En Route

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There are so many different ways to travel to The Farmhouse and the method used depends on many different factors, this week I thought I would explore a few different routes. The journeys today are aimed at those coming from the UK who have the added challenge or added pleasure of crossing the channel.

Time and money are two of the main factors in organising your trip to The Farmhouse. If you are coming to visit for a week then you may wish to fly. Our nearest airports are Toulouse and Bergerac, Bordeaux is possible but it's further away, around two and a half hours from the house. A car is essential for your enjoyment of the area, so you will need to hire one. One thing that we have learnt is that flying can be cheaper than driving, you have to check it out.

Toulouse- Blagnac is about 1 hour 30 mins from the house, its a major airport as one would expect from a city that is home to Airbus. British Airways, Easy Jet, Air France, Flybe, BMI and Jet2 fly here. Don't forget BA is good for the Avios points collectors. It could be worth staying a night here, it's a beautiful city.

Bergerac is about 1 hour 15 mins away Ryanair, Jet2 and Flybe land here. The journey from Bergerac airport is a relaxed and a rural ride and that would perhaps describe the airport too. You travel through parts of the Dordogne en-route and a visit to Monbazilliac ( vineyard and a beautiful chateaux) could be on your agenda as you journey to or from us.

If you choose to drive you have many options. The first choice is tunnel or ferry, we have done both and for us it has been all about how many drivers we have and the time of year. The removal company that delivered our furniture said that road miles were quicker that sea miles, this is true but it depends if you want the shortest time or shortest road miles! When we drive we sometimes do a "run" which means we cross, often on the tunnel and keep going stopping to swap driver and to picnic.  This works in the summer when we have more daylight hours but can be miserable in the winter if you don't see any daylight on the journey. We have travelled on the ferry overnight and then had a whole day to get to the house which works well from St Malo, Caen or La Havre. Don't forget there is an option of travelling to the northern spanish ports and driving up to the house. I prefer to break my journey and book into a hotel for one night. It is wonderful to see the different towns en-route and visit different places. Poitiers has been a favourite, there is a wonderful centre to the town and you can find hotels with secure parking and the ability to walk out from your hotel to the hub of all that is happening, there are lots of shops, bars and restaurants. For us Poitiers has been a good stop when going back to UK. Coming out to the house we have stopped at Rouen and Chartres, it really depends on the time you arrive in France. If you choose to come by car remember to enjoy the journey, it's fabulous and we will be waiting for you, beer and wine on chill. Bon Voyage.

Centre of Poitiers 2016.

Poitiers 2016

Poitiers 2016

Poitiers 2016

Maintenance Team on the Move

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Our grounds maintenance team are leaving us soon and winding their way back up through France to the french ports. This morning it was time for their dogs to see the vet ready to go home. Once the dogs have a pet passport, they must be checked for good health and to have a worming tablet not less than 24 hours and not more than 120 hours before arriving back in the UK. We popped up to Fumel to see the veterinaire in order to comply with the pet travel scheme.

Doggie passports stamped, we headed back to the Farmhouse via a couple of vineyards. The one big bonus of driving to France is that it affords you the opportunity of taking home a little wine. We often visit the Vin du Tzars at Thezac, their "Le Bouquet" wine is becoming a house standard. These bottles of wine can be found in our local supermarkets but there is nothing better than a visit to the vineyard to feel the real deal. 

This morning we wanted to find "Domaine de Lancement" which is a small independent vineyard and is also in Thezac. At Domaine de Lancement we met the daughter of the owner Sandrine, who has worked hard to develop the vineyards and gain an "Agriculture Biologique" status. She showed us the winery and great vats of wine in waiting. She explained the process to us and we saw the bottles of red, white and rosé stacked, awaiting their labels and boxes. After enjoying a " dégustation" (tasting) of the wines, we came home with a box......or two!

This week I have also registered the Farmhouse as a Holiday Home with the Mairie. There was a form to fill in and we headed to L'Hotel de Ville to return it to the Mairie's office. We parked the car in the village square and the sounds of an accordion playing filled the air. Walking along the pavement a lady waved us to her window which she pulled open to proudly show her husband with the accordion, swaying as he played. After a little dance on the pavement with them, bizarre I know, I felt quite filled with frenchness and headed off to hand in my form. It was sorted there and then and officially stamped. I walked away without folding it, it might need to be framed!

Montaigu de Quercy. January 2016.

