Painting, plaster boarding and plumbing...

Also electrics but that didn't behind with a p so didn't sound so good.

After a lovely break we have been busy. 

Phil has been bringing plumbing in to the en suite shower room in Bedroom 2 and also electric cables.

Plasterboard has gone up and after a vent has been fitted we will be ready to begin tiling. 

I have been painting Bedroom 2 walls (still not finished) ceiling and beams. We bought a clever tool back in the UK for making grain on a painted surface. I had bought a chocolate emulsion as undercoat and the idea was to paint a liquorice (not suite black) over the top and use this training tool. It looked awful! So as the beams are painted wood anyway and I wanted them to be a very dark brown I mixed some chocolate and some liquorice together and this is the result. The window has also been undercoated and given the white silk treatment so everything is looking brighter. I really like this room and can envisage how it will look when it's finished.

Beams and window - Bedroom 2

Plasterboarding and plumbing Ensuite 2

We did several days work then last Wednesday headed up country to visit Paul and Di near La Lude. We intended visiting them in March when they were over in France but Phil's antics put paid to that. It was great to see them. They have a beautiful house and the work they have done is amazing. Such attention to detail and plastering skills unbeknownst to DIY man. The decor is gorgeous and they have again given us some great ideas. We were looked after beautifully and didn't Iift a finger. They took us to a nearby town called La Flèche which was stunning. There is a military academy there so several young military types around the town. It was lively with pretty buildings and a lovely river and weir. Shops were great and to cap it all they have a lake with man made beach where people go for list of activities including a swim.
A couple of pix here

We came back on Thursday afternoon via Ikea. Phil's was trembling in horror but agree to keep an open mind. He won't admit it but I think he is pleased with our purchases. Three of which are furniture for bedroom 2. A chest of drawers and 2 bedside cabinets.

Since coming back there has been more painting and we have even tried some paint named Ton Pierre which blends well with the stonework and is a local 'colour' on some bits outside. For some reason our house and many others that we have noticed have had external gaps filled in with horrendous grey concrete. Ugly as sin and not good for the stonework. A lime based product is supposed to be used as the concrete can crack the stones.

We are starting to plan for our trip back to the UK next weekend. A shopping list of stuff we can't find here. Would you believe plywood is being illusion even though there is some old stuff that has obviously been purchased here as privacy on our front gates. This is what we need to replace.

A hospital appointment has also been made as they want to check Phil's ICD at the BRI after the shock he had a couple of weeks ago.

We have put the pressure on Plisson, our local builder as to when he will come and knock down a couple for walls and level our stable (to be kitchen) floor. He reckons 15th July for 2-3 days, we'll see. Especially as 14th is Bastille Day and there may be some sore heads on 15th. He will also be depositing a large amount of blonde gravel on the courtyard to pretty it up a bit. Hopefully if this is done they will have departed before Rich arrives on 19th. I am so looking forward to seeing him here and for him to see it for real rather than on Skype or FaceTime.
So until the next time mes amis - we are off to Le Canton for a small beer in the sunshine.
Much love xx

Fun and friends

We have had a lot of fun recently.

Whilst our friends were here we visited Nanteuil-en-Vallee, a beautiful village nearby and also had a little play by the Charente at Ruffec. We wanted to eat at Le Rejullant which is where we took Kim on his last night with us but the French army had turned up and we didn't stand a chance of getting in. Strange to see a load of soldiers in uniform drinking beer outside quite a classy restaurant. So we came back here and started work on the cheeses and pates. That evening we were treated to a meal at L'Etoile D'Or where we were well looked after.

Work out time

Nanteuil

Friends in our courtyard

We also got a look at the loft In the second house. We hadn't been up before but James and Phil decided to explore. The opening is in the end part of the house but there is plenty of standing room across what will be 2 gites. There are a few interesting items up there but I'll save that for when we go up properly to do the work.

