Another miscommunication?

I think we've got one of those difference-of-culture misunderstandings going on: I had a look at the joists for the corridor above the bathroom yesterday evening [and again this morning, when I could stand on the concrete of the bathroom "floor"], and it looks as though they are NOT lower; in fact when the floorboards are eventually put on top of the particle board, the floor will be slightly higher than it was.

What we didn't expect [because it wasn't mentioned?] was that the floor in the two bedrooms above is going to be higher.

Now I'm worrying that by "lower" they meant "only slightly higher" than it is now but lower than it could have been/the bedrooms will be...

So we still have the same problem we discussed - a step up under a low beam; just what we were trying to avoid, and no better head height under either of the beams crossing the corridor. It seems an awful waste of an opportunity; by lowering the joists six inches we could have done away with a step up in the corridor, and made it much safer! There is sufficient headspace in the bathroom to do this, as the ceiling is going to be lower anyway to accommodate pipes/cables/VMC tubing.

It's taken the edge off my enthusiasm. And definitely put a damper on my spirits.

Day 12

Still expecting builders, (and knew we were going to get carpenters), just not at 8am! I was lying in bed ignoring the postponed alarm on the phone; I got to sleep some time after 1.30 - waiting for David to tell me he'd got home safely & then reading a bit - and then had that waking-up-for-2-hours thing, before debating whether to get up at 5.30, so I wasn't happy when the phone was so insistent.

With the benefit of hindsight, I should have got up & gone for a walk; at that time of day it is lovely, and I can startle all sorts of wildlife!

Today the builders are finishing off laying the concrete slab, now that the wastes are in place in the bathroom area. The carpenters are intending to complete the joists above the corridor...

Only one small problem as far as I can see: the ladder holding up the planks M. Mazij was standing on has been moved by the builders to put down their hard core. And the concrete they lay will then be wet...

I'm not going to be concerned until someone tells me to, and then I'm going to pass on the details to Jean-Marie, should somebody decide worrying needs to be done!

Day 11

Was expecting carpenters, and got them, and builders, and didn't.

We did get a concrete mixer, though! So I'm confident that they will show tomorrow. David obviously didn't hear them arrive [they pulled it into the yard by hand], or me talking to them, so his reaction on going to the car to drive to the station was "where did that come from?" on seeing a bright yellow alien.

Sadly, he has to go back to the office, leaving me to wrangle builders & plasterers. I don't think M. Alain is too keen on using the reclaimed bricks [not sure, but that's my feeling], but as we now have more than enough, tant pis.

David & I spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening cleaning up the bricks we've found around the place, but I didn't think we'd got enough; we certainly don't have enough whole ones, but could use the shaped ones we've found. I had seen, though, a pile of bricks when I've been coming past the dump, so David asked the maire if we could take them. He seemed delighted that anyone would want to use them, and said they were probably made at the local brickworks [every village used to have its own, and a quarry]. He's very proud of the village and appreciates, I think, that we want to do the renovation without adding too much obviously "new".

M. Mazij and his helper have added in some more woodwork under the lambourdes, and have finished off the second big beam so that they can do the corridor work tomorrow. Their efforts don't really show up on the photos, so I'm not going to post one.

David is now on his way to Paris, and then London; it's been good having him here, and not just for his brick moving prowess!

Hay

Jean-Luc's assistant came and cut the hay on Tuesday, and yesterday he baled it [it made six bales], and today it's gone.

I'm pretty sure English farmers would be jealous! I would be willing to bet that if my dad were alive he would love it [and be slightly envious].

On a totally unrelated topic, the redstart is sitting on the eggs, so now all I need to do is Google how long they sit for and leave the grenier alone!

Day 10/Friday meeting

I was finishing off my exercise DVD [must remember to rave about Angie Miller's Kettlebell Bootcamp some time] when I heard the first van arrive. Now, when you are following the DVD you feel as though any excuse to stop would be wonderful, but in reality it is so much harder to get going again and those nicely warmed-up muscles start to cool down, so I didn't go and greet the plumbers. [Not to mention the smell... I'm still at the point where I have no trouble 'working up a sweat'!]

Carpenters arrived before I hit the trail on my mountain bike [again I was frantically trying to get my day's exercise over & done with before the day warmed up, and so I could shower before the meeting, and then the rest of the day would be time for David & I to grab lunch/shop/sightsee the area] so I frantically waved "hi & bye" & struggled off to my 'challenge hill'. Can't begin to count how many times I had to stop [I think all those squats mean your quads need a rest before trying to cycle?].

So, I frightened my deer, provided hilarity to a vigneron [he tried politely waiting whilst I went past - NO chance; humiliation one thing, but having someone watch as I have to stop to catch my breath three or four times in 100 metres, no way] and a hare [well, it felt like he was laughing at me; doing that "catch-me-if-you-can" thing of waiting a bit before gently loping off before I got anywhere near], and only a headwind on my usually-lovely downhill bit put the teensiest damper on it.

