Day 29

The plaquistes have made good where the VMC tube has been removed, and put up the plasterboard in the bathroom, but we still have a missing section; I'm not sure if that should have been done, or not...

No builders, but by now I'm just winding down to going back to London; I really don't care what gets done/doesn't, now that we have the sill in place & M. Baty can come and take his measurements in late August.

Anything that happens tomorrow will be a bonus.

[With my "Mystic Meg" hat on, I think I can foresee at least one meltdown from J-M, but as that's par for the course I'm not going to stress.]

[Yes, I do know "stress" isn't a verb; but it bloody well ought to be! Do compilers of dictionaries live in a building-work-free environment?!]

Plaquistes

Yay!

Day 28, continued

The plumbers did all that they could without...

Can't remember what condition needs to be satisfied for them to continue, but I'm sure it will all come right in the end!
The builders have removed all the surplus plasterboards, and brought some new green [water resistant] ones. M. Hamid has been enlarging the cour anglaise, and that's been hard work, given that today has decided to go back to full-on summer weather.

He says he's back tomorrow; I'm just hoping to finish the sill to the bathroom window [apparently, that needs re-doing, so we will be on attempt number five to get that opening sorted!] and get those rejingots done, but I suspect the cour anglaise will take priority.

I was hoping to ask M. Mekki/M. Luparello, but today I didn't get a visit; shame, I like our multi-lingual conversations!

M. Luparello best sums up my linguistic abilities when describing his own: "je parle [insert language of choice] comme une vache espanol", however I like being able to add in a little Italian, Spanish, German, English or Welsh [I'm shoehorning in the very few phrases I know]; makes the French so much more *ahem* interesting.

However, it does mean I have to pay attention; it's one thing listening out for French words, it's another thing entirely trying to work out what language we are talking!

Day 28

We've got plumbers...

[But still no plaquistes.]

I'm expecting builders, too!

Day 27

Plaquistes still missing-in-action, but we've now got a french windowsill at the front, and the lisse for the woodwork is done.

It's not 100% perfect, but David & I made a couple of decisions, and we're happy with the result. If we could have moved the stones to the front of the opening, that would have been much nicer [and pleased M. Luparello!], but I think they needed to go over the polystyrene insulation to prevent cold bridging, so we made the best compromise we could.

M. Luparello thinks the stones would have looked better if all the original tooled edges had been neatly cut off as well; but he's Italian! Not meaning to sound dismissive [he's lovely, and he's actually Sicilian, so not Italian at all], but we've seen a few Italian building restorations, and the phrase "over-restored" seems tailor-made for the way they work.

It's a matter of preference [unlike the pragmatic decision to have the slabs further back than would look best], so we have got some wonky joints between the slabs, but M. Hamid is going to use stone-coloured mortar to fill them, so they will be (visually) minimised.

I'm finding out a bit more about M. Jamel: it seems he speaks an odd mix of Berber, Arabic and Spanish, with the minutest amount of (incomprehensible) French thrown in. As already ascertained, it's not just me that doesn't understand him; none of the French do, either. M. Hamid says he doesn't even speak Berber or Arabic well enough to be understood easily, and no-one on the job speaks Spanish.

He married a cousin, so I'm guessing she can communicate with him [enough at least to have a son!], but I still feel quite sorry for him; for me, being not understood [not even as bad as being misunderstood], makes me feel very lonely, as I am very particular about choosing my words to express exactly what I mean, and am living in a culture reasonably similar to my own.

Having got lost on Sunday [hello beloved!], for a while because we forgot to take a map out with us, and deciding to try just this last way before stopping and asking someone, then seeing Bar-sur-Aube on the signposts & being mightily relieved, makes me feel for a man who got lost this morning and couldn't possibly ask his way [or understand if someone could work out where he wanted to go and gave him directions] and can't read...

Makes me thankful that my French is slowly improving.

Did I mention people are now prepared to call me on the telephone even when they know David isn't here?

Progress indeed.

ETA: It's not my estimation that M. Jamel's mix of languages is odd, it's M. Hamid who says that, and he speaks Berber, Arabic, French and English [that I know of].

Monochrome

Coming back from shopping on Thursday, the clouds were beautifully accenting the wind turbines for a few minutes.

By the time I got closer, the effects had gone.

Day 26

Flying visit from the electrician; he's relocated the offending light cables, and the VMC tube has gone...

I wonder whether we may have lost VMC function in the study for the next month, but that's better than how he started off: that can't be done. We countered with: Jean-Marie & M. Huguenot say it can. He tried: but the plaquistes aren't here to remove the housing. Us: we can do that. Then: but that would mean switching the VMC off. We responded: no problem.

Seems to have taken us at our word!

Because M. Huguenot is on holiday, and J-M hasn't told anyone where the VMC pipe is to go, we've left it at: the pipe can just be left on top of the wall for now.

[Thinking about it, maybe that means the VMC is working in the study?]

Complete absence of SMS; we were expecting a builder to lay the sill for the french window, and plaquistes to finish off the plasterboarding, but I'm not going to start worrying until tomorrow has been and gone without a word...

Sadly, David is now on a train for Paris, and then London.

I miss being spoiled!

Day 25/Friday meeting

It was supposed to be the "pre-reception" meeting today, but David and I had refused to even consider signing anything with so much work left to do, so Jean-Marie contented himself with thinking that next Friday will be the "pre-reception".

David and I will cross that bridge when we come to it!

Today's meeting flushed out some positive aspects: M. Kadir [plaquiste who is now back from his holiday] and M. Huguenot [electrician's foreman] are sufficiently OK with the plan to remove that ugly VMC pipe that it will go ahead; M. Mekki brought the stone slabs [although having broken one, and having to tell me that they need to cut the others in half to properly fit the sill, he's lost at least half of yesterday's gold star]; M. Torelli has found a free standing WC "bati-support" [sorry, don't know what that is in English], so the partition wall around the loo can be finished.

Overall, it felt quite positive, and when M. Mazij came up with his brainwave I was delighted!

[So much so that I've been re-drawing plans already.]

M. Mazij said we could (in the future) cut out the middle section of the problematic beam upstairs: he would install a metal tie, higher up, and the proposed supports for the future mezzanine would run high enough that the ceiling height would be sufficient. So that means that bedroom 3 is back on again. I have now decided to profit from the absence of the beam [which had dictated having a small section of corridor to each of bedrooms 2 and 3], to add a dog-leg corridor and enlarge my box room.

Obviously, Jean-Marie and Nicolas don't know about that (yet), but as the panels of composite for the upstairs floor aren't being laid till September, they will have plenty of time to help decide where the step needs to be.

And it will be only one step required, so another bonus.

Ooh, I'm a big fan of carpenters!

I feel like we're making lemonade.

["When life gives you lemons..."]

ETA: Have just heard from David that when he went to the bakery this morning he met M. Waeber, who really isn't happy with T+B; he was sounding off, and David couldn't argue with him!

Sodden critters

While the blackbirds seem to view the rain as a convenient shower, the poor soggy bees don't seem so keen...

This chap was alternating between drying himself off and rooting round for nectar on the coneflower. Seemed happy enough, but they are a lot noisier about it on sunny days!

Time for some good news

David's coming today!

I've made dentist and homoeopath appointments for when I'm back in England.

It's still raining off-and-on; so garden will be super lovely when it's next sunny.

We didn't have to decide on a bath, yesterday.

I'm really enjoying fitting in some yoga and meditation into my *ahem* "busy schedule"!

I've found a few sloe bushes with a half-decent crop. [Last year's provider of over 4 kgs (and you couldn't even tell where I'd been picking them) has four sloes this year; yes I did count them!]

I am now (semi-) regularly cycling as far as I usually walk!

M. Mekki has picked up four stone slabs (enough to do the sill), and he's being "green" and not coming today [I think it's really the meeting he has in Troyes, but who cares?], but bringing them tomorrow when he comes for the meeting; gold star for him.

Did I mention David's on his way?!

Penny drops...?

David phoned T+B this morning to speak to Jean-Marie; we felt it was better/less aggressive to speak to him directly than to send an email saying there's no way we will be signing any papers on Friday (or even next Friday) to say we are happy with how the work has been finished.

For a start, none of the work is close enough to being finished to be able to tell whether it will be done to a satisfactory standard or not, barring the brickwork around the bathroom window; that's now fine, but only a small part of the builders' work. Until we've seen the pointing on the stone walls, I'm not signing anything. I know I'm taking him at his own estimation, but I have high hopes that M. Hamid will be able to make a nice job of that, and I feel reasonably confident that he will lay the sill correctly.

