Up earlyish to get to St Girons and back before we wasted too much of the day. I did the food shop while Al sorted the material exchange at La Forgue, so we could sort the pipe out under the floor. We were back by 10.30am and up to the Bergerie soon after for a very good day.
Pipes went in, insulation down first followed by the DPC. Reinforcement was cut to size, ballast and water moved up the hill and we were ready to go for tomorrow.
Shopping day…..we headed off into St Girons to get supplies for the floor, insulation, reinforcement, waste pipes, conduit and pine floor for upstairs which all squeezed into Vinnie with a few ties to hold it all in on our way home. Had a coffee with Murray at midday and arranged for him to work with us on Friday so hopefully we should have the floor in the annex down by Friday afternoon.
Back to Salau for a very late lunch, before heading up to the Bergerie to shift materials up to the barn. We also laid the pipes into position and realised we had a slight problem with some of the piping so would need to head to St Girons again in the am. to get some new pipes.
Sorted out a complete list for POA for Thursday so we could use Murray to the max on Friday!
A quick drink at ours with Annie and Chris as the bar was closed
A slightly better start to the day weather wise, and it was mainly dry all day which was great and meant we could get loads done.
Chris turned up to help us lift the wood burner out of Vinnie and into the barn with the use of the Muck Truck and trailer. Thanks Chris for your muscle power! And glad we found Annie’s dog without too much trouble.
Lots of preparation work for the annex levelling the floor ready for insulation, DPC etc before the cement goes down. Also plenty of shovelling ballast from the field by the river up to the annex door.
While the sun shone we decided to prune the trees out the front to keep the light coming in through the front window and door as well as a bit of bramble clearing. We both thought of you Monti Bianco as we tackled the brambles!
Lunch in the sun, with our somewhat disastrous effort of bread making. We managed to get a recipe from John (Al’s Dad) since I had forgotten the one we used last year. It was not very successful for some reason we are blaming the altitude so we have tried again tonight to see if we have more success!!! So our butties were somewhat interesting but still tasty!
We have also decided that we would like to paint the bridge as a “nice too” so I wire brushed it in the pm while Al shifted more ballast so that when the sun shines we can paint it.
All in all a productive day. We aim to shop tomorrow for building supplies so we can crack on with the annex floor once we have got all the materials up to the Bergerie.
Caught up with Adam for a beer once we got down and then lists of things to do plus lots of phone calls to make.
After a fantastic 10 days travelling down from Chamonix on holiday where we managed some great climbing in Italy and France, an exposed Via Ferrata near Briancon 3 leisurely days sight seeing with Dad in Provence and 3 days of decadence with Dad at the Swans at their lovely house in Grimaud (thank you both very much for your generous hospitality as always) it was back to reality of DIY at the Bergerie.
We had a good trip over with a night in Carcasssone, a visit to Mirepoix and Camon before we arrived back in Salau. We decided to take the small gite this time in the hope that it would be warmer than the apartment we have rented before. 5 beds, next to the river considerably warmer and plenty of space and a bonus of a washing machine!
We trundled up the Bergerie in the morning in pouring rain to get ourselves organised for the work ahead on the annex. We are hoping to get the floors in the annex so we can get the composting toilet installed and working before we leave in 3 weeks time.
So we needed to clear out the inside of the annex and then search for likely places where we could put a couple of holes through the 60cms walls to accommodate some pipes. The first one was relatively easy, the second one we gave up on and the third one was a relief that we found one we could use.
We then sorted out the first floor, floor joists in the annex already to be nailed into position when we are ready to do it.
The rest of the day was mainly a planning day with sorting inventories of kit, looking at security options (since people have tried to get into the barn) shifting kit around and emptying most of the van except the wood burning stove.
We had a roast chicken for supps before Annie and Chris turned up hoping for a drink at the bar but it was closed so we had a few drinks at ours before hitting the sack.