So I was showered, hair-washed & dressed up 'nice' by 9.50 [and I'd put another "gold" star on my exercise chart - I'm 'saving up' for a saddle stool], just in time to wait around for 40 minutes till Jean-Marie showed up!

The meeting [apart from antsy attendees, who'd been around since the stated start time of 10am and also had other things to do] seemed to go OK: there were minor adjustments to the plumbing, and during the part where Laurent Mazij couldn't make any noise he very kindly smoothed out the boo-boo that the digger had made in the beam; it's virtually invisible now, and will age down beautifully, I'm sure.

We've got an action-packed couple of weeks coming up with plasterboard, more plumbing & electrickery going in, and the carpenters are back to finish the corridor joists; they've done all the reinforcements, and we've got a load of [totally unexpected] cross timbers.

I think I was right to be concerned about the plasterboard, but I can watch M. Kadir like that hawk, and I have M. Mekki's mobile number if needed...

The only slight downside was David having to work later than we'd both hoped so our outing has been postponed till today.

Day 9

So you may be noticing that in all my (over) excitement at having carpenters & plumbers on site I overlooked telling you what they did.

The carpenters installed heavier, new timbers to reinforce the existing joists. [I suspect that the original woodwork is now redundant, apart from attaching the plasterboard's metal rails to; not that I'd get M. Mazij to admit that, I'm sure.] There will be five on each side of the big beam that's to remain visible, but it must be all new timbers under the corridor at the back.

Sidenote: either JDK [sorry John if I'm stealing your concept; it's so long ago I have forgotten] or I had (what I thought was) a brilliant idea - why don't we lower the corridor at the back of upstairs & have a step (or two) up into the two bedrooms over the stable. This would give us adequate head room below the beams in the roof, and as the walls of the rooms follow the beams [planned so that no-one could brain themselves & sue us!], there would be no problem as long as the mezzanine floor above is high enough. Nobody dies from head injuries, we don't have to have padded beams with 'amusing' "duck or grouse" signs, bedroom ceilings will be high enough so that it doesn't feel like living in a cellar.

It was proving so difficult to get the idea through to T+B that I gave up in the end, reasoning that the corridor will only be used to access summer guest bedrooms, and no-one need wander round [outside their bedroom] in the night as there will be en-suite bath/shower rooms attached.

Well, then somebody at T+B [my money's on Nicholas; he's the only person to whom I hadn't tried to explain how it could work] had a brainwave: why don't we lower the corridor at the back of upstairs, so nobody needs to brain themselves on the beams and we can have a step or two up into the bedrooms which won't cause a problem as no-one need wander round the rest of the house in the night, as there are en-suite 'facilities'!

Obviously, by this time I'd got an eye on the already inadequate budget and said "no, that would be far too complicated/expensive", but it turns out not to cost very much more or be even remotely difficult. Now why couldn't I think of that?! [NB: those who don't know me might not spot the irony (sarcasm?) in my tone!]

/End sidenote.

So anyway, big new beefy joists were hoiked into position by blokes that didn't look big or strong enough for that sort of thing, and bolted into place. Said chaps can't see why we would want to keep the floor following the line of the original timber ["but that would be wonky"], and this is not a 'hill to die on', so we get a lovely new [flat] floor upstairs.

And downstairs I watch like a hawk until I'm sure the plasterer has got the concept of "yes, I DO want the ceiling wonky; I want to see the beam, and you must follow the joists EVEN IF THAT MAKES THE CEILING WONKY; no, we don't want it flat - we want to see as much of the beam as possible."... [Repeat as necessary]

I think that one could run and run. It's not a language discrepancy, it's a respect-for-old-buildings discrepancy. Even now in France old buildings are not seen as part of a cultural heritage that ought to be preserved in an original state, or renovated/restored "sympathetically", but just something you own that's inconvenient to fix & probably better left to rot. We've seen so many properties that are allowed to fall into decay: once the dilapidation process becomes too far advanced and it seems the building MUST fall down [certainly it would no longer be economically viable to repair], then the owner finally decides to let someone else have a chance and puts it up for sale!

Enough of how I wish they would value their buildings as assets before it's too late! [Just being thankful Troyes became a relatively poor town & couldn't afford to "improve" the medieval quarter in the 50s/60s, and now someone in charge is making them do it in the old style.]

Anyway, seven of the ten long timbers went in, and Friday would see the process finished.

Plumbers: lots of discussion; floor waste pipes laid.

All will be hidden and as long as it works, I'm not getting involved. Nothing I saw to worry me, so I'm not going to worry!

My gently perfumed world

I've just been off for another cycle ride; I was feeling quite tired & achy [that does NOT look right, but dictionary says "yes"], so decided just to do the shorter route and come back via the road. Then I got to the road and had been enjoying myself for the downhill bit (albeit slowly) and thought "why not?", if I just got up the hill the other side the cruise back down to the other road into the village is much swoopier, and being a metalled farm track has great surface but I'm not likely to meet any vehicles [different when they're harvesting, but the barley's not quite ready yet].

[ETA: did you notice how well I glossed over how many times I had to stop to get up the other hill? Not admitting anything (lost count at *ahem*), but at least I didn't dismount!]