Poor old M. Waeber should have started on Monday, and can't start till the electrician and plumber have finished [plumber may be here next Wednesday; he won't know till tomorrow's meeting], so there's no chance we can sign off the tiling! The carpenters are delayed because of the electrician and plasterers [who are fitting the insulation, and are missing some damp-proof fabric]. I think the plasterers can't finish until the builder has finished round the window at the back, and need the plumber to have finished first fix. The plumber is not attaching anything that can't be moved until he has had J-M's express approval. The electrician has put five lights in the wrong place, so needs to come and re-do some first fix electrics.

Obviously, we're not signing off on the joiner's work for J-M: that might mean paying him more!

We have managed nearly five weeks work since the beginning of June, but that's not the bulk of our problems.

It sounds as though T+B have finally realised they are not covering themselves in glory: David said that J-M, Joëlle and Nicolas have had a meeting, and I think he said J-M apologised for letting us down. My presence here has saved them from even more remedial works, and they seem to have finally noticed that... I don't know whether any of the artisans or entreprises have said anything to them; I wouldn't be surprised if they have... I've heard a bit of muttering, so I'm sure there's been a lot more!

I suspect what hurts them more is that they were expecting a glowing reference from another client and they didn't get it. I'm left wondering whether they are going through their client list to see who they can call upon for a recommendation, and have noticed how many problems we are having; it wouldn't surprise me if that was across the board, the way things have been this time.

The way I currently feel is that there's no way I'd even consider giving them a reference: their fees have meant that we can't do our bathroom/entrance hall floor, or the sauna or finish the terrace. We wouldn't have been able to do all three on that list, but we certainly could have done one and been working towards a second.

We seem to have paid for less-than-nothing, looking at it in bald terms: they have caused more work, and not saved any expenses, but because the specifications were wrong/lacking we've now had to find more money just to finish phase 1b!

A few examples:

• the plans are wrong, so we have to go back to the drawing board for upstairs, [and not just the drawing board, we may need to remove/re-route plumbing, which needs to be done before the carpenters enclose the space above the joists];
• so many of the sketches have been wrong that we've had to re-lay the concrete for the sill, re-do the sill of the bathroom window, re-do the lintel of the bathroom window [and the brickwork is "wrong" because the builder & I decided that would "do" rather than starting again from scratch: J-M expressly stated which courses to start on to get the pattern correct... Also, Nicolas & I spotted the angles were wrong before the plaquiste had bent the bathroom out of shape!
• speaking of wrong sketches: the electricity plans show three light switches in not-legal locations in the bathroom; the electrician moved them and pointed out he was prevented from putting them that close to the bath;
• still banging on about sketches: the carpenters followed the drawing for the non-lowered corridor, and then had to spend two days undoing their work & doing it again properly. Would we have insisted on that if we'd known the plans for upstairs weren't right? I don't know, we'll have to see when they are re-drawn;
• the "cour anglaise" was specified 1 m across, to allow for a 65 cm window and a 63 cm shutter... Even David's arithmetic can spot that that won't work [obviously another addition to the bill to make it bigger];
• no plan for sealing in the insulation upstairs: we don't want to create a rats playground;
• the spec missed out the bathroom window [for the builder, not the joiner; we pointed that out before the spec was sent out and again after the estimates had been passed as correct];
• the plumber's estimate was "verified" as correct during the six or seven weeks they were "checking" them, but he'd missed out all the upstairs plumbing [so we've got another invoice for that];
• no time plan/calendar, so I don't even know when I'm expecting workmen or if any haven't shown up; the original "plan" was on my calendar, but that has slipped somewhat;
• oh, and if they weren't involved, everyone except M. Baty said they could happily start at the beginning of April and be finished by late May; we believed them, too!

Sorry, I'm not meaning to start a rant [done enough of that already], but just giving a few indications why I don't think I would recommend them as project managers. My experience has been: manage the workers yourself, cut out the project management as much as possible, and try to un-do as many problems as you can caused by incorrect drawings before it's too late; without those drawings, we'd have had far fewer issues to address!

And did I mention that I was still cross at J-M yelling at M. Mekki?!

What would it take for me to change my mind? The only thing we can think of would be a full refund, and completing the rest of the work in a exemplary fashion [and I don't for one second believe that would be a possibility!], and even that than would just get them a lukewarm reference.

If they offered that? Part of me would be tempted, but only because we could get the bathroom finished. I think the honourable part of me would still refuse to give a potential client anything other than a warning...

But the daydreaming part really would like to get our chosen wall tiles ordered before they, too, are discontinued, and the only way for that to happen is for money to appear by magic!

Day 24

I had read the latest email from T+B to say that the plumbers were coming Friday instead of today and Friday, but clearly I was wrong. I'd just finished in the shower and was opening the house up again [the heat (& sun) from early morning had totally gone by 9 am], when M. Torelli and M. Jimmy showed up.

M. Torelli had had a meeting with Jean-Marie yesterday; it took some establishing - everyone I've spoken with today feels like it's Thursday - maybe we've all had enough happen this week that it ought to be over! I said that with regard to the bath supply/waste, we wanted to leave that as J-M had suggested; yes, I know it would be 'nicer' to have it (nearly) finished at this stage, but if we factor in wall-mounted or freestanding taps, and various different dimensions/styles of bath, it seems much more sensible to leave that open, and only complete when we have bought the bath/taps.

I don't think he was delighted, but accepted my insistence and I think he understood why.

They have run supply to all the sanitary ware locations, and were doing the heating just before they left. At 6.30 pm!

If I had the right connections, I would enter their efforts for a Turner Prize; I'm definitely seeing a modern art octopus, aren't you?

They haven't linked anything up, as M. Torelli wants everyone's approval: the way he was looking intently into my eyes and saying that it's not just our approval, but the project manager's [his emphasis] as well, made me think he might be hinting at something...? As well as the "we want to avoid any misunderstandings, don't we?" type comments.

I agreed: yes, we do want to avoid any misunderstandings!

So, we're all clear then. I had a phone call from M. Mekki just after the plumbers arrived; he sounds like he's stressing about whether we need the sill doing so that M. Baty can make the french windows. I said I'd get David to ask him [M. Baty], and he [M. Mekki] arranged to come about 4 pm to discuss it...

Miraculously, David managed to get one of the joiners on the phone, who said M. Baty would be back in the afternoon, and then he spoke with the man himself! [Doesn't always work that way.] He said he would prefer to have the sill in place, but he could work from the blue line on the wall if SMS could guarantee that it was in the right place.

Given that we have two blue lines on the wall because the carpenters did their own as they'd found that the builders' one was not level, David and I would also prefer that the sill was in place before any measurements were taken of the opening.

We talked around the subject for ages before coming up with a plan: basically not mention that M. Baty could do it without the sill, until I'd sussed out how much of a problem that was going to be. If I had to 'offer' that as a solution, we would then insist that the doorway isn't unblocked until the new woodwork is fitted, which would be October, as we really didn't want to risk such a huge window being wrong.

If the sill is put in wrong, that can be changed!

Anyway, all our contingency planning turned out to be unnecessary [isn't that what you always want, and why you have a contingency plan?] - M. Mekki said that he and M. Luparello could go and fetch enough stone for the sill in his little van, if it wasn't too heavy. He tried calling M. Pasdeloup to see how much the amount we'd need for the sill would weigh, but only got voicemail.

He was a bit strange when he arrived, and asked if we were OK...

I said "yes", and sort of implied "shouldn't we be?". They've fixed my window opening [that's old news], and I apologised for the extra work for the plaquistes when the VMC tube is moved, so I didn't think I'd done anything wrong. [We'd already discussed how ugly the VMC housing was, and I didn't understand what M. Torelli had said, so I asked M. Mekki if I was causing problems/being difficult, and he said no - M. Torelli clarified that he thought the boxing-in looked like an industrial extractor fan à la chip shop!]

So I asked if he wasn't OK with us, as I'd prefer to know...

Turns out he either saw J-M or had a telephone call from him [I forget which] where J-M had been aggressive, and said we were complaining about the problems the companies were causing.

Erm, no!

I did explain, and probably shouldn't have done, that we had no problems with SMS or M. Baty [I emphasised that, because of what's been said/hinted at about the joiner], or Messrs Mazij or M. Waeber [I'm still deciding about M. Torelli/Schwartz; M. Huguenot seems a different person when we talk to him direct, he only seems surly/unhelpful when J-M is there; noticing a pattern yet?], but said we had had some issues with T+B...

I said more than I should have, but I don't think it's fair phoning people up and yelling at them, saying the clients have a problem with them when the only people the clients have a problem with is yourself!

Sure, we've had issues that have needed to be resolved, but they have been [with all firms, so far], and as I previously posted I don't have any kind of problem with a problem that's been fixed (especially without any hassle); it's life, you make good and move on. As they say here, it's "normale" - not comment-worthy, what happens, normal!

