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.

Change of plan

M. Torelli was very apologetic that he couldn't make it here on Friday - there is a lady whose boiler had stopped working, and he went there to try to fix it. As it is, she's going to be without hot water until Wednesday. I hope I sufficiently conveyed to him that he took the right course of action, and I hope anyone's emergency would trump planned works that are already delayed.

I did manage to sneak into the conversation that I was able to profit from his absence then by asking him to make a minor change to the plumbing for upstairs. He was very gracious about it - I've added roughly 1.5m to the length of his drain run, done away with a future [putative] doorway, and moved a corridor.

And gained a box room!

We've got various things that we need to store [sun umbrellas & their bases, spare chairs etc] that we really miss having a cellar. Our cellars here are not dry enough to put anything down there that would be affected by the damp, and the barn is completely open on one side. So having a little room/glorified cupboard will be a *win*!

The plumbing is being held up by the absence of a plaquiste, but M. Torelli says he will do what he can tomorrow and then it will have to wait.

M. Alain is getting on with finishing around the window opening [and didn't turn his nose up at my bricks; hurrah!].

M. Mazij snr came and measured the height under the beams in the corridor upstairs: (when the panel-board is down) it will be 2.06m under one and 1.96m under the other. With the planned floorboards [to come later], that will reduce it by another 3cm or so.

Now I'm torn - I really don't like making a fuss, and don't want M. Mazij jnr to hate me forever [he's fun to talk with, and his face makes me smile!], but neither beam clearance is the promised 2.15m with floorboard. My brother at 6'4" is 1.93m, and other friends are equally tall, I think.

I don't know how much of this is being pissed off at the changes made by T+B without our consent/because they don't listen, and how much really is wanting the corridor to be nicer...

If there was no issues, I would go for the corridor without a step up [especially now we will have a box room at the end of it], but as the joists are already in place, should we just accept that some people will have to duck?

I really do need some advice on this!

Hah!

My turn to change the plans without telling anyone!

Had a brainwave about 5.20 this morning [just before deciding to roll over and get more sleep instead of cycling at 5.30], and M. Torelli the plumber says it is possible...

So sorry, guests in the eventual third bedroom, but you get a smaller shower room, and we get a junk room [although "space" would be closer to the mark].

I will post more when I'm sure everyone is happy and I can draw the plan a little better.

JDK, I might be in touch if you're not careful!

Creatures: latest

Now time for something I do enjoy writing about!

Interfering human story #1:

Stage beetle saved from drowning!
I was going to empty out a large plant saucer, when I noticed a stag beetle in there. Apologies for the picture, I was in a rush to get the critter out!

I'd heard a really loud noise the night before, and wondered if it could be a stag beetle - it sounded a lot like a Lancaster Bomber, but I knew it wouldn't be that! Just kept my head down and went back indoors.

[A cousin had got a stag beetle tangled in her hair when we stayed with them in France as children, and I still remember her hysterics!]

So obviously I rescued her, and put her on a piece of wood to dry. I didn't know if she would survive, but she was certainly clinging on to my fingers.

Their feet seem to be made out of a particularly sharp form of Velcro; I'd forgotten that from a previous rescue until I was trying to disentangle myself without bloodshed!

I know the advice is to not interfere, but I find it very difficult to imagine letting anything die without trying to help.

Anyway, David saw her fly off not too much later, so I think my conscience is clear!

Interfering human story #2:

Grasshopper rescued from tangled web!
I noticed a noise one evening: not a have-we-got-burglars noise, nor a are-there-swallows-trying-to-be-stealthy sound either, but enough of a difference to how an old house sounds to go and investigate.

I found this poor grasshopper tangled up and unable to move - trust me, they don't let you pick them up if they are able to escape under their own steam!

I took him [her?] outside and spent a long few minutes with a couple of pairs of tweezers gently prising the cobweb away from the legs.

I also managed to free up the antennae by holding the threads and waiting for the grasshopper to wriggle free.

I was so nervous about hurting it, but if it couldn't move it was certainly going to die, so I had to do something. Whilst I was debating whether to have one last attempt [to remove a rather fetching "leg warmer"] it boinged off.

OK, so that answered that question! Better than without human intervention. And nowhere to be seen after I'd put the tweezers away, so I'm hoping it goes on to have a full grasshopper-length life.

If I worked for Walt Disney, I'd be assuming that this is the same creature back to say thank you!

I don't subscribe to that philosophy ['saccharine-with-everything-is-good'], so suspect this was just another random insect that hasn't yet learnt to keep out of my house! At least it was a lot easier to get rid of: persuaded it onto a handy card & carried it out.

Unusually, it was obliging enough to pose for photos before the obligatory bound off into the distance

Front step denizens:

I've been having the keep-still-and-quiet challenge just lately - there are several lizards that come out of hiding to sun themselves outside the kitchen front door.

I wish I could sign up to this one's yoga class!

I can see them from where I sit at the table if I've got the door open. The possibility of getting a decent picture draws me back to crouching just inside the doorway each time. All I have to do is make like a statue [and preferably become invisible, but can't manage that yet!]...

