happy with that solution!

He also wasn't phased by the door request, and understood that we only want a temporary thing, and yes we understand that our door we plan to re-use isn't very sturdy, but then the wall would be easily broken if anyone had a mind to do that, and the stuff we store upstairs is only of value to us [old clothes, anyone?], so I think we're all happy with the plan. He is to leave the beam alone, and build us a temporary step either side of it.

He says he will have it done within two weeks, the estimate being acceptable.

So we're keeping our fingers crossed.

[We do a lot of that, don't we?]

That meant I managed to get a coat of paint on the wall before lunchtime [OK, so lunch was about 3pm, but it still counts!], and unloaded the car before we headed off to the supermarket.

The wall looked pretty good, but still needed a second coat (but hopefully not a third), so when we got back from Bar-sur-Aube, I painted it again, and am now relaxing with a glass of something fizzy!

I really liked the paint I used: Crown "Breatheasy" matt emulsion in Antique Cream - it seemed to cover fairly well, and didn't spatter. After having used a lot of Dulux recently, and become totally disillusioned, I was pleasantly surprised.

And it really doesn't smell, either.

Haven't gone completely native yet: if I had I would have put the Basque dresser where it is to go and then painted round it - we have enough furniture with paint marks to know this frequently happens!

Whether or not it requires a third coat, we will be able to put the dresser in place tomorrow and get on with cleaning the kitchen.

Plumbers: missing in action, and David thinks unlikely to surface, but he said we were fine to use the original part of the central heating, so that's making the house a lot more comfortable!

Yesterday when we arrived the kitchen was 11°C, and the bedroom 7°C [and outside it's been below freezing], so it was brilliant to be able to light the fire in the woodburning stove and put the heating on. It must have been on the frost-stat setting, as David noticed the radiators were warm; that would explain why the kitchen was so "warm".

I found it quite interesting to note that the cellar was 12°C when I went down there to find a paintbrush; if the worst comes to the worst, I can sleep in there!

All round, a very heartening day; I hope yours was too.

Creating a new bit of garden

2011-11-16T12:17:00.001+01:00

Sycamore; soon to be gone

It is only a bit, but it's also a massive step forward as we've finally finished chopping down the sycamore.

I had cut it off about 3' from the ground, with the intention of asking M. Lorin to pull the stump out with his tractor. He moved away, we kept forgetting to ask if Claude or Jean-Luc would do it, the stump sprouted new branches, I cut them off...

I'm a lumberjack?

Long story short: we bought some stump killer, and David cut the stump down to the ground and we've put stump killer on it to (hopefully) kill it [I'm a bit sceptical; have seen sycamore stumps before]. I know we run the risk of honey fungus or some other root-attacking nasty, but we have some of that in the ground anyway, and we just needed to deal with something, so we're currently in the "keeping fingers crossed" phase.

With the tree finally out, then we could address the 'trench' - there was a sort of dip in the ground that I wanted filled before planting that part of the garden...

But the piles of sand and gravel had to be moved before that could happen...

Ground levelled; pathway laid out

Thankfully, David is an absolute honey, and piled them up higher, and moved the edge nearest the dip away from where I wanted to level it out.

Again, David was a huge help in levelling out the ground; we managed to get it less undulating. Flat would have been a challenge too far [and given the various slopes at that end of the garden, dead-level may have looked odd; that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!].

Weed-suppressing membrane in place

We laid some weed-suppressing membrane down, and I put down some grit to make a path. I've got the intention of doing all the other paths the same way, but we just ran out of time; it's amazing how it slips away.

There were a few plants we'd found on our travels, so they were installed and watered in, and all the bulbs were planted, too, so there will be something to look forward to next year.

Covering it with gravel

David planted bulbs in the rest of the garden, whilst I spread bark on the new bit of garden, until I ran out of bark.

The last time I was out at the house, I'd put bark on the area nearest the road [where previously I'd run out of bark] so most of the garden now has a layer of chippings. That stuff is brilliant! It really does help to keep the weeds down, and stops shoes getting muddy when we have to tread on the garden after it's rained.

Plants, bulbs, and bark = new bit of garden!

Obviously, I need another load of bark, but topping up areas where it has thinned out is less of a challenge than covering an area with existing plants that hasn't been covered previously. I'm hoping that I can lay my hands on some more bark and top up as necessary when the perennials have died down, and before the bulbs send up their leaves.

Hasn't happened any year yet, but a person can hope!

Looking from the road [new bark in foreground]

Study/Guest bedroom

2011-11-15T14:46:00.001+01:00

Luckily I had my lovely assistant to help with the assembly process

Ooh, this is the good bit!

Some of the books to be sorted

Murder mystery section

Other fiction [much smaller section]

As we have moved into our beautiful new bedroom, the old one has become the study/guest bedroom [courtesy of a sofa-bed from Janet: thanks, Janet!]. OK, should probably add: "/library" to that description!

And that should probably read: "will shortly become", as the moment we'd got the room arranged, we started temporarily storing other possessions in there whilst clearing the kitchen and entrance hall...

It will be great when the extraneous stuff is removed...

Once again a temporary dumping ground!

Breaking news

2011-11-11T13:41:00.001+01:00

David just spoke with M. Torelli who says he's on the mend [although David says he still sounds pretty groggy], and that he will come to the house when we are next there...

Fingers crossed.

Getting that pipework checked out and being able to leave the heating on without worrying will be a huge relief.

Bedroom

2011-11-11T13:16:00.001+01:00

Finally!

Why was this so difficult?!?

How great is this?

We're going to get lots of light in the winter

The overhang will help to keep out the sun in the summer

OK, still needs plastering/painting & nice doors...

Doors to bathroom and dressing room

Lovely new [super-king-size] bed

Stupid, stupid, stupid

2011-11-10T17:51:00.001+01:00

Passing the pain barrier: probably a good thing when it kicks in within ten minutes of starting swimming?

Passing the stupid barrier: probably never a good idea!

Having joined the gym yesterday, I forced myself to use it today, otherwise I would find an excuse and probably another one tomorrow [possibly a better rationalization, given that I would have more time], and then Monday's Body Balance class would be even more of a hurdle than it's going to be...

As the only reason for joining was to get back to swimming [paying monthly means the more times I go the cheaper it gets, rather than a local authority pool which gets more expensive the more times I go (and that is a bus ride away in each direction, so that bumps up the cost pretty quickly)], I hit the pool.

Never let yourself get unfit - it's much more of a struggle doing two lengths without drowning than it used to be!

I struggled my way up to 20 lengths, and then rationalized that if I swam a mile (65 lengths) rather than a kilometre (40 lengths; my usual swimming re-start distance) it would get over that mental 'hurdle'; in the past it's taken me a couple of months to work myself up to doing the extra distance. Not a huge leap, then, to persuade myself that if I swam 100 lengths, I would be cutting out two psychological stumbling blocks!

I know from walking, that the sooner I do my 'long' walk, the easier it is to repeat it; working my way up to it seems to stress me out more than any physical suffering I cause myself. So I applied the same logic to swimming: 100 lengths is my chosen distance, and having done it once, I will be able to do it again.

Probably not my smartest decision, but already I'm forgetting those last 20 lengths.

Oh, and that brainwave I had yesterday as a reason for choosing the further gym? A 20-minute walk home uphill seemed a great boost to my workout; today, not so much.

Not related to our house in France at all, but may well explain why today is not the day when I upload the photos of our beautiful new bedroom!

Joined that gym

2011-11-09T19:36:00.000+01:00

OK, so it's only a small start, but it's a start!

And it's the furthest away of the three possibles, so I get a good walk uphill all the way home.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that will get me 'off the blocks'...

Struggling, again

2011-11-08T20:22:00.002+01:00

I seem to have "issues" when I have unresolved issues on my mind...

I'm waiting for the electrician/builders to return in Maidstone, and the plumber in France to finally respond to repeated [but very polite] emails trying to ascertain whether our heating is safe to turn on and leave on in our absence. With falling temperatures, and worried in case we have a repeat of last winter's early onset [snow in the Alps already, so that's not such a weird idea], we are really keen to have that question answered, but don't want to risk offending M. Torelli and have him not come back and finish the rest of the work if we ask Schwartz to come and check out his work...

[This is France we're talking about, people; that's not an unrealistic concern!]

Apparently, having outstanding "stuff" going on [or more accurately, not going on], in my life has a paralysing effect on me.

I have whole lists of pleasurable things I could be doing, but it's as though I'm a bad mime and contained in an invisible box I can't escape.

I could be updating Flickr, posting pictures of how lovely the bedroom now looks [and that is top of my list of things that I'm not currently achieving], or even doing a meditation/going for a walk/joining a gym. It's not happening, and that makes me more anxious. I know it's a 'self-imposed' thing, but I don't know what the 'thing' is, or how to defeat it. I'm working really hard to just give myself permission to do things I enjoy...

Onset of ever-darkening nights and days-free-from-sun play a huge part, I suspect, but that doesn't ease the feelings of failing-because-I'm-not-trying-hard-enough.

That's the whole point: having some time off should involve doing nothing, or fun stuff; it shouldn't be this hard.

I don't know what the point of this post was other that to try and "break" the deadlock, but I find having posted something [however rubbish that offering] does somehow free me up to post something else [and hopefully something better], so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that that's the case here.

And that I haven't alienated anyone with what is not intended to sound self-pitying [I don't feel at all sorry for myself], but I suspect does just that!

Oh well, I most enjoy the honest blogs/bloggers, so feel obliged to be honest myself, and that's probably not a bad thing.

Happy Hallowe'en!

2011-10-31T19:35:00.000+01:00

This should probably go on my other blog, but I've got a tenuous link, so I'm putting it here.

[Hopefully this time next year I will have some produce from our potager, and that might include a pumpkin. See, I told you it was tenuous!]

Apparently I've turned into a bit kid: having enjoyed last year's Jack-o'-lantern so much, I wanted another pumpkin to try again this year. Well, I bought a small one, but then got seduced by a much bigger one when we went to Sainsbury's. It seemed a bit ridiculous buying another one, just because I wanted a larger "canvas", but David was very encouraging, so I now have two lanterns this year.

[I have my sneaking suspicions that David doesn't really care one way or the other about carved pumpkins...

I think he just cares about the soup!]

So, I've had a productive afternoon armed with a sharp knife, an ice-cream scoop, a soup spoon and a teaspoon...

Not to mention shallots, carrots, and various spices, you'll be pleased to hear, David!

Apples & Pears

2011-10-26T17:38:00.000+02:00

No, not Cockney rhyming slang, actual apples and pears!

"Friandise"

We went to Brogdale Farm Apple Festival on Sunday: we are hoping to find ideas for what sort of apples (and other fruit) to grow when we get the potager more sorted out...

[We spoke with Vincent who was recommended by Bernard, the mayor, who says he can dig us a trench to bury a membrane (thinking 600mm damp proof course) to prevent pernicious weeds from recolonising the ground I spent so much time clearing in the summer; so hopefully the weeds will stay in the meadow, and we won't have to spray the couch grass and bindweed.]

"Blenheim Orange"

We aim to plant trees next autumn, so need to taste apples now. I think at Brogdale Farm we can order grafted trees from any of their stock; a tailor-made solution.

It turns out that I really like cooking apples and crab apples [I knew that anyway, but it came as a surprise just how fussy I was in turning my nose up at virtually all the "eating" apples!]

"Swan's Egg"

We did the walking tour, and Alan was wonderful with his talks and tasting sessions; I think we'll schedule a visit if they do an Open Day in the plum season.

We also loved the marquee where there was a display of an incredible variety of apples, old and new, including continental ones (good to have the German speaker with me).

I think we probably spent the most time of all the people choosing a bagful of apples, but we're doing research, not just eating yummy fruit!

Of all the varieties in the tent where we could taste samples and buy apples, our favourites were:

"Friandise", a really tatty looking small apple with a good crunch and sharper taste
"Blenheim Orange", 'proper' red-and-yellow apple
"Swan's Egg", a non-gritty flavoursome pear, and
"Balder", a yummy, crunchy cooking apple

On the ~~tasting~~ walking tour we really enjoyed:

"Bergamotte Fondante d'Été", a can't-get-enough pear
"Great Expectations", a really crunchy tart-enough eating apple
"Ananas Reinette", a sweeter apple
"Gorgeous", which really was a gorgeous, red crab apple
A302/2, another crab apple

"Balder"

So it's given us plenty to think about. A gentleman there said we could plant this autumn, but I think I'd rather be sure that the ground is clear [and the membrane is in place] and order some "bespoke" plants after we've had a chat to someone when they are less busy.