So I gave a few 'for instances', and mentioned the error in the plans which is putting us back further, and even showed the builders the copy where J-M has re-drawn the beam.

Hmmm! Not impressed, but I did mention that we are looking at all the firms and seeing who we want to work with again in future phases... Didn't mention T+B either way, but M. Mekki [oh, I do so want to call him "Mad"; it's his name, not an insult!] is a smart cookie and can read between the lines.

They trotted off with a promise to try M. Pasdeloup again, and call me in the morning to let me know if Plan A was a goer.

I had a phone call about 6 pm saying he'd spoken with M. Pasdeloup who reckoned about 200kg worth of stone, so Messrs Mekki and Luparello are going to Burgundy tomorrow to fetch the slabs, and M. Hamid will fit the sill next week.

Result!

We'd have been fine with waiting till September, but that would put M. Baty back by at least a week, so the windows would be delayed till October by which time it will be getting cold; too miserable to have an unblocked doorway. So all for the best.

It's rained off-and-on all day: brilliant for the garden, and has also brought the temperature down a lot. It was 30°C in the shade at 9.30 last night when I finished watering; today at 7 pm it's 20°C. I'm glad I watered: it means that all the rain around my roses (and other vulnerable new additions) will go straight to the roots, as last night's water will have soaked all the soil - the watering and the rain will both reinforce the effect of the other.

So, I'm a happy bunny.

And with that, I think I've rabbited on enough [*snigger*]!

Bonus meeting!

Not "Day 24", obviously!

We did have a plaquiste on site, but he was only visiting to get his step-ladders. He was just leaving as Jean-Marie was arriving...

Not that I was expecting him, but David had sent a bit of a bombshell email yesterday: we can't decide what bath we definitively want before Wednesday morning [David working and we two being in different countries makes it just that little bit more challenging], so we have called a halt to the bathroom floor/supply to the bath. This can be decided at our convenience, and then the plumbing is in no danger!

M. Torelli had put the fear of burst pipes into me: if we don't decide the exact model now, we risk piercing supply/waste later if we go with a roll-top bath, as the feet are screwed into the floor.

So, I anticipated a phone call, and probably David getting involved, but a site visit (in retrospect) seems the best way of clearing it up.

J-M had come to see if he could come back later; which gave me time to compose myself, and look up a few choice phrases, should they be necessary...

He showed up late, but that wasn't a problem, as I'd already factored that in to my plans. He had an idea which involves just leaving about 2 sq. metres of bathroom floor in the unfinished state, so that we can run the waste as necessary when we have chosen the bath, and the supply pipes to run in the central axis of whatever bath we have [so the axis won't move, but the bath may stick out a little further or less far each side], and go up to the wall, but not into it.

He hasn't yet spoken with M. Torelli, but he convinced me, and I suspect that given our stated choice, M. Torelli could see this as a good compromise? He promised to speak to him before the plumber is due to come here on Wednesday.

Yes, I was right about the lights above the bath (and the shower) being wrong, and we found another bonus wrong wall light, but that is all easily remedied.

J-M spent a long time working on the window embrasure sketches, but as long as M. Baty is happy with that, I'm not going to concern myself with it too much...

I was just psyching myself up to ask if there was any way we could possibly move the VMC pipe, and the plasterboard housing, when he dropped a bombshell: the loo in the shower room for bedroom 3 upstairs was just about OK under the beam...

What?! We moved that to the other side of the room...

Except: the plans are apparently wrong!

[Actually, I think that calls for an excess of exclamation marks, so here's another couple: !!]

We decided that as there is no floor upstairs at the moment, and I am a grade A coward about falling [two people have already been through the ceiling, so it's not that unlikely!], and clearly all the measurements need to be taken again, he will ask M. Mazij jnr to put down the composite board along the corridor, and at the front of the space, and we will have a think about it then.

I emailed him to say, obviously if all the plans are wrong, please ask the carpenter not to do the step(s), as that/they could need to be changed.

I'm doing brilliantly at not stressing, even managed several giggles as I was telling David about it. I'm just thanking the gods that look after beautiful old buildings that this time around we get to have more elegant solutions.

Thank You!

Whether we end up with two or three bedrooms upstairs, who knows? At the moment I am just focusing on being calm. So to that end I probably need to give a big thank you to Solara An-Ra for her excellent meditation CD, which clearly got me in the right frame of mind for the meeting.

Thank You!

And the VMC pipe? J-M says that should be fiddly, but not impossible to move, and he can quite see why we wouldn't want it there, so he'll ask Schwartz to move it.

Result!

Day 23

The poor plaquistes were here from before 9.15 am (when I got up!) to 6.30 pm; I think they've done all that they can do, and are missing some insulation.

They will need to come back after the plumber has been on Wednesday, but there's not a lot left for them to do. They seemed really keen to get the work finished before the August break, so I do hope they are on overtime, or getting a bonus.

It seems really odd, now that the doorway is partitioned off from the bathroom; I know that very soon I will be used to it, but after it being open, I got used to having three doorways between one space and another. When we can afford to do the bathroom, it will get smaller still, but that's a little while off yet.

The housing for the VMC pipe is as ugly as I imagined; another wasted opportunity to choose an elegant solution. T+B haven't added too much value. I realise that re-routing it during phase 1b would add immensely to the hassle/cost, but that pipe never needed to be in the room at all. I don't even know why it is there: it seems to come out of one wall to go in another - it could have just gone through one wall into the back hall ceiling. Another example of the Heath Robinson too-complicated-for-its-own-good thinking that's made our house less attractive than was possible...

I'm racking my brains for a way to hide that corner.

Day 22, continued

We've only had one other incident that's led to a broken ceiling; I don't think anyone was hurt, but seeing them all still working I never thought to ask!

Having also broken another rung on my ladder, the electrician felt his work here was done, and departed.

M. Hamid has finished the window at the back; lovely job. That was despite, rather than because of, the help of poor M. Jamel, I think. Certainly M. Hamid was pulling faces, and M. Mekki has started calling him "Mr Bean". NOT kind, for I believe M. Jamel is doing his best, it's just that no-one understands him. I feel quite sorry for him; feeling un-heard can be a very lonely place.

He seems a happy chappy, so I do hope he's got plenty of nice people at home who can make out what he's saying [and don't call him Mr Bean!].

The poor plaquistes left at 6 pm, and didn't manage to finish today; they are being held up by the lintel, but M. Jalel says he totally understands why that had to be re-done.

They are coming back tomorrow...

We've sent various emails off to people, the one to M. Torelli invites him to let us know if I've misunderstood, otherwise see him Wednesday to move the waste pipe into the middle of the wall, next to the partition. We shall see, but if that's possible, I don't see why we shouldn't do that.

We're gradually talking ourselves into the roll top bath: if we buy one that I've seen in England, it will work out about £300 cheaper than a fitted bath in France. OK, we've got fitting on top of that, but by eliminating the need to make/fit housing that will still be cheaper than the steel bath.

And that's before I start looking on eBay [the last bath I bought was brand new & £16.99; oh the joys of Berlingo ownership]...

Day 22/Friday meeting

Today's meeting seemed a lot less painful, yet it felt as though we got more discussed...

I think Nicolas is less stressful than I'm currently finding Jean-Marie!

The problem with the bath waste is one of understanding: we needed to specify an exact model, and didn't realise there was no option for changing it later. The waste can't be central with a centre draining bath (?) although it did seem later that we could have the drain further back at the centre to allow for the siphon (u-bend, I think). So if we want the option of a cast iron claw foot bath later, we have to make that decision now.

Hmm! I like having the possibility, and am fairly sure if we could get the waste at the back of a cast iron freestanding bath, that would work for a built-in bath later? Will have to chat with David about that.

Have to admit I did say that being English I didn't know it wasn't possible to change a bath in France. They were talking about "normes", and how you couldn't have a waste dropping straight down because of the smell... Lucky I couldn't summon up the French for: "well that's a big change, the French no longer wanting their plumbing to have the usual odour of drains". I don't think that would have helped my cause!

I think M. Torelli backed down a little about that [being unable to have a different bath]... I do know their normes are different than British Standard, but I didn't realise we couldn't change our minds.

We've got till Wednesday to decide on a bath, and then it will literally be cast in concrete. In that case, I'm tempted to say "go for the cast iron one", and if we later need an ugly modification about floor level to choose a built-in one, that can be hidden by the bath panel...

Similarly the fact that we aren't 100% happy with the taps seems to cause a problem; not sure why, because if we're leaving the bath question open, the tap height can't be decided until the bath is chosen... They're going to leave the pipes "en attente" in the partition wall, and not plaster over the joints in the place. Similarly for the washbasins/shower.