Great fun!

And then I pulled into the front yard to the smell of freshly sawn timber competing with new-mown hay. It was gorgeous; a beautiful end to a lovely ride.

OK, so the posterior still needs acclimatising, the thighs need WAY more stamina, and I was doing my best to out-stink everything by "glowing" buckets, but who cares?

Enjoy the lovely evening.

Mince

[*Pronounced almost like "manse"*]

I think it equates to "rats" or "drat"; stronger than "oh dear", and not quite as strong as "bugger!".

Maria vigilance: nul points.

I was rummaging in the fridge to find some cheese to go with my squirly pasta [just because it's the hottest day of the year so far is no reason not to go with hot, cheesy stodge for dinner!], and realised there was very little beer in the drawer.

As the door to upstairs was already open, I thought I'd try there first (before going into the cellar), as David moved the booze when he was last here. Then I got into a stream-of-consciousness thing: "ooh, doesn't feel very hot up here?", so I went to the thermometer & a bird flew away.

Well, I'm quite used to birds flying away upstairs [somewhere on my list of priorities is blocking any entrance holes, but it's VERY low], so didn't twig that the "abandoned" nest I'd seen there was now in use!

I knew it was a new one, as the bit of tufa it's on was where I cleaned last year - David & I discussed it a couple of weeks ago. We just thought it had been used and was now finished with.

At least we can keep out of the grenier mostly for a few weeks; it's not like if they nest downstairs - they would be trapped when we've got the place closed up.

I shall sneak up there tomorrow & see if I've put the hen off sitting...

Sorry, should have mentioned it's, of course, a redstart.

[I think I previously posted that they'd stopped looking for nest sites; and now I've found out why! Oh, and it's only 25°C up there.]

Nearly forgot!

Apart from the lovely warmth, the other thing that's making me happy [I'm not counting workmen - that would have happened sooner or later, and was Jean-Marie's problem, not mine!] is that my beloved husband is on his way.

I want to go mad with the exclamation marks, but being aware that I already liberally overuse them, I shall refrain...

For a second or two...

David's coming!!!

[Kitchen currently at 24.2°C]

6pm; 27 in the shade

Me [and the geraniums], I'm lovin' it!

AND my crabby mood's completely gone; I wish I could get sunshine on the NHS. Don't get me wrong, I'm completely not sun tolerant, but I love being warm [to the point where I feel warm "in my bones"].

Not sure of the temperature in the kitchen [the room we "live" in] as the hygrometer was in the coolest room (21.9°C), and it takes a while to climb...

Makes me wonder whether it is time to keep the shutters & windows closed during the day; this "super" insulation we have will keep any warmth in the house that we let in. Last summer, I resorted to only opening the shutters after midnight and closing them about 8am; it kept downstairs in the 20s, whereas I stopped working upstairs when it hit 34°C [forget which] - apparently that's my tolerance temperature for scrubbing walls & floors.

33°C; fine. 34°C; limp dish rag!

At least the humidity is dropping: it was 74% a couple of days ago, and is now down to 48% - not that I mind, but it makes working more likely to cause a heat rash.

Something else to think of: do the exercise DVD in the morning, while it's cool; it was fine just, but bordering on more of an effort. [Yes, I know that's the point, but there's a difference between already giving it 100% and struggling.]

I don't think I'm ready for "hot exercise" [or indeed "Bikram™" housework] yet!

Things I am noticing...

Having workmen in vs living alone:

Not an exhaustive list, I'm sure!

• A long forgotten skill re-emerges: I'm learning to make coffee, again
• NOT going to investigate every noise I hear; workmen also keep away nesting swallows!
• Being amazed at people doing messy jobs wearing white [and I mean white] t-shirts. After getting on for thirty years of doing my own (and other people's) laundry, I would not consider working in anything that wasn't already "previously loved". Supermarket t-shirts are so cheap, that I only justify buying mine at the charity shop as preventing landfill/re-using things that aren't yet totally worn out. Reduce, re-use, recycle; although when I've finished with a top it becomes as duster, as that's all it's fit for.
• Mess. Sure, I make my own mess, but I'm "expecting" that, as I was there when it happened!
• I'm also getting better at closing the loo door and locking it; perhaps when you live solo your standards slip? [Seriously doubt that - I'm used to the kind of people that have a pee with the door open so they can continue chatting!]
• Not being able to just lock up the house & leave: if workmen need access, I either need to be here or I need to give them keys. At Ormonde Court I think we're spoilt: Steve & Lee will let anyone in/lock up behind them if they know someone's working at the flat
• Other people's music; when the neighbours decide to have a professional sound system & play REALLY LOUD music not to my taste I'm justified in being irritated... Can't complain when the noise-makers are working for you - not that I mind, but listening to French radio reminds a person why so few French records top the charts outside the country!
• Having something to blog about!

Ooh ooh ooh!

Sorry, [*using grown-up voice*] "Day 9".

I always think being the in bathroom [or in this case the "powder room"] has a hastening effect on that phone call you are waiting for, or the expected visitors; works for me - get in a bath, wet hair, doorbell goes.