Some pictures from the summer. Near the Hotel de Ville, towards the top of the hill, Montaigu de Quercy.

Domaine de Lancement. In the winery. 

Some of the wines from Thezac. IGP Thezac Perricard Appellation. 


Photo Tuesday

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Frosty morning. The drive up to the Farmhouse. 01/03/16

An old plough on the front lawn. A decorative item but I'm not sure it will stay! 01/03/16

Terracotta Army, standing tall and waiting for their next job.

Terracotta Army, standing tall and waiting for their next job.

A salt lick, we hope that the deer with use it. Thanks JB for this top tip.

A salt lick, we hope that the deer with use it. Thanks JB for this top tip.

Freshly cut wood, I just love the colours.

Workshop barn doors. 01/03/16

Brambles Blitzed

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The tree that came down in a storm a couple of weeks ago had to be cut up and moved into the barn. This left a large hole in the hedge, which was mainly made up of brambles. There are a few other shrubs here, that were hidden, and were gradually being strangled by the long spiky tentacles of this prickly shrub. There was no doubt about it, these thorny stems had to go. This had been a job I had been longing to get done as the bramble wall must have been eight feet high and probably eight feet deep, not to mention twenty feet long. We didn't know what it concealed but we knew the view would be great, opening up another sundowner spot in the garden.

With the arrival of the grounds maintenance team on Wednesday, welcome Cheryl and Steve, and equipped with all things motorised that have a pull cord start, the air was soon filled with the rumblings of hedge cutters and chain saws as the tree was moved and the hedge slowly disappeared. From our new vantage point we were able to look into the distance and I wondered how this view would change as the leaves appear. Hoping for a long uninterrupted view, I must admit to mentally cutting down several trees, miles into the distance.

Standing on our new sundowner spot looking down into the "Spinny", for that's what this group of trees and shrubs will now be called, I was pleased to realise that the strong suckering roots of the bramble had made their way into this area and felt content that there would still be a habitat for the wild life. Thank you Geoff for telling me that the bird in Tuesday's photo was a Long Tailed Tit, we watched three pairs this week around our feeding area. I have been filling bird feeders with seed and I have noticed that the bird cake is a particularly popular treat. A couple of weeks ago we had a robin as a very frequent visitor, but I haven't seen him lately. The jay's, magpies and hawks, duck and dive and I was amazed to see a heron near the road on my way to Fumel.

The Farmhouse is bursting with activity, we hear the dulcet tones of kango hammers as the plumbers and electricians find their routes around and through the walls, to fit all things pipe and cable. The brassware has been sourced and has arrived ready for Lauzerte bathroom and floors have been levelled ready for the oak flooring. We have always said that they would be finished by the middle of April and there were no tuts or shakes of the head when this was mentioned this week. I'd say we are on track!

The bramble blitz. You can see where the tree has fallen on the right hand side. 24/02/16

The work continues. 25/02/16

The bramble hedge has gone,  piles of bramble to get rid of. 26/02/16



Photo Tuesday

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Fire bug ( Pyrrhocoris apterus) in the garden. 21st February 2016.

Fire bugs showing aggregation behaviour. 21st February 2016.

The daisies are out in their hundreds. 21st february 2016.

Just the one daffodil near to the pool. February 2016.

The sun coming up, for just a short time the tops of the trees are orange. 21st February 2016.

I hope you can see the bird in the centre of the picture, I wonder what it is? The same bird is bathing in the water in the picture below. February 2016.

I hope you can see the bird in the centre of the picture, I wonder what it is? The same bird is bathing in the water in the picture below. February 2016.

Same bird bathing, not sure what kind of bird, is it a L.B.J? February 2016.

Same bird bathing, not sure what kind of bird, is it a L.B.J? February 2016.

A tree was blown down the weekend before last. I am sorry to see it go but we might have a better view because of it.

The same weather that brought down the tree meant the satellite TV was not working, well done Rob for sorting it out.

Tap Dancing

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This week the bathrooms have once again been top of the agenda as the final negotiations on style and price are completed. We have been trying to find the brassware for bathroom 4 (Lauzerte) and as yet, we have not been able to find what we want. For those of us who are not in the bathroom industry brassware, I learnt this week, means taps etc.  I came across this phrase when in a bathroom shop in England. The assistant offered to show me the brassware from Vado, "I don't want brass," I replied, " I'm looking for chrome." I was then briefed that the name for all taps, shower heads etc is brassware. I wonder what that is in french!