I've passed on M. Baty's question/sketch, and now have sent various scans to everyone who wanted one. The main issue now seems to be [again, probably one of my/our understanding?] that M. Baty needs the openings finished to take his exact measurements; the builders want M. Baty's sizes before they finish the openings.

M. Mekki seems a bit stressed by trying to fit in laying the stone slabs in the french window opening before the builders break for August, so David is emailing M. Baty to see if he is happy about taking his measurements from a blue line on the wall, and adding on 1.00m - if he's OK with that, the slabs can arrive early September without pushing our dates back at all.

Apart from the 'comedy moment' when the electrician's foot came through the ceiling, everything seemed to go much more smoothly; I'm liking Nicolas more and more each time I see him, as well.

Final news: our very kind friend John Knighton [let me know if you want the name check removing!] is helping out with the design for the french windows. His CAD skills are way superior to how my brain is currently coping with number crunching, and his .pdf sketches look infinitely nicer than my best attempts on graph paper to visualise how a "nice" doorway might look. [We've turned our noses up at plain patio-style doors.]

With John's permission I might mangle the format of one of his drawings so I can upload it into Blogger so you can see the results!

Day 21

M. Hamid has only just finished; there's clearly something wrong with his work ethic!

There again, he's not French...

He's finished the brickwork around the bathroom window, and is just putting back the stones above. He was right that Jean-Marie had given M. Franck the wrong starting point with regard to the stepped bricks [I know they're not quoins, but I don't know what they are]; instead of ending up with three bricks sticking out at the top, we've got one. But I can live with that!

Given how often we will be looking at the lintel once we've got the vegetable garden growing, it's a small sacrifice.

The forme also has played it's part, and I was surprised to hear that the French understand what a plumb-line is. [*Irony*] Seriously, given the wonkiness of the wall, it looks pretty damn good.

The ouate de cellulose insulation has arrived; I don't know why they are not using loose this time, but finding the panels of it has been a headache, apparently - M. Jamel had to go to Dijon to get some. That's got to be a two-hour drive in his truck.

I was heartened to hear that no-one understands him; it's not just me, which makes me feel better, even if the poor guy must feel totally isolated. M. Hamid says it's because he doesn't enunciate properly, and I'd agree, but as that's a bugbear of mine, I would say that, wouldn't I?

Bastille Day

Day off!

Today is la fête nationale or le quatorze juillet, but we tend to think of it as 'Bastille Day' - a day to celebrate the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789. According to Wikipedia [so make up your own minds], the prison only contained seven prisoners, none of them political. The commander of the Bastille, seeing the strength of the crowd, opened the gates [make of that what you will!] to 'avoid a mutual massacre'. Didn't stop 99 attackers and eight defenders later being killed.

Again, according to Wikipedia "The storming of the Bastille was more important as a rallying point and symbolic act of rebellion than a practical act of defiance." Shows a nice sense of irony don't you think?

Anyways, today is a jour férié so the builders get a day off, and more importantly, I get a day off!

I slept in till 8 am, so the Night Nurse was worth it [drug of choice for those of us who don't like taking sleeping tablets], and I even managed a three-hour nap this afternoon. Hopefully, getting 15 hours sleep in the last 24 will mean I'm up to the challenges of the rest of the month. I've already decided that if the bathroom floor has to be dug up again, that will happen, so my resolve is stronger, and after my nap I don't feel at all tearful. Hurrah!

Which points to my diagnosis of "tired" as being pretty accurate.

[Off topic: whereas I think of a nap as "going bo-boes" in baby talk, the French refer to it as "do-dos" [like the bird], and "bo-bos" in French are "boo-boos" or "poorlies", especially the ones that need a plaster & kissing better.]

As my mind is now a lot more refreshed, and not totally full of building work, and it is Bastille Day, it seems a good occasion to discuss what I've noticed about 'equality'.

Liberté, égalité, fraternité.

["Ou la Mort" was dropped as being a bit strong.]

Equality is enshrined in the modern French psyche, but I'm learning that there's a very strong hierarchy that must be followed in the building trade.

In England, my builder was known as "Bob" [yes!], and I was known as "Maria"; not too difficult, those were our names. [In the 'good old days', my builder was known as "dad", and I was known as "Fonzie" (because I was "coool"!), and I would give everything I own to have that back, but that's not possible.] My dentist is known as "Paul", the postman is known as "Mick", and the Chief Operating Officer of David's company is known as "Mike". Maria, Bob and Mick are Working Class [although it could be argued that Maria has become Middle Class by virtue of marriage/white collar work], and David, Paul and Mike are Middle Class.

When I was younger, the lady I cleaned for was known as "Mrs Roper", but that was because she was of an older generation, not because she was Upper Class [which she was]; "Mrs Lillie" was Mrs Roper's full-time cleaning lady, and I can't even remember if I knew her given name. Again she was known as "Mrs Lillie" because of being an older lady and I was a teenager. All my grandma's friends were "Mrs Somebody-or-other". But that's a long time ago.

I don't know if that's different now with children/young adults, but I certainly call all the elderly neighbours I've known in London by their first names.

In France [our part, at least], the boss of a firm is called "M. Family-name", and his workers are "M. Given-name". I'm not sure what we are called, because our surnames cause enough problems even to Jean-Marie even after nearly four years, and no-one else even refers to our names apart from M. Mekki, who calls me Maria. I think that's because he's of non-French origin, and needs to call me something. I vastly prefer that to "madame" which makes me feel old, and is close enough to "madam" to make me feel as though I'm difficult! Neither do I like "Mrs Family-name", because it makes me feel like my mother.

[Another aside: I kept my family name on marriage - if it's good enough for the Queen and Elizabeth Taylor, it's good enough for me. This does confuse some people, but it's not really difficult: I was Maria B*** and I am now Maria B***; simples!]

We know enough about French culture to know that we have to wait to be asked to call people by their given names, and we are building up a circle of Sergines/Lydies/Laurents etc, but I still find it odd that equality is something we know we don't have in England, but treat people as though we do, and something enshrined in French tradition but in practice doesn't seem to exist.

Happy Bastille Day!

Day 20, continued 2

Just had M. Waeber - if I understood correctly, he can't now do the tiling before end July because another job has come up. We're OK with that - don't mind if it happens before or after the windows go in, before or after August. [I told him he either has to ditch the Burgundian accent for an Aubois one, or he has to slow down.]

He thinks the plumbing is wrong for the shower in the bathroom, but maybe the bath plumbing can be re-routed in the concrete under the tiles...

M. Hamid is making the forme for the new brick arch - already it looks a million miles better, and we haven't had a brick [re-]laid yet! We've decided to ditch the "gothic" look.

David saw the earlier post, where everyone was wondering how the window could go so wrong, and reckons that's because they used a cross-eyed builder.  I don't think that's it, EvilDavid!

Just had my meeting with M. Baty; he's totally chilled [and at the moment I wish I could achieve that], and will come along some time late August and discuss designs/measure for the windows & shutters. He's answered all my questions without any fuss, says he has enough paint, and that our other shutters are ready, and he will try to fit them before he goes on holiday at the beginning of August.

That may even happen; who knows?

I think he was quite impressed that we are on the fourth attempt to get the bathroom window opening sorted out, but not in a good way! He said he didn't think we'd had a lot of luck with builders...

On the plus side, M. Baty and several other people have commented that my French is improving, and some are even now brave enough to call me on the telephone; progress indeed.

Everyone today has been commenting that I'm tired; I can't remember if I've mentioned it [I have said to at least one person about waking up every night worrying about something or other that's not been done/done correctly], or if I just look a fright. I haven't burst into tears, at least not in front of anyone; I think I'm just overwrought, and now I'm starting to have confidence in M. Hamid I think the adrenaline I've been running on has petered out!

I don't know why Jean-Marie didn't want to use him for this phase?

So, I'm going to be ultra-sad and take a dose of Night Nurse to help me stay asleep, comfort eat on pasta [mm; cheesy stodge], and will probably be in bed before small children!

ETA: The builders think it was my fault for giving M. Franck coffee; if we applied that logic, no French house would ever look OK!

Day 20, continued

M. Luparello has arrived, and apparently the lintel is too low!

Hmm, I'd kinda guessed that!

I think they are just mystified how it has happened, but my joking suggestion that M. Franck is on drugs was laughed at - no, it's not that.

Not sure what it is though...

Day 20

M. Mekki to the rescue!

With his sidekick M. Hamid!

I just had M. Mekki on the phone; he's obviously seen David's email and the picture I posted yesterday - he wanted to reassure me that it would be put right straight away. He's bringing M. Hamid today, who will take down M. Franck's work from yesterday [and, thinking about it, probably the day before too].

