I’m up early today, Sunday,
to see off a lovely couple of clients at 07h00 and have just looked at my email
to see a note from the bride commenting the I’ve been so busy with the barn,
that my last blog entry was three months ago! It’s true then. Time really does
fly when you’re having fun!
The rental season is drawing
to a close as our last guests are still sleeping soundly in the Maison d’Amis
and we will be pushing even harder getting the barn habitable by the end of the
year. 2014 will be very different for us, as we all finally become whole again,
living under one beautifully restored roof after living much of the last two
years apart. Anyhow, probably more of the sentimental stuff nearer the time,
but for now, it’s time to bring the story up to date as far as life in France is concerned.
July 2013: Wow, the hot weather has been with us for a few
weeks now and it’s being precisely what it would say on its the tin, if you
could can it, hot !!!
Low 30s in the shade to
40ish in direct sunlight would normally cause havoc for physical labour, but
now that practically all work is inside the barn, with its thick stone walls,
well insulated new roof and the windows open, the interior remains pleasantly
cooler. So while gîte guests enjoy the heat, we chaps set about the
transformation of our 200 year old barn into our new home. All the team know of
our commitment to sensitive restoration and they appreciate how we feel about
the graceful inspiring space which we are working with. In consequence, the barn
is also working with us in as design solutions and details emerge with the
barn’s help and as each day passes, the feeling of this wonderful old building being
our home grows stronger.
While we wait for deliveries
of hardcore and concrete for the ground floor, up above, we’ve cut a huge stair
well to give views of both floors from wherever you are and there’s a new floor
and timber studwork to the perimeter walls, while the first of four roof trusses
has been cleaned of centuries of grime and a soft red hued timber has been
revealed beneath. This will be further sanded, treated for long lasting
protection and receive a final finish of linseed oil for a fine natural lustre.
 |
| New sub-floor |
 |
| Lounge and library end |
|
|
|
|
 |
| Multi-layered foil and bubble insulation |
 |
| Perimeter studwork |
We’ll continue with the two
main intermediate stud partitions next week to form the bedroom and its
bathroom, so by the following week, all will be ready for the electrician and
plumber to start.
July can’t be allowed to slip past without a mention of my favourite village
event of the year, this being 17th Grand Prix Retro, held over the
weekend of the 27 and 28th July. The weather was hot and sunny and
the carnival atmosphere gave everyone happy smiles, well that and the
inexpensive temporary bars!
One of the most popular vehicles this year was a handy little pre-war
Peugeot pick-up truck, containing a couple of keyboards, a PA system and a man
happy to belt out a selection of music most of the day. He parked up next to
one of the bars and had the place jumping when he started into his blues and
rock repertoire. Absolute unexpected magic!
The spectacle of the ‘nocturne’,
or night racing, returns for 2014. This is similar to the Singapore GP, but
without so much lighting and is much more friendly and we already have a gîte
booking for the weeks either side of the event.
 |
| Would love to have one of these! |
 |
| Play it Sam! |
August
2013: The hot weather continues
and I’m watering the plants every day as there has been no rain to speak of
since early last month. It’s great for the gîte clients though and we are full
for all month.
We continue work almost
exclusively on the barn, but take some time on the garden with the long overdue
removal of the big pine and a dead cherry tree. The pine, a Christmas tree
which must have been planted one January as quite a good idea at the time some
30 years ago, is taller than the barn and completely dominates the view from
the two new first floor gable windows.
Plasterboard Paul arrives
with a trailer containing a ladder, three chain saws (bonus points on the manly
power tools front), lots of rope, assorted hand tools, one of the anchor chains
from the Queen Mary and a helper named Anthony who plays guitar.
 |
| Just some trimming to the hedge |
Progress is rapid and 30
years of slow growth is disappeared from the landscape in 30 minutes. The rest
of the day is spent in reducing the tree to handy lengths to fit in the
oversized trailer and following several trips to the tip, a garden is revealed
appearing at least twice the size it was pre-tree. The additional usable space
is remarkable and makes a valuable contribution to how we can better enjoy the
garden.
Meanwhile, a large Tonka toy
was skilfully reversed through the gates and delivered 15 tonnes of crushed
stone outside the barn and Dan and I set to in moving it inside and then
compact it with a neat little vibrating plate, called a whacker. Yep, it does
exactly what its name suggests and woe betide anyone who runs their toes over
with it!
 |
| Half the stone fill left to get inside |
 |
| Getting there |
 |
| Whacked!!! |
Concrete next . . . well
soonish!
The fill all in and
compacted means that we can finally plan getting the concrete floor slab laid
and as this entails almost 8 cubic metres of concrete, we’ll be using ready mix. With the best
will in the world, I cannot bring myself to believe that our gîte guests would
see the visit of a huge ready mix truck with a 50 metre hose snaking along the courtyard pumping concrete,
as a worthy holiday attraction, so we wait for the height of the season to pass
before we can pump the concrete floor, so back up to the first floor.
September 2013: Upstairs, albeit no actual staircase yet, progress
has been spectacular, thanks not only to the great team, but also the lack of
any need to chase the walls for pipes and cables. This was achieved by our
desire to have to put as little heating effort into the building in winter as
possible and so all perimeter walls have been faced with insulated plasterboard
on a timber framework. This has saved a good 2 weeks of programme and by the
end of the month, we’ll be ready for 2nd fix electrics and then decorating!
 |
| Insulated plasterboard is then plastered |
Meanwhile, I’ve begun
decorating the upstairs suite of our little gîte, in readiness for baby sister's
big birthday bash in October and we’ve begun the planning stage of the rear
gardens with loads of great ideas from a nearby garden centre open day, not to
mention a few more plants!
So more soon as I try to
post more regularly, despite the workload!
Wow, I clean forgot to
mention my recent experience of the French Health Service, following a little
mishap (absolutely no manly power tools were involved!) and am pleased to
report that outstanding service and treatment was obtained, so bye for now and
thank you for reading.
A bientôt,
LC
