Too Busy to Blog!

Before I hurl you right back into the gloom and grub of the renovation, you may like to take time to wander through some of the wild flowers currently showing their faces here at Cousein Bas. I'm fairly sure that they're not called les fleurs sauvages, but this remains an area of blur. I've now run out of wild bird food, by the way. I did see some netted fat balls in the Bluewater-sized Carrefour*, but they're not my birds' bag.

No, I know that this last one is just the bird bath again, but I liked the green and blue together. I'll probably regret adding this, but the cloud reminds me of a lamb's face. Seeing faces everywhere is something I have to live with. (Now I regret adding that!) 

You don't really want to look at the pretty things, do you... 

Okay. Here we go!

THE FRENCH WINDOWS #1

We're replacing the original windows with french doors at the back of cottage no.1. Not that little one that you can see there- that'll be given a big window, as no-one wants french doors into the downstairs toilet. 

Kevin has borrowed Steve's heavy duty tools to undertake this meaty job. There's always a little bit of us that expects the cottage to fall down when we attack it like this, and we're certain that the 'ant hill crack' is widening in that area... So far, still standing.

 Nearly there...

 There?

 Mixing cement for the base.

We then had to go back to Brico Depot to buy the french windows. We had a big gap, so we were buying the biggest set available. They had one set left. We quickly claimed it. At Brico Depot, you have to go to the warehouse counter to order, then they give you a chit to take to the shop cashier. Our chit said that we should pay 349 Euros, despite the catalogue (brand new) stating the price as 289 Euros. We took the chit back to the warehouse counter and queried the price. The man told us that it was a misprint in the catalogue and showed us a laughably large swatch of misprints hanging by the counter. He made a show of flipping through the pages, but didn't actually locate our particular item. C'est la vie! We took the chit to the shop cashier and paid. Eventually, the french windows were trundled out on a trolley. They were enormous! I crossed my mind that they may be too enormous for our gap... Suddenly, Steve and Sue (All English people in France spend a good proportion of their time at Brico Depot) appeared from nowhere and remarked on the giant size of our windows, and had we measured properly? Another English man in an army Landrover appeared to gawp at our unusually big size, followed by a French man who was impressed by the size, and seemed to want them.

Had we mis-measured?

No!

Look, they fit beautifully!

Getting these heavy (and delicate) doors into the minibus and then out again at the other end involved the super powers of our personal angels, Sue and Steve. They simply materialised at both ends of the mission. We are blessed.

BRICO DEPOT CUSTOMERS

What was even more surprising was that the car behind the unorthodox parker pulled up as we watched. There is a wonderful assortment of customers at Brico Depot. Including the spatially challenged.

LAGGING

Kevin asked me to lag his cold water pipes and some of the hots. He told me it required creative flair. It did. I had to cut angled miters to ensure full protection. I used scissors, as Kevin's pad saw was useless.

Kevin is still sorting out two little leaks. He's not happy.

KEVIN'S BRAINWAVES

SANDING DOORS

I've been using power tools again. It made me feel quite masculine again. We're keeping the doors that we found here, but we're putting them in different places. This is the front door, however, and it is staying where it was. Obviously. That great big tool is a 'grinder'. Very manly! It has a mind and unexpected force of its own, and can fight the innocent operator. You're not supposed to use it for sanding, but the first tool was ineffective.

I discovered the most beautiful blue underneath! It's probably an industrial undercoat used on all French doors. Those loopy brown marks are not supposed to happen- they are evidence of poor operator technique. The grinder likes to burn. I'll improve. I suggested to Kevin that the new finish was pretty enough to keep. He expressed a dislike for shabby chic.

 I am shabby chic!

This was the tool initially proffered. What does it remind you of? 

Along with the nail gun, screw gun and other tame stapler-like devices used by men, it is known as a 'heat gun'. It's a hairdryer. 

Even accompanied by this little shaped scraper, it was slow going.

 The old hinges came up 'good as new' with a little paint stripper.

The sorry starting point on the back of the door.

NOISES OFF!

We've had some time out, just a little, to socialise. Birthday celebrations and Easter dining went swimmingly.

Compulsive and hilarious movie-night viewing with Michael Caine and Christopher Reeves.

 I made a goats' cheese tart! And, despite what you may have heard about my baking, it tasted really good! As did Sue's slow roasted lamb and dauphinoise potatoes, followed by plum upside-down cake topped with creme fraiche.

 Easter lunch chez Sue and Steve

* While maneuvering** our British-registered car out of our parking space at Carrefour, a youngish French man walking past, and having to wait as we reversed, muttered, 'Rosbifs' as he passed my open window. I wasn't aware that that was a derogatory term. I thought it was quite a nice endearment. Roast beef is lovely, after all. I think I may have smiled at him. Apparently, it is not a term of endearment.

** How can this be spelt correctly? What happens to the 'o'?