We've got the 14th of July as a holiday, obviously, so the lintel will be re-done Thursday. He also says he will make sure the sill goes down for the French window so that M. Baty can start work late August. [Builders not back at work till 6 September.]

I feel a lot happier now, but not back to full-strength trusting...

Hopefully, that will come.

Day 19

I seem to be in a nightmare; I can no longer remember the thing that percolated into my consciousness at 3 am - it could have been no-one mentioning the wall-mounted bath taps [so the pipes have to run inside the partition wall], or the absence of piping for the VMC, or the realisation that the bath waste may be in the wrong place [I was thinking they meant to run it in the upper level of floor, but realised that there is insufficient depth].

Anyway, I didn't get back to sleep, so by 4.45 am I was up & having a cup of tea, waiting for it to get light enough to go cycling. I finished my whole cycle ride before the sun got up [lazy thing!]. Although being in a valley, it's not as impressive as it might sound.

I also got my exercise DVD out of the way [today's thanks go to Harvey Walden IV], and had just finished 10 minutes of yoga when the builders arrived. I'm seriously trying to get fit again, and am not allowing the work to get in the way! Sadly, I keep waking up at 3 or 4 am thinking whether this-or-that aspect has been dealt with [usually it hasn't], so am not getting the rest an overweight, unfit person needs to cope with Angie or Harvey, as I think of them [in a futile attempt to make them less intimidating].

I think some of the stresses are starting to show [coupled with less than three hours sleep] and I had horrible stomach ache so ended up going back to bed this afternoon, cuddled up to a hot water bottle. It has rained for several hours, but the temperature is still 21.8°C - which is way better than the 25° we managed on Friday!

My excuse is: tired/'hurty tummy'/raining. So, I didn't go out to the stable until after dropping off David at the station...

[Apart from, of course, dealing with a problem over light placement/ceiling reinforcement - no, the ceiling hasn't been reinforced; yes, J-M knew where the light was supposed to go; no, he hadn't told me or the electrician.]

I almost wish I hadn't gone there, now!

Sorry about the fairly useless photo, I was trying to draw arrows to show what's wrong where, and ended up with a Word doc of over 14 MB, so screen dumped it into Paint so I could send it to David...

[Yes, I know, there must be a very simple way of sending two photos with arrows & text, small enough to attach to an email, but have you tried making sense of "Help"? Especially when you don't have a few days to research it. It would only let me use the online version, which is even more useless than the normal one!]

The window is supposed to be 200cm tall, butting up against brickwork on the outside. What we've got is an opening 177cm tall, with 22cm of concrete lintel showing under the brick arch [which is itself a horrible pastiche of what it's supposed to be]. The inside, if you ignore the missing step, is 200cm tall, but that's not the point, I don't think... Once the opening is finished, it would be smaller still, so getting out of it without cracking your head would be fun.

Note: David and I are both "normal" sized humans [~5' 8"], so it's not like we are asking for a lot! 200cm easily would allow my 6' 4" brother to go out. In fairness to SMS, the builders, this was missing from the project document, and the drawing J-M did was wrong [although, apparently it's the builder's fault for not noticing that!], but he did correct them verbally.

Oh, and the bath waste is in the wrong place.

We have decided that David can mail T+B/SMS about this, because I am on the point of saying "Stop!" and going away for a couple of weeks before I let anyone loose on our poor house again.

It should all be fairly easy to remedy, but I'm getting fed up of being the only one looking out to see that the work is done correctly, and pointing it out when it's not.

I think I'm going to take my stool out there and just sit watching what happens.

The only reason I am not *SHOUTING* "Stop!" is that if we can get the window openings sorted out in the next two and a half weeks, M. Baty will be able to start making the windows late August. If we don't get that part of the building work done, work realistically will re-start the first full week in September, and the windows get delayed by another month and a half.

It gets seriously cold here in the winter, and I've done a couple of early autumns without heating, and don't want to do that without doors/windows, but the opening broken through.

How do I feel now? Now that I've sobbed by heart out to David, composed myself to create a document that shows the problem, and he has notified the project & builders managers?

I don't want to lose any more teeth!

Brilliant blue sky

Completely cloudless.

It's going to be another scorching hot day!

I was tempted [for a moment] to open the shutters to take a nice photo, but it's absolutely necessary to keep them, and the windows, closed to keep out the heat.

With the meeting on Friday, seeing workmen, & having David here, we've opened the door so many times that the temperature in the house has risen to 25°C - when it was down around 20°, it felt quite icy coming in from outside [specially when the courtyard/front garden was up around 44°]. Obviously it wasn't icy, but the contrast was impressive; and having somewhere cool to sit is desirable.

I'm still opening all the windows (with shutters) at night, but it's dropped down to 22° for the last couple of nights, so it's only helping marginally.

I'm going to have to be the "temperature police" for a bit, I think!

Not complaining; just saying.

Day 18, continued

The plasterers finished putting up the plasterboard for the bedroom ceiling, and have started sealing the joints. Insulation in the partition wall has just started...

They have also done most of the bathroom/sauna/dressing room ceiling [we won't be dividing that space until we can afford to do out the bathroom; at the moment we are just having the loo fitted], and are only waiting for the lintel to be finished above the window.

We're having lovely coloured ceilings: "Imperial Mauve" in the bedroom [when we had the bedroom at Leander Road the same purple colour it was called that, so let's go with it!]; green in the bathroom area. In the rest of the house we have: 'greige' [grey/beige], green and pink!

"Imperial Mauve" = phonique - sound insulating
Green = water resistant
'Greige' = bog standard
Pink = heat resistant [round the woodburner flue]

One day we will be able to write a cheque and all ceilings will be a creamy/off-white; till then I'm going to enjoy!

Happy Birthday Chez-le-Baron on Blogspot!

I can't believe it's been four years that I've been posting about our house...

[Let's not go into how many years it's been doing a 3-4 month building project!]

The way I feel about this blog it that it's a kind of diary crossed with therapy; if anyone reads it and enjoys my posts or gets updates from us, that's a bonus, but I do it for me.

Selfish?

Probably.

Do I care?

NO! I love the possibilities brought about by the Internet, and even invest some of my time using a few of the tools [blogging, photo posting, email] as well as laughing at cats.

Have a great weekend!

Day 18

Yes, day 18!

Poor M. Jalel & his colleagues get to spend (at least some of) their Saturday working. He sounded OK about it yesterday [I think having all work finished, and whatever bonuses might be forthcoming, before the August break makes them happier], but it's not the work ethic we've come to know an 'love'!

35 hours weeks aren't popular among most of the people we've chatted with; sounds great in principle, but very often translates as "no overtime pay" for the workers, and everyone else has huge delays as work falls behind.

Anyway, speaking of work falling behind, M. Jalel says the bathroom ceiling can go up, and they will just unscrew a panel of plasterboard next Friday for M. Torelli to add in the extra waste pipes that got forgotten.

Fingers crossed.

Pics/forgot to say

Some pics of our newly-'ensmallened' room! [Sorry, sometimes I like the new (made up) words; sounds so much better than diminished.]

I forgot to say, that after we'd finished wrangling with Jean-Marie about the menuiserie element of the bill, we raised the charpenterie element. We were fully prepared to go into battle about that later, but felt it only fair to mention it yesterday.

That was fine - J-M said there wouldn't be any additional charge as it wasn't our error. He blamed Laurent [which I didn't think was fair, given the sketch he sent out], but as I know they do a lot of work together I'm not getting involved; they probably each make enough profit from the other to be able to lose an additional length of joist & two days' worth of labour, or J-M can give them more work.

Who knows? Who cares!

Obviously, we feel massively relieved this is over. I'm still concerned about how the work is being managed, but it should be over within three weeks apart from M. Baty & M. Waeber, and I trust them implicitly, so if/when I go back to England I know I can stop worrying.

I'm massively impressed with David [can't remember if I mentioned that in the last post]; he's shown bravery and determination beyond my wildest dreams, and has been awarded "knight in shining armour" status, and may even get spoilt rotten [a bit!].

HUGE, huge thanks, David!

Day 17/Friday meeting

Today was a day I've not been looking forward to for the last week or so: we needed to discuss J-M's bill/our objections to paying for the menuiserie work.

Come to that later...

I'd been for my cycle ride [curtailed when it started spotting with rain; couldn't risk catching a chill, so I came home], done my kettlebell DVD and was just finishing my third yoga set when I was startled [that's my job!] by men walking past the open door/window.

Given that it wasn't quite 7.30 am, and the builders had never arrived before 7.55 I thought I was safe in my "gym kit", which is too embarrassing even for me to mention, suffice to say I wear the least possible, and as fitted as possible because that works best for me.