For the Lauzerte bathroom we have quite specific ideas as to what we want. This bathroom has been the most challenging  (though the Grenier has been vying for this slot in the last week). Lauzerte bathroom is being styled in a contemporary way and we hope that the juxtaposition  between the architectural  features and  modern sanitary ware  will work. This bathroom has a bread oven,  beams and a door out onto the east lawn. We are planning a wet room style shower and a freestanding modern bath. The bath we have seen is stone composite and weighs in at 140 kg. The builder was mighty pleased to hear it was going on the ground floor and I am hoping the fitting will be easier because of the outside access.

Thank you for all your contributions on Facebook regarding the bath in the Grenier. It was lovely to get some feedback and interaction, the role of the blogger is a solitary one! Number two bath was the most popular ( I will re posted the picture that I put on facebook at the end of the blog).  Pictures one and four gained equal second place. Picture three had no votes at all. We took a bath, just like the one in picture two, out of one of the bathrooms. It is a iron bath and the enamel coating it totally shot. I had considered getting it re-enamelled but I am concerned that it is quite small, I might look at it again.

Friday is Blogday and I always aim to post by the end of the afternoon. Thank you to everyone who has passed on positive comments to me, I really appreciate your kind words and encouragement. In January I had my biggest audience ever, I don't know who looks at the blog, I am not able to tell, but I know there have been hits from GB, France, Spain, Japan, Zambia and New Zealand. The blog pages are the most popular on the site with the holidays page coming second. I signed up for an Instagram account this week and it has been great to get the facebook page started, so I hope we can keep in touch one way or another. I have decided to do a twice weekly blog, Tuesdays and Fridays. Tuesday will probably be shorter with more photos, blogging will be a full time job soon!

Lauzerte bathroom, wait 'till it's finished!

Lauzerte Bathroom.

Different bath ideas posted on facebook.

Lovin' Le Loft

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As darkness fell last Blogday, I reflected upon my resolution not to go up into the Grenier. Is this the way an intrepid renovator should act, wincing and shirking away from the needs of the project? By sunrise I was ready; camera, clipboard and tape measure in hand, I set off for the farmhouse. In part this renewed adventurous spirit had come from an end of week conversation with the builder. He explained to me that because of head height we would have to rethink the shower room. The plasterboard had gone in along with the thickest insulation I have ever seen. The consequence of this was the height of the room, which is in the eaves, was not as we wanted. I suppose this is a renovation and not a new build.

It was a beautiful morning and I sometimes think this makes challenging tasks a little easier. Standing on the first floor I decided that the scaffolding looked safe, there was a mini ladder within its steel frame and a hatch that would open up into Grenier World. It is always the stepping off the ladder and the stepping back on that chills me, but it had to be done.

The Grenier far exceeded my expectations, with the new plasterboard, the added glow from the skylight and the sand blasted beams, I knew this was going to be a beautiful room. The staircase and stair well  has always been important to us. We wanted to create light into this area and the oak staircase will, I hope, give the space credibility ( a bit of a Kevin McCloud phrase I think ). There will need to be a partition to separate the upper landing from the Grenier bedroom and the beam has to be cut to provide the doorway, this is a bit scary, but I have faith. We have agreed that the plasterer will try as much as possible to allow the beams to show within the wall, both the upper landing side and the bedroom side.

I set to with clip board and tape measure to try to solve the head height dilemma in the shower room space, this is an area off the landing and adjacent to the Grenier. It was obvious that the shower was not going to fit, it is so annoying to have all the floor space you could want but not enough height. This situation was however working in favour of the hot water tank which could now sneak into the shower space affording us a far more efficient system.

With measurements taken, I headed back to the gite to tweak the plan. When the dinner party question,      " What other career would you have had? "  is asked, I know I would say an architect, designer or draughtsman because the thought of settling down with paper, ruler and most importantly a sharp pencil filled me with joy! 

Some considerable time later a plan was hatched. The toilet and wash basin would fit into the originally planned space and we would put a bath into the bedroom. I have seen this done with free standing baths and it can look very effective. The bath will fit under the skylight and will still have access to the plumbing arrangements in the toilet and washbasin room. The question now is should it be a traditional claw footed, slipper bath or modern freestanding bath with elegant lines and contemporary style? 