But it feels as though we are really moving forward; I can't wait to have our own apple trees, and am even looking forward to the challenge of creating our own espaliers [huge difference in price if someone else has done that initial training] - just need some posts and wires!

Updating

2011-10-25T19:13:00.000+02:00

[A bit.]

We came back from France last Monday, and I've since been trying to get the house in Maidstone sorted [another "work-in-progress", sadly].

Plan A was to get the kitchen at «Chez le Baron» thoroughly cleaned and arrange the various buffets in a better position and particularly to impose some order on their contents! We've known this had got to be done, so had got into a habit of just stuffing things out of sight, rather than only keeping kitchen-related items in there...

For instance, I know exactly where to find a grape-picking basket, white spirit, furniture brushes and all my spare bocaux and empty bottles for when I get around to decanting some more liqueurs. I don't know where there are more than two soup plates, or the bulk of our tea-towels (or indeed other towels and more than one spare set of bedding; we're washing one set as we're using the other).

Another change in plan, though, when we looked at the wall having moved the first buffet out of the way: it was in a frightful state - it's the only remaining wall from before the workmen started, and it showed. There were black splashes over a quarter of it, a massive crack running from ceiling until just above the floor, gobs of hemp-lime insulation [as though someone who likes porridge as much as I do had thrown a hissy fit (and their breakfast!)], and lumps of plaster and mortar. Not to mention chunks taken out as though a different maniac had been allowed to practise using a cold chisel... Or the huge gap at the bottom to admit rodents.

So, I spent half a day scraping off the extraneous gunk, and using up boxes of filler I'd got left over from decorating Leander Road and Ormonde Court. It being France, we had a lull on Sunday as two half [large] boxes of filler was not enough, and France doesn't open on a Sunday, and Monday was spent applying another box and a half of filler.

Needless to say, the idea that we could sand off the next day and get some Stain Stop on the black marks, before giving a coat of paint on Wednesday soon became obvious as flawed: the filler finally dried out by the following Sunday, so I spent a couple of hours on Monday sanding away all the excess. I'm not impressed with the French filler, but it looks a lot better.

Given the time the filler took to go off, we decided to leave the Stain Stop till the next visit, and then we can be absolutely sure that it's fully dry.

Luckily, the weather was fantastic, so we took advantage and did some gardening.

The last time I was there I managed to find homes for most of my fiction books (by assembling two large Ikea bookshelves in what used to be the bedroom, but is now the study/guest bedroom), and we got the bedroom in some sort of order, so it is starting to look more like home.

But as always, I'm getting more practice at being zen and patient!

Plumber: missing-in-action, but being actively stalked! Sad we have to do that, but until we've had it confirmed that there are no leaks in the central heating pipes, we daren't switch on the heating and leave the house. Given temperatures last November/December dropped to nearly -20°C [and in January to -27°C], we're really keen to make sure the heating can be left on constantly on the lowest setting to avoid freezing the pipes/sanitary ware...

So, we're trying to arrange a visit to allow M. Torelli to check the pipes, and for ourselves to do some more kitchen-cleaning [not that I haven't done enough of that in Maidstone; it's always galling to clean a place after tenants move out (that should be done by the tenants), but moreso when they are someone else's tenant! Oh, well, Daniel has blown getting any more of his mail taken to the agent so they can forward it to him; it can sit in a pile until we can be bothered to send it back (and I suspect that will be as urgent to me as cleaning up his mess was to him).].

Hmm, the joke about "which Christmas?" when we say we want the work finished for Christmas looks like it will run and run!

We kicked off the process in December 2009, and still don't know when it will be finished.

We did have another email from T+B: apparently Jean-Marie is also being made redundant, and they want us to pay the last outstanding invoice. Thankfully, Joëlle had included itemisation of what had been 100% completed, so we were able to email back a list of all the things that we haven't recieved (that have been allegedly done) including official sign-off that the work has been completed satisfactorily, and the approval for that from the Mairie. Oddly, it's gone quiet from them since.

I know David would probably pay the last invoice were we to get all the officially-required paperwork, but as it hasn't been done, I think that's unlikely.

And of course the plans still need correcting on the electronic version...

Still feels like being in limbo, but at least the house is coming together as a "proper" home, and the garden is becoming more established. It will be lovely to spend Christmas there!

Hi, I'm crawling back!

2011-09-30T17:21:00.000+02:00

Ooh, in my absence they've changed Blogger, and now I'm lost!

What finally gave me a kick-start was an offer for 50% off from Photobox that landed in my inbox this morning...

Valid until 5pm today, so I got the hurry-up to use up one of the photobook credits I bought [to make me update the photobook; I couldn't see it happening otherwise!]. I know that the special offers aren't available to use together, but sometimes the website lets you use two of them...

I think it's kosher: the 50% off, only comes on the bit of the photobook I haven't already paid for, but either way, the website let me use it, and I chipped away a bit at my "To Do" list!

So, I'm not posting about the house [which is looking way better] just yet, but having 'broken radio silence' I'm sure I'll get around to it within the next couple of days...

Just have to figure my way round the new-look Blogger, first.

I've crashed and burned

2011-09-11T16:47:00.001+02:00

Sorry, no posts for a while; low morale/energy - will post again when things get better...

[Hopefully soon.]

Scrubbing

2011-09-02T21:01:00.002+02:00

Beams, lintels, blue & black lines off walls, & floor tiles; 8¾ hours and I've got the bedroom looking more like a room, rather than a building site.

I'm icing my wrist [yes, I know it was stupid, but sometimes you have to go through the pain (stupid?) barrier to get things done], going to cram some dinner down, (hopefully) get a (much needed; pew) bath and drive to Vendeuvre in time to fetch my beloved husband.

If I still had my superpower of endurance-in-the-face-of-sense-and/or-pain, I would have assembled the bed & made it up, but for once I'm being (more) sensible...

Boil, pasta, boil!

Hope you have a great weekend; I'm going to - my loving ~~slave~~ chap is going to help me to begin to reassemble the house, and that's the start of getting it all how we want it to look, and I'm looking forward to it immensely.

[Notice how I'm completely ignoring the issue of clear silicon sealant smeared on the newly-cleaned tiles? See, I'm getting good at this zen stuff!]

And in view of the vendange finishing, I think I can wish everyone "Bon Santé", too!

More awesomeness!

2011-09-01T16:21:00.002+02:00

I've just had my own personal "petit tour" of tooting to celebrate the end of the vendange; Marianne with her car full and Loïc with Claire's carload of people called on their way round the village and came and turned round in the drive and beeped at me.

I bet they're relieved, and I'm so happy for them.

Happiness all round then, for I'm feeling massively happy that our building project is finally [well, very nearly] finished!

Marvel at the awesomeness!

2011-09-01T15:49:00.006+02:00

Before and after shots for today.

M. Torelli has done a brilliant job with the shower enclosure; we would have much preferred one without edges and the bar holding it together, but trying to convince anyone here to do that would have been a stretch too far.

OK, so Chris managed it, but he did it himself in England!

Never mind, it looks great (considering), and I'm happy with that.

The issue with the pedestal for the washbasin is (hopefully) open to persuasion by M. T: Lapeyre say we've had the column too long [bought in July; doesn't matter that the building trade shuts down for a month in August], and even though it's clearly a manufacturing fault, tough!

He's hoping to email them and get a better outcome. Otherwise he has some enamel repair liquid that he will use...

Or I will see how much another *bleep* column costs and fork out for that; to be decided later when David has had a chance to see it.

Owing to an attack of wussiness, the testing for the central heating will happen when the weather is cooler!

He has to come back to fit the taps to the other basin/(hopefully) a new pedestal, and various finishing touches to hide the red and blue plumbing pipes. Mirrors also a sticky point; the plan for that is as Miroiterie Champagne haven't responded to his email he sent in July [they may only just have reopened after a month off], he's going to call in tomorrow lunchtime, on the basis that a big bloke standing in front of the counter is much harder to ignore than an email!

But all the messy bits are done, so I can clean up the bedroom now. But not tonight.

Jill, look away now!

2011-08-31T16:43:00.005+02:00

I really don't think the French 'get': "I'm taking photos of spiders". I think all the words add up, and make a sentence that says 'Maria is taking photos of spiders'. but I think it loses a lot in translation!

M. Torelli seemed bemused when he came to fetch me to ask a question, and I was upside down in a lavender bush with my camera.

However, for those of you who do 'get' it, here's a pic of a chap [chapess?] whose web I inadvertently destroyed whilst I was trying to rejuvenate the very dilapidated clump of lavender.

M. Torelli has arrived

2011-08-31T14:07:00.003+02:00

I asked him if he'd had a good holiday...

Turns out he hasn't been, yet.

So why did we have to wait four weeks for him to come and do the day and a half left to finish the job?

I really don't understand the mentality behind that.

Quite happy now that David hasn't sent him a cheque!

Well, if we have to wait needlessly, I don't see why he shouldn't have to...

OK, on our part it's the poor service we are receiving from Royal Mail's mail redirection service that caused a delay in us receiving his invoice, but on his part, I'm just mystified.

He's going to speak to the supplier about the pedestal for the basin; on having a better look, the fissure is actually about 8" long. I'm going to be really unhappy if his solution is just to smear some porcelain repair over it.

Hmmm.

M. Torelli DID email us

2011-08-31T08:01:00.001+02:00

But as it was nearly 8pm UK time (so 9pm here), I'd already shut my computer down by then.

He's (allegedly) coming this afternoon and tomorrow.

As I will have a cheque for him, it's in his interest for him to show!

Good news

2011-08-30T19:30:00.002+02:00

Obviously I have to check it out, but I've just had Claire and Marianne here, and was showing them the bedroom and bathroom [which they think are lovely], and saying that we needed to wait for the plastering to be done before the room will be finished...

They reckon that with the placo, you only need to sand down the plaster covering the joints/screw holes and apply a coat of undercoat and then you can paint or paper it straight away.

Marianne said she's helped Loïc and Guinelle do just that in their homes.

I do hope that's so in our case! [I'm currently having a horror that we have "special" plasterboard that needs plastering before it can be painted...]

I'm not sure who to ask, but I'll find someone.

The general feeling is that plasterboard no longer needs to be plastered, and that Jean-Marie was probably just looking to line his pockets further...

So it looks as though most of the finishing is in my capability.

Yay!

And I think I would regain some of my enthusiasm for decorating if it was to finish off our home for us, rather than to make a place attractive for sale or rent.

I'm sure David has mentioned some lime-based paint that goes straight onto plasterboard...

*Goes off, muttering to self, to look things up on t'internet*

Thank goodness that's done, part 2!

2011-08-30T18:54:00.003+02:00

The first lot of vendangeurs have finished their harvest: we've just had a succession of cars go through the village, all tooting on their horns. I suspect they will be back later; normally one go is not enough!

I don't think it's Claire's lot; they promised to come and toot by the house when they were done, so I have that to look forward to.

At least the last few days have been much better for them: we've had the sort of warm (not boiling hot) sunny days that make working outside a pleasure.

[Which has probably added to my grumpiness at being inside, scrubbing!]

Thank goodness that's done!

2011-08-30T18:21:00.003+02:00

I've finally finished cleaning the gunk off the tiles in the bathroom - it looks really nice.

It didn't honestly look bad before (just kind of dingy, somehow), but now that everything is shiny, it looks gorgeous!

OK, so it's taken me the best part of four days, but I'm never going to have to do that again; a spring clean is going to be a breeze in comparison.

Still thinking strongly about importing an English tiler (Grant's guy sounds brilliant, and will travel) for the future, and seeing if Henri will travel from the Dordogne; Karen says he's happy to do plumbing for people and earn a bit of extra money in his holidays, so who knows?

Needless to say, M. Torelli's promise to email and let me know whether he is coming tomorrow or Thursday hasn't materialised; and don't think it's because he works till 6pm like my dad used to - he's normally finished by 4pm or 4.30 at the latest.

Ho, hum.

David spoke to M. Torelli

2011-08-29T16:07:00.003+02:00

He bought the taps (without consulting us) because with our water pressure he believes the thermostatic valve will be better.

Oh, well, he's managed to charge us an extra €600 or €700 (on which he will make a small profit), but has talked himself out of installing the pump (on which he would probably make a similar profit, but then have his time on top) that he was telling us about!