I'm fairly sure "stumpy" is pregnant, but don't know how to find out - do lizards eat a great big meal like snakes and end up with huge bulges?

Sitting quietly and watching is great practise for meditation, so I'll keep observing. If you are still long enough, they do come out of hiding fairly happily [eventually], even if the tail often stays hidden!

I have seen one lizard shaking another one by the tail without the "victim" losing its tail; I'm guessing some sort of mating ritual? I know they do abandon their tails if that will save their lives...

The tail-shaker wasn't much bigger (if at all) than the "shakee", so I don't think it was looking for dinner!

This handsome chap is known as a "gendarme", according to my Flammarion. But I am learning that words I pick up from reading reference books mystify my neighbours or workmen, so that may not be a common usage of the word!

[Let's not get into mistakes-you-can-make-with-French, shall we - the "baisser/baiser incident" with the carpenter has got that firmly sorted out in my mind! I'm hoping they think I meant kiss...]

Gratuitous pictures of pretty insects:

I seem to have a "thing" for violet carpenter bees!

They are very loud, but sound much less threatening than a hornet [and the 'Lancaster Bomber'], so I love hearing them. Sadly, they rarely keep still long enough for me to get a good photo.

I don't know why they are called "violet", as they are definitely black and the wings are blue/turquoise.

They are enormous, but I'm pretty sure they don't sting. [If they do, I hope I never find that out!]

I think this is our old friend the marbled white butterfly. They are much more showy when they sit with their wings open, but sadly seem to be much more sensitive to human presence when opened out, so I rarely get a photo of them like that.

I haven't seen as many butterflies this year, but the verbena bonariensis is only just flowering and the perovskia (their favourite) isn't even in bud yet, so there's plenty of time yet.

Happy Independence Day to U.S. citizens; happy sunny Sunday to the rest of us!

Not-Pollyanna

I feel so rotten having a stream of negative posts - it seems to me that I'm moaning all the time.

BUT this is currently a diary of how the building works are progressing, and as much as I love the posts where I get to rave excitedly about all the changes and the occasional lovely surprise, I want to present the process as it is, not some sanitised version.

Would I do this again? Maybe. But I'd think long and hard, and if we were rash enough, I'd become such a total control freak and not trust anybody to do anything without me being there to supervise.

Would I recommend T+B? No. If you are going to spend this amount of time and money supervising the project managers, I suspect it would be just as easy [and much, MUCH cheaper, and quicker] to supervise the builders themselves. I've certainly never had even a fraction of this trouble in the past with asking workmen directly to do what we want. And I've never had the kind of miserable compromises we've had foisted upon us - compromises, sure, but reasonable ones!

Could I recommend any tradesmen? Yes: if you're ever in the south-east of the Aube and need a carpenter, joiner or tiler, get in touch!

Are we going to use Polish builders next time? That's a definite maybe.

Would I advise a friend to do a renovation in France? I don't think I'd give advice - I'd remind them that in the (nearly) six years we've owned this house we've spent more than enough to buy a fully finished house [not including the purchase price!], and had almost six months without builders/being in the process of trying to get work done. I'd hate to think that someone might sign up for this on the back of anything I'd said to encourage them! [Would that make me guilty if they ended up in the loony-bin?!]

I threatened long ago to decide whether I preferred the French system or the English one...

Well, got to go with the English system; it's not perfect, but if your plumber blows you out, that's the builder's problem not yours. He probably knows of several chaps who can step in if he doesn't have one in-house. And as you are paying the builder (who pays any subcontractors), he knows any defects will cost him money, so at least someone is supervising the workmen.

For all the lauded guarantees/trade references the French have in place, they make no difference to whether someone does good work or not, and if you get into trouble before a job is finished the guarantees don't exist!

Now the only question left is whether to tell the maire about the problems we're having with T+B - part of me wants to give him the "heads up" and warn him to be hyper-vigilant, but part of me knows that saying anything would have an element of revenge in there [and that's not a motive I like to act from].

Luckily, it's my lovely husband who chats with him the most, so that's one decision I don't have to make!

OK, so can I get back to posting about startling fauna [today's total: 2 hares & a fox cub], and making fruit liqueurs now?

Finally a response to OUR query

What we've got:What we agreed at the meeting that we wanted:
It seems just another wasted opportunity to choose an elegant solution, and we end up with a bodge instead!

Apparently this was what Jean-Marie communicated to the carpenter. What a shame he didn't have the courtesy to let us know - as you can tell, it took me less than a minute to correct his drawing, and we would have got what we wanted at no extra cost/hassle to anyone.

Now we will have a step up in the middle of the corridor.

They seem sh!t at listening! [Sorry, that's out of order, but we feel so sidelined - I hate when someone pretends to listen to your point of view and then completely ignores it; ESPECIALLY when you are paying that person to provide what you with what you ASKED for.]

Apologies for the *SHOUTING* but I'm pretty cross...

In the two days it's taken to receive a response about their mistake [and it IS a mistake when someone promises to do one thing and does something else and tries to justify it as being "ok"] we have now had four reminders about their bill.