We'd love to know which bath you would choose, please use our comments box or visit our facebook page "The French Farmhouse Project"   to give us your views.

Grenier- right side, before the partition wall goes in.

Grenier, left side.

The French Farmhouse, East View. February 2016.


Bathrooms, Bathrooms, Bathrooms.

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When we first explained to our builder that we wanted all of the bedrooms to have their own bath or shower room, he smiled and said it was very English!  Is it an English thing or is it just me living out my own issues of not wanting to share facilities with anyone other than my nearest and dearest?

We now have five "salle de bains" under construction, the sixth shower room is not being gutted like the rest. By giving each bedroom its own facility, opens up the opportunities for using the house in different ways. If the house is rented as a whole in the summer, then guests have their own washing space. During the spring and late summer we may think about running courses or events for different groups. We would like to invite artists, yoga enthusiasts or other shared interest groups, so again the private facilities would work, a bit like a hotel.

One consideration has been whether to make all the bathrooms the same and to use the same sanitary ware and style for each room. I have seen this done very successfully in an old house. A quick survey of family and friends resulted in a 50-50 vote. However each bathroom space is turning out to have its own characteristics, features and plumbing constraints and there is always "the budget" to consider! Choosing the right style and ensemble for each separate space feels right at this point.

We have decided to get most of the bathroom goods in France having weighed up costs, convenience and transport. It has meant that my french vocabulary for all things bathroom, has improved considerably in the last few weeks. We have been busy choosing all the toilets, basins, baths and taps. There have been lists, plans and catalogues littering the lounge in the gite. The computer has groaned under the weight of all the different open tabs, representing a mass of French sanitary ceramics. It could be considered a little stressful, and at times it has been, as the arrival of the plumber is on the horizon. I have felt that our decisions are cast in stone, well porcelain from Jacob Delafon to name but one! I went into Lauzerte bathroom last night to find that the concrete floor had been dug up ready for the toilet, I can't change my mind where that goes now!

The planned shower room in the Grenier remains a mystery at the moment as there are no stairs in the house, just ladders and scaffolding. I took my life in my hands a couple of weeks ago, when I had to climb up the ladders to the top floor to discuss where the Velux was going. After a recent accident involving a ladder, I'm not climbing up there again. 

In the last thirty three years I have refurbished three bathrooms, now in one year, I am renovating five. Waiting for buses and them arriving all at once comes to mind. Well, next stop, wall tiles.

Top: the new window in Tournon and the entrance to the bathroom. Bottom left: the velux in Tournon bathroom. Bottom Right: the shower room in Montaigu. The steel has gone in for insulation and to ensure straight walls for tiling.

Feb 2016. Top left: the snow drops are out, notice the bee! Bottom left: first blossom on the plum trees. Right: The bee hives across the field.

Find us on Facebook at The French Farmhouse Project.


Flying to France

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I went back to the UK this week for a few days, I flew from Bergerac airport. The airport is only about an hour and 10 mins away from The Farmhouse and its a nice easy ride through the countryside. Once in the Dordogne you pass the vineyards of the famous Bergerac wines. Monbazillac Chateaux, home of the surprisingly named "Monbazillac wine" is not far from the airport. Here there is a beautiful castle to discover, wine tasting and contemporay art exhibitions. Perhaps worth a stop en-route.

Yesterday I flew back from Stansted, which is an airport that has grown on me. This is mainly due, I must admit to the "Escape Lounge" which I like to frequent when I am at this airport. Anyone who knows me understands how I love a good airport lounge, though opportunity is usually left to the vain hope of an upgrade! Access to this lounge is granted because of our bank account, which gives us six free passes, you can of course pay and I think it would be worth it.

As I left the lounge for my flight, I shared the lift with two other ladies who were coincidentally also going to Bergerac, they had only just met too! We marched our way to the departure gate, it was a bit of a jaunt, then we joined the lengthy queue to board the aircraft. I know now more than ever we are not unique or even rare to have or renovate a place in France. If the people I spoke to yesterday are a cross section of the people on the plane, then there are lots of us living the Franglais life, traveling back and forth between these two countries. Blonde lady was only able to stay in France for a couple of days and was going to check out her partners progress at their house. She had to get back to meet the italian designer of a glass desk that was arriving from Italy. Brunette lady was returning to France after a trip to see her son, she and her husband had been developing their house for a while. The three of us stood sharing our stories until the seating arrangements of the aircraft sent us on our separate ways.