Well, today it worked fine! I was just debating how late is late in French etiquette [it's a French word, right, so they must have SOME etiquette about turning up?!], when I needed to dash to the loo...

OK, OK, I'll admit, TMI!

But after a week of waiting, it's lovely to hear a van rolling into the front yard. That's what it sounded like, so I hurried [as soon as I could!] to investigate.

Hurrah! Carpenters!

And I was just going to make them some coffee when another Hurrah! Plumbers!

To add to the excitement, farmers! [But they're more reliable/self-motivated, somehow.] Still, the place was packed out with vehicles.

Obviously that shopping plan needs to be re-thunk!

Car-in-barn; hmmm! I could say it was my cynicism led me to not get the car out & park it somewhere convenient, but in truth it was lack of forethought; oops.

Still, I'd rather have a yard full of vans & not be able to go shopping than no vans & shopping-till-I-drop. [People who know me might know I will happily pay people to do my shopping for me, if they are kind enough! Ocado would still be on my "Favourites" list if they didn't always choose things ON their sell-by date.]

ETA: I'm just off to eat those words!

Carpenter/plumber tomorrow...

Allegedly.

I will be more than happy to eat my words!

Our "placo" came/another marvellous machine

I'm really getting into incredibly-helpful delivery drivers and their marvellous machinery!

Two bods turned up this afternoon (as promised), reversed into the front yard without hitting anything & started unloading the "placo" ["Placoplâtre" is a trademarked name that's used for plasterboard; like "Hoover" is often substituted for vacuum cleaner], using the magic of hydraulics and remote controls.

As always, blokes display great mastery of hand-held gadgets!

Just like the unfounded fears I had when concrete-mixer-driver had his "tapis" very close to the "au vent", today's concerns were equally baseless; the arm of the hoist got within millimetres of the crinkly tin without touching.

I'm not sure if my presence has anything to do with the care taken (my cynical head says "yes!" - we don't get things damaged in our presence!), but once again I was impressed.

If we had deliveries regularly, I would definitely be begging for a "play" with the joystick!

I suspect that the "placo" is in everyone's way, but I'm not going to worry about that: if the carpenter & plumber had done their bit as promised, the delivery would have been on the right day/in the right place for the plasterer to start work...

Guess I'm going to play dumb (as necessary) on Friday.

Materials expected this afternoon

Slight change of plan: I was thinking of going to Lusigny to do my shopping [not the nearest of places, but I wouldn't be (too) far from Botanique, the garden centre!] and maybe stopping in at Charpente Auboise to give them some grief.

So, instead I will be waiting in for a delivery of materials for the plasterer. It won't be M. Kadir who does the work, as he is going on holiday... Although the rate we are 'progressing' he might be back from his hols before work can start.

I think I will leave hassling Messrs Mazij to Jean-Marie; let him earn his money!

Ditto M. Torelli.

The absence of the carpenter and plumber is starting to impact on the rest of the work: the strengthening of the existing joists, and lowering the corridor upstairs means that the ceiling can't be done, and the need to lay the waste pipes is stopping the floor being finished and also the supply piping needs to be in place before the walls can be insulated/plasterboarded out.

It's such a beautiful day that I'm just enjoying it, but I have a feeling that if it was cold & wet I'd be fuming!

So, still awaiting "Day 9"...

Bonus/Surprise!

Still no carpenter, nor plumber, but I got a surprise bonus: we've got a plasterer!

I was a bit worried that this car was driving around very slowly [there's only our house & Isabelle's next door, and it had been past a couple of times], so I "braved up" & went out to see what was happening. A man was reading the Building Permit, and I thought "Oh, no! Please don't let there be any problem with it!", as we vividly remember seeing a house in the next village being built, only to be demolished just after it was finished as it lacked the necessary permission!

Turns out that he's one of M. Mekki's men; he doesn't know what exactly he's doing...

Not as bad as it sounds, as he's waiting for M. Mekki to arrive to tell him.

Hopefully he's just measuring up for materials (which is what he thinks probable), as the absence of wood to which he can attach his metal rails will stop him putting up any plasterboard!

Watch this space...

If it's not going to be light enough tonight, it never will!

I'd got my wussy head on, for some reason, and was dithering about going out on the bike, thinking "will I be safe riding down the road if it gets dark?" and "what if it's cold?" and rubbish like that. Thankfully, common sense prevailed: at 8pm on the day after the longest day, it's NOT going to get dark in the time I'll be out cycling!

As it was 26°C in the courtyard at 7pm, again the chances of freezing to death were small [I tied a sweatshirt round my waist; obviously totally unnecessarily!].

When I'd finally got up the incline behind the house I made an odd decision: go for a longer ride - instead of coming back by the road, go up the other steep track to the hill on the opposite side of the valley, and come back into the village through the vines there. With only a small bit extra from the village to climb, that track up the other side of the valley was the only additional challenge.

I startled two roe deer (in two separate incidences) and a pair of partridge that really panicked!

