The French Renovation

Something delicious from La Caleche in Tulle. There is no shortage of places to eat. These mussels were the best I've ever eaten, and that includes the very lovely ones I've had at Le Cafe Rouge in Tenterden.

The saddest thing about this little set of photos is that one of them is indoors. The second cottage brings many challenges! The little floral basin has a certain charm.

There appears to be a gravestone propped up against the back wall of the first cottage. It's covered in moss. I haven't lifted it away from the wall to see if there is any writing on the other side.

I found this marble sign in the loft of the first cottage. It's surprisingly heavy. Why was it made? Was it a plaque on a front gate, or was it from a family tomb? There doesn't appear to be a Cousein any more, but Cousein Bas and Cousein Haute. On all the maps I have looked at, it is spelt Cousin, but the actual signs marking the two hamlets are spelt with the e. There are four separate dwellings at Cousein Bas: our farm, two cottages along the lane, and a walled complex that contains a large house, barns, stables and a chapel.Cousein Haute appears to consist of a selection of farm buildings, but they may be separate dwellings...  Conte means 'story' in French. This has prompted new thoughts about the name of our property. Our address at the moment is just Cousein Bas, but we need to distinguish our place from the other dwellings. There's a lot of sky, and a lot of hill, and a lot of larks. I've mulled over names that include les collines or le ciel, and it...

  Our front door to the first cottage- might need a bit of work! One of the big bread paddles for the bread oven- they have super long handles because the bread oven is so large. Notice how the building is just a pile of stones with bits of wood laid across.   Cute little cart/trailer.

Find out more about this lovely 15th century cottage for sale in Cranbrook, Kent at : http://www.homes-on-line.com/kent/lloyd-martin.481/full_agent/f481_1823.htm These are the stairs to the first floor; the bannister is a rope. They're quite steep and twisty, so if you have dodgy knees or hips, it may not be ideal. The second flight of stairs to the top floor is even more of a challenge! Otherwise, this is a dream cottage! We've reduced the price from Zoopla's £317k to £290k- a bargain for a piece of history. The man who started Christmas cards lived here, and it is entirely possible that Daniel Defoe wrote Robinson Crusoe here whilst in hiding 'in a woodcutter's cottage on the outskirts of Cranbrook'. We have a rather wonderful history pack about the cottage and its previous residents. Cranbrook has a working windmill, the largest smock mill in Britain, and we are stewards there at weekends. Cranbrook also boasts the marvellous George Hotel, w...

But we do have the wonders of walnuts and waterfalls. There are several mature walnut trees on our land, along with cherries, pears and apples. The waterfalls are nearby; this one is at Gimel,and it's rapturously thunderous!

"Some of our bits ain't nice... "

Our nearest 'big town' is Tulle. It has a Notre Dame of its own and is the birth place of the accordion. There are lots of good restaurants and a cutting edge theatre.

Arty, yet worrying, textural shots...

Longer shots of les batiments. There's always a lot of sky.

The varied delights of the second cottage. I LOVE the stone sink! I think it's a sink, but there's no water supply.

I thought it might be interesting to introduce our plan of attack at this stage, so that we can look back and be amazed at how marvellously on track we are... or perhaps to look back and wonder what in the name of Napoleon we were thinking!  First things first- purchase the caravan. It's currently in Poitier, so we'll just need to hook it up and trundle it down to Cousein Bas. Then we need to connect all services: broadband, water, electricity. There will be other things like rates to organise, but that area is still misty. There's time. Next, the fosse! This is the septic tank and all of its bits and beds. I'm not sure how long anyone can continue to use a chemical toilet without becoming jaded. I'll let you know in time... The first cottage: a full gutting process and introduction of a kitchen, sitting room, cellar, two bedrooms and a BATHROOM! And four dormer windows. The piggery: transformation into a double bedroom with en suite bathroom The bakery: tra...

We have three Singer sewing machines... so far.

The other sad thing about this property purchase is that we have bought the buildings and all of their contents, down to shoes, clothing, washing up liquid, gin*, pickles, crockery,old love letters and a tractor. Oh, and absolute mountains of hay and straw! The plan is to keep a lot of the original features and bits of furniture, but to uber-modernize around them. * I think it's gin...

Slate fish scale tiles on first cottage, and a 'velux window'.

Mist and russety cows nestling in the valley.

Stonework and window in the second cottage... hanging in there!

  I may not have mentioned this... We are not actually even in France yet. We are still busy, busy in our jobs. The plan is to go out in May 2015. We spent a week out there two weeks ago in warm sunshine. We measured up the main property in order to submit detailed drawings. Despite the lack of toilets, we entertained friends there with a picnic of wine, bread, cheese and salad.