I think the asana I was doing is called "pose of an eagle" - a very fetching attempt to turn myself into a human corkscrew, standing on one leg, whilst sticking out my ample (scantily clad) posterior. Which was, of course, facing the doorway!

I'm sure they saw me, including the Albanian whose sense of personal space seems so tiny that it makes me more English than ever; I only met him yesterday, but I've had a lot of personal comments/advice for the space of two (mercifully) very short conversations.

Normally I go and offer the workmen a coffee as soon as they arrive, but this morning, I felt "sprung upon", desperately snatched up my dressing gown & scuttled off to have a shower. Aside from my attire, I had "bien transpirée" - in fact I was "glowing buckets".

I was all nice & clean when the phone went: J-M saying he couldn't make the meeting which was arranged for 9 am, but he would be there at 10 am. I had guessed that it would be a 9 o'clock start, but that was only confirmed at 9.15 when we got the email announcing order of business!

So what's happened today?

• We've got a partition wall, and part of a ceiling: the rails & membrane are done in the bedroom part waiting for the plasterboard;
• There's now a lintel over the bathroom window, and the sides of the embrasure are nearly done (small matter of evening them out, obviously);
• We do have missing plumbing for upstairs - J-M & M. Torelli can slug that one out among themselves, but given the lack of care with everything else, I'm fairly sure I know whom I blame!
• Nobody (apart from me; sometimes that's a lonely place) had thought about how to keep the insulation in/rats out from under the floor upstairs/above the bedroom ceiling, so that's another bombshell I managed to fling into the mix! Not sure how happy I am at additional costs that should have been foreseen...
• AND we sorted out the bill with Jean-Marie!

It involved a lot of accusations, arm waving, telling it like it wasn't (from him), but we didn't back down - I even did some arm waving and got over-excited and voluble: it's a useful trick I'm learning - if I can sound as though I'm about to explode, coupled with behaving like a windmill that's trying to take off, I come across as a cross French person, so French people can understand I'm cross.

Another useful trick is emphatically answering in English so that David can translate - gives him chance to gather his breath, and he's only passing on my words. Also, it gives me free rein in what I want to say. I will admit to going on for far longer than seemed remotely reasonable, but I was determined to continue until J-M got our point/seemed to take us seriously.

Turns out there has been a miscommunication: they meant they wouldn't do the work in October for the joinery, but because they only said to David that they wouldn't do the work we thought they'd stopped, and were cross when we found out they are still bothering the Batys.

Long and short of it: we got 20% knocked off the bill after a LOT of haggling. This still leaves T+B with a large wodge of cash for a few emails/a telephone call. Face was saved on both sides, and we paid the bill after the 20% had been deducted. That was another saga - "why can't you pay the bill and we'll give you a credit note?" vs "why don't you get the bill right and we'll pay it?" Thankfully, the man with the chequebook prevailed. Maybe I could trust him to play poker?

If it sounds as though we've ripped them off, in fairness it seems that I've done more than the lion's share of managing the project, so I ought to get half of their fee, and the months of delays aren't helping (coupled with the bits we have to find funds for because they weren't listed in the spec), and nobody was twisting his arm!

We're still not happy with them, but at least we are still talking.

We are probably [because of the delays] not going to knock through to the house till September, and even then I might stretch that till M. Baty has fitted the windows. Although at this stage I think we've given them enough to think about, so I'll save that for later, when everyone is calmer again.

Speaking of delays: M. Torelli said the absence of plasterboard rails was delaying him installing pipework for the shower; the plaquiste says the missing shower pipes are delaying him; the missing plumbing is delaying the plaquiste, who can't do anything on the bathroom ceiling till the upstairs waste pipes are sorted. Oh, well, that's one I am leaving to J-M!

Given its size, it's absurd that the bedroom feels so small...

I'm sure when we've got furniture in there it will feel bigger [if you don't believe me, ask Sarah Beany!].

Not on my computer, so photos another time.

Had a bit of a wobble yesterday

I thought I was totally over the whole builders-are-here-working-on-my-dream-home-and-it's-not-my-dad thing. In the past it has made me sad to see work I'd always hoped [if the dream of owning a house in France came true] would be done by my dad: working holidays where I could help, and spoil him rotten. I know that's no longer a possibility, and I've done my grieving, but just occasionally his absence comes up and mugs me.

I was fine yesterday, and the thought that he'd be mad at me for accepting substandard work just because I didn't want to make yet another complaint gave me enough backbone to psych myself up for the difficult conversation of "Stop! I want you to re-do the brickwork". OK, that wasn't needed, but the thought of my dad gave me the strength to know I could do it.

And still I was OK, it was a rational sort of thing. I think what primed me for the wobble was chatting with M. Mazij jnr & M. Dorian; we were just doing that sort of bantering conversation that means nothing, taking the mickey out of each other & lightly teasing. I miss that sort of thing so much. Don't get me wrong, David is lovely to talk to & we do tease each other [some of us are more merciless than others...], but there was something about yesterday that made me realise I'm missing something and hadn't even noticed it was gone.

Still fine, until I came across a photo of my dad & his elder brother, Trev - they were working on a lintel on an old stone building [what's happening in my life right now], and suddenly waves of pain washed over me. I'm fine [plenty of 'fine' going on today; not so much 'brilliant' happening]. I know it's just tiredness, and the various stresses of the building work/language difficulties/being apart from David, coupled with a little bit of unresolved grief, but it's making me miss dad like nobody's business.

I think what might have made it worse is M. Mazij - fairly small chap, losing his hair, not immediately attractive on the outside, but a honey on the inside, a real leg-puller. Well [if you don't mind the omission of "bears a vague resemblance to David Jason"], that's pretty much an accurate description of my dad. I'm forgetting: loves old houses, good at woodworking. Again, thinking about it today, it's opened up a dad-shaped hole in my life, and I'm not sure how to fill it...

Thankfully no-one can see the tears streaming down my face, and by the next time I see someone, I will have got the smile back in place.

I'm posting the photo [dad on L] - but you can't tell from it how wonderful he was; you're just going to have to trust me on that...

[At his funeral, the village church's largest-ever congregation & collection would seem to indicate I'm not alone in feeling that way.]

If you've got a lovely dad, go and hug him now, and if you can't, phone & tell him how much you love him [yes, even if you're bloke!]; I wish I could join you.

Day 16; the rescue party arrives

M. Alain and another builder have shown up, so now I can stop worrying about M. Franck.

The concerns [he was going to die of dehydration/heat exhaustion] were NOT helped by M. Mekki talking about blood, & M. Franck being hit on the head by falling rocks! His safety helmet is apparently at home. He's happy to carry on, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed - don't want to find out how much fun claiming for a brained builder is on the French insurance policy...

Or clearing away the blood!

Day 16

I had another night where sleep escaped just after three, and I was out of bed and doing by 5.20. I know David gets up that early, but he gets into the office by 7.20-7.30, and I don't need to get up quite so early.

Still, I was able to get my cycle ride done - I was getting to the top of my hill about the same time as the sun was reaching the top of his hill, and today I'd worn a sweatshirt - coming downhill in the shade when it's 14 degrees out is nippy. [Well, for me at least.]

I'd done a ten-minute yoga warm-up before going and then did my kettlebell DVD when I got back. By the time I'd vacuumed out the car [I'd moved it so the builders didn't block me in and I could go shopping later; completely forgetting that we hadn't had time to clear our the brick/mortar dust], and washed down the windows [messy, messy carpenters with their masonry saw] I realised that we'd got a builder on site, but only one & no van.

Quick chat to M. Franck, saying the brick pillar to the right of the window was OK [the other one is great/fine/perfect], but please watch the levels and I finally made it into the shower was accosted by M. Waeber, who thinks he won't be able to do the tiling before the August break because of the delays.

I [rightly or wrongly] did sound off about the project management, the second time M. Waeber was complaining about it. I asked him not to say anything... Who knows? Shouldn't have said anything, but at least by chatting to him I know there are at least two artisans/ouvriers who are pissed off at J-M [and you should hear him on the hurried sketches]... Oh well, the worst we can be accused of is telling the truth!

He was still chatting [a very chatty man, to steal someone else's description] when David phoned, so he scuttled off & I did finally make it into the shower!

Today's new word is "transpire" which, when you think about it, is obvious; although I've only ever heard it used about plants giving off moisture from their pores. I had transpired buckets & needed to smell better! Not sure how I'm going to shoehorn that into polite conversation, but as I prefer the jokey chats, I'm up for the challenge.

Got back from my shopping trip, to find M. Franck desperate for water; he didn't know if the outside tap water was safe to drink [it is, but it was M. Alain & M. Gerard I'd told that to], and had been abandoned by his colleagues [taking the water with them] who are off finding scaffolding. Thankfully the bottle of water I put in the fridge the other day was still half full, and I'd got a box of ice cubes. At least they'd left him his lunch!

