And so it continues...

Meanwhile, in the South West of France, the construction of the terrace continues in earnest... in temperatures of around 35 degrees Celsius. And that's in the shade. We have no shade on the nearly-terrace. Moving and laying stones, mixing cement, building fences and all that jazz is extremely hard work in such relentless heat. But we're doing it, nonetheless. I burnt my back yesterday, despite wearing Factor 30 sun cream. I'm having to drink a lot of water to prevent my body drying up like a toasted, sun-shrivelled worm. It's working to some degree, but I do feel like a dried worm. 

There are really strict swimming pool rules in France, even for temporary pools like ours. It mustn't be accessible to children, requiring a locked gate and fence or a pool alarm at the very least. We're erecting a little fence and gate, a white picket fence, just like in dystopian movies.




Remember how I explained that we would pave the terrace using salvaged stone from our land? It's happening, but with a modification... Have you ever visited Pompeii? My attempt at laying stones to form a path remind me of it. The stones are of very different sizes and depths, so a lot of jiggery pokery is required to create a level surface. Who knows if I can jig and poke adequately...


Just thought I'd show you the fence again...

Gate open

Gate closed
And now look! The new plan! I know it looks like an archaeological dig, but we've decided to invest in two squares of proper slabs to house the table and chairs and the sunbeds. The people of Pompeii would recommend the same action.


Unfortunately, the plan involved more digging, when I'd thought that that particular torture was over. I sustained a blistery injury! It's still there!


 

Yes, two slabs were broken during the fight to lay them... But we can always buy more, right? Not right. Brico Depot is now out of stock. Yes. They'll be in again one day... (insert Gallic shrug).


 Yes, there's a lot of Pompeii still to be achieved here. It's a start. But what can we do when our plan to build a 70 square metre terrace came forth from our naughtily colluding creative sides?

 And what is Farmer Joel doing while we sweat blood? Making hay on our bottom field, that's what.


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

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

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