Big push to get Phase 1 towards the end

Let the tiling commence

This was Saturday and today we are here. Grouting finished, side panel on and just a few finishing touches left to do.

Also today the plastering has entered a serious phase. Phil is wearing a black paper number to keep him clean. Sadly the paper is stronger than the zip which broke and he has a very well plastered tummy.

 We are hoping to return to the UK for a visit either Sunday or Monday but will not book the ferry till we are a bit closer. We have to be back the following week because some very nice French chaps are coming to widen and heighten a doorway to open up the entrance. Just an idea I had to create a feeling of space when you come in. We'll see.

Yesterday Phil attended a French / English session where the French came along free of charge to meet les Anglais and help us with our French language skills.

Whilst a lot of it went by as a bit of a blur he has picked up and is recognising lots of words now. We can't all be good at everything and I am totally in awe of Phil's plumbing, electrical, plastering, woodwork and all skills construction related.

We also got a door bell yesterday. It seems we never hear the door being knocked upon as we are always working at the far end of the house. It was an interesting trip to Ruffec. The skies became black, the thunder rumbled and the lightning lit up  whole sky, whilst at the same time large hail stones fell and made the roads look as though someone had emptied thousands of big bean bags over them. We sat in the car outside a DIY shop and every crash of thunder made the car shudder. It was incredible. On returning to Villefagnan only 10 minutes away there was no evidence of this weather at all. 

So at the end of today we have walls plastered and a couple of strips of ceiling done. Another couple of days and we should be plastered and painted. Then the bedroom flooring can go down. This will be chipboard 12mm thick, followed by a green felt and then some laminate. Sadly the budget doesn't stretch to floorboards up here and I am saving the money for floorboards for the entrance which needs replacing.

Aching muscles now so a bath and then perhaps a glass of wine or two....

Feature wall finished!

After around 5 days work the feature wall was finished yesterday evening. 

Phil has put spotlights above so I think it will have been worth the hard work.

Here are some photos at various stages. 

  

Today we are embarking on laying a base for tiles and flooring. The first of three layers.

I am so looking forward to the dust settling down up here. The bedroom is starting to take shape. 

Bathroom, feature wall and a bit of paint

We have been here over a month now and the bathroom is nearly finished. In fact just a few finishing touches required. We have left it for a while in order to a) get a change of scenery and b) get on with our bedroom otherwise we won't ever make it back to the UK. Pictures below. The shower took a bit of playing with as we had a small leak from the door, but phil seems to have sorted it now.

 

Plasterboarding is taking ages, as is the repointing of the feature wall. 

We are mixing one portion of lime with three of red sand which is the regional finish required for the honey walls. Having to be a bit careful with the lime as it can burn but a pair of rubber gloves seems to do it. (Some photos here)

 

It's a high wall and is coming together but quite tedious to do so I keep popping off to do other jobs. I have cleared the path that leads to the church a little. Also pushed back a neighbour's chicken wire fence that had fallen on the path. Then I have primed and undercoated the gate that is opposite the church. This is in the hope that the neighbour may now see fit to mend his fence. 

This afternoon the sun was out so I have given the yucky brown front door a coat of undercoat. I have also bought the paint I am going to use but I'll leave that as a surprise. I think it may be for me too as the colour on the tin doesn't match the colour on the charts by a long way.

Yesterday Phil had his first French haircut and very nice it looks too.

Our neighbour is one of the three hairdressers in Villefagnan and it was all of 15 feet to walk.

My turn next week perhaps. We were waiting for the hairdresser to get around to Phil when a truck pulls up outside and it was a couple of guys from the local builders merchants had arrived to give us a quote, so I left Phil to use his ever increasing French vocabulary and went to talk to the builders.

I have this idea of opening up the area just inside the entrance by knocking down some of a 2 foot thick wall. Just an idea I had and we mentioned it to M. Plisson yesterday when we went to get some plasterboard. Within hours these guys had shown up to give me a quote. It does seem that we may not be able to open up as much as I had hoped as there is danger of the house falling down. Not an option I choose so we will have a little think about it. They were great chaps but I have yet to receive the quote so we will see.

I returned to the hairdresser to find Phil in the chair with a great haircut ad clean washed hair. (Not for long though, today it's full of plaster again).

Tomorrow will bring more work with plasterboard and repointing but every little helps.

Painting and tiling and other stuff

The last few days we have been hard at it, trying to finish one room completely. We're not there yet but it's getting closer.

The ceiling has been plastered, painted and the tiles are going up. I have grouted the shower area so that the cubicle can go I tomorrow and we can at last have a shower. I am so looking forward to that.

 

We bought some purple mosaic tiles to have a couple of vertical lines running down but have twice forgotten to leave space for them and once we tried to fix them but as they are a different depth and a bit tricky we are leaving the gap to do afterwards.