House 2 entrance to 'upstairs'

Some interesting stuff

We have been exploring the area a bit more and have found a lovely restaurant at Longre called Le Canton. The food is great and it's inexpensive. The wine is local and service is friendly. Would definitely recommend.
http://www.optimumparis.com/canton.html

We had thunderstorms several nights on the trot. On Sunday we visited some new friends in the Dordogne and had a fabulous time. Hopefully the first of many with Simon and Meg and not forgetting Murphy their adorable dog. 

They made us so welcome and we had a lovely lunch with them and Simon's parents. Great fun! Whilst we were there a chap from the Prefecture came round warning them not to go out that night as a dangerous storm was on its way. We left about half past six as I wanted to get back before heavy rains. Just as well. That night we were woken by thunder and continuous lightning and hail the size of marbles bouncing in the roof. The rain was so hard it came pouring through. We really have to give the roof some attention. The channels are blocked with plants and desperately need clearing out as the rain can't run down and comes over the edge of the tiles and through the ceiling. We heard a few days later that there were hailstones the size of golf balls being shown in TV. In fact we drove to visit some other friends on the day after the big storm and saw ice at the sides of the roads, even at 4pm in temperatures in excess of 34 degrees.

That was another great day. This couple have taken on a huge project and it is looking wonderful. Their property was once the 'big house' in their small village and Pineau de Charentes was made three. The vats are still in situ and it is a beautiful place brimming over with history.

The weather has been great and it was hard to get going again. It was my birthday on the Tuesday but we were going to head to La Rochelle on Thursday to meet up with the same friends and stay overnight. On my birthday this all changed as Phil's ICD decided to give him a shock. He wasn't even working at the time. Just standing looking at some clothes thinking he should really fold them up and put them away. We telephoned the Bristol Heart Institute and they said we should get it checked. So started an afternoon of phone calls which led to the discovery that the phone number we have given everyone is incorrect. Will be emailing everyone soon to correct it.

Whilst I can order a meal and ask the time of day and have a small discussion about the weather and other general stuff my French language skills in the field of medicine left a lot to be desired. The net result of many phone calls was that we had to get to La Rochelle hospital by 9am in Wednesday. I hasten to add that Phil felt absolutely fine both before and after his shock. We got up and left at 6.30am. It was quite a stressful journey as we came across a 'route barre' and had to find another route. Time was ticking and wer were concerned the hospital wouldn't see us. We seemed to join all the rush hour traffic as we went into the town but luckily the parking was easy and we were told not to worry when we got there.

The doctor was incredibly efficient and spoke good English. He set our minds at rest. Us seems that Phil's heart went to fast and the defibrillator recognised this and kicked in.

Since the shock he says Phil's heartbeat is normal, which is more than it was before so a good thing! Slight adjustment to medication is required when we come back to the UK.

So by lunchtime we were parked up and strolling around La Rochelle. I had a lovely lunch of Moules Mariniere by the harbour. Such a pretty place. No concrete monstrosities builds in the sixties just lots of beautiful architecture and great shops too. We had booked into a little family run hotel a whole minute from the beach and a whole minute from the old town. Perfect location. Very friendly man ran it and told us it was his family's home and that in 1930 it was converted to a hotel. Very French and quirky, the rooms weren't large but there was everything we needed and the showers were great. Really blasted you with water! 
http://www.hoteltrianon.com/

La Rochelle

The following day we met up with our friends who had been in the Dordogne camping. Fortunately they didn't have the hail along with the storms the previous Sunday.

We had drinks by the harbour and heard their news. That night we had a great meal in the old town preceded by cocktails. Wendy has gone home with a couple of souvenirs from said cocktails. We al stayed at our hotel which was lovely. The following morning following breakfast and a walk around the old town and shops we said our goodbyes. Only for a few weeks though as we are back in the UK at the end of the month. 

Is that a burm (old Peter Sellars joke - sorry)

Friends say Au Revoir at Hotel Trianon et de la Plage

On our way home on Saturday we stopped at Coulon the heart of Marais Poitevin and Venise Vert. We shall certainly be returning to discover this area strewn with canals and walks, canoeing and cycling.

Very pretty and we had a wonderful lunch by the canal.

Coulon

And so - a lovely break and back to work....

And how are your waterworks?

