Category: Summer 2011

More Relaxed as it is Sunday

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We were expecting a rainy day but actually woke up to sunshine which was a bit of a bonus.

It was time to continue with the pointing.

We had a slow morning it felt like as the top of the gable end was really fiddly. Al started on the top right hand corner and I sat high on the scaff tower and filled the top section. It seemed to be slow.

Lunch in the sun. Brush off and prep walls for tomorrow.

 

Categories: Summer 2011, The Project

Sunshine and yes you guessed it…..pppppointing!

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Another early start as we were expecting Alison and Peter for coffee and needed to feed Clive’s cats beforehand. So a quick zoom down the road, washing on, fed the cats, collected lettuce and clean washing and back to barn for brekky by 930am.

A&P arrived as we were just finishing so that was good timing. They had bought a rhubarb crown for us which is great, so will plant that in and enjoy it. We showed them where we were at before then attacking a couple of hours of pointing. Breezy pushing mortar into holes while I mixed in the wheelbarrow. We have decided best not to point after 2pm or it means brushing walls after shower and dinner not ideal and far too dusty.

Left hand side of the gable end done looking good, just takes time.

We prepped up the walls again for tomorrow so we are then just ready to go, makes life a lot easier.

A quick pasta surprise and a film before collapsing.

Categories: Summer 2011, The Project

Pointing begins

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We rose early expecting Hans to come and start work with us. By 0830hrs he had not showed so we started ourselves. Last year we had a token start on the right of the bathroom door so we continued on that wall and the results were promising. I was delighted, not so much with the finish but that Breezy and I were still talking at the end of the day and that she also was pleased with the progress.

Our only prior experience was doing the outhouse we are now living in. At that time our best information was to wear old clothes, goggles and gloves and make the mortar into balls in your hands and throw it at the gaps between the stones. Once completely clarted, the walls that is, then brush with a wet hand brush to smooth over to achieve the desired effect. You can imagine what carnage 2 people on a confined space throwing lime mortar can make. Needless to say that Breezy was not looking forward to pointing up any walls.

This technique differs quite a lot. Mix the mortar, put a dollop on a board and use a pointing trowel to force it into the gaps. No chemical warfare suits required! Once hardened but not completely gone off use a wire brush to rub away any excess mortar and expose any hidden rocks as you desire.

The result is a rather pleasing, fairly flat wall with the rocks exposed.

Having completed our target area we prepared the next area for the following day. This entails raking out the earth and any loose stones and brushing it down.


Spicy casseroled chicken and baked spuds for supper.

Categories: Summer 2011, The Project

Odds and Ends

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A bit of a gloomy day but not raining so great for outdoor jobs as not too hot.

We as always had a list of things to achieve before the end of the day.

Getting the steps to the top terrace fixed in place was first on the agenda and very quick to do. Onto the bottom step which also was quite speedy with Al suggesting wedging the support for the step into the main barn wall. All in place and all looking good for lunch on the terrace with easy access and a parasol.

Al got a load of ballast up for tomorrow’s pointing before we set to with re making a bench that Al had salvaged from the UK. His Dad had made us a missing strut for the bench so all we had to do was reassemble and make a back template to support the frame.

I set to getting as much as we could together with nuts and bolts while Al sorted out the template. We got this all done before lunchtime. I had time to prep a chicken salad while Al whacked some wood preserver on the bench and meaning after lunch we only had to assemble the back.

Lunch outside but no need for the parasol. We wanted to have a meander about the land before the rain arrived to plan what coppicing we need to do by the end of this stay. On wandering we did come across a bit of a bizarre thing….just beyond the tree house, somebody had tied up a large animal and covered it in black plastic and just left it there. We thought initially a donkey but Olivier I am sure would not have left it there like that….all a bit odd.

Anyway, we left the bench to dry a bit more and managed a quick hour of coppicing. Ideal weather not too hot and not many bugs about either.

Then it was a quick dash to get the bench all in one piece, looks fab and Ken;s BBQ assembled. Ken kindly gave us a great BBQ for a wedding pressie but we have only just got it out here from the UK and looking forward to christening it very soon.

Hot showers before internet and blogging and a Mexican night awaits us here at the barn!!!!

