The French Renovation

When you live on top of a mountain, you can sometimes experience unique sky moments. I regret to report that it has been raining incessantly for three days, and it's predicted to continue until Saturday. This is the South of France! And it's June tomorrow. Get a grip, weather! The people who live in the valley were enjoying rain. We at the top were also enjoying rain. But from two different layers of cloud. The sun decided to show its face briefly between the two layers... That was yesterday. This is today. I wonder what the sun will pull out of its hat this evening... The rain has forced us indoors to continue work on the upstairs bathroom and the kitchen. This is not a bad thing. The kitchen is still a long way from being functional, but the bathroom is nearing completion- photo when it's finished! Hornet Incident There was a hornet incident this week. Kevin was up in the loft, which has a free view of the bedroom floor below. He'd spot...

In my previous post, I mentioned a little beetle with a super power: the ability to change colour. I didn't include a photo, as this was my best photographic attempt*; crisp, clear grass, blurred beetle. And I only have a photo of it being red... so it's not the best illustration of my scoop! My camera is still managing some rather pretty photos of the evening skies. I've been using this tool** again to sand down the mustard-painted, black-sooted, greasy doors. I'm becoming more adept at controlling it, but it is, apparently, desperate to tear out chunks of wood. I had to resort to using paint stripper and a chisel for the insert bits. There is evidence here of chisel-driven mutilation, however. Kevin told me to keep it at a 90 degree angle to the wood when scraping, but sometimes it just skitters off, ploughing a groove through the wood. I know, I know... I'm a woman who's not mastering her tools, but remember, this is all new to me...

Today, I maintained a star shape in the back of the van for ten kilometres. The long awaited, over-sized shower screen had arrived at Mr Bricolage and was duly collected. I was braced against it in the rear, one hand and a foot against the screen, to stop it toppling on corners (and there are lots of those...), the other foot keeping the shopping bags (wine, lettuce and sausage) upright, and one hand holding a rolled-up copy of Leclerc's 'espace culturel' magazine, ready to swat the monstrously-sized wasp Kevin's been stowing in the back of the van. The van that, incidentally, smells like Polly and her stray cat friends have had a wee-fest in amongst the dregs of dechetterie dross. Kevin did open a window for my comfort...  As well as the wasp, there was a fuzzy moth imprisoned in there. Strangely, it provided more of a risk than the stingy one. The wasp really didn't care about me; it was sniffing around the window frames, but the moth... The moth spent a little ti...

Why do I blog? Let's have a look at potential explanations: to keep me sane while completely out of my comfort zone I like to write I love the English language and feel impotent without its complex cloak around me to sate a latent exhibitionism  I take lots of photos and need to do something with them to share my joy to share my pain to keep a permanent record of the adventure to make you laugh  to encourage people to visit us for a holiday when we are up and running as a wee hamlet of gites to keep family and friends updated on progress to help others decide if this is the adventure for them as a warning to innocents to get out of other jobs for an hour or so  to raise and explore issues that commonly occur when renovating property in France I don't want you to forget me You may have other ideas about the true reason... If so, please let me know.  I do know that lines must be drawn in a blog. As Kevin oft tells me, 'Don't show everythin...

Leroy Merlin Firstly, let me tell you that this is not pronounced as though we were considering a Jamaican wizard. No, it's 'ler-rwa merleen'. So I'm told. Popular opinion in the world of French DIY stores has it that Leroy Merlin is at the expensive end. We were of the same mind, as their stores seem to be less warehouse-y, more showroom-y. On our latest expedition there, however, we discovered several items that were actually cheaper (and nicer) than at Mr Bricolage and Brico Depot. Although the staff at our local Mr Bricolage have become more friendly and helpful than at first (remember the strimmer incident?), all of the staff at Leroy Merlin make every effort to offer assistance, and they invariably try to communicate in their best English. The staff at Brico Depot, as a rule, tend to avoid any sticky situations and just shrug or say 'non' when you ask for assistance (in our best French). I assume the man we asked about the extra long shower tray (that...

One of the very best things about living in France is the French roads. They are smooth-surfaced, regularly maintained and renewed, and offer excellent signage. They are more or less empty. Major roads have two lanes. Once a car has overtaken, it religiously gets straight back in to the inside lane. There are places where traffic on the main thoroughfare must give way to those coming out of a side road. At first, we thought this was madness, but it works! However, the French drive in a different way to the British. It's something we have to get used to. They all nearly always drive precisely at the speed limit. They drive extremely close to one another; at first, I thought I was witnessing lots of towing going on, but no. If you are travelling a little slower than the speed limit, they will drive on the centre line about ten centimetres from your back bumper. But there is no road rage or aggressive hand signing. It is the way. And that is that. Since being out here, I have nev...