Delighted to get an isle seat, I settled down next to two other ladies, lone travellers too. Perhaps it's women travelling alone, but they too, were ready for a good natter and the flight flew by. Window seat lady was going to visit her son and family for the twins birthday and middle seat lady was on her way home to France after helping her daughter move into her new home. She had lived in France for twenty years and was a fluent french speaker (this always impresses me). The three top tips that I can share from this encounter are: Number one,  a mixture of frankinsence essential oil (1/2 teaspoon) and almond oil (1 tablespoon) massaged into the skin twice daily will help with arthritis. (I have not tried this, please do your own research). Number two, "cook in" bags for chicken, pork and fish are amazing. Finally, number three, writing french words phonetically can really help with your pronunciation. A case in point, I have a lot of trouble remembering how to pronounce wood burning stove (I know it's a bit obscure but believe me it's a regular word in my vocabulary). So the word is poêle à bois, it is pronounced pwal a bwa, simples!

Returning to The Farmhouse a lot has been done, the sand has gone and so has all the sandblasting equipment. Metal tracks are being put on all the beams ready for the ceiling board to fit in between and preparations for the bathrooms are underway. However in the grenier, waiting for the stairs to go in so it can be moved to the gite, is a pwal a bwa!

The grenier showing the sandblasted beams and the poêle à bois. The stove will be removed and the ceiling will have plasterboard and insulation.

 

Living and Learning

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Whilst the UK has been experiencing freezing temperatures and snow, down here in the south west of France........it's been pretty cold too! We have had the odd light frost but during the last week it's mainly been cold and wet. I really felt sorry for the roofers on Monday as they fitted three new Velux windows into the ceiling of the salon, the rain poured at intervals so it was not an easy job at all. This morning the sun is shining again and I have managed to take a hastily shot photo of a red squirrel in a tree in the garden. The deer are wandering about and a watery sun is pushing through the morning mist.

My DIY challenge for January (and now February) is to scrape and sand the shutters ready for the repaint. Surprisingly this has been a satisfying job especially when great swathes of paint come off at once. It's the irritating little bits that hang onto the wood for dear life that are the worst and they get all that they deserve with the hot air stripper! The Pool Guy called round yesterday and I was discussing my shutter issues, he told me to be careful what I repainted them with and handed out gratefully received advice. I had, had it all planned out, primmer, undercoat and that carefully chosen F&B topcoat. No.... I think there now needs to be a rethink and more investigation. This is mainly because a lot of our shutters face south and I learnt that the oil based paint can therefore blister in the heat. It seems like it's not only the shutters that are a bit green! 

It's not been the weather for shutter tasks this week so I have found myself doing more admin type jobs from the warmth of our sitting room. It's getting towards the time when we will have to import our trusty Mercedes into France. You can only have six months of UK insurance on a car that is being used in France so I have started to fight my way through what I believe to be a mountain of paper work to achieve this. I cannot tell you enough, how I have been putting this off. I have heard tales of queues at the Prefecture and difficulty in getting "attestation d' identification" forms. Just google "importing your car to France" and you can read a plethora of forums explaining how to manoeuvre through this maze and read about other peoples exasperating experiences. Then, on Monday, I went to my first french class. It was there that someone suggested I visit the local garage, so I did. Suddenly the weight of car importation was lifted from my shoulders. Monsieur Garagiste told me exactly what I needed to do and not only that, he offered to organise it for me. Time to teach the car a few french words. This German car who has lived all its life in England is now about to become French.

The sun breaking through the morning mist and northern views. January 2016.

Three deer and a red squirrel. January 2016.




Wonderful Window

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When we first visited the Farmhouse, in 2014, the east side of the house seemed incomplete. I wanted to draw a window on the wall of the first floor to give the house a sense of balance. It always looked as if something was missing, it was a house with one eye closed. 

This week, two years later, the second eye has opened and the window has appeared! It has been such a delight to see the wall knocked out and the space framed with stone. It's just as I always imagined, we have that window at last. 

On the inside of the house the window is in the bedroom called Tournon. We had planned that it would be in Tournon's ensuite and therefore more to the left if you're looking at the east facade. Tournon bedroom has a beautiful aspect, it already has one window and first thing in the morning the sun shines in. It seemed a pity not to increase the sunlight into this room. We haven't forgotten about the ensuite, we have decided to put a velux window in the ceiling of this bathroom.  At night one will be able to lie in the bath and look up at the stars. 