I nearly made it up the hill to the other side, but in the end resorted to pushing for the steepest part; giving me plenty of time to wonder whether it is shaming to push your mountain bike up a hill. I decided that I wasn't ashamed; that's just the way it is, for now! Hopefully, fitness levels + stamina will improve and I will manage to go a bit further than 3 miles in 45 minutes! [I vaguely remember that's how long it used to take me to cycle to school, when I did that, which was just under 10 miles; hmmm!]

I got home, it still wasn't dark, and I think I may be starting to enjoy myself with this mountain-biking lark; not yet too keen on the uphills, nor the downhills, but the gentle slopes can be fun, and as I was hurtling back into the village I wished I had a speedometer to see how fast I was going. Going from both-brakes-all-the-time on any downslope, that's progress indeed!

Enjoy the light, while it lasts.

And being quiet for lizards...

I've had the redstarts sit on the gatepost and peer in at me: mouths full of grubs, so they have finished nesting & brooding and are feeding their offspring? I've seen both birds, so I don't think the hen will still be sitting if she's out catching insects...

Either way, you have to be quiet when they are outside the house; they are even sneakier when they get into the house - as there is less of a ruckus than the swallows invariably make, it's trickier knowing when they are making themselves at home!

No less poop, though!

This afternoon I was enjoying watching the lizard who seems to live in the front step; fine as long as you don't want to get close enough to take a photo. I, of course, want to get close enough to take a photo!

Sitting very quietly meant he was willing to come most of the way out of his hole, but he wouldn't come out completely. But my favourite photo was the one of him eyeing me up!

Making hay while the sun shines

Sorry, I just couldn't resist!

It was so foggy/misty this morning that I took a photo - intending to take an "after" shot when the sun had burnt off the mist. Well, I forgot to do that, but here's an "after" shot of a different kind:Jean-Luc is ill (with some sort of virus, I think), but someone very kindly took his place on the tractor this afternoon. Apparently the forecast is good out to Sunday; I'm guessing that's long enough to make the hay? In England it always seemed to take much longer than a few days, but I'm guessing the heat we get here vs. the humidity of a maritime climate makes a massive difference.

Fortunately, Jean-Luc comes and turns it with his tractor; I can remember helping dad to turn it by hand. By the time it's hot enough to dry the hay, it's hot enough to burn your gingery-blonde helpers! And it's arm-aching work; I'd much rather a nice man in a tractor does it!

Shouting at swallows

I've seen a fair bit of wildlife in the last 24 hours, sadly most of it dead. There was a decomposing chick on the path, I think a magpie or crow? Something big with a whopping beak.

And on my walk I saw a limb, which I was deciding between cat & rabbit, when I'd pretty much decided on cat [claws retracted] before walking on & finding most of the rest of a squashed kitty. Odd, it's on a farm track, so no-one goes very fast.

This morning there was half a mouse under the horse chestnut tree (and yesterday I saw a splattered one in the track), so I'm hoping I've got my share of dead animals out of the way for the summer!

An all-too-live visitor just: swallows think our house would make a perfect home - it does, but just not for them. The redstarts think that too, but they've finished nesting at the moment. Not sure if the swallows are having another brood or this is their first one this year.

It's odd how the silence of something being quiet sounds totally different from the silence of nothing there... The swallows make a racket outside and then it suddenly goes quiet, and I think a left-over from my childhood is the instinct that when a known trouble-maker goes quiet (small brothers do that when they're up to mischief!), to go and investigate.

I usually manage to notice them & shout at them till they go out; this works best for all parties, as if I have to evict them it's pretty stressful & often involves little [unwanted] "offerings" [guano!].

Last summer I had to open ALL the windows downstairs before this one swallow would finally vacate the premises! In a way I was happy (not happy that I was stressing him/her out), as we had been wondering whether they were swallows or swifts, and having to carefully lean past this chap let me get a very good view of the colouring & confirm he/she was definitely a swallow.

Thinking of which, I'm off to the stable to check nothing's nesting in there...

Bill from project manager?

Yes, that one we CAN manage!

Plumbers?

What do you think!

Carpenters?

Still nope!

Much better, now!

I went for a walk - couldn't really decide what clothes to wear, so ended up in "work" clothes (paint/hole ridden track pants & a sweatshirt I don't really like, so never mind it ending up dusty) with a gilet to ward off the wind [which is still COLD].

It's a lot warmer than when I got up; 8ºC out the back - it's made it into double figures!

Anyway, I got to see lots of fluffy white clouds, some big menacing grey ones, a couple of partridge and the usual quota of small birds, and I feel a LOT happier.

I think the wind blew away some of the crabby mood that's been plaguing me; the work will or won't happen on time, which doesn't matter anyway. If I have to stay here because the house isn't secure, I get to spend more time in this beautiful countryside; if I get to go back to London, I can go swimming everyday! And I do think that if I feel like going for a walk on Friday morning, everyone can wait for me for a change/get on with the meeting in my absence - I've been waiting on other people too much, and that's going to change.

Happy windy day!

Carpenters?

Not yet...

Friday meeting, continued

Jean-Marie showed up at 9.50 - in plenty of time for the 10 o'clock meeting!