He's also probably set me off looking for another plumber for the next time we want some work done [which might be the filtration system he recommended or the pump]; I really struggle to work with someone who makes a decision for me without consulting me because it's "best".

If I'm going to have to accept a compromise, at least let me know in advance, don't just force it on me and expect me to be happy.

We have coped with a non-thermostatic shower for the last six and a half years, and would have liked the chance to try the one we wanted. NOT being allowed to try what we want, means I will be thinking that I'd like to try a different plumber next time!

He told David that he has some repair kit for mending the cracked column; I am REALLY unhappy about that idea - if it has enough of a fault that it cracks during firing, it is not a strong item. Had we been charged seconds price for a flawed item, I might feel differently, but coming from near The Potteries, I resent being charged full price for something a reputable factory would have probably smashed.

I can remember why I hate dealing with French workmen: it seems to sap my energy without ever achieving anything. Next time I don't think I'm going to let David talk me out of finding workmen in England and bringing them over to France!

Oh, and he's not coming tomorrow; Wednesday or Thursday, probably...

Plumber re-starting tomorrow?

2011-08-29T10:17:00.002+02:00

We don't know, he might mail us at 6pm tomorrow to tell us he's not coming [he's done that before], or he might show up.

But, either way, when he does show, I'm not looking forward to it: we noticed (slowly, admittedly), that he's installed the exact type of shower tap we said we didn't want instead of one that matches the bath tap, and now I've discovered a crack in one of the wash basin columns.

It's on the side, and fairly narrow, but it's dark coloured and 4 or 5" long, so hardly invisible. I can believed that he didn't notice it whilst installing the basins, but having seen it, it's not OK that we pay an enormous amount of money for something that's already broken.

As I say, I'm not looking forward to dealing with him.

Hopefully he'll be OK, change the taps and column without complaint and all we'll have to contend with is yet another delay...

But sadly my experience of work in France leads me to expect that he'll be unreasonable, try to push us into accepting what we don't want/broken items and storm off in a huff!

Please keep your fingers crossed for me that it's the former scenario I am reporting on when he's next been, not the latter.

Feels nippier this morning

2011-08-29T08:18:00.001+02:00

9°C this morning when I opened the shutters; the neighbours all tell us summer is over after the 15th of August, and we're never quite sure, but it certainly feels autumnal today (and the leaves started turning over two weeks ago).

Scrubbing tiles

2011-08-28T19:37:00.002+02:00

I've just spent another 7+ hours scrubbing the tiles in the bathroom; they are starting to look much better, and I have done the bits that would be more difficult if I'd left them till after the parois are fitted.

Am cursing M. Waeber, and his infatuation for spreading gunk about: I have found smears all over the place and trickles large enough in various areas to identify three different coloured products!

The purple parts of the shower "tray" I'm not sure I will ever manage to remove, which is a shame as it gives the grout a different finish, and goes completely odd-looking when wet.

The green bits on the bath I'm treating with a non-scratch scratchy and Cif, and hoping that doesn't ruin the coating.

The clear bits on the window I'm leaving until I'm reunited with one of my excellent blue 95p scrapers [or I find a similar thing in France].

Which of the above is smeared all over the tiles, I don't know, but it is highly resistant to removal, and is seriously making me lean towards bringing an English tiler out if we ever get around to doing the planned work upstairs!

Feeling guilty over being sneaky

2011-08-27T10:07:00.002+02:00

I told my beloved husband a "lie by omission" if there is such a thing: I said I was probably going to have a bath, and if he called I might be in it, knowing that I might be round at the gîte, more like!

And now I'm feeling guilty about not mentioning it; there's no sinister intent, but I love him finding out things from reading my blog!

And I want him to be proud of me for going out on my own without him there as backup translator; that's a massive step forward for me, and I didn't want to become a wreck thinking about it and talking about it. Sometimes keeping a secret can make you stronger...

Not always, obviously, and it depends what you are hiding, but I'm hoping I am forgiven for trying to be more confident around French people when I don't have him as my safety net.

Speaking of which, I'm currently trying to psych myself up to going to the market!

Lovely meal

2011-08-26T22:27:00.002+02:00

I had a wonderful time around at the gîte this evening; Claire had cooked a couple of goats' cheese and vegetable tarts, and we started with some tomatoes from Fabrice's garden - green tiger, orange and red ones - which really brought home to me what I'm hoping to achieve with the potager.

They were very good about me not eating meat/bread/sweet things, and not drinking alcohol or fruit juice. The nearest I could explain is that I'm trying to avoid getting diabetes [which is true; with an uncle and cousin who are insulin dependant, it's a real risk], my French doesn't go far enough to say that the diet I'm [mostly] following is aiming to smooth out the peaks in blood sugar so that the strain on the adrenal glands is lessened. I don't think I'd manage to convince too many English people about that; my acupuncturists both think it's a great idea, and I'm certainly feeling an enormous benefit.

I don't know how open to alternative/complementary medicine they are in France [in Germany I would have no hesitation (should my German be up to it, which it's not!) saying that I'm following a doctor's recommendations via a book recommended by my acupuncturist, and that I'm taking various vitamin and mineral supplements as well and Chinese and Ayurvedic herbs], so I tend to just say 'the doctor recommended it', which is true but not the whole story.

It also gives a bit of legitimacy to what I feel can come across as just plain awkwardness, and makes me feel less of a freak for not eating/drinking things that in all conscience I know don't suit me.

And it's not a weight-loss diet (sadly)!

They understood that I can't eat meat, and the rest I'm avoiding for health reasons, and were perfectly nice about it. I don't think they can envisage not drinking coffee, and were astonished that you can get an English person who doesn't drink tea!

We chatted about this and that, and Eric was telling me about his job in IT for the marines; he's a civilian now, so they don't have to move house every three years, which is a huge relief for them all [particularly Marianne, I suspect!]. He also told me that the English invented humour; I don't think he was joshing me, but it seems so unlikely - he said that a Frenchman escaping the guillotine brought back humour from England.

Having watched the TV programme that was playing in the background, I can believe that their TV is a certain way behind some other nations, perhaps? Lucien was loving the act that spent about three minutes pretending to be drunk and spitting water at each other; but I suspect it truly is aimed at small boys!

Eric, Loïc, Fabrice, Claire and Marianne all seem to have a much more developed sense of humour, and there was plenty of joking; it's nice that I can make a joke and someone gets it, for a change!

Claire and Marianne were so sweet; they walked me home - I would have been perfectly happy walking by myself, but I think the influx of strangers for the vendange probably made them more cautious than they would ordinarily have been. It's weird: I was fine, but after I got in I checked the house all over! I think some of their spooked-ness transferred.

I couldn't have explained if I tried that I'm used to walking home in Brixton (without too many bad incidents, and thankfully each time something might have happened I had an attack of really bad attitude and escaped unscathed), and small-village France doesn't hold too many terrors for me.

We saw an owl, so I regard that (without any supporting evidence) as a good omen!

Goodnight, and I hope you sleep as well as I think I'm going to.

Not-great-things-about-the-French vs great-things-about-the-French

2011-08-26T17:19:00.002+02:00

Not great things:

French workmen are disgustingly messy; I'm trying to polish up the tiles in the bathroom to get everything all nice and shiny, and I don't know what the deposit over half of them is. It's behaving like silicone sealant: an invisible enemy that prevents shininess! I've tried a heavier duty scratchy [vs the non-scratch scratchy that I'm currently using], and that is scratching the tiles; I've never had that happen before. It's not grout, because the odd bits of grout I'm coming across are coming off quite easily, and it's splashed all over the window, too, so I know I'm not making it up. I wish they could leave behind a clean job; what should have taken me half a day will probably take me into next week, and I've had to go and buy additional supplies of Cif and M. Propre!
French project managers apparently leave their brains in the safe before going to site meetings; OK another beef about T+B - when a client is describing an area as a "potager", if you don't know what this means [despite all other French people seeming to understand the term], please ask instead of instructing/allowing the builders to compact rocks and subsoil around the gas tank. How much easier my life would be if I wasn't trying to dig weeds out of solid clay interspersed with rocks; the soil round here isn't great, but that's the hard to reach stuff that is making up my potager. All the other things have had me mad at Jean-Marie's lack of attention to detail or lack of professionalism, but this just has me thinking the guy must be a moron. And that's not normally how I view people, even people I've come to dislike because their actions are impacting negatively upon me!

Great things:

Our neighbours are really friendly; even those from out of town - I'm going round to the gîte this evening for a meal with Marianne and Eric and the vendangeurs. It's so kind of them to invite me, and they didn't seem phased by me being vegetarian. I was the bravest I've been at accepting solo invites, and said "yes!" straight away. It helps, of course, that I know Eric speaks English, so if I get really stuck I can always ask for help, and also I'm back on the wagon so I won't be getting one-glass-of-champagne-fuddled-brain!
Despite the bureaucracy-gone-mad it can be surprisingly easy to get things done; we've had Schwartz come and just move electrical points without any bother, the postie has a key to the letterboxes so can deposit a parcel without me having to trek to Essoyes to fetch it because I missed her visit, and David can just pop along to see Bernard if we need some mayoral advice [I want a trench digging so that I can pernicious weed-proof my potager using damp-proof membrane; I had an idea that would work, but having seen it recommended on a gardening website, I'm much more confident in 'going for it'] and find out if we can take down the trees by the road so we can strengthen the hedge. Also our favourite ex-baker has a key and will let people into the house in our absence!

Putting it that way, it looks as though all things are equal, but they're not; the friendliness of the people far outweighs the idiocy I've come across during the building project, and I can always bribe a tiler to come out from England the next time we want things done!

I'm off to attack another few tiles with the very mild cleaning product and lots of elbow grease, and then bathe so I'm presentable for dinner!

Now a BIG lorry went past

2011-08-26T12:22:00.003+02:00

But that was Marnais, so I suspect he's picking up the grapes that the people in the coach picked earlier...

[That would be the same Marne that wants the Aube to lose its champagne appellation, yet buys Aubois grapes to improve the Marnais champagne; go figure?! I think they're just sore that in blind tastings it's often an Aubois champagne that gets the Medaille d'Or!]

Flash-of-clarity moment

2011-08-26T11:56:00.002+02:00

I was looking out of the door, at the rain, and musing why the evening primroses should all still be happily flowering...

When it occurred to me that they are crepuscular [come out with the failing light], and flower during the night, so that they are still blooming away means that today's light level hasn't achieved anything lighter than "dusk".

I'm not a botanist, but looking at the sky between the rain showers I'm prepared to believe that it could be evening; only shear bloody-mindedness is preventing me from switching on the light.

[Although thinking about my eyesight, I'm going to rectify that example of pig-headedness straight away!]

And if this seems an odd post [I still haven't figured out how to get Blogger to show the time posted as the time it is here], the four quarters for midday have just rung, and I'm waiting for the lunchtime Angelus; probably not going to get too much lighter than that?!

A coach just went past!

2011-08-26T10:51:00.002+02:00

Now that probably doesn't sound weird, until I tell you that the road past our house doesn't go anywhere; about 500 yards up the hill it hits a "crossroads", where the other three options are all unmade farm tracks [one of which peters out after a couple of hundred yards], so it's not really used very much apart from farm vehicles & by the people whose logs are stored up there.

Given the dress of the passengers, I'm guessing that they are migrant workers come for the vendange, and as Michel and Claire's pickers have all finished behind me I think they must work for Denis?

Not sure, but am going to be watching out for the coach again!

Birds...

2011-08-25T13:26:00.002+02:00

Swallows are tearing around the meadow; low to the ground, in a formation it seems. A last chance to eat as much as possible before they migrate again?

I don't know. I would have thought it would be too late for another brood, and someone told us a couple of weeks ago they had already left for the summer. At least they are not trying to come into the house at the moment.

There must be a couple of dozen of them, and they are almost moving like bats; I'm glad I could see their white chests, otherwise I'd be having to peer harder...

Sad news about the turtle doves; they've been driving me potty with their flirting on the fence/wall - we already had a nest full of babies poo-ing on our lovely new floor in the grenier, so I really didn't want any more of that sort of thing, thank you.

Each time I hear them cry, I've been muttering about "crapping babies" and "sodding Bill Oddie" as I'm sure he's assured us on TV that parent birds take away their babies' droppings so that predators can't find the nest.

