Latest "progress"

It seems to be a case of 'two steps forward, one step back' at the moment.

David spoke with M. Torelli (the plumber) yesterday, who sounded as hacked off with Jean-Marie/T+B as we are; they have agreed between themselves that David will call with our next planned trip several weeks in advance, and M. Torelli will schedule in two days [the second day for "just in case" purposes] to finish the work here.

David did have an email from J-M last week, but it just sounded like the catalogue of excuses that he's come to expect, with no real information.

I, of course, don't know what's in the mail, as T+B [did I post that they lectured David on "politeness" in one mail?] do not have the courtesy to include me on any of their correspondence! David reckoned it was insufficiently important to reply to, so I missed out on seeing it as he cc's me on his response.

The thing that has got me going "that bloody man" today, is the housing for the loo - it was supposed to have a gap between the side and where the shower screen will go - it's all clearly marked on a sketch dated 23 September in J-M's handwriting...

So why is there no gap?!

We were just finished cleaning up the water from the snow that's melted in [NOT too impressed with a watertight structure that's NOT!], when I noticed that.

So we have to delay M. Waeber from coming on Monday to finish the shower tiling, contact M. Mekki to get M. Kadir to come and undo/redo more of his work, and as David says, this might be the thing that finally has us telling T+B to f*** off!

If we have to manage everything ourselves, at least we wouldn't be trusting someone to do his job who seems incapable of getting anything right.

AND we'd save ourselves a shedload of money & hassle!

Sightings

We've just been for a bimble in the snowy countryside, with a main aim of trying to spot some more wild boar.

I think I was spoilt after last Christmas's back-to-back sightings: we saw a huge gang of them just outside the village on Boxing Day, and a family with four or five piglets the next day.

Sadly, no porcine spottings today. but we did see some pheasants, partridge, buzzards and a deer.

AND a coypu!

That I was NOT expecting; thankfully, David didn't mind turning the car around for a second glance [and then again to head back in the right direction], so I saw him three times.

Too shy for a photo-op, though.

Day whatever!

I really have lost count of what day we are in terms of the building work; given that we're five months overdue, the number isn't as high as you would expect!!

M. Kadir showed up this morning - that is the plastering finished, but guess what?

Yup, we're still waiting for a plumber!

Merry Christmas!

I hope you are having a wonderful time, (either peaceful and quiet or activity packed, depending on your preference).

I'm just profiting from David's lie-in to update my blog and then it's time to start cooking our meal or clearing snow from the gateway...

Hm! Let me guess which: warm, cooking smells, maybe a glass of "cook's nips" or cold [-5°C, same as it was over three hours ago when I got up], no reason to get the car out for over a week, might thaw/snow again before we need to...

That's going to be one tough choice, isn't it?

Well, I'm off to enjoy being at liberty in a big kitchen and temporarily off the wagon, so I wish you all a very merry Christmas!

Things I'm going to gloss over...

...As it's Christmas day, I'm not going to focus on:

• The continuing inability of the project manager and plumber to finish a very straightforward two-month conversion project in less than a year [!]
• Our journey down: delays leaving the office added to delays leaving London and then we came up against delays on the Shuttle service, and then further delays on the service. We arrived at the house at 6am; not quite how I'd planned starting my birthday, but at least we are here!
• Tiredness: I managed two and a half hours sleep yesterday morning; David had a two hour nap late yesterday afternoon. It's just not enough when you get to our ages!

I am going to focus on:

• Enjoying our poêle
• Enjoying the divine voice of Jessye Norman singing Christmas carols
• Enjoying the candles I managed to find [too much snow upstairs to want to disinter all of our Christmas decorations]
• Enjoying the company of my lovely husband, and the peace and quiet

And that's enough for now!

Christmas cake

I watched a video of Kirstie & Phil's Perfect Christmas last Thursday, and was inspired to make their 'Last Minute Christmas Cake' which Kirstie said could be made up to Christmas Eve - sounded perfect!

I went out and bought the missing ingredients [some blackstrap molasses, glacé cherries, string and a skewer] on Friday.

I was so tempted to make it then, but wanted it to be a surprise for David [hence why I am only posting about it now], so had to wait till Monday.

It took me so long to actually assemble the ingredients into a finished (pre-baked) cake, that I followed another piece of advice from the TV program: 'you can leave it in the tin for a few hours or even overnight before baking it'...

There's nothing like a red-hot cake cooling on a rack and the smell of baking to give the game away!