It has been a while since I have posted. Mostly because we had our very good friends coming and we were on a bit of a deadline to try and get toilets in for both rooms.

I have loads to show you.

The doorway we made in the upstairs as an entrance to the bedroom having walked through a little entrance hall was made. I stared at it for a while and said to Phil - why don't we just knock it all open to create one huge room. So we did. Photo 1 shows doorway on right as entrance and photo 2 shows the whole space opened up. This one also has the stud partition up and behind it will be the ensuite shower room for this bedroom. 

Phil did it - he managed to get a working toilet to each bedroom. The work was incredible. I was taking huge rubble sacks out and Phil was doing the plumbing. The pipes had to come through a wall about 2 feet thick, which he did by chipping away and taking stones out bit by bit.

Pipes come through the huge wall

Whilst he was doing this I was cleaning up, scrubbing floors, getting polish on all the wooden bits as they were in a real state. 

I had done some painting, although not all, just enough to brighten up a bit and after Phil had finished the plumbing he started painting too.

Then we had to bring beds in and make up. A modesty curtain was added to the entrance to each toilet (green curtain in photos). No door frames so friends had to be a bit careful entering. Then we had to make sure there was power to each room as old stuff had been removed.

Of course our friends had seen the work in progress and felt they really knew the property when they got here. I had pulled the commode that we found out of the second house and we told our friends we didn't manage to get the toilette plumbed in and they could use the hole of an outside loo or the commode. Not one if them flinched would you believe. A sign of true friendship.

Sadly we have had to lose the diamond internal window downstairs which has now been filled in but found 2 more layers of wallpaper below when stripping what will be the downstairs en suite.

The blue stuff left dye in my hands for days and the little pomegranate paper underneath must have been quite old as the wiring was on top of it.

In addition we also pulled out 4 layers of lino from what will be the kitchen and scrubbed the concrete and cobble floor before returning one small layer of lino. 

Phil screwed in a wine rack to the wall which was sprayed black back in March and was a find in the second house. It will take 100 bottles of wine and is depleted so if you're passing.......

Some more photos here so you can see our progress.

 
And whilst it has looked like all work we had a fantastic couple of days with our wonderful friends.

We explored Nanteuil and had a walk to the windmill and visited Chez David, whom they had heard so much about and also had a great evening at L'Etoile D'Or. More of the environs very soon.

Getting on

Well the weather turned, we have had rain (lots of it) and it turned decidedly cool but we have so much to do inside it's not a problem.
Garden has been rotivated and grass sown. It is supposed to be the quick growing variety so will update you soon.

We managed to get our bedroom together enough to move in. As soon as we did the heavens opened and there were thunderbolts and lightning, very very frightening.....
Also the gulleys on the rood couldn't cope so we had waterfalls inside as well. I think it was an exception but we really have to get up on the roof soon - certainly before the next significant deluge.
The buckets and saucepans came out and a couple of hours later it was all a distant memory and we moved in and spent a lovely night in our new clean space.

So, having a haven to escape to we could start work on the rest of the house.
Phil finished 'the trench' and brought a pipe under the threshold into the house. More on that another time. 

I have been removing wallpaper, started painting just to brighten things up. we have friends arriving next week and I desperately want it to not be a total building site.

Phil has stripped out a lot of the poor electrics - not yet replaced by good ones so the number of points are decreasing and the number of adaptors are going up.

We have started turning the upstairs bedroom(where we used to sleep) and the smaller connecting room into an en suite.

Middle - where the door is - and right where it will be. The angle grinder created so much dust Phil couldn't see the lines to follow.

I can see you...

We resorted to the perforation method in the end. Lots of little drill holes and then knocked through.
I popped this video in - not because it shows our skills but because I think it is really funny!

The new doorway to the forthcoming en suite

We have already had one trip to the dechetterie (long way of saying the 'tip') and got into trouble for maybe not putting everything exactly where it should be so we are definitely trying to split wood, metal, rubble, plastics etc. for our next trip.

And just in case you think we never do anything else we have shopping trips and here is some of the local produce we have been enjoying.