Well they don't! And I'm not happy about it; neither is David, who has been chief pooper-scooper this season as he's been Xylophèning the floor upstairs.

That all changed a couple of days ago when I located the *ahem* smell upstairs; I'd been catching an unpleasant whiff, but as it reminds me of the bin when David has cooked meat/eaten a saucisson I didn't really think too much about it. Then I was by a window and wondered whether we've had another rodent die in the cavity behind the insulation.

Thankfully a spare cast-iron ceiling [no, not really spare, David, I will find a home for it, promise!], was in the way of my foot...

Landing on a several-day old corpse!

Yuk!

I felt so sorry for the bird, its beautiful plumage [no it's not a Norwegian Blue, why do you ask?] serving no point any longer. I think it might be a fledgling that we'd seen on the window ledge that didn't realise the exit was between boards high up on the side wall, and had dashed itself against the window in an attempt to escape.

But seeing the lone turtle dove on the fence, it might have been the female.

I really wasn't up to checking too closely as I was disposing of the remains, and the *ahem* "passengers" that had accumulated. I'm fully expecting the bin to be full of flies, but if I leave it long enough perhaps they will be dead, too.

[I'm not that disgusting, but mainly produce compost and recycling, and wash everything that I put in the bin to avoid smells; it takes me several weeks to produce a carrier bag's worth of rubbish.]

It reminded me of last year's redstart nest that never made it; dead hatchlings littered about the floor upstairs...

At least all the redstarts, goldfinches and linnets I've seen this season look in blooming health; they certainly appreciate my efforts in the garden - I've only dead-headed things that didn't attract seed-feeders in the first place, after the insects had finished with them, and I'm sure our garden is one of the most wildlife-friendly in the area.

And the other nest of turtle doves seemed fine when David came face-to-face with a sitting hen as he was Xylophèning joists above our new bedroom; he didn't know who was more surprised!

Visitors

2011-08-24T20:11:00.002+02:00

I thought I recognised a lady going into the church yard with her husband and son, and when she came out she and her husband came towards the house.

So I went to say hello, and it was Marianne and Eric from Brest!

Loïc went back to the house, but I wouldn't have recognised him, and I didn't remember Eric till I was speaking with them; thank goodness Marianne looks the same. I can't believe it's four years since I've seen her, and it must be over six since I saw Eric & Loïc.

They are helping Claire with the vendange, and are thoroughly grateful the weather has changed back to summer. Marianne said they got soaked through this morning, but thankfully managed to dry our this afternoon; I'm so glad that I'm not doing that.

Eric said they drove down yesterday from Brittany, and it was ten degrees cooler there, so I bet they are glad the storm has lowered the temperature. I said I'd made the mistake of opening all the windows for too long (being English and wanting the sun/warmth), and had allowed the heat into the house. They said the old stone houses take a long time to warm up, but when they are warm they stay that way. Doubly so when you have super-duper insulation!

Guinelle didn't come this time because she has a new baby, Luka, who is two months old today. I think I'm in line to see some baby pictures next time Marianne visits the cemetery...

Mind you, if he's half as cute as his mum it won't be hard saying "what a lovely baby"!

Eww!

2011-08-24T19:05:00.002+02:00

One of those big orange slugs must have crawled into the house to commit suicide this morning; I got back from my walk and opened up all the windows again, and found it in the bowl of an old (decorative) ladle on the windowsill, at the end of a disgusting trail of drying slime.

Even the slime was orange.

Yuk!

Foraging/scrumping

2011-08-24T18:11:00.002+02:00

The weather finally blew itself out, and this afternoon turned into a perfect one for walking - lots of cloud cover to supplement the sunblock, and a decent (though not cold) breeze - so I went out for a bimble.

I've been having a bit of a mental block about my normal route; it has felt just too long, and that's hampering me, so today I decided to force the issue.

Turns out I coped fine: took me 1 hour and 45 minutes (when I'm fit I can do it in 1 hr 15 min!), but that did include plenty of "snack" stops, so it's probably not as bad as it sounds!

And having done it once, I now "know" I can do it again. [Seem to get this issue every year, so it might make sense to just start each season with that walk!]

Scrumping:

M. Lorin's apple [he has said in the past to help ourselves, but I haven't asked him recently if that's still OK] - very nice, and much better than anything I'm finding in the shops;
rapeseed leaves - the ones that have sown themselves, rather than the newly sown crop. Experience tells me they're going to be ploughed in anyway, but they still belong to someone;
grapes - I came past a vineyard that hadn't been harvested yet, so took a small part of a bunch to "check they were OK" - very nice actually, and much sweeter than last year!

Foraging:

hazelnuts;
sloes;
blackberries;
damsons [OK, so they were mine, and don't count];
pig damsons [from Isabelle's tree; they don't collect them, and her tree seems to fruit later than ours];
plums [not sure if they are ours or Philippe's, they were right by the boundary but on the road side of the hedges]

I'm sure I managed to get my 'five a day' on my walk, so I'm having pasta for dinner!

POOR vendangeurs!

2011-08-24T10:19:00.003+02:00

It is throwing it down, as it has been for most of the morning (apart from the times when it was only raining steadily).

I've just seen a van-load of people going down the road by the house; I don't know if they've packed it in because it's just too horrible, or whether they have finished their vines at the back of us and are heading on to another hillside somewhere.

It really is spectacular: we had thunderstorms during the night [heavy enough to wake me through the ear plugs], and the odd rolls of thunder even now.

[If the lightning and thunder were closer together I'd be unplugging the phone line & computer, but they are far enough apart to have me wondering if that particular bolt of lightning doesn't have any thunder associated with it.]

We've "lost" the far end of the valley, but I can just about make out the wood over the Mairie; my standard for 'completely closed in weather' (cloud, rain, or fog) is when we can't see the Mairie at all!

There's a trail of beige-coloured water heading down the gutter as a little bit of our drive washes away; it's not very bad, but it takes ages to clean up again.

David was sure the heat (especially coming on so completely and suddenly after weeks of rain) would lead to thunderstorms, and he was right!

Today is the first day that temperatures have dropped since morning: it was 22°C, and is now down to 18°C. It's taking longer in the house: the temperature in the kitchen is 23°C, but as I have had to close all the windows to prevent rain coming in and ruining our wooden windowsills, only the door is open to permit air flow.

I've had to shut the other doors as I don't want rain marking the stone floors. Tiles won't stain, but until we find some sort of treatment for the bare stone I'm always super careful to try and prevent marks.

I'm now very glad I've done as much dead-heading/cutting down as I did, because rain on top of the warmth of late summer might well lead to another growth flush in all my plants.

And we're back to where we started: a tractor has just gone down the road with a trailer of grape crates on the back; I suspect that poor person has been loading them up after the vendangeurs left earlier.

That bolt of lightning was followed almost immediately by the crack of thunder, so I'm off!

Interesting times...

2011-08-23T13:38:00.002+02:00

We've had an email from T+B stating that owing to the worsening financial situation they have had to halve the company; Joëlle and M. Petitpas are no longer working there...

But they're going to continue to provide the same level of service!

I've had several of the firms working for us ask us how they can be so busy [so busy that they forget major things/don't spot glaring errors/tell people to do the exact opposite of what's required/turn up (hours or days) late because they have too many meetings scheduled, etc, etc], yet always be short of money. How those firms know they are short of money, I don't know, but we knew they were struggling back in January 2010.

We don't know how they manage to have lots of clients/work and no money; it's not as if they come in lowest of the quotes for that sort of work! We chose them initially because of their apparent system; it was only when we were on hand to see what was happening 'on the ground' during Phase 1b that we realised that was all a sham, and by that point it was too late to back out of using them again; I just had to watch everything like a hawk to make sure all the many and varied errors got corrected.

I'm not sure whether we were intended to receive that mail, or whether it was a case of 'mail everyone in the address book'.

I don't think they're sly enough to include us as a dig that we still didn't pay the last few hundred Euro we owed.

We we're still waiting for them to correct the plans before we paid anything further, and the loo is only just connected over a year later! Plus, I'm deducting money for all the project managing I've had to do, so I think we've pretty much written off our plans and any money we did owe.

The fact that they really pissed me off by excluding me from all communication during the latter half of our work [deliberately? I don't know; could just be another symptom of poor job management] but I received that one makes me think it was the sending out equivalent of "reply to all".

To be honest, if they are treating all their clients as badly as they handled our job during the second part, they deserve to go out of business! We know the commune had to cancel the 14th July celebration meal because works have over-run, so it doesn't sound as though they have managed to gain any control over the scheduling of works...

At least we can take consolation that since Jean-Marie declared our job finished at the end of last year, all the work we have had to manage completely by ourselves has gone much more smoothly, and relations with the various trades have been much more harmonious.

We haven't even had any raised voices, let alone any feet stamped!

I've given in

2011-08-22T10:22:00.002+02:00

I've joined the neighbours in not opening the shutters at the front of the house; being English [we see so little of the sun], I've been opening all the doors and windows to allow light in, whilst trying to encourage a through draught to stop the heat building up...

But yesterday it got too much.

The temperature peaked (inside) at 29.2°C, and that was just too much for me at 76% humidity.

Didn't mean I didn't continue to try and weed my photo albums down so I can update my photobook, but it did mean I wasn't comfortable whilst doing so.

I like the heat (and don't normally mind humidity too much), but it's preferable when you can get out of it!

So today the shutters are staying shut, and I've only opened windows at the back, and those will be closed once the temperature gets to 25°C...

Which in my estimation will be in about half an hour!

Right, I'm off to do some more weeding before the sun comes onto the potager, and pity any poor vendangeurs should I see any.

Preparing for the vendange

2011-08-19T10:17:00.002+02:00

I've just seen Michel in his tractor pulling a load of grape crates...

The lady in the boulangerie says that they will be starting next week; that's going to be hard work as the heat finally seems to have arrived.

It was 30°c in the shade yesterday (and dropped down to 20°c overnight), and I was heartily glad to call it a day when the sun came onto the potager; two hours of back-breaking work was enough for me to cope with, so the thought of full (long) days of bending down really makes me feel sorry for the vendangeurs.

Speaking of back-breaking labour, the chap next door is stripping the render off the front of his house. Purely in the interests of research [I'm not nosy, me; why do you ask?], I said hello to him on the way to the boulangerie [isn't buying fresh bread a great excuse to pop past someone's house?], and obviously got chatting about the work...

He's taking the crépi off with a hammer drill, and has got to the point where it's all hard work: standing on a ladder, and reaching up above his head, before moving the ladder a couple of feet and lugging the drill up for another shot. He's getting on really well.

I was itching to know whether he was going to re-render it, or point up the joints, and thankfully he's going for the beautiful option!

One website states that 'render is essential for the well-being of the house', but I think we can guess what they're selling, don't you? M. "Voisin" says he's taking it back to the traditional finish, which we both agree is much more attractive.

AND it doesn't discolour over time as obviously as does render.

Fingers crossed that when we have saved up enough money we can do the front of our house the same.

He was rushing to try to finish before heading off to Troyes for a meeting so I didn't delay him too long, but long enough to find out that the roofers came from Troyes and slept in the house during the three weeks that they were working...

[As opposed to arriving daily at 9.30-10.00am and leaving at 4-4.30-ish.]

Next time I see him and he's less busy/pressed for time, I'm going to ask for the name of the company that will work like that! I saw them at nearly 8pm one day, and heard them several more times. They've done a beautiful job, using reclaimed tiles, and unlike our roof have used a mortar that's very close to the tile colour to "cement" on the ridge tiles; at least our joints are starting to weather down a bit now (after about 15 years, we think).

Plus, he's got two lovely weather vanes, so they must have the right sort of eye for detail!

Oh well, shouldn't delay any longer as I want to cut another swathe through the weeds on the potager; I'm not able to leave the bindweed untouched, so I'm pulling as much root out as possible with the intention of spot treating when re-growth starts, and I would like to get that done before the autumn, so obviously need to finish clearing as soon as possible, so that the warmth will encourage the plants to grow.

It just occurred to me that it seems odd to encourage something to grow quickly, only so that you can kill it, but almost immediately that thought was followed by 'that's what livestock farming is about' (mostly), so I'm in good company!

And my end result will be food, so it's not too bad an analogy?

Perfect summer day

2011-08-16T20:55:00.002+02:00

I did the sort of light gardening that's so much fun: deadheading and tidying round clumps of flowers that have become unsightly, and I finally decided to hoik out the euphorbia!

