Not day 37

x 4

1. We had M. Waeber come round on the 3rd to ask if he's still starting on the 13th [like anyone's going to tell us that?!], and where he can stock the tiles. He is worried about the depth of concrete that will cover the pipes: if it isn't sufficient, the changes in temperature could cause the tiles to crack...
2. We had M. Waeber, again, on the 7th to measure up for the tiles - he was taking exact measurements this time, rather that estimated ones - and to say he had gone to T+B's office on the 6th, and he's happy now with the plan for covering the pipes [having now seen Jean-Marie's sketch with it's wrong dimensions (9cm depth is greater than the 7-8cm we actually have!), and received an email saying it was planned that way from the beginning (erm, no, we only did it this way round to continue working whilst M. Torelli was ill; the pipes were supposed to be laid in the first screed of concrete) I'm still a bit jittery, but if M. Waeber's convinced it will be OK I'll just have to hope it will be OK], and to say that he's due on the 20th...
3. M. Mekki came on the 8th [the day the plaquistes were due to resume work], to ask if SMS can delay starting again until the 27th... I said I'd have to ask David, and see whether we could put M. Baty back (which he's fine about); David replied to his email that we'd prefer if they could start on the 20th, as we think there's (at least) two weeks worth of work to do... And we really don't want our lovely new windows splashed with all sorts of crud like the last time [see below]. We're still waiting to hear back...
4. On the 9th the tiles arrived [after getting to sleep about 8am, confident in the knowledge that the tiles were due on the 16th, I woke up about 11.30am to two pallets outside the bedroom window!]. Milesi, who are rebuilding the other part of the church wall had helped M. Waeber put them there with their tractor, and he came back later to help me put them in the house [if they hadn't have been stacked vertically I would have managed; but I was glad of his help]. He's now likely to come back after the windows are in; some time in October... Also, Nicolas came (in J-M's place); he doesn't know why the carpentry work was brought forward from early October to late August, nor does he know the answer to any of our other queries. No quite sure what the point of that visit was...

Nicolas did point out that normally the windows go in before the interior is as finished as we want it; I made a big thing out of pretending-to-be-French (think English woman being loud, volatile, arm waving) and said that no way were we having the kind of mess that we had the last time made on our lovely new woodwork this time.

I emphasised that I'd never seen such a mess after builders had been [totally true, and I pointed out the damaged double glazing units - all four in the main room we use!], and that my cousin in the Vendée said her builders didn't even leave the place untidy; I just can't trust that the site will be left in a fit state, and it's NOT going to happen.

[I didn't add "so there!", but that's probably more down to my lack of knowledge of how to say it in French than anything else!]

I am glad T+B are communicating with some people [although to be fair, it did sound as though M. Waeber just showed up and forced the discussion upon them], it's just a tearing shame we aren't on their list!

It feels as though Jean-Marie has lost all interest; he's certainly dropped all professionalism - the planning calender, weekly updates, sending everyone emails to let everyone know what's going on.

Part of me thinks that's because we've over-run his original estimate of two months work, but we never got a planning calender [it was all hand-written on my wall calender!], only received one weekly update [although I know the companies working here got two], and the only prompt emails we received have been the bill-chasing ones when we were determined to get the issue over the joinery sorted out before we settled the account; our queries about the insulation, plumbing for bedroom 2, and the step up from the corridor remain unanswered [the first email was sent on the 25th of August, a more detailed list of what we needed to know chased it on the 6th of September]...

Jean-Marie happily left for a week's holiday without responding; we are currently planning to factor in similar delays for any future payment we make, bearing in mind that if we need the carpenters back to take up the panels upstairs any cost caused by that WILL be coming out of the remaining fees owing; I'm not paying for any more of J-M's slackness!

So, other than expecting M. Baty at the beginning of October, and M. Waeber after him, I don't know who's due and when, so (as usual) I'm just busy trying not to stress about it all.

On a lighter note: our fridge has arrived, so I'm free to leave the house...

[I feel almost lighter for 'getting that off my chest', so this blog is still working as therapy!]

The little snippets I was going to post can wait for another time.

Obviously, one day it will actually be day 37. And one day it will actually be finished. Just not sure when!

Happy warm-autumn-day from this beautiful region where the already-sweet pinot noir grapes are just waiting for the vendange to begin...

[If I was French, I would be unable to resist the temptation to add "...and begin their journey of magical transformation to become the source of pleasure to millions that is the rich legacy of our region, champagne!" (or something similar).

But I'm not, so just be thankful I'm shutting up now!]