Categories: Summer 2011, The Project

Steps

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Another glorious start to the day, blue skies and calm.

Al set to with the strimmer before the heat got too much. Within the hour he had got the bracken cleared and it looks so much better.

I was on clearing out the heat box for the outbuilding, should be a 10 minute job until discovering a big ants nest….GREAT!!!! So the whole thing took some what longer….on and off all day with getting rid of the ants, re meshing the duct and cleaning up the glass.

In between the ants I also was giving the old outbuilding floor a tres bien scrub as twas filthy, looks much better now and putting your bare feet down on the floor ain’t so grim!

A good salad lunch under the parasol before we went ahead with building the steps between the 2 different levels of terraces. Something I really wanted to get done.

The hardest part was cutting the wood, just because of the heat. We opted for very simple steps but we think it works well and they do not wobble.

It managed to get them finished by the end of the day and had just enough time to get rid of the final ants before re assembling the heat box.

We had new dinner on the agenda BBQ spare ribs. Luckily we had a quick gander on the internet re cooking times as I have never cooked them before. I thought it was a quick cook thing but no, no no they like long time cooking.

So we ended up whacking them in the oven for just over an hour marinaded in herbs and spices before cooking them for the final 40 mins on my brothers BBQ they bought us for travelling. Outcome, tasty and great with a salad afterwards. Don’t think we would have them every day but good for a change. It was just lovely sitting outside eating, drinking, playing cards and chatting in warm weather, no bugs and nobody around just the sound of the river. Idyllic.

A quick wash up then I was keen to get into bed and finish my book, great book well worth a read The Sepulchre. Thanks J&S really enjoyed it especially reading it whilst down here as it is all about this area, well close enough anyway. I think Al will really enjoy it too.

Categories: Summer 2011, The Project

Pointing Preparation

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An overcast day in the Salau valley. After a normal start of cereals and fruit, coffee for me and of course a diet coke for Breezy, we set about more preparation work before pointing the inside of the main barn begins in earnest.

One window to finish and then fitting battens to the roof joists at the gable ends so that we have a straight edge to use for when the ceilings go in. We channelled in some conduits into the upstairs walls so that we can feed mains cables through later and fit sockets. Another conduit all the way up the wall to take a lighting feed at a later date. The current plan is to have a mains ring and all inside lighting running off a 600w inverter and a couple of auxiliary lights and the fridge running off 12v straight off the battery.

With only the fridge attached to the battery at the moment and 2 x 85w solar panels the system seems to be quite happy. Before the inverter gets attached we have another 85w panel to supplement the power input.

Breezy spread the ash from the stove over the garden and sowed some more rocket just before the rain arrived again.

A frustrating half hour was spent searching for a new diamond glass cutter we brought over from the UK. Even when we did locate it, the first attempt at cutting glass produced a nice crescent shaped break instead of the perfectly straight sharp cut we desired. The glass cutter went in a pot and we reverted to plan B which is to go and buy glass next time we are in St Girons.

Both now showered now with roast chicken to look forward to.

Categories: Summer 2011, The Project

Window Making and a Social Afternoon.

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We woke up to a mad wind and torrential rain that lasted about 40mins and then it cleared to blue skies and hot and sunny.

We only had the morning at the barn as Lee needed some help at his place to get some beams into place which was at 3pm.

We decided to measure up for the sky lights before making the last small windows for the main barn. We got 3 made so just need to get some glass in those now and get them in place.

A quick lunch before heading down the valley to Lee’s where he had got 8 mates to come and lift 2 heavy beams into place. With 8 of us it took about 15 minutes so quick but on your own it would have taken all day. His extension is cracking on big time. Should be great when done which he hopes will be end of August.

Irish Ian was there and he and Nina have bought a place just out of Seix so we popped in for a guided tour on the way back. It is big and loads of potential, 3 main barns plus a house and lots of work to be done too!!! Makes our project look quite small.

It was then on up to Clive and Giselle’s for an apero which turned into dinner as well. Kids were on various sleep overs. Giselle had made a good chilli and some local cheeses and salad perfect. The rain began again and it poured!!!

Back to the barn just before dark and then sleep.

Categories: Summer 2011, The Project

Cloudless Day

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We awoke to the sun streaming into the outbuilding, hoorah.