I'm a bit pissed off that we're always the last to know what's going on...

To say the least!

Anyway, the builders have laid the concrete wrong: there should have been insulation up to the sill, and they've made the sill too big, so we will get cold bridging...

When I overheard Jean-Marie saying to M. Mekki [whose given name is "Mad", which I thought lovely!], that he wasn't getting paid to draw those little plans that crop up on every building job it had me thinking "What HAVE we paid you for, then?", not a good way to have clients reacting to you when they've paid a huge amount of money up front!

I'm wondering why we are using a project manager when he's supposed to oversee so we don't get mistakes; that's NOT happening, & WE have to deal with our favourite artisan because T+B refuse to (are scared of him?)!

And when M. Torelli showed up [he really doesn't look well, and his tablets are giving him vertigo!], it came up again that T+B knew he'd had several incidences of bad health in the past.

Not his fault, and I'm not blaming him, but given the history we've had with workmen [including M. Th. Huguenot who T+B checked out - not noticing, somehow, that he'd registered for voluntary bankruptcy; what the heck were their checks?!], you'd think Jean-Marie would steer us clear of people with known problems.

Sorry, I know this has been a rant! I just am fed-up with avoidable problems provoking the shrugged shoulder reaction, and we're now of the opinion that it would work out better if we just did it ourselves (not to mention massively cheaper)!

Very short-sighted of them, too, because we're in a position we couldn't honestly recommend anyone use T+B as their project manager. I've managed to head off a lot of problems because I'm hyper-vigilant & have a pretty good idea of how a building project works, but someone without that experience - I dread to think what result they'd end up with.

So, sadly, this will be the end of a working relationship and we will be recommending people to look elsewhere should anyone ask us for a project manager!

And that does make me sad.

Friday meeting

9.10am.

Late yesterday afternoon I got confirmation that the meeting was this morning, at 9am...

One of the non-attendees seemed better informed, but in this case he wasn't!

However, so far I am the only attendee.

Reminds me of more than one meeting I attended when working for a German bank; although we had other participants in other countries, so there really were meetings.

If you're the only person on the project side, you can get tougher than when there's someone to rein you in!

Today, sadly, no-one to get tough with.

Obviously NOT day 9!

Well, I'd worked it out, but got an email late this afternoon saying the carpenters will start on Monday.

They don't work Friday afternoons, so it seems they spend Friday morning finishing off jobs or doing minor repairs [I don't think in this instance "dépannage" counts as "breakdown"?!].

Doesn't explain today though...

Unless I blinked & missed Thursday?

Day 9?

Or not?

At this moment its shaping up into a "we'll see"!

On my calendar [why was I compiling this when we have a project manager?], it shows the carpenter starting...

No-one has said otherwise, but I'm beginning to wonder.

Mind you, the French seem crap at communicating!

We are slowly training ourselves to ignore letters until WE are ready to respond; it SO goes against the grain to "sit" on an official request for information, but we've learned that the officials won't respond to [any!] of our letters, so we are trying to become more French!

Still struggling with the absence of (what seems to me) business-like/courteous contact.

As I say, "we'll see" whether this turns into Day 9.

Or not.

Xylophène, part 2

Another change of plan.

It only took an hour to do the second coat, but as it's so much easier seeing where you've done on DRY wood, I'm going to have a longer break before doing the third coat, so that I can tell where I'm up to!

Xylophène

Change of plan with the Xylophène: just because I can now scamper in a relatively-fearless manner up the ladder to the bit above the stable, it does NOT mean than I'm happy at the top of the steps treating the joists...

After half an hour (and four feet of progress), I took the decision that, as they haven't been munched away in the last 150 years, the joists will probably outlast David & me WITHOUT being treated for woodworm.

So I stopped that, but am doing the big beam that will be visible, and the woodwork above the door/window.

It needs three coats, and as the first coat took 1 hour 45 minutes I'm having my lunch break then will start again.

I reckon that by the time I've finished the second coat, I will be able to start again at the beginning which will allow the hour between coats suggested.

Part of me feels a complete wuss, but the greater part thinks "well done, not HAVING to do every last thing to perfection, IS making progress".

Tomorrow the carpenter starts work to replace the floor upstairs, and as part of that he is reinforcing the joists, so he will spot if any of them are bad enough to come out.

Gorgeous day!

It's started out lovely today: I got a really good night's sleep and when the alarm went off didn't feel like pleading for "just 10 more minutes".

OK, so it took me half an hour to get out of the house, but I went for a cycle ride again, so feel very virtuous.

It's not at the stage where I'm enjoying it, yet, but that will come.

I've also taken some photos of the garden in the sun, and inspected the concrete which is dry, so I'm off to treat the timbers as soon as I've had a cup of tea.

Don't tell David that I've been up for nearly three hours without having had a brew...

1) He won't believe it, and

2) It might set a precedent!

Day 8

Turns out all my worrying was for nothing!

The builders arrived this morning (just before the concrete mixer lorry), and when asked "what about the pipes in the bathroom floor" were not at all phased - "oh, we'll just shutter that bit off and do it later".