Supermarket and market trips are a pleasure; even Phil enjoys them!

Last night we ventured out to our nearest town, Ruffec and had a great meal. Not as good as Le Rejallant but that will take a lot of beating. It was great to get out and have a wander around. Ruffec has a lot of hidden charms - and more to be discovered I am sure.

Our first week back solo (without Kim Jackson - super hero)

After seeing Kim off at Limoges (Interntional) airport Phil and I took a leaisurely drive home. Some of it up and down the same section of dual carriageway as we seemed to miss the signs for our return trip. Apparently not an uncommon occurrence. It meant we got to see some more of rural France which was great. We bought some geraniums and my first ever bouganvillea - memories of Greek Islands - totally impossible to grow outdoors in the UK but I am hopeful so watch this space. I have planted these up with a couple of tomato plants and hope that by the time our next guests arrive in a couple of weeks time they are coming on strong. 

 

We have missed Kim's company and the trench is still to be totally finished but we are working to weather conditions and Phil is doing a bit here and there. One day when he went through a pipe and we had a small hole that sent water spurting into the air. He has now repaired this little leak. 

Kim sent us a photo of how happy we were to be back so I want to share this now. There are others to come in future blogs where I will expand in the food at Le Rejallant that we shared with Kim and would recommend to anyone. Check it out at 

http://www.le-rejallant.com/?lang=gb

The last few days we have spent indoors and out. The weekend was amazingly warm. It reached the upper 30s on Saturday and Sunday. In fact we have had a whole week of eating outdoors. Here are some goodies we bought in the market and have had with various BBQs. Mandy, the white asparagus is wonderful!

We have been rotivating the garden and laid grass seed. All this in 34 degrees. When we came to open a bag that we had bought in early March it seemed a bit heavy for grass seed and after a quick internet translation of the writing in the bag we realised we were about to plant fertiliser that kills moss. A quick trip to Le Clerc (equivalent of Tesco or Asda) remedied the situation and we got proper grass seed

(Semmences de gazon) down before the anticipated thunderstorm and downpour. 

We have just completed a few jobs in the room that is to be our bedroom and haven. Lots of filling in, painting and the floor is finally laid. We hope to move the bed and furniture in tomorrow. That will be so exciting as if means we can start gutting the rest of the house and have somewhere to hide away. We have had a day of rain which hasn't been too depressing as it has been so hot and we really needed a day inside to get in with the bedroom. I think the next few days are a bit iffy weather wise which will water the newly planted grass and give us a chance to do some stuff indoors.

We are doing really well I think. Phil thinks we should be achieving more as always....

I had a lovely catch up with Mandy last night and her big birthday celebrations are already under way. I am so sorry I am not around to share in them but am looking forward to celebrating with her in just over 2 weeks time here in France. I know she will have a wonderful celebration on Friday at the fabulous Under the Stars in Bristol. Can't wait to see the photos.

Until the next time mes amis, Thanks so much for reading and following this blog. Please feel free to comment as it would be lovely to know you are with us in some small way.

Much love xx

The Kim Jackson days

    

I can't believe we have been back for a whole week. Time has just flown by.

For those that don't know already, when we cam back to the UK on 11th March for a short visit Phil suffered a heart attack which resulted in a 9 week stay in England. He is fine now and has had a pacemaker and defibrillator fitted - just in case. This has meant that he has had to surrender his driving license for 6 months so I needed to drive the van back. Being a scaredy cat our friend Kim offered to drive for us. My head was saying that I had to do it at some point but the offer was too good to refuse.

Kim arrived at Evergreen around 10am on Friday morning 9th May and he drove the van to Portsmouth. I was feeling sick with anxiety about the prospect and Phil suggested that Kim did the first leg and I could drive in France the following day.

The weather was better than expected but very windy I had some concerns for the ferry trip. I know.... I get anxious about everything these days. I used the bracelet that gives out little electric pulses, like a TENS machine and I guess it worked pretty well. We spent a couple of hours watching Noah in the onboard cinema, a great way of passing the crossing.