No we are not there yet. A few days ago Lee sent us these images after he walked up to our place. We haven't actually met Lee yet but he lives locally and has his own Blog Here!
Lee kindly let us use the images and we aim to get to meet up in May time. Enjoy!
On the Tuesday we completed the back of the roof at just gone one o’clock. There was a big cheer as the last piece of the ridge was nailed on. Unfortunately, Murray was in the UK but Giselle came up for lunch so between the five of us we consumed 3 bottles of champagne and a bottle of red (plus a bit to eat). Needless to say there was a motion to take the afternoon off. I quashed that saying that everyone would thank me later if we got the down pipes on while all the scaffold and tools were on site. Grumble grumble…
Scaffold went up and down a couple of times and by the end of the day we did have down pipes. All the building was left secure and all kit offsite. Done and dusted before 5pm meant that we had time for a couple of beers at the bar.
Then all we had to do was:
Now back in the UK and planning the next phase which will not be such a mad rush. All in all we did achieve what we set out to do and it was very hard work!!!
Had a fab day as far as the roof went. All done on the back bar a few slates in the middle of the apex. Breezy had a fire going all day and got shot of a load of the old roof woodwork. It was baltic this morning so the fire was a good warm up. Having cleaned a load of slate this morning Breezy and I got the floor beams cemented into the annex. This will give us a head start next time when fitting a bathroom. Like a numpty I locked the keys in the barn!! Easy to get in so need to secure a couple of the small windows.
 
Started with a lie in. Yippee. It is what we both needed, Breezy more than Al though!!!
Another glorious morning, blue skies and a real frost, my favourite time of year.
We headed up to the barn around 11.30am just before the sun got on it and had a productive yet relatively easy day with lots of entertainment on the way…
We decided to start a large fire to tidy up as we really want to leave the place looking respectable before we go and not like a building site. Lots to burn but luckily all very dry so burning very quickly.
Al had also thought that it would be a bonus to get the floor joists in the annex ready for our return in the spring. So we prepped them as much as we could ready to get them set in the walls tomorrow.
We then had the joyous task of preserving the two external rafters, which we had forgotten about. A job which would have taken two minutes on the ground but as we had forgotten about them it took the best part of 3 hours, a bit of a pain but done now.
Just sitting down to lunch and Al was fettling the fire when our hearts sank. the Gendarmes arrived…oh no not by foot or by car but by helicopter onto our land!!! My heart was doing several hundred to the minute and when I located Al at the fire his was doing the same. After a few minutes we decided we best brave the Gendarmes and headed over to them. Charming they were, hoping they had not disturbed our peace and quiet. They were actually waiting to go and collect the medic who was dealing with a fatal accident up Mont Rouch just opposite us. I honestly thought they were here to whisk us away!!!
Relief by us both so we finished preserving the wood and then looked around to find 2 Gendarmes in Vinnie…jeepers now what? So we waved and descended. The chap who had fallen and died was driving a VW and they were in search of it and thought it was Vinnie.
They were also very curious to who we were and are preparing to come back and take our details…all a bit odd but we are sort of getting used to it.
A perfect end to a relaxing, different day sipping a bottle of fizz by the fire as it died down.
A beautiful day for a bit of a celebration. We got up fairly early to sort out the salads and get everything prepared. It was freezing up at the barn before the sun hit it at 11:30. Adam came by about half nine and sawed up some logs for us. Then Pierre came at 11:30 to start burning them. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves in the sun with wine, good food and great company. As soon as the sun left at 4:30 everyone dispersed again. Dinner of leftovers and then rugby.
Today we had a really successful day on the roof. All the preparation yesterday paid off as the slates went on really quickly with Hans and Clive working together nailing them all on. Only two more lines of felt (2m) left to get to the ridge. In the afternoon the boys were fairly autonomous and Breezy and I had time to start sorting materials out and the site for the party on Saturday. A stash of scaffold went in Clive’s van before leaving so that we don’t spend a day at the end repatriating equipment to their homes.
