I used to enjoy snow when I was a kid who knew nothing of how much harder the stuff can make daily living, but now that I’m more adult than kid on most days, I’ve learned the reality of how much harder this cold white stuff makes daily working as well. This particularly applies to building work when one’s extremities tend to be much closer to nature.
One of this week’s missions was to find a stone mason who would understand what we now think we want to do to the main house’s sad neglected facades and since e-mail seems to be treated with suspicion even by those claiming to have it, we wrote carefully worded invitations to a number of local masons inviting them to come and see our project and were in the process of delivering them when the truck started to make some strange creaking noises.
Having found and fixed a leaking coolant hose and topped up the level, we set off to mason number two and by a magnificent feat of navigation, managed to break down in spectacular fashion right outside his workshop door. The right hand head gasket had blown, enveloping the truck in a cloud of steam and as I walked through the mist to the rear of the truck (where the engine is), it was behaving like a living breathing truculent steam locomotive just made to halt to let a herd of cattle cross the track.
The bride thinks I’m a bit crazy liking the truck so much, but he’s handled absolutely everything that’s been thrown at him so far and with ease and despite the heavy fuel consumption, is a joy to drive. Bertie is now practising his French in our local garage and the owner has given us the diagnosis and estimate of time and cost to remove the engine and put it to rights again. It’s a very realistic proposal and if I really can get truck back into service by the end of next week, then I’ll be a very happy man.
I’ve also learned a bit more of the local classic car fraternity and been told of the garage patron’s annual rallye to Mangy Cours in May when he gets to drive his BMW track car around the F1 circuit. I’m thinking Beast and moi may possibly see if we might tag along in the TR and have a bit of fun.
By the time I had truck recovered and got home, we had an e-mail response from mason number 2, giving his phone number and asking us to ring to make an appointment. The power of e-mail kind of works and Monsieur D arrived promptly the next day, understood what we wished to achieve without breaking the bank and promised his devis would arrive soon.
Meanwhile, the work is coming along a treat. Too cold o work outside, plan B is working a treat and inside the last 24 hours, an en-suite bathroom has been created in Paul’s bedroom. We’ll shop for a shower tray tomorrow or Friday and pick up a toilet and basin and see if we can and get some plumbing hooked up.
If we can keep up this rate of progress of a room a day, then the gites will be open for business in no time! I’m happy that things are progressing well, but realise that we have a lot of hard work to get through yet. The gites are the relatively easy parts of the project and as Paul and I know one another so well, we are finding it easy to develop construction details and achieve some good features as a result.
Today’s morning tea delivery to me in the ‘hay loft’ resulted in the bride and me changing our thinking completely about the barn kitchen and we are now moving to the whole of the ground floor being one large kitchen diner with all ancillary functions relocated to adjoining spaces. This will give us the sort of kitchen we’ve always dreamed of and will become the working centre of the house, with direct access to the courtyard and our public spaces.
Saturday recap: an eventful week seeing the end of the snow, a sad temporary demise of truck, an even sadder parting with the bride, as she returned to the UK for business meetings, a window quotation from Lapeyre with half the windows and all the roof lights missing, a new upstairs room and purchase of all the fittings and plumbing supplies for the two new en-suite bathrooms to the big gite, all the 30 year plus old hay removed from the hayloft and barn dig now at 90%. Beast and I are dinning out tonight in Doue la Fontaine and we have a rest day tomorrow.
TTFN
LC
 |
| Before you ask why is Paul doing all the work, remember that someone has to take the pictures! |
No comments:
Post a Comment