I was so glad that I did; the cake, instead of taking the three hours on the programme, took five and a half hours to bake!

I still wasn't convinced at the end that it was done, but was terrified to leave it any longer; despite covering the tin with brown paper, the top was getting very dark, and the outer parts of the cake had been cooked for over two hours, according to the 'skewer test'.

But the middle still wasn't producing a "clean" skewer.

However the bit adhering to the skewer were looking like cake, rather than cake mix, so I called it a day.

I think the bit I enjoyed most was pouring the calvados [couldn't find apple brandy, and it's virtually the same thing] over a cake fresh from the oven; it made a satisfying sizzling sound and smelled delicious!

I wasn't convinced it was fully cooled by the time David got home, so hid it on the cooling rack on a cleared shelf in my wardrobe [standard hiding place, but the first time I've had food secreted there!].

So that brings us up to Wednesday morning, and I couldn't resist adding another three tablespoons of calvados [in case any of the previous six had evaporated] before wrapping it up in greaseproof paper and foil and putting it in the tin [which I then hid in a box to bring with us].

The only alterations I made to the recipe were:

1) I used molasses as I couldn't buy any black treacle

2) I added a teaspoon of ground ginger, and half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and two teaspoons of vanilla extract as 1 teaspoon of mixed spice and half a teaspoon of ground nutmeg really did not seem enough spice

3) I added an extra three tablespoons of calvados when the cake was cooled, and the calvados was in substitute for apple brandy

By yesterday evening I couldn't hold out any longer, so we had a piece each [think of it as an alternative birthday cake, and that sounds better!], and it was gorgeous: really moist, cooked but not overcooked and not too dark.

The only change I would make [I think criticism is too strong a word] would be to add more spice the next time: it was barely-spiced rather than nicely-spiced, if you can imagine what I mean.

Oh, and I might try harder to remember to bring the sherry...

You don't seem to be able to find it here in France.

Altogether, though, a roaring success, and although time-consuming, not difficult enough to put me off making one much earlier next year!

Latest...

M. Torelli is supposed to finish off the plumbing today...

But the region [like much of the UK] is having SNOW!

We've had a mail from Jean-Marie saying that M. Waeber was unable to get up the road to open up the gate, so I'm not 100% convinced that M. Torelli (who has six months of excuses to his credit) will manage better.

BREAKING NEWS: M. Torelli can't get his van up our road, and intends to fit the drain for the shower and the housing for the loo today, but then he has to leave in case he gets stuck in the snow.

That I can completely understand: having been caught out in a blizzard trying to get home from school [don't know why the headmistress let everyone else (who lived out of town) home an hour earlier than she let me leave, but after she broke her ankle she got a lot more reasonable about letting me travel the ten miles home before the roads got blocked!], I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

But what is p***ing me off is that he's had six months in which to get this finished, and waits until the last possible moment (before we carry out our threat to close the house up for four months) before scheduling us in.

And I'm equally un-chuffed to find out by email this morning that he's got no intention of finishing the "nourisse" [a kind of 'distribution board' for water/central heating pipes] in the laundry; the one in the dressing room, yes, but the one that is needed so that the loo will work, no.

He's not going to bill us, so that's OK, right?

Well, no, wrong!

If you are charging to supply and fit a loo [the rest of the bathroom has to wait for more funds], you can't expect the client to be happy that it's there (and connected to the sewer) but that there's no water!!

David has emailed T+B and pointed out that until we can use the loo, the job will not be considered finished, so we won't be issuing a cheque.

I'm just wanting to get the place cleaned up, and a hole in the wall with a load of water pipes sticking is NOT what we were led to expect would be a 'finished' job. The wall, being stone, leaves the kind of mortar/masonry dust that never stops, and if rodents were to get in behind the insulation they have free access to the rest of the house.

We still have the upper hand [cheque book] in the negotiating stakes, but this just drags the sodding process out even longer; after Christmas we'll be into the second year of a two-month project...

Ooh, I'm spitting feathers!

Progress?

Well, maybe...

Jean-Marie says that M. Torelli is going to come and finish the plumbing on the 16th, and has allowed the 17th in case of 'vagary'. [I think it means the equivalent of "rains stops play", but why we need a contingency for vagaries of weather in a room that is watertight, I'm not sure; I am prepared to accept it in the sense I would use it - you've been promising to do this job since mid-July and haven't yet managed to schedule in half a day's work. I think that qualifies as vagary!]