I love the orangey-green coloured flowers, but it's turning into too much of a thug, so it's card is marked. I realise that I care more about the Japanese anemone, echinacea, rudbeckia and thyme plants that it is invading, so it's time to get ruthless.

So, armed with gloves (as apparently the sap is an irritant; can't answer for that, but it looked blue when it touched the leaves!), I started to yank out great chunks of it. I've cleared round all the plants that needed saving, but realised that I'd had enough sun [I went out about midday, as I needed some sun on my bones], so the plan for tomorrow is to get out there earlier and wreak more havoc!

I was planning on putting some of the seedlings as ground cover on the bank, but I'm now going off that idea; at least the lambs' ears is very easy to pull out when it gets where you don't want it.

I've also (belatedly) followed Sarah Raven's advice & chopped the artichoke down to ground level and given it a good soaking; fingers crossed that she's right when she says we'll get a fresh new batch of leaves, and maybe even a second crop.

My little transplanted plants mostly seem to be doing OK [a few of the tinier ones were OK this morning, but seem to have vanished by this evening], and I've given them all a good drink before I closed up the shutters for the day.

My only sadness is that my beloved husband is on his way back to England for three weeks; that's going to be hard, as I shall miss him terribly. That's just too long to be apart and happy about it.

Seeing-lots-of-people sort of a day

2011-08-15T15:03:00.003+02:00

We'd got no plans to see anyone in particular today, apart from David taking a cheque around to M. Waeber.

But he came beetling back in record time [have I mentioned that M. Waeber likes to chat?], so I guessed neither of them was in.

Wrong!

They invited us around for a quick apéritif, and David came round to see if I would go...

Obviously! At the moment I'm "off" the wagon, so I could even have some champagne. We had a great natter, and it was not a quick drink either, but it seemed the most relaxed and sociable that I'd seen him, and I'd only seen her once before, but she seems a great character.

Needless to say, we put the world to rights, chewed the fat, etc., etc.

If I'm not careful, I suspect I'm going to get roped into doing some vendanging with her...

I think if you'd caught me twenty years ago I would have loved it, and even ten years ago I could have persevered with the best of them, but I'm not sure my back is up to all that bending over; everyone has assured me it's back-breaking work, so I might come over all "busy" if needs be!

We were back home, having just mopped up our apéros with some leftovers, when Mme Claude came round with her daughter and two of her grandchildren; she came bearing the "wolf's mouths"* that Claude had forgotten to bring with him yesterday, plus a whole heap more little seedlings. I know what the pink flower is, without knowing it's name, but the other things will be a nice surprise!

*The French name for snapdragons.

They were off on a walk, so we didn't talk too long, and to be honest I thought it best to get the plants into the soil as soon as possible. I've just spent over two hours doing that; not that there were that many plants, but digging holes in the gravel/stone-infested areas that I'm trying to plant up is a lot more time-consuming than digging something in in the rare areas where there is decent soil.

As I was looking my very best [hair awry, soil under the nails, the obligatory smear on my face, generally dusty; I'm sure you get the picture?], a lady and her son (very tentatively) came up to chat. I think she's seen the work going on, and probably me head-down in the garden a few times, and I'm sure she was vaguely familiar [but on that front I am terrified I'm turning into my mother; memory of a goldfish anyone?], but this was the first time she'd approached us.

It turns out she came here, to the house, in the war for some illicit dancing; M. Thielle and his wife and aunt (I think) lived here, and used to very covertly break the rules and enjoy themselves. As this was a great centre for maquisards, I think there's a strong tradition of breaking the rules and putting two fingers up at the occupying Germans.

The lady was only a little girl, but she remembers the house well. I think everyone does who visited it in those days; "le Baron" certainly seems to have left a lasting impression.

She thought we were very brave for taking it on, and that it was marvellous that we were doing so much work on the place; I offered to show her round, as she has memories [and I suspect a few more stories that she could tell], but she said no.

I think she will come another time; hopefully in a month or six weeks when I've had a chance to tidy up so it makes a good impression.

I tried to ask her who she was, and where she lived, but all I've gathered is that her mother's side of the family are almost all buried here [with a few in the next village along], and that she lives near Troyes; I do hope she comes back, I think a lot of people find it good that we're bringing the life back to the place, and I want it to be somewhere that has loads of visitors.

The son seemed very quiet, but let's hope I get chance to get to know them better.

All the people around here seem so friendly and welcoming; it takes me back to my childhood in the country near Market Drayton.

Now all I need do is push on with the plan for some fruit trees and the dream is complete!

Hope the evening is as lovely for you as it is for us, and that you feel as happy and content as I do.

Lovely evening out

2011-08-14T12:54:00.002+02:00

We were a bit late arriving for apéros yesterday; we rather got caught up in watching the wedding coming out of the church, and then because of all the cars departing in all their excitement it seemed prudent to wait just a few minutes, then we met M. Demongeot...

Etc!

Still Mme Claude waved aside my apologies; I don't think here it matters too much if you are a little late arriving.

[It's certainly never seemed to bother people working on the house; even a few days doesn't appear to matter in some cases!]

We had a look round her gardens [I think the blokes would have been quite happy going straight into cork-popping mode, but there was no way I'd pass up a chance like that!]; in that typically French way, they have plots separated from the house by the neighbours' land, so she has two vegetable patches, and a wrap-around garden, with the lawn backing onto a field on one side and a vineyard on another.

Lovely views across to our side of the valley [and David said you can see our house from there, but Mme and I were too busy looking at the flax/irises/geraniums/raspberry canes et al.], and I suspect they get more of a breeze on very hot days.

By the time we got indoors, I was already laden down with seed heads for various annuals, a (huge) courgette and some tomatoes.

By the time we left, Mme had added a Mexican Hat Plant, a bucket of windfall pears and a kilo of her own honey.

[As an aside, Wikipedia notes it's a native of Madagascar, and that all parts of the plant are poisonous, but doesn't mention why it's known as a Mexican Hat Plant; I guess I'll never know.]

All totally appreciated, but it did make me feel like the sort of sponging relative who only shows up when there is a will to be read! I know that it's the generosity of people who grow their own produce [I've been the person pressing rooted cuttings from my garden and streptocarpus plants on anyone who is foolish enough to express admiration too often to believe otherwise], but I still felt awkward, as though we'd gone there fishing for gifts.

Not true, but it will take a bit of getting used to I suspect...

We had a lovely chat, and ate some wonderful food: cherry tomatoes [split from all the rain, but none the worse for that], courgette & carrot chunks from the garden, home-made gougères, and little rounds of toast topped with home-made rabbit pâté [with the rabbits from the farm]. And some champagne, obviously!

I think it was the warmest evening we've had in this (wetter) part of the summer, and walking slowly home hand in hand in the falling light was a memory I shall treasure.

It felt like a perfect summer's evening, and I can't wait to welcome them here when I've got the place a bit [LOT!] tidier...

This morning Claude showed up and took us to visit one of his orchards [again French inheritance laws in action, we think], where we collected more pears to replace those we took home with us, so that she could make the pear tart for her grandchildren's Sunday lunch.

We think Claude was in his element, showing us around the fields on the other side of the village, and seeing other villages that we ordinarily only visit by car; I think it's only the second time I've been in an off-roader/4x4 that actually goes off road. At first I was quite nervous, with him driving over ploughed fields, but he clearly knows what he's doing, and by the end I was just thoroughly enjoying myself.

Still don't see that the average person needs a 4x4, but can appreciate how useful they are round here if you regularly go on the farm tracks [that one pulled M. Petitpas' car back to the road when he stopped on a track to have his breakfast one morning], and certainly if you need to drive across fields when the ground has had as much rain as we have in recent weeks.

Speaking of which, it seems to have stopped again, so I might head out and enjoy the day until it starts again!

Obviously, I haven't given irredeemable offence

2011-08-11T10:32:00.002+02:00

Mme Claude just called by to see if David was here; I said he was coming this evening [Yippee!!]...

So she invited us (again) for apéritifs on Friday or Saturday. I said whichever is best for her, so we're due round at 6-ish on Saturday.

I'm glad she hasn't given up on me, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that within a month the house will be in a much better state, and I will feel like inviting people round.

I KNOW that most people don't care what state the place is in, but I care, and find it very difficult to relax when guests are in my home and it's a tip. That so rarely happens [place being a tip, and letting people in if it's not tidy], and I should probably be much more laid back, but to me having a beautifully presented home for my friends is a large part of how I demonstrate hospitality.

That, and nice food and/or drink [*delete as applicable]!

It really can't make up its mind

2011-08-10T10:23:00.002+02:00

That's assuming, of course, that weather can have a mind!

We seem to have gone from 'summer starting' to 'monsoon season' to 'feels like autumn', and now back to 'seems mostly summery'.

The downside of the torrential rain we've been having is that even when it is nice, the ground is so sodden that it makes working almost impossible. It's very unpleasant, and I know it's not good for the soil structure.

An upside: the little plants I've transplanted at the worst time of year to the worst situation I can put them in [in the gravel at the front of the house], all seem to be thriving!

And the other little plants I transplanted when I was here before and was having to water copiously have all (apart from one gap) survived brilliantly; for that I'm deeply grateful.

12°c at 10am, but the keys in the front doors were warm, and it's 24°c in the sun.

Visit from another of our neighbours

2011-08-05T10:58:00.002+02:00

Mme Claude just came to invite us for apéros - I hope I wasn't rude in postponing until David is back; I'm fairly sure [but then again I'm often sure I've understood/been understood and it turns out not to be the case!] that she understands that it would be easier for everyone concerned if I came with my translator!

I'm OK in short bursts, but at the end of a day when I'm tired, the French gets worse [my understanding of the language, not the people!], and more words hide themselves away in the crevices of my brain, and communicating becomes much more difficult. With David there, I can receive a little help if I need it, or I can sit back and let the conversation flow a while as I catch up; we me on my own, that ain't happening!

They'd noticed our absence, and I said it was because we'd become demoralised by the delays, and that I'd painted the flat in London and we'd rented it out and moved to Maidstone. She agreed we'd been busy.

A final word on how lovely our rose is; it's fantastic, clearly being planted at the wrong time last year hasn't done it too much harm.

Once again, I'm left hoping I haven't done the wrong thing, and appeared as stand-offish...

Gardening, and a visit from Lydie

2011-08-04T18:45:00.002+02:00

I finally decided to make a start on clearing the potager at the back of the house, mainly because there's nothing else I can really do whilst waiting for the one day's worth of work [sorry, I still feel like emphasising that, for some reason!] before I can begin cleaning up the house and moving everything to it's final resting place.

AND, the potager will look even more of a jungle if I don't make an attempt at controlling it this year!

It had reverted to hot and sunny this morning, so I did a couple of half hour stints digging out couch grass, nettles, thistles, docks and all the other lovelies that had made themselves at home, but I'm trying to leave the bindweed in situ so that we can spray that. Don't think I'll succeed, but I'm giving it a go...

I was driven off by the heat and sun about 2.30, and was just thinking about going and having another bash when there was a knock at the door; I'd locked up the front of the house and was just heading to the back, so very lucky [for me] timing.

It was Lydie, who had come to water the flowers on her parents' grave.

We had a lovely natter, but I was asking how she was coping with her father's death, and she told me that he didn't suffer, he was in an induced coma following a lung infection after his operation, when his kidneys started to fail...

He was on dialysis, but then his liver started to fail too, so the family took the sad decision to stop the dialysis and as his heart got slower he just slipped away. She said it was the 'right' kind of end for him: there was no hint that he wouldn't get better, the doctor reassured him that the coma was just to help him cope with the breathing tube until the infection had cleared, and that everything was progressing nicely.

I'm sad he's gone. I miss seeing him on summer's evenings, particularly; the pair of us would often meet in the road outside the house after he had watered the flowers on Denise's grave and as I was watering the pots in the garden. I have fond memories of chatting in the warm evenings as the light slipped away; I'm glad he got to slip away, too.

I'm comforted that one of my final recollections is of making him laugh about my hill-climbing "prowess"! The Tour de France was passing through a couple of the neighbouring villages, and we were discussing the mountain stages, and I recounted my struggles to get up the hill behind the house without stopping or getting off to push, and how I daren't set out when Isabelle's boys could see me because I was so embarrassed by the "speed" I achieved.

He had a real laugh about that; he was very supportive, and said it's a steep climb [which it is, but not like the mountains], and we decided it was my own personal "Alp".