Thankfully David has said that he will discuss that with Jean-Marie when he's here next Friday.

I'm still seriously tempted to ask M. Mazij to re-do the joists, and we will knock off any additional cost from what we are planning on paying the project manager!

Day 13 postponed...

Got an email saying that M. Torelli won't be coming tomorrow (and I'd already guessed he wasn't coming today) but will be there on Monday.

Oh, and have you paid the bill yet?

Answer: there appears to be some sort of delay [like the one where T+B went on holiday for nearly a month] which is having a knock-on effect...

Seriously, I'd be happier sorting out how much of the disputed 26% we need to pay before making any further payments; paying now reduces the need to get that discussion under way, and if we don't pay any of the amount for the joiner what we pay now would take us way over the sum owing!

And still no response to our queries/concerns/information.

Ooh, I forgot to say...

We had been talking with M. Philippe who bought the menuiserie next door, and we mentioned that we were going to finish doing Phase 1 this spring [hah!], and that we were using T+B as the project managers.

He said he has heard of them from various people and knows several firms that will refuse to even quote for a job if they are project managing. Apparently, they have either worked for them before or are good friends with someone who has and they don't want the hassle.

I'm glad I remembered that, as I was starting to wonder whether we are unreasonable clients.

I don't think so, but when you are on your third builder, second plasterer and can't wait for the next few weeks to end so you can say goodbye to your project manager, it does make you wonder...

In mitigation: the first builder vanished on us, the second builder went into planned receivership [which T+B would have known about if they'd done those checks they charged us for], and the first plasterer would have done Phase 1b for us, but by the time T+B had finished their faffing he had booked another job.

And the joiner is happy to work for us, again, but not deal with T+B!

It will be interesting to see how the village gets on with them doing the salle des fêtes...

T+B latest

David sent an email reminding T+B of the (pretty expensive) "étude thermique" they commissioned [which they now seem happy to ignore], querying the height of the corridor, and letting them know that we had now found enough bricks for the facing to the bathroom window. As well as asking them if they'd made a mistake on their last bill.

As they have washed their hands of dealing with the joiner and asked us to do this, we are assuming that they weren't going to charge for doing the work. Well, we are assuming we're not going to pay for them not doing the work!

Apparently, the bill was correct, because they have sent a few emails to M. Baty. By not overseeing the work, we reckon that's put their commission up to over 25%.

It's a bit galling that all other points on the email have been ignored!

Really not impressed with their performance this time around.

If they hadn't sat on the estimates for 7 weeks, we could have had all the work finished by the end of May and just be waiting for the windows now. As it is, M. Baty thinks he can fit the woodwork at the end of September...

Allowing for even a slight delay means I will be staying in a house with no proper closing to one end, when temperatures are dropping into low single figures... Hmmm! I've done that before, and it's never great.

I'm now starting to worry that having told us to deal with the Batys [which we and they (M. & Mme Baty) were perfectly happy with - we make a saving, and they don't have to deal with Jean-Marie], T+B may have pissed them off with contacting them without our knowledge.

I'll happily lose T+B [and we're planning to do future phases without their help; we are not seeing much benefit at all, & are having our budget squeezed - especially when they want 25% of it!], but would really regret it if Menuiserie Baty put us on a blacklist.

The email from Joëlle ended with a suggestion that maybe they could see their way to a slight reduction. I think, though, that David has had enough of feeling ripped off and we might get to a stalemate, especially if our concerns continue to be ignored.

I don't think the workmen will miss Jean-Marie (and enough things have been re-done, and that usually means they weren't adequately communicated in the first place), given the looks on their faces at various meetings.

As I say: hmmm!

Another miscommunication?

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

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

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

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

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

Day 12

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

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

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

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

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

Day 11

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hay

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

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

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

Day 10/Friday meeting

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Day 9

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

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

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

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

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

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

/End sidenote.

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

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

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

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

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

Plumbers: lots of discussion; floor waste pipes laid.

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

My gently perfumed world

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

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

Great fun!

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

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

Enjoy the lovely evening.

Mince

[*Pronounced almost like "manse"*]

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

Maria vigilance: nul points.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nearly forgot!

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

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

For a second or two...

David's coming!!!

[Kitchen currently at 24.2°C]

6pm; 27 in the shade

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

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

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

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

33°C; fine. 34°C; limp dish rag!

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

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

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

Things I am noticing...

Having workmen in vs living alone:

Not an exhaustive list, I'm sure!

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

Ooh ooh ooh!

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

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

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

OK, OK, I'll admit, TMI!

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

Hurrah! Carpenters!

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

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

Obviously that shopping plan needs to be re-thunk!

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

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

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

Carpenter/plumber tomorrow...

Allegedly.

I will be more than happy to eat my words!

Our "placo" came/another marvellous machine

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Materials expected this afternoon

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

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

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

Ditto M. Torelli.

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

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

So, still awaiting "Day 9"...

Bonus/Surprise!

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

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

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

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

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

Watch this space...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Enjoy the light, while it lasts.

And being quiet for lizards...

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

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

No less poop, though!

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

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