Concrete going down for gite floors, hallway and after much deliberation a downstairs toilet

Just to recap the first of the 2 gites in September was like this:

Then Trees arrived and with sledgehammer created this:

Gite 1

Gite 1

Fireplace Gite 1

After Phil's incident concrete making and spreading are out of bounds so a local and very lovely French man has come to help along with a friend of his.

Gite 2 - Before

Gite 2 - floorboards gone

   

The 'find' in gite 2 was below a cupboard that we thought may have been a 'fridge' or larder due to the latticing to let air in.

We have been told that what actually happened was that hot embers were put below - see hole that has been concreted in, in the photo and that the hear from these heated pans that were on a metal plate on the stone shelf above. So a cooker circa 1793 we think.

Cooker circa 1793

Cooker circa 1793

The gites are now concreted and once we have finished the main building we can start in there. Really pleased to have this done as the floors were rotten.
We have also had the courtyard dug up, a soil pipe and a water pipe are now connected in the second house so all ready to get started on plumbing.

Meanwhile, in the main house work slowed for a bit in the New Year. Partly colds dragging us down but a bit of the January blues I expect. The weather has been cold but also wet and grey, very UK so no wonder we have slowed up.

But we seem to be getting on a roll again now.

Plastering where the old sink used to be

Plastering in hall

New downstairs loo

Tiling is finished in utility room and the downstairs loo is tiled on the floor, plumbed in and painted. The doors have been painted too.

The hallway really is a huge job as all plumbing and electrics originate here so it really is the hub of the house. Next step - plasterboarding the ceiling so we can hide pipework and cabling. Not a job we are looking forward to but once the hall is done we can move on to the second guest bedroom. Something I am really looking forward to.

Aiming to open the two B&B rooms in April has meant I have had to do some marketing work.

I have built the website - check it out at www.lacourcharente.eu

Any comments gratefully accepted!

You can book online here as well as on the FaceBook page that I have also set up at - www.facebook.com/lacourcharente

This morning I registered the B&B with the Tourist Office in Ruffec and just in the nick of time as the insertions for their accommodation guide have a deadline of this week.

Paul very kindly helped me with the text for our entry - it had to be in French.

So right now things are starting to move in the right direction after what felt like grinding to a standstill.

Hope you like what we have done. On the 13th January we celebrated having the house for one year and on 24th we will have actually had the keys and been here for a year.

We haven't done too badly in that time really, have we?

Until the next time.

Much love  xx