Yesterday we emptied the van totally and then filled it with stuff to take to the tip. This was our first tip to the dechetterie. It took ages to unload everything especially as I started talking to an English couple who have been in the area since July. She originated from Stonehouse, not a million miles away and very close to Phil's daughter. They lived in Montpelier (south of France, not Bristol) previously and said it is just so hot there. The winters though are just as cold as here albeit a little bit shorter but the climate here is just right so we have so much to look forward to. I had heard before that the south can be just too hot and humid too so hopefully we have made a good choice.

After a bit of tiling yesterday we loaded up the van again, this time destined for a charity depot in Ruffec. It's called Emmaus and is a great place. They have sales most Saturdays and sometimes onWednesdays  and there are sections where you can buy tiles, cookers, retro, clothing etc etc. it will be worth a trip once we have got rid of all the crap we have inherited. The chap there helped us unload the van which was brilliant. We emptied the middle room where all the charity stuff was being stored so we now have space to move around outside and in the house. It automatically feels better having cleared so much clutter. Then after a supermarket run we went and filled the now empty van with flooring. Very exciting buying new stuff. We're not ready for it yet but we are making headway and it won't be too long now. It has to be laid in our 'bedroom' to be before we come back to the UK.

By way of celebration we went to the pizza man in the square who makes wonderful pizzas in a wood oven in his van. He is apparently at the lake throughout the summer season and has tables and chairs there with an extended menu. something else to look forward to. We visited the lake area back in September. its a beautiful outside area people can fish and in the summer can bathe.

 Whilst pizza was cooking we went to Chez David for a couple of glasses of rosé before picking up our pizza and taking it back to the house. We are on our way to getting our 13th pizza free! 

The last few days

Well, after a slow start to the week we were making progress and then brought to our knees by a dreadful French strain of a cold.

We managed to work through it Thursday but Friday we were unable to move. I managed to visit the bank to so some stuff out and the chemist to get drugs to alleviate our symptoms. It's a rare occasion when Phil stays in bed! So a subdued Valentines day for us.

Yesterday we got up and Phil was on a mission. How he got as much done I really don't know. At lunchtime after some more (and almost finishing) Celotexing our bedroom to be I went for a lie down. Phil carried on for as long as he could then we both crashed out. However this morning I woke up and we both felt we had turned a corner. So, still sniffing and coughing we have managed to get some work done. Without resisting the urge to crack a corny one, here is a photo of Phil getting plastered at 10am on a Sunday morning. 

So the ceiling in the en suite is all plastered and after yesterday's efforts the towel heater is in.

A last we can dry towels.

Today has been beautiful. Blue sky and sunshine urged me to go to the boulangerie for pain and croissants. I always seem to get there too late for croissants and I mentioned this to the lady Boulanger. She told me I had to order them! Doh. So I have ordered two chocolatines for tomorrow morning.

The whole day has been beautiful with just a couple of showers but we have been sitting outside in warm sunshine - this is more like our picture!

Tomorrow we plan to attack the wall and remove the mortar and then sand blast it.

Here is a before view and also the compressor and sand blaster we are going to use. We decided against using soda in the end as we were told that a compressor this size would only power it for about one minute, as it requires a lot more air. The alternative was to spend thousands on an industrial compressor and even then the power in the house may not stand up to it. More news on this after we have tried it.

 

Hopefully now we are on the mend we will start to make some headway. 

As Phil says we expect to see a significant difference in the next week. Watch this space.

Love to you all - our thoughts especially with anyone that has been affected by the atrocious weather and flooding that the South West is being batted with at the moment.

Xx

1 + 1 =

Sunday was going so well. The aim was to finish plaster boarding the  bathroom. Allbeit fiddle things were going well till about 4.30pm.

 +

= 

Phil slipped with the Stanley knife and made a hole in his hand. To keep it safe we called iit a day and to avoid onset of further bleeding took yesterday off. We have yet to see exactly what he has done as it has been covered up since Sunday. Tonight we shall see.....

So we went supermarket shopping in the pouring rain and had a nice easy day. The beginnings of a cold have materialised so it was probably a good thing to have a quiet day.

Also I made my first purchase on Amazon France. A bathroom shelf to go under the mirror which should arrive Thursday.

Prior to the 'incident' I had started screwing plasterboard on to the framework which has continued today.

The plasterboard has received a coat of diluted PVA as a base for the tiles so we are making progress. Shower has been plumbed in and shower waste fitted. 

It's been a good day!

Much love as always xx

Phil lights up my life

Just so you don't think I sit back and let Phil do all the work, here is a photo of me preparing a stone wall for repointing. At this rate it'll take about 2 weeks just to channel out the old mortar. It's going to be a feature wall so it will be worth it. Just using a wire brush on a couple of the stones has made all the difference.

Meanwhile, Phil is truly wired. He has been continuing with the electrics and what is making my heart flutter today you can see here. 

My first new switch and plug socket.

The weather today has been torrential rain followed by sun followed by hail showers. Still about 10 degrees though and much warmer than when we first arrived. I guess just living in the house is warming her up too.

And Phil is the light if my life - literally.

I have a working new light!

Time to call it a day and celebrate.

Much love

Xx