That memory's helping me now, but I don't suppose laughing will make the legs work better when I finally get my bike out of the grenier!

Il pleut

2011-08-03T10:50:00.002+02:00

Apparently, when David left yesterday he took the summer with him!

He has nice weather in London [what does he need that for; he's in an office?], whereas I have rain.

Oh well, might as well take this opportunity to upload some photos to Flickr®.

Ejoying another glorious day, but sad...

2011-08-02T18:37:00.002+02:00

The day started much warmer: 14°c at 8am, 22° at midday, and 28° by 2pm. Oddly, it still only reached 34° in the sun out front.

We saw M. Waeber yesterday; he came to drop off the bill [with his nice new computer, that seems to take a lot less time than the old handwritten ones!], and he mentioned that Sunday night into Monday had dropped to 8°, so we really haven't had a lot of heat this summer.

The lizard who lives by the kitchen door was busy sunning him/herself this afternoon, and quite frankly I don't blame him/her!

The sad part of my day was waving David off just before 4pm, as he's going back to the UK; once again we will have missed the Route du Champagne en Fête.

Next year, we won't be having to plan around workmen and we will be aiming to do some of the more interesting tourist things on offer.

One thing I need to watch out for as I'm staying here: David saw a (baby?) red squirrel in our cour anglaise by the bathroom window, so I want to keep an eye out for him/her.

A minor (major?) niggle has just landed in my inbox: the check in report for our flat notes that there is some food on the oven racks, and crumbs to the grill tray - I'm seriously NOT happy about that. The whole flat was very clean, but not clean to a letting standard [I hadn't buffed the taps/bath/basin, and the oven just needed a final going over as we'd used it a couple of times after I cleaned it a week or so before moving out, but the kitchen units I'd left, knowing that we had to pay for cleaning]. We've been charged £250 for a "professional" cleaning, and if they haven't even wiped in the oven will they have cleaned the windows/carpets bathroom, and kitchen cabinets?

I doubt it. Not looking forward to a battle, but seriously if the very minor level of mess I left behind hasn't been dealt with, I want a refund!

Of course, the check in report might have been done before the cleaning, but in that case why are there photos of furniture and the date was two days after the cleaners had done their bit?

Seriously pissed off that Maidstone and now Ormonde Court have been "professionally" cleaned, but left not clean!

As soon as I find out who the cleaners were, I will be naming names!

August now, so progress over (for the time being)

2011-08-01T12:31:00.003+02:00

M. Torelli and Jimmy have worked their last day for a while, as the whole of the country goes into "screensaver" mode for the month of August. We were pretty astonished that they even intended to come, but weren't going to say 'non'.

They've managed to connect up the bath, as promised, which I really appreciate; soaking away the kinks after a long day's gardening works so much better than taking a shower, especially when I can barely stand up straight!

The loo is also fitted and working, but the shower screens will have to wait, so M. Torelli has tried the taps to check they work, but then cut off the water [sensible man]. Sadly, another thing installed to the exact specification of the project manager is the totally-unsuitable-for-us water filtration system...

The immersion heater is full of limescale, apparently, and the pipes to it choked enough that it's making an alarming noise when it fills. M. Torelli is going to run through better options when he returns [hopefully the last two days of August]. More expense, and given that I've been here about eight months out of the last 24, and David has been here less than two months that seems a pretty bad example of matching what is needed by your clients!

As an aside, an interesting snippet we've picked up regarding progress on the Salle Polyvalente (the equivalent of a Village Hall): there was a note from the Mairie in our letter box when we arrived saying that the meal to celebrate Bastille Day had been cancelled as work on the Salle had progressed more slowly that expected.

Half of me is sad [not that we would have made this year's festivities] that the commune is being let down by Jean-Marie and his team, but the other (much meaner) half is glad that even a government body is being given the same delayed treatment that we experienced from T+B!

Another thing to be glad about that we didn't recommend them.

From M. Waeber we've learned that none of the companies that have done work here are working for the Mairie, and he also reckons that none of those companies will work for Jean-Marie again. I don't know if that's the case [I certainly know of at least one that turned him down flat for a major job] or hyperbole, but it wouldn't surprise me; even the 'devoted followers' (as I think of them) among the artisans seemed pretty disgruntled at his behaviour by the time they'd left our house.

We're just heartily glad he's gone, and that progress has been made.

Just wish perhaps a bit more of it had been achieved before the country shuts down for a month!

Finally feels like summer!

2011-08-01T12:27:00.002+02:00

Today started like a proper summer's day, albeit being 10°c at 8am.

At 12.30pm, it's now just above 18°c in the shade, and I'm wearing a dress [rather than track pants, socks, cardigan, etc], and we have all the doors and windows open. In the courtyard at the front of the house (and so in full sun) it's 34°c; perfect weather for being a lizard!

Oops, spoke too soon!

2011-07-28T17:27:00.003+02:00

M. Torelli called us in to have a look at the basins: despite being "identical", one pedestal is higher than the other, and obviously so!

So, I did get to see the bathroom before it's finished [more on that, below]. It was a tricky question of whether to risk trying to take a centimetre off the too-high column, or just take it as they are. The other side of the coin, of course, is that the basins are not flat; a difference in height of 1cm at the front is less than half that at the back. In fact, against the dark tiles you hardly see the discrepancy.

We've decided to just accept what is, and have a laugh about it. We have so many 'faults' that are down to bad decision-making on the behalf of Jean-Marie, that we can cope with a manufacturing "tolerance".

I think a special mention, though, should go to Sarreguemines who in the 21st Century with all the technological advances in equipment and processes can still manage to produce two of the same item so different in size and shape! Cheap clothes from the Third World, I expect that, but France with all its logistical prowess should be able to manage better, no?

I think the French have a word for people like me: naïve!

Things that aren't great:

M. Torelli and Jimmy have a day off tomorrow;
Because M. Waeber took longer than expected, M. Torelli won't be able to finish our work before his holiday, so we will have to wait till late August to have that remaining day's work done;
I can't start my cleaning and re-assembling this week if I want all workman-related mess to be finished before I get my pinny on;
M. Torelli thinks we have much too small an immersion heater, and we could have had one that runs off the central heating as a secondary source of hot water;
The cold pressure is likely to be insufficient to cope with the shower.

That last point in particular pisses me off: I repeatedly asked Jean-Marie & M. Petitpas whether the cold pressure was adequate, and one of the much-delayed "sondages" was to check that the water pressure was OK. Turns out it's half what it should be...

Hmmm!

At least we have a positive: M. Torelli says that we can fit some sort of tank/pump in the cellar and that will be half a day's work and would completely rectify the problem.

Coming from Leander Road with no hot pressure [combi boiler at the same level as the shower] and then Ormonde Court with no cold pressure [whatever pump the block has isn't up to the challenge of a decent flow rate/volume on the fourth floor] I was used to fairly feeble showering, but here it seemed in a different [lower] division...

You know when someone convinces you that you're imagining something? Well, turns out that low pressure wasn't all in my head!

Perhaps the investigation was another thing we got charged for that never happened...

Anyway, I want to end on a positive note, so please enjoy the photos of our oh-so-nearly-finished bathroom, and then I'm off for an apéro!

I've gone all superstitious!

2011-07-28T16:09:00.002+02:00

M. Waeber finished the tiling yesterday whilst we were at Dijon Prenois for the second of two Track Days, and came this morning to clean off any overspill, and now we have plumbers in action fitting sanitary ware.

We seem so close to the finish, that it's making me nervous: we have seemed to be within sight of the end and then it's got delayed so many times, that I'm frightened to jinx the process by going and watching them at work.

Too much time spent watching cricket/living with a cricket fan? Probably, but I feel that my absence might help it all go smoothly, and if it doesn't, well at least I can't blame myself!

Having said that, I persuaded David [who, I'm sure, thinks I'm weird] to go and take some photos...

Luckily, I have cast iron willpower, so there won't be any peeking!

Which sadly means there won't be any posting, either.

2011-07-25T11:27:00.002+02:00

M. Waeber is back, and tiling around the window embrasure. He hopes to have finished by tomorrow...

I must say that he's been putting in the hours, so he may even manage that!

Then all we need is the intervention of M. Torelli.

And he's started with the radiators in the bedroom, and fitted [and then removed so the tiling can be done behind] the towel rail in the bathroom, so fingers crossed.

David saw our neighbour Mme K this morning; apparently she's stubbornly refusing to switch on the heating... That probably tells you what kind of weather we are having on our holiday!

Halfway there with the tiling

2011-07-21T19:50:00.003+02:00

M. Waeber has tiled the walls around the bath and loo, and this morning is starting on the other wall of the shower working his way towards the window.

The plumber even showed up!

M. Jimmy has been adding to the collection of cardboard boxes they had started, so there will be no delays once M. Torelli starts taking things out of boxes & attaching them to walls.

Apart from the mirrors, obviously; he was supposed to email us a copy of his preferred supplier's catalogue back in the Spring, but we all forgot about it until yesterday when I was hoping that the lights would be different than the ones in the shower room and realised that we hadn't chosen any!

I have a print-out and am going to look on the website now...

Progress!

2011-07-20T11:01:00.005+02:00

I feel like writing that in shouty all caps, and the hugest font I can find, but I'm going to spare you that.

What I'm not going to spare you are the details!

The mystery of the plumber was solved: he didn't come Monday because the delivery of the radiators which was scheduled for today had been rearranged for yesterday. That did happen, so when we got home from shopping there are piles of radiators/towel rail/shower screens and other miscellaneous stuff dotted about the bedroom. He's coming on Thursday to fit the towel rail, then take it off again so that M. Waeber can tile behind it.

He'll then re-fit it some time next week when M. Waeber has finished.

Unfortunately, the plasterboarding is leaving something to be desired: the base of the niche is too low, but M. Waeber has made that up with a chunk of Ciporex, but it's the wonkiness of the walls that is causing him the greatest headache.

He's having to use extra tile cement to level out the walls.

Obviously we never realised that the way SMS had stored the plasterboard would cause problems, but it is doing. We said to M. Waeber that next time we would get M. Roncari to do it, but apparently he's ditched the plastering side of the business and only does painting and decorating now. Apparently, there is a good chap in the Haute Marne, so I must remember to ask for his details for my book.

It's lovely to see tiles going up [and hear the thump of tiles being manoeuvred into place, although David is fearful when he sees them being whacked with a mallet!], and the fact that the plumbing/heating supplies are nearly all here makes me very hopeful that it will be finished within a couple of weeks.

Apart from my bit [cleaning & rearranging furniture, belongings etc], of course!

Couldn't resist posting this photo

2011-07-18T18:28:00.002+02:00

Tiler here; working as I type!

2011-07-18T16:52:00.002+02:00

I thought we'd got a false start this morning when M. Waeber showed up...

To tell David that he couldn't come till this afternoon.

But he did show up, and is now working. We hope that we're going to have better spaced joints in the bathroom; the middle of the bath and shower taps are going to be mid-tile (rather than at the joints), but that should remove the need for slivers of tiles in any corners...

We solved the mystery of why he'd done the other tiles the way he had: he was making sure the borders matched perfectly! A very French thing to do, it seems to us: a four inch wide [very "busy" looking pattern] looks 'right', but sadly the less-than-an-inch sliver in the corner of the shower for the remaining eight foot height of wall looks [to us] 'wrong'.

So, in the bathroom, we are going to [hopefully] have 'wrong' borders, but 'right' rest of the walls...

Fingers crossed!

I'm just so happy that he hadn't started without us all being able to talk it through, but I'm going to be even happier if he manages to make it look [to my eyes] 'right'.

After the weekend [did I mention my 23 hour 40 minute day as we moved house on Saturday/Sunday before driving down to France], I'm now ready for a holiday!

So I may or may not post about progress...

[Needless to say, the expected plumber has not materialised!]

Phone call last night from M. Waeber

2011-07-12T11:13:00.002+02:00

Apparently, he's held up on another job and wants to come earlier to start work at our place.

I really do NOT want that! BUT, David promises he's only going to move the tiles to our house and do preparatory work, and won't start the actual tiling until Monday.

That better be the case!

My main worry is that we've been ~~lied to~~ told things that turn out not to be true too many times to believe any French workmen without seeing proof that what they're telling us is true!

So, once again, I'm focusing on being more zen; letting go of worrying and trusting that the right thing will happen.

[And keeping everything crossed, obviously!]