J-M's also promised that the electrics will be finished, as will the plaster-boarding. He hasn't mentioned the breaking-through from the rest of the house, but as we're in contact with M. Mekki fairly often, I'm quite happy for that to happen as & when.

Speaking of M. Mekki: David talked to him yesterday, and gained the impression that he was pretty cheesed off with T+B.

Know how he feels!

It MAY be a coincidence, but since David copied Nicholas on the emails, it seems as though the emphasis has shifted away from arguing about why they should be paid [without any noticeable progress] to actually achieving some progress.

Hopefully, he will also be working on the plans; I can't wait to get this phase finished & wave goodbye to T+B [forever]!

On a nice note, M. Mekki sounded fairly positive that they might visit us over Christmas/New Year; if the work on the house is finally finished we really will have something to celebrate.

And because I want to end on a good note...

Here's a gratuitous photo of the meadow as seen through the kitchen window!

David kindly tasted some of my fruit liqueurs, and the verdict ranged from very favourable to 'needs more time', but overall nothing was horrible, just needing a bit more patience...

So that's the motto of my life at the moment: be a bit more patient.

Enjoy the snow, and stay safe!

And bad news...

Despite waiting patiently [although that patience is now wearing a "bit" thin] since mid-July, we are still being held up by the absence of the plumber.

M. Torelli is now the only thing stopping the work from being finished; M. Baty fitted the french windows sometime in late October, and M. Waeber has done all the tiling he can do without M. Torelli installing the drain for the shower.

Lately, we seem to have many more emails asking for payment than we have ones telling us of progress!

In fact, the only progress report we've received since (I think) July is the one we had on Monday morning replying to David's mail asking whether T+B and the plumber wished to continue with our job.

Jean-Marie argues that he has been working, but we'll have to take his word for that: the complete absence of progress reports, or indeed any visible progress that we haven't instigated ourselves [i.e. the joiner and tiler, whom we arranged to visit and gave them a key to let themselves in] leaves us somewhat sceptical.

J-M has done a bit of name-calling and cc'ing unrelated people on his emails, but we are trying to retain the moral high ground, and are only copying people at T+B on OUR mails. [OK, posting a blog isn't exactly subtle, but I feel almost like a journalist - I can't just report the "kittens & flowers" type stuff - and it's not as though anyone related to the project reads this!]

Pointing out the timeline for our "two-month" job might have helped [and saying we really did want it finished before the one-year anniversary, coming up later this month], because we have received a mail since saying he will get onto it.

Thankfully David seems to have developed a much tougher spine, and I can out-stubborn for England, so no money will be changing hands until the work is done.

David also emphasised that we paid, in good faith, for a complete set of plans to be drawn up over three years ago, and that we will not be mailing a cheque until we have a copy of the missing page (and the electronic file).

I refuse to accept a hand-drawn plan when we paid handsomely AND provided John Knighton's excellent CAD files. Privately, I think they just copied John's plans and never verified the dimensions in the only place David & I didn't measure...

We've had to apologise to Laurent Mazij for the three month delay in paying his last bill, but did explain that we only received it on Monday morning! J-M had signed it & dated it 'good to pay' 29 Nov right next to Laurent's signature dated 30 Aug. A copy of this has gone to Montieramey along with the cheque!

Hmmm! Hopefully Laurent is as OK about it as David thinks he sounded; we do want him to come and do further work at the house, even if we no longer care about keeping a good relationship with T+B.

It does seem that the only part of our job Jean-Marie is on top of is his invoices to us!

Worryingly, M. Waeber reckons it may be too cold to make good the concrete in the shower area [it was minus 6°C on Tuesday]...

That's another thing we are going to have to watch out for: having asked (repeatedly) whether there was sufficient depth for the drain to the shower and being assured there was, to hear from M. Waeber that M. Torelli had insisted the builder come to site to dig out the concrete [and now return to make good again] we are worried that another item will appear on our bill.

Given that every other trade can knock up a couple of trowelfulls of cement to make good, two visits by M. Hamid when the pipes should have been laid by M. Torelli in June will not be paid for out of our pocket: we'll pay SMS, but then argue with T+B & M. Torelli about who gets to bear that cost!

Good news...

Beautiful, beautiful french windows!

A HUGE thanks to M. Baty and his crew.

And massive thanks to M. Waeber for the tiling; another lovely job.

Don't know what David's looking at the ceiling for, the change is all below/behind him!