Phew!

The concrete mixer driver was really skilful, and manoeuvred the arm into the stable & the tapis did the rest.

Not sure whether to think of it as a flying carpet or a magic carpet...

I think it was a bit of both?

Either way, I wish my dad could have lived to see one; I can remember the struggle with barrow-loads of concrete getting them from the mixer to the site before it went off when the lorry couldn't get close enough to where it was needed.

Alain says it will be dry tomorrow, so hopefully I will be able to get up the step-ladder and treat the woodwork before the carpenter gets here.

Mountain biking

Along with staying on the wagon [actually surprisingly easy, when there aren't home-made liqueurs to 'evaluate'!], I'm trying to take more exercise in a bid to become healthier...

I love walking round the tracks, but some days I leave it too late, or the gaps in the showers don't feel long enough, PLUS I would like to explore further afield.

So we've invested in a couple of mountain bikes.

Yesterday I went off for a trial ride: it took me six goes to get about 200 yards (300?) up the hill at the back, so I turned right and did the circuit I can walk in about a quarter of an hour.

Took me 10 minutes...

Hmmm!

Baby steps it is then.

Today, I still needed to stop five times [and it was only five because I gritted my teeth and refused to stop when I REALLY wanted to!], but when I got back onto the road I turned left instead of heading straight for home.

Managed just over half an hour, and I expect I will pay for it tomorrow!

My "seat" is going to take time to become acclimatised to the saddle; but as it's always like that when you start cycling, I'm not worrying.

Perhaps I'm slightly unhinged starting out my ride with the steepest hill I can find?

I like to walk that way, because when I get to the plateau it's all easier from then on in: I think I climb about 50 metres over a distance of 300-400 metres at the start of a walk, so it is pretty aerobic (or maybe it's just because I'm really unfit?), and then the remaining ups & downs don't seem as daunting.

If I get to the stage I can ride further than I can walk (which is looking a bit shaky, to be honest), I will need to find my map.

But that's not such a problem as getting my thighs & posterior into shape will be!

Elderflower gin

I was running out of time to pick my elderflowers, so didn't have much time to research a recipe.

I reckoned that getting a batch made was more important than finding the "correct" way to do it and missing the (rapidly closing) 'window' of opportunity.
So it was out this morning to pick the best of the remaining heads flowering, as they were rapidly going to seed.

I ended up with about 32 (but it could have been 33) heads that I checked for insects and then cut the flowers off into a Le Parfait jar.
Again, going for the "let's get it done" theme (and totally lacking in finesse), I drowned them in gin!

Someone reckoned that they should be decanted after three days, but I'm going to try & follow Hank Shaw's (Hunter Angler Gardener Cook) advice & let it "rest in my cupboard until the berries from the plant it came from turn ripe".

If anyone remembers me making fruit liqueurs last autumn, and is wondering how they taste, the verdict is "Yum". David selflessly sampled four bottles of damson gin and two versions of quarante quatre (plus half-and-half mix of both versions), and declared we could offer any of them to our friends!

Day 7

Or should that be "Day 6" - I can't make up my mind whether Day 1 counted [showing up, saying "Hello!", and coming back hours later to measure from a hole drilled in a block down 1m - still not sure if that IS a day's work!], and whether the bonus half hour on Saturday does either...

Still, we've had workmen on site now for 7 days, so I'm sticking with "Day 7".

On Day 7 we had an electrician run a few cables so that they will be covered in concrete when the builders lay the concrete tomorrow.

We've got two places where power sockets/telephone/TV are going to be located on the stone walls & the cabling needs to come up from the floor in a joint in the stone work.

We were going to have three places, but there was no other suitable joint, so we've compromised!

Still not sure what's going to happen with the absence of a plumber and needing to encase the waste pipes in the slab...

BUT, I'm reminding myself that we have a project manager whose job it is to worry about that sort of thing (and who knew about the problems with the plumber's health before he quoted for our job), so I'm going to let Jean-Marie earn his money!

[Maybe by tomorrow's update I will have eaten my words, but maybe (just maybe) not.]

Snap decision

Having dithered about for months trying to decide whether to get a French-style washing machine [narrow, top-loader] or an English one [wider, front-loader, many more programmes, half the price], we were no nearer to making a decision, until this afternoon.

We'd gone to Burgundy to try and source some stone for the sill under the French window in the stable [I think we're OK: M. Pasdeloup has enough for a small terrace (can be installed later) that's "nicely weathered" (a.k.a. needs pressure washing!), as long as we can find a way of getting it here... 1.8 tonnes is more than a Berlingo can carry!], and needed a "pit stop".

I was waiting for David & got sucked into browsing the 3-day sale of white goods; sometimes I think having an oven would be great!

I was also admiring a decent-sized fridge [one where tenants haven't broken all the door shelves & half the other shelving, so we could stand cartons of juice upright!], and went to have a look around the other side only to get 'sucked in' to washing machines.