When we first arrived at the farmhouse Tournon bedroom was a study. It had a small vanity sink in the corner but the nearest bathroom was down a flight of stairs and not ideal for guests. When all the family came last summer, Rob and I slept in this room and used the wet room in the pool house as our ensuite! We realised what a beautiful room Tournon was and were determined to find space for it to have its own bathroom. 

One big decision for this bedroom has been whether to remove the fire place. We realised that the chimney had been taken away a long time ago, but the mantle piece was made of wood, and it gave shape to the room. I am always loathed to take out architectural features however with the new window going in, it became obvious that the perfect place for the bed head was exactly where the fire place was. The decision being made, the chimney was taken out, no Tournon back!

The new window, January 2016.

The east wall of the house and lawn, summer 2015. You can also see the roof of the pool house just above the hedge.



Beautiful Beams

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Things are really moving on with the renovation of the farmhouse. The sandblaster has been hard at work and the beams are looking amazing. The dark beams that were in the cuisine are now so much lighter and the painted beams throughout the house have been stripped back to their former glory. The beams in The Grenier (attic) were once white, the Summer Lounge beams were turquoise and the beams in Montaigu were green, they are now back to the original light oak. We can only glimpse the Grenier's new appearance because the staircases have been removed. However as a consequence of this, we can now see what the new stairwell will be like. Standing on the ground floor you can look up through all three floors to the roof where a velux window will bring light into the space, it's going to be great!

The old bathrooms have gone and the empty spaces wait for the refurb. The rooms look so different without the bathroom suites in them, so much so that I am looking at the layout again and checking that everything is going to work in its planned place. We wanted to have a feature bath but I am now wondering if we have chosen the right bathroom for this "ta dah" bathing experience. It feels that very soon decisions will be cast iron, the time to change ones mind will be gone as pipe work and electric points will all be in place. Tiles both on the floor and walls have been removed and I'm having a quick panic as I haven't chosen new ones yet. 

A door opening has been created from Tournon bedroom to its new bathroom, that must have been quite a task as the wall is more than two feet thick. This room also has to have another window put in to match the existing one, that'll be another big job.

It has been so exciting seeing all the progress made, we wander around the house when the builders have left and write lists of things to discuss, I never tire of doing this. At last I'm starting to see what its all going to be like in a few months time.

The cuisine with newly sandblasted beams.

Beauville bedroom, the ceiling is being protected while the beams are sandblasted.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

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We wish everyone a very Happy New Year, may all your new year resolutions come true. Rob and I look forward to seeing the farmhouse renovations completed this year in the spring, and have so many plans to make it a great place to relax and spend a fantastic holiday as well as a wonderful home for our family to enjoy.

I can see from my own mail box that holiday companies big and small are starting to advertise on a grand scale. This is traditionally the time when families or friends have perhaps met and made plans to holiday together and are looking to book the perfect place. Christmas is over and our thoughts turn to planning a special escape. The farmhouse is a great place for two families (or more) to meet up. The house naturally splits into two spaces. The ground floor has three bedrooms, three shower or bath rooms, a lounge and kitchen/diner.  The first floor and second floor together provide three bedrooms, three shower or bath rooms, a lounge and kitchen combined with dining room. The floors will be connected by the new staircase, which is being made by Daniel our joiner or "Menuisier" . 

This summer we would like to rent the farmhouse out for a few months, However marketing the house is going to be a challenge this year because we wont have any pictures for people to see until the spring.  I think people really rely on images as they chose a place to stay so this seems to be a bit of a problem. My neighbour suggested that I use Pinterest  to illustrate our ideas, the colours and styles. So I have signed myself up and will begin some Pinterest boards. As we progress with the renovation I will be blogging and photographing our progress so I hope that every week will bring us closer to the finished product.

One recent achievement has been the beginning of the farmhouse produce. In the autumn of 2014 we had to radically cut back the box hedge which had grown too high. We were told that box wood is quite special so we decided that we should try to use it.  A year on the wood has dried and the moisture content is right for a little turning! Luckily ... my cousin Gerry knows how to do these things and has made us honey dippers and bottle stoppers from our very own box wood. We are quite delighted and think they will be great additions to our welcome packs or make lovely gifts for our future visitors.

The French Farmhouse Produce. Figs, mirabelles and sloes from the gardens and our very own box wood turned and shaped by Gerry.