[It was M. Franck who was talking about "transpirer", not me, but it supplied a missing piece in the jigsaw.]

41°C in the front yard, and the wind's dropped; even the lizards are in hiding.

Another surprise visit: Messrs Mekki & Luparello showed up, and M. Mekki asked how it was going - I said the left pillar was 'perfect' [it's not, but it's so close], but that I'd asked M. Franck to watch the right one as it was coming in a bit...

Later, M. Mekki thanks me for telling them - "grazie mille", and thankfully I remembered to answer with "prego"; M. Luparello confirmed that was OK, so at least I'm being understood in three languages now. [I'm fairly sure M. Mekki has better English that he's let on...].

I asked M. Mekki, and emphasised I wasn't trying to hassle them, whether it would be finished by August break. I think I understood that they will be done - he & M. Luparello are both off on their hols as soon as July is finished. I said, I didn't mind what the answer was, but I needed to know about unblocking the doorway, [Paul, my dentist reckons I can leave the broken tooth (as long as it remains symptom-free) a couple of weeks, but I can't leave it for three months] - I explained I'd spoken to the dentist, and wanted to get back to England, but didn't want to leave the house unsecured...

I said it was just a heads up, and we could talk about it tomorrow, but I preferred that the work is done properly, and there is a delay, that we rush to finish for the end of July deadline. Basically: "have a think and let us know tomorrow"...

Just time to wish them a "buon apetito" and "a domani" before they were off.

Forgot to say...

We now know the beam-clearance is sufficient, because M. Mazij measured it - it is hand-held-up-above-head height.

That's OK, because he's a standard-sized Frenchman!

Day 15

The builders have made a MUCH better job of the brickwork for the bathroom window today - here's hoping that nothing sags in the night! I don't think it's perfect, but as it now looks OK, I'm not going to stress. A nice thing about reclaimed bricks: the lines are much more forgiving.

The carpenters have finished the corridor joists above the bathroom, and are just finishing filling in the holes they have made. Today, it seems, they have been in competition with the builders: first they really upped their noise-making game [the compressor and nail gun helped massively with that, not to mention the masonry saw], and then M. Mazij mixed mortar to fill in holes in the stonework.

No intervention from T+B, and we seem to be getting on just fine; my mood remains as sunny as the day.

Happy lovely afternoon!

Or if you prefer "Bon fin de journée".

Much happier today

As I just posted, starting the day off right is a good start.

I was thinking about the decision/non-decision regarding the corridor joists when I woke up - not saying we didn't want them to re-do the work, was definitely the right choice. My 'angst' about it had already gone before the carpenters started work; a huge clue, I think. Any last concerns melted away when the corners of Laurent Mazij's lips started turning up!

Whilst I was trying to find my other spirit level [I know I've got four, but think I might have a fifth? But the clean ones are in London], I noticed the redstart's nest looked different. I know I shouldn't have, but reckoned the chicks aren't going to "rat" me out, so I took a photo - a way of seeing what's going on in there without getting very close.

What's happening in there is two beaks and a jumble of feathers, with "bald" patches showing through. I daren't investigate further, so don't know if there are five hatchlings or fewer.

Slightly sad note: last night I broke another tooth; thankfully, this one doesn't hurt at all, and is only a corner come off. The filling next to it seems intact, so I will probably wait till I get back to London and see Paul. I've asked David to find some of the "emergency" filling that you can buy for travel, but may not even need that if I can persuade my tongue to leave the hole alone.

I suspect the cause is what I suspected the last time: clenching my teeth in impotent rage at being ignored/having problems with building works & project managers that having a project manager is supposed to prevent.

Very strongly believing that if I have to manage the project and the project managers we could save on fees & hassle by saying "goodbye" to T+B. We shall see if the discussion on Friday blows up into a huge row - if it does and J-M flounces off, well I won't be unhappy! I would hope he could be professional about a disagreement, but the lack of professionalism this time around makes me doubt that...

I don't know he was talking about us, but I overheard him say to M. Mekki that 'someone' hasn't paid his bill, they said they'd send a cheque and they haven't. Either it was a thinly-veiled dig [I don't respond well to passive-aggressive tactics, at all], or he's got another client he's really pissed off!

Gotta go, M. Mekki here...

These are the posts I like!

It's nearly 8.15, I've been for a cycle ride [2 deer, 1 heron], done my exercise DVD [another huge "thanks" to Angie Miller], and had a problem resolved!

What's not to like?

I never have a problem with problems, only people who refuse to acknowledge them/make efforts to fix them.

Yesterday at the second meeting, I was looking at the bricks either side of the window opening, and they didn't look vertical. I was half a room away, in the middle of a meeting and tired, so I got out the spirit level and left it on my hairbrush [first thing I see after getting dressed] to remind me to look this morning.

Didn't sleep so well, so by 5.20am I'd given up and went out for a cycle ride.

[Today it was hard work, but conversely I also enjoyed parts of it a lot more, and there were even two (fairly shallow) hills that I freewheeled down without braking, so that's got to be progress, right? Even though it was painful, it was my fastest time yet for that route.]

Given that we are in a valley, the sun wasn't up when I set out at 5.30, so little point trying to take photos of the brickwork, should that be necessary. By the time I got back it was light, so I went off with my spirit level and camera.

I would love to say I had seen it wrong, but sadly, close to the vertical & horizontal lines looked worse. Spirit level confirmed my suspicions, so by 6.50 I'd emailed Messrs Mekki & Luparello.

Nothing to do then but wait, so I did my exercise DVD. Then as it was only 7.50, I dashed into the shower to de-stinkify before the builders arrived; nearly made it too!

In the shower I spent my time practicing what to say, and the best I could come up with was "I won't accept that" - my dad was a builder, for heaven's sake, he'd have gone mad if I accepted workmanship like that!

I went out as soon as I was decent [carrying my level, in case - it did seem a bit as though the builders haven't got one; the level around the room they are working to isn't (level)], only to see M. Alain & M. Franck taking down yesterdays courses. I said "I guess you've spoken with M. Mekki?" and M. Alain said they'd had a message from him.

I said thank you for re-doing it, and he said it's normal; the bricks must have moved when they back filled. Stupidly, I said that our experience is that it isn't always normal to re-do bad work! That's my problem, not his.

[Thankfully, I didn't have to put into practice the other phrase I'd rehearsed: "if necessary I will re-do it myself"! I could, but would prefer not to, and obviously it would be much quicker if I didn't.]

I will admit to watching J-M look at the bricks yesterday to see if he would comment/notice - if he did spot the error [and I could see it from half a room away; he was right next to them looking at them at one point!]. Anyway, he said nothing if he did notice. Either way I'm not impressed: if he didn't notice, what's he doing being a project manager; if he did notice why didn't he say anything? We'd got Messrs Mekki & Luparello there; they could have seen for themselves.

[I will, of course, eat my words (and mentally apologise) if he has said something to M. Mekki.]

So, the carpenters are not even here yet [not that I'm implying they are late], and we've got an issue resolved before it becomes an "issue". That's how project management should work!

I just realised

That focusing on the partition walls and the rest of the meeting had nudged my mind away from contemplating guys in Utilikilts.

Sadly, I don't think I will ever see the man in my life in one.

Lucky I've got a great imagination, then!

I came across a post by Twisty Faster [this is after I was already hankering after my own Utilikilt] who says:

"I knew that I must possess one. I wanted to wear a skirt while simultaneously crossdressing. I will have my little sartorial joke."

I like the way that maiden aunt thinks!

Day 14/ Tuesday meeting

Bonus meeting!

Somehow the window is in slightly the wrong place, but there is sufficient room for that to not matter. We are hopefully getting the most-possible beam showing.

Jean-Marie asked if my worries were over - now M. Mazij jnr has undone all his hard work on the corridor joists, and M. Alain has lowered the sill of the window - I nodded and said "yes".

I don't think it would be helpful to say that I wasn't worried, I was incandescent with rage at being ignored again!

They asked if David is OK with it, so I tried to explain that if I'm happy with it, David is happy with it. [To steal a phrase from a lovely friend (hi MJM), I am a nitpicker pursuivant when it comes to projects!] They understand that he trusts me, and should know my now that I am the fussier one!

Now I am calm; I like working with M. Mekki and M. Luparello, M. Mazij, and M. Torelli, and I think all those guys have a can-do attitude. M. Jalel seems to have grasped that seeing as much of the beam as possible [never forget to emphasise something like that] is more important than a flat ceiling, but I will be here to watch him anyway...

Now all I need to do is cross my fingers.

Utilikilts

I think if you've got nice legs [both carpenters have; I've checked!], you should wear a Utilikilt to work.