Tiler

2011-07-08T17:48:00.002+02:00

M. Waeber says he's coming on the 18th of July...

Almost believe him, but am waiting for proof!

On the upside, if he blows us out again, my cousin has a colleague/employee [can't remember which] who apparently is a brilliant tiler, is willing to travel and Grant [cousin] reckons he could do the work in one day!!!

Haven't mentioned that fact to M. Waeber, but it's up my sleeve for a "rainy day"; we do NOT want to be like the Bogés who have waited two years for him.

Not gonna happen, and if Grant's colleague/employee [delete as appropriate] is as good as he says, we might even get a better job done?

Now all I need to do is tactfully insist that he does an "English" job [joints sited unobtrusively] rather than finishing to the French standard [joints offset by an inch for emphasis that "we thumb our noses at you English and your fussy ways" or slivers of tiles in corners to draw the eye].

However, having waited since early April (and having a standby lined up), the tactful bit may get left off if he brings any attitude with him.

Please keep your fingers crossed that I can "do fluffy" [Hi, Karen!]...

Bastille Day: a day to celebrate?

2011-05-14T08:17:00.003+02:00

David spoke to M. Waeber (with whom I am currently NOT impressed), and he says he can (probably) start our tiling on the 14th of July...

Hmmm!

As I say, I'm severely underwhelmed with him at the moment.

On the positive side, I think I will have no problem persuading David that we should ask someone else to finish off our terrace, when we get around to thinking about it; he's been doing the Bogés' terrace since early April [that we know about], and that's about 50% bigger than ours, so at that rate of progress we'd have two months worth of work ahead of us.

[ETA: After a TWO YEAR DELAY! Apparently, that's how long Caroline and her husband have been waiting.]

I suspect M. Hamid would do it in just over a week?

COMPLETE nightmare

2011-05-06T11:25:00.003+02:00

Seriously!

I'm hoping it's just my subconscious worrying about M. Waeber doing our tiling unsupervised, but I had a horrible dream last night: M. Baty had had to alter some of the tiles to accommodate some woodwork, and we were left with chevrons of dull green/red tiles across the floor. He'd also made a "feature" of a blocked up doorway [I think that's an echo of Leander Road; we don't have a blocked up doorway in the bedroom in France, and the one in the study is long since dealt with], building it out, putting architrave around it and there was a full sized professional photograph of me in the middle!

Someone had tiled out the kitchen in two different types of very fancy tiles, and installed one of those elaborate cooker hoods. There were different colours/styles of tiles everywhere.

I'd left my brother in charge, and I was asking him why on earth he'd let them do it.

In the end I was stomping around refusing to accept it, and insisting that it was ALL taken out and they start from scratch again. I was in a right mood, but wasn't going to put up with that mess!

I think the sooner I can get back to France and oversee M. Waeber, the sooner my dreams will be untroubled again...

I don't want to see results like that again in a hurry.

Having stayed in various gîtes over the years, we've formed the impression that there's an unwritten 'law' about French flooring... Never have fewer than five different styles/shapes/patterns/colours of tiles/parquet/whatever!

We've already (despite our best efforts) achieved the "French style" in our home: two different types of tiles [the delay meant the original choice was discontinued by the time we were ready to order more of them], two different types of stone [tiles (that look like slabs) and original slabs, but that would be three types if you include that we used some original slabs and have since bought some more from Burgundy], and there will be a wooden floor in the entrance hall when we can afford it [and there are already wooden fillets in the doorways from the boo-boo about laying the stone tiles].

Not mentioning upstairs where we've got three different patterns of floorboards (so far).

Going French in the flooring department does NOT mean I'm going to have a (two-tone) brown kitchen, though!

Right, I'm back off to hibernate again.

In limbo, AGAIN

2011-05-05T16:37:00.002+02:00

We're waiting for M. Waeber to schedule our tiling job...

I'm not terribly impressed with him agreeing to do it last month and then turning around and letting us down, but that's been par for the course!

[As I side note: it really emphasises how wonderful Messrs Mekki/Luparello & Baty have been, so makes us even more thankful for their contributions.]

It's dragged on for too long now [a bit like the constant problems the interminable Microsoft updates keep causing for my computer!!! At least one update a day for the last 17 days, and many more IE crashes]: we were due to start early April, and finish late May...

2010!

Once more, I've lost all enthusiasm, at the moment, so I'm probably going to "hibernate" my blogs for a while; at least until I have something positive to report (or a sudden surge of energy). The return to cold weather (although entirely seasonal) hasn't helped my mood, either.

So, until I have some more progress to report: enjoy my hiatus, and I hope life is running more smoothly for you guys out there!

New shutters

2011-04-29T11:21:00.004+02:00

I've had such problems with *bleep* Microsoft, that I'm just going to load these photos [if that works; I can't face yet another crash & massive loss of my work], and trust that it's obvious what's going on.

Plumber done (nearly) all he can without tiler doing his bit

2011-04-27T12:34:00.003+02:00

He's fitted the bath (but not connected the waste, oddly), and done more of the laundry room plumbing, but now he's being held up by the tiler...

David is going to speak to M. Waeber tomorrow to see when he can come; I don't want him working when I'm not here, as left unsupervised he puts some of the joints in *ahem* "interesting" places with regard to mid-lines!

I'd rather be present to make a decision as to whether the tile join should be offset to the middle of the taps etc.

I can foresee that the 2 basin/shower combination could be tricky, so would rather we made the decision that blindly putting our trust in M. Waeber, and I most definitely do want the bath taps to 'straddle' a join even if it means a sliver in the corner [like we have in the shower room!], unless a whole tile spanning the tap would be better.

But that's only a decision that can be made when the tiles are here.

I think arranging for him to work here when we are next here can be done nicely/without hurting his feelings a bit more easily now that the whole house is connected together; he would have to have a key to the whole bit, and he's been giving the key to whoever needs it in our absence, so we could say that now we'd prefer to be here when work is happening.

I hope it will work out that way, anyway!

May flowers and skylarks

2011-04-26T19:52:00.003+02:00

I went for a walk just before 7pm - letting the heat of the day dissipate a little now that it doesn't feel like thunder.

I'm still having "issues" with my energy levels: my 15-minute walk is taking half an hour, and my 25-minute walk took an hour. BUT, looking on the positive side, I did go so I feel that that's progress (of a sort).

I enjoyed myself, as I tend to do, and really appreciated seeing the countryside bursting into life, and the wildlife.

The same valley I walked along yesterday in full sun, was today in still shade and the smell of the may flowers [hawthorn] was overpowering; they really are aromatic. The flowers here are very white [almost as brilliant white as the blackthorn], whereas I remember them as being a more creamy shade.

Either I'm misremembering, or they are a slightly different variety here? I'm sure the sloes are different: I've picked kilos of them without getting pricked, and I don't recall that as an 'option' with English sloes!

Along with the may, there was a bush or two of late-flowering blackthorn, and a carpet of wild strawberries; very 'wedding bouquet'.

As well as the flora making my walk a richer experience, the fauna were also putting on a spectacle for me...

A buzzard was lazily riding the thermals close to the ground above a hay meadow, with the occasional drop to the ground; I never saw him catch anything, but I loved watching him try.

A pair of partridge took off at my approach, as did a skylark, who sang his way out of sight.

"Couples" is very much a theme at the moment: the lizards outside the kitchen door have been flirting shamelessly, and I even saw a pair of flies dancing round each other [but that thought I didn't enjoy!]. Lizard 'kiss chase' is fun to watch, as is the tail-shaking 'come and get me' signal that precedes it, with them covering a surprising amount of ground at speed.

The swallows, redstarts and spuggies are all looking for nest materials/sites so I'm valiantly fending off advances from the birds who think this house would make a nice home; it does, chaps, but just not for you!

I'm slightly delaying my "nesting" until the workmen have finished!

Plumbers working overtime?

2011-04-26T17:35:00.002+02:00

The plumbers are only just leaving at 5.35pm.

The bath still isn't fitted, but there's a valid reason for that, so I don't mind: there are some sound-deadening panels attached that had come adrift, and M. Torelli wants to make sure the glue he's used to re-attach them will hold before plumbing in the waste.

I totally agree that it's better to wait a day than have them fall off again!

They are coming back tomorrow to fit the bath, and continue with the plumbing for the central heating supply in the laundry, and then we will be waiting for M. Waeber.

Plumber has just arrived

2011-04-26T13:57:00.002+02:00

So that's saved David phoning him up to ask where he is!

I'm busy with some other blog stuff, so I'll post more later...

Sparks is here

2011-04-26T08:44:00.002+02:00

Another one!

We seem to be meeting the whole of the electrical side of the Schwartz workforce, I think.

I told him that the plumber had pointed out the light/power switch wasn't vertical, but he said that's OK, as part of the making good process for the hole below it (where it was moved up), that will fix that problem.

The other thing the plumber said was that there wasn't sufficient depth for the tiles to go...

I asked the new electrician about that, and he said that the tiler will bring the sockets out when he does the tiling, so that's OK then.

I'm guessing this chap will be long gone by the time that the plumber gets here!

Rumblings of thunder...

2011-04-24T16:16:00.002+02:00

A.k.a. "discretion is the better part of valour"!

Having seen the thunder and lightning storms of the two previous days, and having been struck by lightning twice (albeit only down a telephone line both times), I've put on hold my plans to go for a walk.

Yes, it is much cooler, with a refreshing breeze, but if it starts to thunder-and-lightning in earnest [and it sounds as if it's revving up to do that], I really don't want to be out in the open/near any tall trees!

Day off!

2011-04-23T15:45:00.002+02:00

Thinking in French all week has left me quite drained; by Friday, I don't think I was making any sense, and I certainly wasn't understanding very much that was said to me until it had been repeated at least once and s l o w l y !

I want to post some photos of M. Baty and his elves' handiwork, but I'd rather do it another day and put some enthusiasm into it.

I have been out and about, foraging, and will post about that as & when.

Sufficient to say, I have a colander full of nettles waiting, ready for my dinner!

Sad now

2011-04-22T10:12:00.002+02:00

M. Torelli & Jimmy came and went; I see they've moved the bath, but I'm not convinced that it's fitted [given that it's not butting up against the wall and the waste is not connected]!

They're coming back on Tuesday.

On the contrary, the lovely menuisiers have finished and are not coming back; which is making me sad, as I've enjoyed talking with them [and it never hurts when guys are cute, does it?] even if it makes me feel old that I've only heard of The Prodigy and not The Bloody Beetroots.

But then again, I'm not 19, am I?

Jean-Baptiste & Marc back

2011-04-22T08:23:00.001+02:00

Yum!

They are so sweet, and they're fixing up our shutters, what's not to like?!

Joiners nearly done for the day

2011-04-21T16:20:00.002+02:00

Apparently, Jean-Baptiste has to come back tomorrow to do some finishing touches and fit a different kind of shutter fastener. The one they brought won't fit neatly into the fold of the shutter, so stops them fully opening. There is a flat version, which I can't really imagine but I don't have to for long as one will appear tomorrow.

The issue with the hinges seems to have been resolved, and all the bits of stone they broke drilling holes have been repaired virtually invisibly.

We've now got internal doors, and têtes bergère on all of the shutters, apart from the bathroom one which has a lever to hold it open and M. Baty has installed a new cylinder in the lock, one that can be locked & unlocked from the inside; the old one only locked from the outside, which was fine while that door was being used for access and had no shutters, but not so great now that we've had the passageway unblocked.

David emailed M. Mekki about the stones sticking out where the shutter should go, but that's already been overtaken by events: where we did have sticky-out stones, we now have holes in the wall; but at least the shutter opens properly!

There is a lot of last-minute tidying/little jobs going on, and I'm debating whether it's too early to offer the guys a beer before they head off home. They were here at 8am and that must mean leaving the atelier before 7am, I'm sure, so they've given us a good day's work. Plus, I like having a chat with them when they've finished.

A minor issue

2011-04-21T13:08:00.003+02:00

The new shutters look lovely - and are going to be great for privacy/keeping out light/keeping warmth in/out - but there's a problem with folding them back: I think that when they are closed the hinges are in the right place, but completely open the middle hinge is stressing the shutter outwards.

I was starting to wonder how they were going to fix it (or whether it's just one of those things that you have to live with), but M. Baty reckons there's nothing to worry about, and I'm reminding myself that the reason we are paying him so much money is for his skill and expertise; he will fix it somehow and I don't have to try and work out how that will be done.