SHUT UP!!!

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The shutters (volets) at the house are an intrinsic part of the french farmhouse facade, most of the windows have them and they are more than just the look of french country style. These shutters are an important part of the house security and also provide the role of external curtains should you not want the deer or birds to look in. They can help to keep the house cool in summer and warm in winter. When we go on holiday the shutters are closed and when we return it's like waking the house up. We walk around the rooms opening the volets and letting the light flood in. It almost feels theatrical and I think that Elbow's anthem " Throw Those Curtains Wide"  should be blasting out as we wander around allowing the rooms to open their eyes.

One of my appointed jobs is to paint the said shutters, which on the face of it is not a difficult job. I have already planned to take them down and I have decided to create a workshop in one of the barns, so that I can sand, undercoat and final coat these symbols of french architecture. However the main big issue is .....what colour should they be!  At the moment they are green and we think that it suits the house well. It seems to me that there are regional colours that one can adhere to. In Toulouse the traditional colour is blue and one can often see pictures of the french lavender coloured shutters of Provence.

I am now "Match Pot Queen" I have scoured the colour charts of numerous paint companies and have decorated doors and shutters with splashings of green paint ( for we have decided that green it will be ). On my last trip to Farrow and Ball to collect some match pots, the assistant as usual asked for my post code -  to  update my record - I saw her smile, I know I did, she was wondering what on earth I was doing with all the match pots! Visitors to the house have been asked to vote for their favourite shade and I have compared sunny areas to shady areas, I have definitely put the research in for this. Green it will be, but I will have to let you know which particular shade.

 

Top: Shutters on the south elevation. Bottom left: Shutter on the barn. Bottom right: The summer kitchen window and door.


IT'S A BLAST!

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During the last week the builders have begun sandblasting the beams in the farmhouse. We decided to do this to either lighten the wood or to remove paint. The salle de cinema/summer Lounge is a big job. This space seems to have taken on two names, the first being decided by our project manager, when he saw the digital projector hanging from the ceiling. The room is about 40 square metres and Jean Luc seems to have spent the last few days in what can only be described as a space helmet as the roar of the sandblaster has done its worst revealing the wood of days gone by. By the end of the day this room looked like a beach, sand rippled and covered the terracotta  tiles and I waited for the tide to come in!

The summer lounge is a great space for so many different things. We use the digital projector to show films on the back wall and I am going to look into buying some special paint that's good for projecting onto. The room is on the ground floor with doors onto the patio, it's next to the summer kitchen hence it's name "summer lounge". We think it will be a good space should we decide to offer meeting or artist facilities and with a few good mats a yoga space too.

 I have posted a picture of the Grenier, the loft room. All of the ceiling plasterboard has been taken down and the insulation too is being replaced. The beams are being cut to create a doorway into the room. There is a charming stove here but this will be taken out (one less chimney to clean) in order to make way for the stairwell and velux windows in the ceiling to light the area.

At the moment the farmhouse is a bit of a building site yet I feel that things are moving forward, the getting worse before they get better motto applies here.

1. Top left, the beams in the summer kitchen before sandblasting. 2. Top right the hibiscus in the garden (to add colour to the picture again).3. Bottom left the summer lounge. 4. The grenier.

1. Top left, the beams in the summer kitchen before sandblasting. 2. Top right the hibiscus in the garden (to add colour to the picture again).

3. Bottom left the summer lounge. 4. The grenier.



CHIM CHIMNEY

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There are seven chimneys at the farmhouse, four in the main house and three in the gite. As part of our "gite move in" and out of necessity as the weather gets colder, we have been lighting fires. In France you must have your chimney swept once a year as part of insurance requirements. The chimneys in the main house were swept in August and before we light the fires in the gite, they too will need careful attention from  " Le Ramoneur".

Monsieur Romoneur and his father duly arrived, we had met them in the summer when his son had also helped out, great to see three generations of one family working together. Monsieur R. and his father are a happy pair, cheerful and chatty. I can only say that looking up at our roofline with seven chimneys, Dick Van Dyke dancing on the rooftops and Mary Poppins came to mind. The sooty clothes and genuine appearance made me want to invite them to shake hands and bring good fortune at any forthcoming wedding.