[Oops! Sexist, I'm sure!]

Like so many of the phrases I don't know the French for, this one will remain unsaid.

Probably for the best.

Last week's discussion with David was about M. Dorian, the younger carpenter: he has the physique of a [male] ballet dancer; I think that's an enormous compliment, David is fairly sure it's an insult. My reasoning: male dancers have just the most perfectly-toned bodies I've ever seen - not too bulky, with long lean muscles; my idea of perfection. David's reasoning: even post-Billy Elliot, you're implying a certain 'lack of masculinity' [I think].

Luckily [again] my French isn't up to the challenge of complimenting/insulting this poor workman, so he will continue unaware of my admiration...

Sidenote: women are much better at ogling [not that that's what I was doing!] than men, apparently; something about our eyes not popping out on stalks? Alan and Barbara Pease mention that we can "eye" someone up out of the corners of our eyes [part of the gathering skills women developed long, long ago], whereas men have more of a 'tunnel vision' for their atavistic hunting activities. This means they tend to look directly at what they are looking at [if that makes sense]. Sounds convincing to me!

Anyway, back to men in skirts kilts: they're not skirts, and they are attractive [if you have the legs for it, which is where we came in], in my opinion.

Now for a gratuitous link to a pic of a man in a Utilikilt!

[Ooh, the research I had to do for that]

Day 14/"Friday" meeting

OK, so it's Tuesday, but we had Friday's meeting today! Oh, goody, one more this afternoon, and then another one on Friday.

The day started really well: I asked M. Mazij jnr if he hated me, he said he did. But thankfully he didn't manage to hold the straight face long enough for me to be completely convinced! He was smiling as though he's OK with it, and the young lad I think just happily gets on with what he's told.

The carpenters are therefore being inconvenienced by everyone else, getting in everyone's way and getting on with it. I do like working with these guys!

Jean-Marie & M. Petipas were "upstairs" looking at the joists when I noticed the builders were laying down too many courses of stone at the bottom of the bathroom window. They'd laid three courses of biggish stones, and the brick were still to come.

I went and fetched the back view architect's drawing and spoke with M. Alain. He said they were doing what Jean-Marie had said to do in a drawing of his. I "remember" this drawing - it's one I never saw, and J-M was asking me if I had it because someone had got it and he didn't have a copy. I said I'd not seen it, but wanted to.

I didn't realise that I should have pushed harder as it showed the window sill being 315mm above the finished floor level - far too high for a step. We had a discussion: I insisted that I hadn't been told that we could no longer have what we wanted, and that I hadn't seen any changed drawings; the builders haven't seen the original drawings so didn't realise that J-M's sketch was wrong.

He said we'd been there when he did it - maybe, but I never watch over his shoulder; perhaps I should! Either way, with that raised sill it was not possible to have the correct height window with the outside lintel being in line with the other openings in the back wall. We agreed to lower the stonework and have a single step in the bathroom [at the point where I'm reminding J-M of the conversation where we asked to have a floor tile on the base of the window embrasure so we could use it like a door I think it all came flooding back to him], with a floor tile, and the outside will be one brick depth above the gravel.

I'm so glad I'm here - if we were coming for fortnightly meetings, we'd have ended up with a much less usable window, as well as a not-lowered corridor.

M. Torelli and M. Jimmy are finishing off placing the waste pipes for upstairs [I know it's a long way off, but so much cheaper/easier to prepare for it now than do that when we are ready].

The missing plaquiste is causing a hold-up now, but quite honestly I don't think there's any room for him to fit in the stable even were he here! He's coming this afternoon [well, M. Jalel is coming; M. Kadir is on holiday], but I think that's just for a discussion of where the partition wall is going.

Apparently the carpenters don't hate me...

Hurrah!

More later if I find out they're lying...

It's amazing what tiredness can do to your brain

And stress, probably, if we're honest.

For a couple of days I've been wondering where David had put the bike...

It's a 600 Bandit, so not huge, but not exactly tiny. I kept thinking "I must go and check in the barn", but every time I went I was doing something else. [Usually involving going up a ladder and trying to pluck up courage to walk on "naked" joists/lambourdes; it ain't happening.]

Well, this morning M. Alain wanted the hose (which I'd left in the barn), so I took him to it and he carted it off, then I had a good look around. Not difficult - it's open and apart from piles of wood/bags of lime/hemp it's not much more than knee height. The bike wasn't even hiding behind the shower!

I picked up the phone to call David earlier than normal, my head playing "someone's taken the bike on top of everything else" and was just waiting for the ringing to start when it flashed into my head: the bike is being serviced in Bar-sur-Seine.

Oh, how grateful am I for that?

VERY: thank you gods-of-looking-after-little-black-motorbikes!

Am I going to feel (really) silly when David reads this? Yes, of course; but it's only fair - I laugh at him when he does silly things, so on the extremely rare occasions I do something spectacularly stupid he can *enjoy*!
[Sorry, I don't know an emoticon for tongue-in-cheek, for "rare"!]

Day 13

M. Torelli came and tried to fit a 4" soil pipe, but it had bent out of shape - enough to cause the stays problems, so he's left it out in the sun to bend back into shape!

He's now being held up by the absence of the plasterer...

[Who should have been here today.]

Tomorrow's outcome on the corridor joists may hold up the plasterer...

I'm now officially beyond caring; we're not going to meet our end of May deadline [unless it's next year!], so I'm just focusing on not-stressing.

Builders came & vanished [I was taking them out some cold water; they'd refused another coffee, and they weren't there]. I think they are letting the concrete of the window sill go off and will be back tomorrow.

Apparently, there are two meetings with Jean-Marie tomorrow. As usual, I am feeling a bit aggrieved that I only knew about one of them. Luckily, I suppose, I found out today and not after I got back from shopping to be told about it by M. Alain!

I'm feeling a lot happier; I think the decision-by-default over the (to-be-lowered) woodwork must be the "correct" one - I've stopped mulling it over and it just "feels right". Mostly that's a sign that it is right.

Still totally torn, but leaning towards...

The more elegant solution/what we wanted all along.

As I say, totally torn.

Apparently I have three halves [or three hands, if you prefer!]:

1. Half of me wants to leave the joists as they are - having to duck under beams, for a few tall visitors isn't the worst thing that could happen. [And then the lovely carpenters won't hate me!]
2. Half of me wants to seize the opportunity to "fix" the "problem" - getting Laurent Mazij to re-do the woodwork of the corridor at this stage adds about a day's delay/won't cost too much and we end up with the headroom that Jean-Marie was assuring us that we have now [till Michel Mazij proved otherwise], with the added bonus of no step up in the middle of the corridor
3. Half of me is still so pissed off at T+B's recurrent failure to listen that it wants to "teach them a lesson". This is the "half" of me I don't want to listen to...

If we discount the vindictive "half" [and I think we should; that's never a good motivation], we're left equally between not wanting to upset workmen and to get what we want.

Well, now I'm leaning towards getting what we want... I emphasised to M. Mazij snr that we were very happy with M. Mazij jnr's work, but it's the 6'+ visitors that are the problem. As I see it, we can endure a day [two at max] of delays, and a little extra cost [that we WILL be negotiating about with T+B] now, or have the step remind us every time we go along there that we didn't take the more difficult course of action.

I'm usually pretty good at facing up to doing the difficult things in life, and I know that in six months time most carpenters will have forgiven us, and I will have forgotten about it!

If you remember the superfluous beam - we've never yet regretted that extra cost, and it looks as if it's been there as long as the house. Whereas some of the other "issues" that we noticed when it was too late to fix [the stupid VMC route, for example, or the badly placed flue for the woodburning stove] we are repeatedly reminded of the inconvenience they cause.

With the VMC housing in the middle of the drive: if I won the lottery, that's the first thing I would get rid of - I'd take up the floor upstairs and take the pipes out the back of the house!

So it's seeming as though "bite the bullet" but then forget about the issue once it is resolved is my preferred choice.

David was leaning the other way, but I think when I mentioned that this is one problem we can fix, as it's not too late, he might be having second thoughts.

As we've left it, I'm fairly sure that M. Mazij jnr will be arriving tomorrow morning expecting to start undoing his hard work. If I say nothing, that will continue, so it could be that the hard bit has already been done [by my not saying, "no that's fine, leave it as it is"]?

In 24 hours I will find out what our decision has been!

ETA: I have measured a couple of doorways, and they are 2.01m and 1.91 m, but somehow ducking under a beam catches people out - I think it's because you can see above it, it fools the eye - whereas seeing a solid stone wall above the lintel gives the message "duck or grouse" pretty convincingly? And those doorways already existed, whereas we are having to do the floor upstairs from new.