I had a quick brekky with some cereals but no juice for Al’s cereals so he made do with coffee. We did a couple of trips up from Vinnie and then headed off with the trailer to St Girons.

Slight panic on the way, as half way down the road we heard a squealing noise coming from Vinnie, we pulled over straight away fearing a belt had gone. Luckily the guy behind us stopped and said that the mud guard on the trailer had dropped on to the tyre. We quickly got the triangle out and managed to get the mud guard completely off and the tyre was still in one piece, maybe just a little hot and sticky!!!

We collected a load of sand for the pointing and then the cement and lime from Le Forgue.

Filled up with petrol and then a huge shop and since we have a working fridge which is lovely and big and on the whole time we did not have to worry about what would last heat wise etc.

We hoped to catch up with Hans so had a quick trip around the market but missed Hans which was a shame but did pick up some colourful plants to put around the decked terrace area to give it some colour and hopefully start to make it a nice place to sit.

Back to the barn via the fountain to fill up with water and then to see Anuk and catch up as well as collect a bit of post and some valuables we had left with them.

Hot, hot, hot, lovely.

We had a delicious prawn lunch to keep us going before the afternoon list of things to do got done.

Al did a load of trips up with all the materials, while I got all the climbing kit, camping kit sorted and away from little animals who might mange it!

Main job for the afternoon was to get the solar panels exchanged around, putting the main 2 out the back for the fridge and creating a frame and setting up to the 2 new smaller panels for the front. Al sorted the wiring while I made a frame for the new panels.

It all went smoothly and before we new it panels re plumbed in as such and working BIG TICK!!!

The sun had just gone off the little veggie patch so we spent 40 minutes clearing that from weeds and giving the veggies and fruit some much needed water.

We finally had time to get the new plants in and to de nettle the terrace wall. All looking good. Over a cold diet coke we pondered where to put the steps linking the terrace before showers.

Just before we left Al set up a phone for us over the internet. I had been trying to get hold of Dad so thought I would give it a go and see if it worked, perfect better than the VOIP phone in the UK and costs peanuts too. So it was good to have a catch up with Dad.

We had a yummy fresh tuna salad for supper and then had some time to read before bed, both enjoying the books we are on. I have finally got around to reading The Sepulchre which John and Shirley gave me for Christmas and finding it very hard to put down, 400 pages into it and only half way!!!

 

 

Categories: Summer 2011, The Project

Have to get sorted

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We arrived back from Corsica last night at about 10pm. On route we bumped into Annie on the road who was desperately trying to keep 2 Malamut dogs apart as one was in season. We failed to find a food store to get supplies on the way which means that we will have to be creative over the evening meal.

Yesterday was a long day with a boat from Bastia at 0800hrs to Nice and then a long drive through to the barn so we did not set an alarm, hence a 9 o’clock start. I started up the strimmer to cut back the grass around the building and the pathways while Breezy gave the outhouse a good clean and unpacked some of the van using the mucktruck to ferry kit up and down the hill. Bedding was spread over the roof to air and solar panels connected to the outhouse power system. The “outhouse power system” sounds a bit grand for a battery, solar controller and an inverter? By lunch all the food had been sorted out and half the van unpacked.

Lunch consisted of a tin of salmon and some tortilla wraps with some mayonnaise.

In the afternoon we set up the washing up area, weeded some of the garden and checked emails before creating a shower area. No longer does one person “stand guard” with a towel to hold up should anyone approach on the 4×4 track to shield the showerer under the tree from view. We now have a simple 3 sided screen with a small shelf for shampoos etc erected under the tree. Simple things make such a difference to daily life.

Lastly we wired up the new fridge to the battery in the main barn. Though we have not yet attached the solar panels to the system in the main barn we thought it would be good to have it running cold for the shopping tomorrow. Needless to say we put a couple of bottles in it to check how effective it was. As an afterthought we assembled the trailer ready to collect building supplies from St Girons.

Stecca 12v fridgeShowers under the tree (behind the new screen) and a glass of cold prosecco (the fridge works) before noodles with a spicy tomato and lentil sauce. A new “to do list” for tomorrow and bed.

Categories: Summer 2011, The Project