An industrial cleaner was wheeled into the kitchen and with Monsieur R. on the roof peering down the metal lining, the cleaning began. The wood burning stove in the kitchen is very dated but it looks robust and full of old charm. The glass door works in two ways, a lift up and a conventional open door style which is quite unusual but querky. Monsieur R. finished the clean then declared "il est mort". Apparently sections, important sections, of our wood burner had rusted inside and this fire was unsafe to use. This was a bit of a blow, quite an unexpected outcome as we had been looking forward to having a roaring fire to warm a very chilly day.

Luckily in true Mary Poppins stye, Monsieur R. could solve the problem, he knew of a lady who was selling a stove very similar to ours that was only a year old because she was changing her heating system. She speaks very good English he said.......because she is English!  Their white van drove away and I picked up the telephone.

Having made contact we now have a new wood burning stove to collect. I suppose the next challenge will be to get it fitted!

The three fireplaces in the gite. The stove on the right is the one to be replaced. The fireplace bottom left houses the bread oven.

IT'S JUST ELECTRIC!

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As you can imagine every room in the house has been disturbed by the rewiring, I should have and did expected some disruption but I don't think that I was prepared for the total onslaught of wires that have now flooded the house. Thank goodness that we decided to move into the gite, it is a corner of organised chaos and a place of comfort...... well until last night.

As dusk began to fall I headed to the kitchen to pop a casserole in the oven. The cooker had been carefully cleaned and tested as part of the move in tasks, so I confidently switched it on. The electric heater blew warm air into the room and all seemed cozy and comfortable for our Friday evening. Then the power went, probably because I had too much on, these three phase supplies can be a bit temperamental until they are correctly balanced. We headed out to find the main switch in the piggery to reset the system. Now the switch was old, very old, it was a press button sort and it had been a bit sticky when we first bought the house, if truth be told, we'd been advised to get changed. However the next time we had needed to put it on, it had worked. We've not been using the gite so the problem had not reared it's head....... until tonight. So there we were in rural France with two power supplies ( one for the main house and one for the gite) and neither of them worked!

We found the details of EDF English speaking service and set off in the waining light to the main house. With torches in hand we fought our way over a spaghetti of wires to our landline telephone. At last a very helpful operator gave us a number to ring, with no pen or paper, this house had been cleared remember, we had to write down the details in the dust that had settled on a table in the salon. The chiseling of conduits creates an enormous amount of grime, I'd hate you to think it was a lack of cleaning on my part!

The next phase was tricky, it was to phone another number, not an English speaking service, to report the fault. It is at these times that one promises to try harder at learning French. After a while of waiting and tapping in a series of numbers, given to us by the first operator,  we were able to speak to someone who logged our fault and actioned an engineer.

Just after 8pm and a couple of hours after our mayday call, an engineer arrived and duly changed the switch, Voila, we had light. Thank you to EDF for their quick response and for restoring our Friday evening.

It's electric!  / A late November rose flowering in the garden, something to cheer the picture up.

THE GITE

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Right around at the back of the farmhouse we have a gite, it used to be a separate property owned I gather by a couple from Paris. When they wanted to sell, the previous owners of the farmhouse bought it, it makes sense to own all the property so that it stands within its own land and is self contained.

With the works at the farmhouse beginning we have decided to move into the gite, it really has been like moving house, again! The gite has stood empty for the last year, we have not really focused our attention on it as we have been busy furnishing the farmhouse and planning the renovations. It will be good to experience living there for this house too will need some renovation work in time and I think by living in it we will better understand what needs to be done.

Although built at the same time the gite has a very different feel to the farmhouse, it is much more of a quirky cottage. It has an amazing bread oven which I would really like to get working, I can imagine using it for a pizza party or just for making bread. Part of the gite encompasses the old pig pens which have now been turned into a bathroom. We have been busy switching on fridges, checking cookers work and getting the tv and internet sorted out. It is now beginning to look really cosy. We need to get the wood stoves working and then we will really feel at home.

We are meeting with the electrician tomorrow to discuss the re-wiring of the farmhouse, checking the electrical plan and making sure we have thought of everything electrical. It has meant a last minute look at our bathroom plans too, ensuring all the sanitary ware is in the right place for the electrics. 

The sun is shining this afternoon and the grass is being cut. We still have quite a few leaves to fall. However the fig leaves have mainly dropped leaving a few random figs on bare branches. We are debating when to cut the plum trees and have decided to leave it a few weeks, I would hate to loose those trees, they are my main source of jam!

Inside the gite.

The door to the bread oven.