Dig This!

Please don't be alarmed, but the photos you are about to view show men wearing coats and wellies... in the south of France! In September. No, it's not right, but we suffered a cold wet day yesterday. We're told it was unusual. I actually had chattering teeth at one point towards the end of the working day. Working day. I don't just take photos, you know- I do work very hard every day, harder than the men. I was wearing my waterproof coat and wellies too, but you won't ever see much of me, as I'm the photographer, by semi-royal appointment.

Ian digs the big hole for the fosse septique tank. Kevin is directing Ian as he gets deeper in the hole and can't see. It does look a bit like he's not doing much, but, on this occasion, that's not a fair assessment of the situation.

They try the hole for size...

Ian takes off another two ton load in his dumper. We have a lot of handy areas nearby that could do with extra earth.

 The hole takes shape. And the pipe from the house is poised, ready.

 Marking in where the trenches will go with string, then fluorescent orange puff paint.

 Starting to dig the first trench!

 Yes, the digger saves a lot of time and energy.

 Kevin joins his pipe together.

Kevin doesn't know about this photo- I couldn't resist.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The tower finds itself in high demand

Image
I've been asking Kevin to hurry up and finish the work on the south wall for AGES as I wanted the tower in order to paint the north wall. FINALLY, he scaled it and reattached the flailing planks and the loose edge-tiles. He also finished and painted the outside of the little window frames, installing mosquito nets too. It's such a relief to get all of these little jobs done! But was I to get the tower? No. Kevin fell into a frenzy of loose tile fixing all around the house! Eventually, I did secure ownership of the tower and repainted the grubby-looking north wall. No, you can't see the finished job, as, to be honest, it's still a bit grubby. And, after our aerial efforts concluded with no dramatic falls, we returned to some familiar territory of bygone renovation days: fluff puff! We have never managed to finish our master bedroom, mainly because we were waiting for a stretch of good weather in order to build the second dormer window. However, due to Covid-19, we didn&#
Read more

The sad ending we never expected to see

Image
You'd probably guessed, but we've sold up and moved back to England. Six years of renovating in our Correzian paradise had to come to a sudden end due to the folly that is Brexit, and the plague that is Covid. These unpredictable twin horrors meant that we could no longer flit between two countries with ease, and neither could our family and friends.  I thought you'd enjoy seeing some of our last views of our little French farmstead.  What do we miss the most? Friends Freedom Stunning scenery Great restaurants Beautiful villages Vide greniers Good wine at good prices Sunshine Empty roads Over and out. Thank you for following our adventure.
Read more

Renavoidance?

Image
Don't ever buy a property with 8 acres of land. Unless you have a vast array of top grade farming machinery. I'd like to be sharing with you our achievements with the renovation (and I know that's what you're here for!), but most of our time has been spent mowing, strimming, raking and visiting the dechetterie. Our ride-on mower has more or less given up the ghost, and I really don't think it'd be worth mending/servicing it. I'm not sure how we're going to continue to tame the land with just two push mowers and a scythe. We've decided to leave a lot of our land as meadow, with creative paths mown through it. Farmer Joel has very kindly mown and gathered hay, but this has exposed acres of dry, unpleasant stubble. And you wouldn't believe the amount of dust and grass seed that's kicked up during the processes of cutting, turning, lining up and baling! The time of dust coincided with the time of refreshing the exterior white paint. Thankfully, n
Read more