We docked about 9.30pm French time and got to the Ibis hotel in about quarter of an hour. So much easier in daylight. Phil and I got horribly lost in January but with Kim at the wheel (and no doubt great navigators in the passenger seats) we got there very quickly. Then to the bar for an expensive pint. 6 Euros, but oh so good.

The following morning we had breakfast and left at 9am. The weather was appalling. Bouncing rain and I chickened out again van wise. I did have a go in the car park though but was hesitant to start off going down lots of side streets. Just as well as SatNav took us round and round and we decided to use a map and signs instead. I started feeling more confident about taking over the driving so when we stopped at a toll for a sandwich we swapped places. It really wasn't so bad, but the roads were straight with very little traffic. We got to the supermarket at Ruffec about 1.45 and stocked up with provisions as the following day would be Sunday and it would have been much harder to get basic stuff. I drove the rest of the way to Villefagnan but Kim popped the van into the courtyard. There is very little space either side of the van to get the van through the gate. I have to say he did superbly.

We had unpacked the entire van by just after 5 and went over to Chez David for a glass of wine having ordered pizza from the man in the square first. And then home for a pizza, more wine and the Eurovision Song Contest. I haven't watched it for years and we watched the French broadcast, so instead of Graham Norton commentating we had a French couple and the commentary was lost on us. 

Sunday being a day of rest we got up and started work. Cleared a room downstairs and Kim knocked down a fireplace.  All before lunch.

After that the trench digging commenced. Kim had not only offered to be my driver but had said he was coming over and was going to dig a much needed trench for a pipe.  This is so we can create 2 en suites to our soon to be 2 guest rooms. Until this is done there is no hope of getting on with this part of the project. The digging commenced inside that house after floorboards were taken up and then outside in the courtyard and under the door threshold. Well, it rained almost continuously and Kim had to get a flight back on Tuesday. By Monday lunchtime there were thoughts that it just wasn't going to get completed. Also, we had booked to go to a restaurant in Ruffec by the Charente river and the car and van were in the courtyard with no way of getting out because of the trench and clay piles that had built up. It was such hard work and the wetter it got the harder it got. Kim was wondering how he was going to get back to the airport Tuesday lunchtime.

So, we booked a taxi to the restaurant and had a fabulous meal. It is called the Rejullant and is in a gorgeous setting. Food was superb and service very friendly. We drank too much and ate too much but what a lovely evening!

The following morning it was up and at 'em. Kim was in the trench determined to fill in at least enough to get my car out so he could get to Limoges airport for his flight.

With only a few hours, but this time in sunshine, his face says it all when he achieved what was starting to look like the impossible.

 

 

A huge thank you Kim in so many ways. For leaving your business, your beloved, and for helping in such an amazing way. You have been such  great support and wonderful company. We are forever indebted, 

Phil and Jane - The Return

After a long (nearly 9 weeks) break our project in France is about to recommence. We are heading back to Villefagnan tomorrow (9th May) to continue renovations (and soak up some sun, food and wine).

The opening of the two B&B rooms, which we hoped would be by mid June has obviously been delayed but we are going to take it a little easier and not set any deadlines.

You can follow our progress here (albeit a little slower than initially).

The van is loaded (nearly - a few more things to squeeze on) and then we are off to Portsmouth in the morning to catch the ferry to Caen.

A wonderful friend is coming with us. I am nervous about driving the large van as Phil can't drive for a few months and knowing this Kim offered to help out. For some reason he is keen to come over and dig a trench for us. Heavy work is out of the question and this offer of help is so much appreciated. And knowing how apprehensive I am Kim has offered to drive the van down. I am going to give it a go some of the way as I know I need to be able to do this and I just need to overcome this ridiculous fear. She is a big girl though and after driving Corsas and small Peugeots this is way out of my comfort zone.

So hopefully with trench dug we can start plumbing in the guest shower rooms. It may take a while but with the big pipe in place we can take our time over the internal stuff.

I shall be updating regularly so watch this space.

Thanks to everyone for your help and support over the last 8 weeks.

We hope to see you again very soon.

xx