Everyone has stopped for lunch now, so I'm just relaxing in the warmth [did I mention it was a beautiful day, again?], and as for the proud stonework by the chassis David said he wanted to be more in charge of things, so I'm letting him!

Bathroom window

2011-04-21T12:33:00.001+02:00

Having taken five attempts to get the bathroom window right, and having asked Jean-Marie whether there was enough room for the shutter to open and being assured there was, I now need to call M. Hamid back to take out some stones so that the bathroom shutter can open fully without fouling!

Oh, well, I'm sure M. Mekki will understand...

All quiet, now

2011-04-21T12:18:00.002+02:00

The three joiners have each put down their ~~noise-making machines~~ drills, routers and planers, and we are currently waiting for the glue/mastic that is holding in the gonds to go off. Not sure what they are in English, but it's an upright bolt that a hinge sits on.

There are three on each of the large shutters, and two on the small one.

Different smells, too, from earlier: this morning I was taken back to my childhood with the aroma of newly-planed wood [Dad was a general builder, so did some woodworking, and my grandfather had a joinery shop behind his hardware store (I used to love seeing the coffins!), and later got into wood carving and turning as a hobby]; now there is the smell of chemicals everywhere.

I think they are using the kind of stuff that's sets like a rock and so will hold the gonds in place; something needs to as the stone was incredibly difficult to drill, and the holes are not as neat as in the bricks.

Just heard from M. Torelli: he's had another incident of health trouble, so will either be coming this afternoon or tomorrow morning. To be honest, it's probably best that he's NOT currently here as I think they might be tripping up over each other a bit if he was!

Thursday, 11.20

2011-04-21T11:03:00.002+02:00

Messrs Hamid and Jamel have gone; they finished the joints on the plasterboard that Hamid had replaced/installed yesterday, and that's the builder & plaquiste "lots" finished.

The joiners are all still hard at work fitting shutters and internal doors.

I had a message from the electrician who is stuck on a job at Belfort (195 miles away), so he can't come until next week, but (says he) will call Tuesday to let me know whether he's expected Tuesday or Wednesday.

No news from the plumber, but it's not late yet given that we've still got all afternoon.

Just had a call from M. Mekki, checking that everything's OK, which it is, so all I had to do was thank him for sending Hamid and Jamel and wish him a Happy Easter. Hopefully he will come and look at the work for himself next week, so we can say a proper 'thank you' for all his hard work and willingness to fit in around our difficult schedule.

Aaahh!

2011-04-21T08:48:00.002+02:00

8am and the joiners arrive: M. Baty, M. Jean-Baptiste and M. Marc. I feel tired but happy!

It took me a long time to settle last night, but now that we will have shutters [and so be totally covered as far as insurance questions are concerned], I think I can take the rest 'as it comes'.

The shutters also mean that when the other work is finished, we can sleep in the bedroom [curtains are so far in the future, I'm pretty much reconciled to their absence], and pad naked to the bathroom should we so wish!

Of course we could do that now, but you never know when someone is going to be working in the vineyards at back (or walking across your field), do you?

I will post photos later, but for the moment want to go and watch the joiners in action (and take more photos, obviously).

Back hall now completed!

2011-04-20T18:49:00.002+02:00

M. Hamid pointed the slabs he laid this morning before leaving.

He also replaced the too-close plasterboard by the bathroom window, and put some plasterboard over the rough edges where he knocked through yesterday.

He doesn't know whether it will be he or M. Kadir who comes and finishes the edges/banding, but I suspect it will be Kadir.

I'm going to miss him; I like talking to him and I like his "I will do what the client wants" attitude.

M. Waeber's been and gone

2011-04-20T11:58:00.001+02:00

Pointing done, so nothing to stop M. Torelli fitting the bath tomorrow...

If he shows (M. Waeber's words, not mine).

Stone slabs going down...

2011-04-20T10:07:00.003+02:00

The argument for having the small (troublesome) pink stone in the middle has been negated; the first joint as you come to the dégagement from the corridor is NOT dead centre, so there is no longer a need to feel we should keep the joints symmetrical.

Accordingly, we are going with our first instinct which is to herd the pinky stones off to the left!

[Of course, that would be the right on the photos: the corridor will be where the wall is, and I just couldn't get a decent shot standing in that space on my tip-toes.]

And, obviously, we are ignoring all the expert advice this end [M. Waeber just showed up, so I asked him, too].

We are the ones who are going to have to look at it, and the small 'pink' stone is definitely less eye-catching when grouped with the others to the side.

Handily, I was able to tell them that "David says so", and I think they are happy with that!

Bods have gone now...

2011-04-19T15:33:00.003+02:00

And left me with a new problem: the slabs are all cut to size/shape - so far, so good - BUT when I pressure-washed then, half are grey and half are pink!

[Not to mention the problems of trying to remember to lock the door to the bedroom (previously nothing really to take, so I was just closing it), and going to the room along the back hall! Since February 2009 (and we only broke through in January), we've only been able to access that part of the house by going outside; it seems that hasn't yet worn off!]

They are drying less obviously different, but I need to talk to David to see what he wants to do...

The half of me that likes everything to be "right" is thinking about all the hassle it would take to find another few slabs to cut down, and the half of me that is trying to be more Zen thinks we should just go with the flow, again.

It seems like the wanting-it-to-be-right half is in the minority, given that that's also the tired-out-by-it-all half! Exhaustion with the whole process, I think, will carry the day and we get a pink & grey mix floor and hope that as I'm not planning on washing it too often that it will fade down with a few scuff marks.

Unless David thinks otherwise, of course...

Decisions, decisions

2011-04-19T14:17:00.002+02:00

Deciding how the stone slabs should be laid in the dégagement between the back hall and the master bedroom has felt like a challenge too far: I've known that I want them to look 'right', without having any clear idea of what looking right would look like!

M. Hamid is being a complete sweetie, as usual, and saying that whatever the client wants is what he will do; I had a complete moment [though thankfully without any blubbing] of needing my dad - he would do what his clients wanted, but could also suggest how it might be done!

In the absence of dad, I phoned David and we decided that the lines of the joints between the stones should run parallel to those of the corridor [any easy decision; how could I have struggled with that?], and any small triangles of stone in the doorway will not really matter [we made a very similar decision about the tiles in the bedroom, and that looks fine; you only notice the odd slivers in the doorway when you look for them, the rest of the time you notice that the tiles follow the only square wall in the place].

And thankfully, we have two largish slabs that can be laid side-by-side with the joint dead centre, then a big piece that can go in the middle of the next row (flanked by smaller stones laid 'vertically' rather than 'horizontally') and I think we're going to wing it with the final row (which is going to be a half-row at best).

M. Hamid also kindly agreed to me pressure-washing the slabs before he lays them, which will save me a massive amount of in situ scrubbing, and I'm grateful and dressed ready for the moment they have finished trimming the slabs down to size.

Forgot the photos from Monday

2011-04-19T11:27:00.004+02:00

Gosh, is that only yesterday?

M. Waeber filled in the gap in the floor where the bath is to go with some sort of mortar, and laid the tiles directly on top of it, as far as I could tell. [We'd had it left unfinished in case we did choose the freestanding bath.]

It needs two days to go off, and then he's coming back tomorrow to do the pointing.

M. Torelli is now added to my list of people coming Thursday!

I don't think the various workmen are likely to trip up over each other; they're all working in different places apart from when M. Baty will fit the bathroom door...

I might ask him to do that first, as I'm pretty sure he's going to get here at least an hour before M. Torelli (based on previous arrival times).

I'm sure that even if they do all arrive at once, they can slug it out amongst themselves!

I'm just sitting here enjoying the gentle sound of M. Hamid knocking off chunks from the underside of the stone slabs to make them shallow enough to fit in the "dégagement" between the back hall and the new bedroom.

He's pretty sure that we have enough slabs, so fingers crossed it all works out nicely.

I've never been so pleased to see M. Hamid!

2011-04-19T10:44:00.003+02:00

Literally and figuratively.

Admiring the "view" along our hallway, and realising that our house just got bigger: priceless!

Also interested to hear a bit of gossip; I was saying that we are finding out bits that the project manager told us couldn't be done how we wanted them to be done, and then hearing from the artisans later that they had recommended doing exactly what we'd asked for, but were told by M. Boyer that the client insisted it was done his way. So we ended up not happy, the artisans presumably think we're difficult/stupid and the only person who's been getting what they want is the project manager!

Apparently, M. Waeber wasn't happy that the drain for the shower was laid by the builder; M. Hamid said he was ordered here on a rush job to fit it, and we were told that the plumber/tiler insisted that it was done by the builder... Hmm!

Also on another couple of jobs where M. Hamid worked, he'd done what the client asked for and was told by J-M that it was wrong [chaux-chanvre in one house, and a spiral staircase up from a vaulted cellar in a barn] only to have the client insist that they wanted what M. Hamid had done. In one instance, so I'm told, J-M just shut up, and the client in the other case asked how much money he owed J-M and was going to pay him off to stop him interfering!

If I understood correctly, the artisans pay the project manager as well as the clients paying him, but I'm not sure if I've got that right... But if I have, that's a nice little earner given what we've been charged!

It might not look much...

2011-04-19T10:28:00.002+02:00

...But to us this hole is HUGE!

The bedroom is finally being joined to the rest of the house!

Must go and watch progress now.

Perhaps I'm getting braver?

2011-04-18T13:44:00.004+02:00

I need to leave the house to go and find some other blog supplies, but obviously don't want anyone to have the excuse of "I showed up, but you weren't there, so I can't come again for a month/whatever", so I telephoned M. Mekki...

Now that might not sound like a lot, but it's a biggie for me: when I speak to people face-to-face I can normally tell whether they have understood me or not, I can use my hands as a communication tool and they (assuming they have the minutest level of observation skills) can tell if I'm looking completely mystified myself. This all aids understanding and being understood.

I forgot to add: I do a pretty mean diagram, for when there are no words!

Obviously, given that no-one I need to call has a videophone and nor do we, a phone conversation cuts out all my favourite coping mechanisms. I don't know if it's true (or an "urban myth") that 93% of communication is non-verbal, but I know that if I avoid the telephone we get far fewer misunderstandings!

So, to have spoken with M. Mekki feels like an achievement.

I think I'm safe to leave the house, given:

Plumber: waiting for tiles to be pointed so he can fit the bath
Tiler: coming Wednesday to grout the floor tiles, and then who-knows-when for the faïence
Electrician: returning Thursday to finish making good and fit the extra socket in the kitchen
Joiner: scheduled Thursday to fit the shutters
Plaquiste: expected tomorrow
Builder: ditto

Now that feels like we've got everyone covered, so I'm safe to leave the house. Lovely day for it, again, so I'm off to enjoy the sunshine!

Life saves me from more dithering; thanks!

2011-04-18T11:04:00.003+02:00

David had asked M. Huguenot to link the spot in the "niche" to the centre light, but this morning I countermanded that and asked the electrician to link it to the shower spots.

Then I started having second thoughts [my first thoughts were that if we wanted the bathroom lit up for loveliness-of-display we would have all the spots lit, and otherwise I didn't want the niche lit every time we put the main light on as those spot bulbs are expensive!], and dithered and emailed David to see if he was OK with that.

I was just trying to persuade myself that I hadn't made the wrong decision [and, let's face it, in the grand scheme of things it's really NOT important!], when the electrician came to say that he'd wired it to the shower spots (I'd said I prefer that, but please do whatever was easiest!), as there was a beam in the way and he couldn't connect it (easily) to the centre light.

Phew!

I like it when the decision is taken out of my hands; reduces guilt immensely.

It's like buses...

2011-04-18T10:22:00.002+02:00

You wait ages for one, then three come along all at once!

OK, so the second one is a promise (rather than actual), but the electrician's arrival definitely makes it a triple of good news; all feels like progress.

Actually, that needs to be written:

PROGRESS!

Sorry for being 'shouty', but after so long when it seemed as though we couldn't get things to re-start, two men in our bathroom working is wonderful.

Ooo! Shutters are coming!

2011-04-18T09:37:00.002+02:00

I just checked my email, and there is one sitting there from David with the heading "pose des nouveaux volets", and as I've seen a few of these (chasing a date from the Batys) I thought he was on the case again.

But, it was one from him replying to Mme Baty letting us know that M. Baty is coming on Thursday.

How excited am I?!

That means we will be able to sleep in the bedroom; oo!