There were 2 cheap ones: a "French" one and an "English" one... David found out from the salesman that the top-loader only spins at 600rpm, whilst the front-loader has choices of 400, 600, 800, 1000 & 1200rpm and they both use the same amount of water/are A rated. The front-loader takes 6kg to the top-loader's 5kg, so it was a pretty easy choice!

The downside: top-loader slightly narrower, but greater functionality seems more important that a bit of extra space in the laundry room...

Which really IS a laundry room now!

Luckily, we'd got some filthy boiler suits [pressure washing 150+ years of crud off beams & walls creates a fair amount of muck!], and grotty work clothes [tying a (very gritty) tarpaulin to the wall plate left so much residue in my hair it took 2 washes to get it to lather, so you can imagine what previously dirtied clothes ended up like] so we felt fully justified in doing a "test run".

So far, so good!

No leaks [yet], and given the colour of the water coming off, it seems to be working.

And given the special offer, we paid not much more than a second-hand one from the charity shop in Wallington would be, and half the price/less of a new one on display in the Auchan normal display of washing machines.

Fingers crossed it lasts a while.

Day 6

Bonus!

We were sitting there in our dressing gowns about 8am [after leaving Lydie's at 1am, we'd got to bed around 2] when the SMS van drove up...

Being the type to only go out in my nightclothes to take photos of my plants, I let David go and open the gate!

Alain & his colleague worked for half an hour or so & then were off: they have almost finished laying the plastic sheeting, reinforcing-rod mesh & polystyrene insulation.

We're not sure what happens regarding the plumbing wastes/missing plumber, but I'm sure I'll find out on Tuesday when the concrete is [due to be] poured...

Day 5, continued

Jean-Marie did show up eventually, by which time we'd spoken with M. Huguenot and sorted out almost all his queries regarding electrics: height of switches/wall lights, location of sockets, etc.

We do have a lighting plan [and this time it has been updated - SO much easier than my pale blue pen amendments!], but when faced with stone walls that we are keeping visible, things have to "give", and that includes placements of power points vs joints in the stonework.

He seems OK with it, and we're happy, so that was painless.The builders are at the stage where they seem to be rattling along.

They get all the "glory" bits - knocking down walls, building walls, breaking through windows, finishing around openings - it's all relatively rapid, with a lot to show for a day's effort.

David is really impressed by how fast they are going; I'm happy with progress, but being much more familiar living on a building site, know that all trades work equally quickly, but you only "see" the bits the builder, tiler & joiner do...

Plumbers, electricians (and especially anyone doing air-conditioning) tend to have so little to show on the finished project it can be easy to wonder why they seem to spend the longest time on site.

Answer: try living somewhere where they haven't spent much time on site, and you'll soon know why...

Just the one light and two sockets in a room brings more inconvenience than waiting the extra week or two to get an adequate supply of power!View from our bathroom window.

OK, so it's not a window yet, and it won't be a bathroom for quite a long time, but it's definitely a view!

We're off for apéros with Lydie & Laurent to meet Aude's friend's [Anna?] parents: we're wearing our other hats as "exchange visit brokers", so until the girls are safely back from Stuart & Tracey's we'll be keeping everything crossed that everyone gets there safely/gets on/has fun/gets home safely!

And I'm keeping everything crossed that with me on site everything will go smoothly with this phase of our renovation...

Day 5

9.35, and we're waiting for Jean-Marie for a 9.00 meeting...

Day 4

Half the floor is covered with compacted hard core [does big grit count as hard core?], and the builders are progressing well.

One small annoyance - they have taken down a perfectly good joist [but apparently it wasn't nailed down, and can be replaced]...

Day 3

A day with a digger, and the builders had excavated out for the floor...

AND we had a hole for the bathroom window.

Now THAT felt like progress!

Day 2

At the end of day 2 all the bricks forming the roof to the stable were down, and the wood.

Now THAT felt like a start!

Day 1

Well, you didn't expect anything to have happened on the first day, did you?

Don't be daft!

They did show up, and came back later to take a measurement [but as it was going to be a rough measurement for how far to take the earth down for the floor, I did a rough calculation & wrote it on the blocks & we went shopping!], so that counts as progress.

Update since my last post...

Hmmm, I haven't felt much like updating this blog with progress - mainly because it hasn't felt as though there has been much progress.

Hasn't stopped the bills, though!

The project managers are not covering themselves in glory - delays at their end have pushed the start date from beginning April to Monday of this week [7 June], and we've had a couple of days where they've needed our urgent response to fairly massive issues by lunchtime...

Hmmm [again], let me get this correct: you've sat on this for over a month, and now we have less than three hours to look at it, make a decision and get back to you?

Bearing in mind that France is an hour ahead, and the French are still pretty 'religious' about stopping for lunch at midday EXACTLY, and the urgency is caused by back to back holidays for best part of a month. I'm not happy!

AND then when we do get back to them with a very detailed list of comments and points to absolutely include/don't mention, they just go and ignore it!

Anyway, we've started now, and as far as we have good news, Jean-Marie's telling us to deal with the joiner will save us their fee on nearly a quarter of the budget!

Haven't mentioned that yet... [Probably a 2-month delay on passing that bit of information on?]