Hah! That gazebo's not moving!

GAZEBO NO GO



Kevin's splints and rocks seem to have done the trick! It doesn't look great, but we won, Mr Wind! The gales are still blowing, and the rain's still pelting down, so we're not going to put the sides back on just yet. The calor gas cooker is sitting out there on its own. The entrance to our not-so-glampsite is currently a little muddy river, that winds its way down to the fosse hole, where the water continues not to drain very well. 

 I've worn my wellies all day today, even when working indoors, for the warmth of my socks mostly. Socks! When I popped out for the baguette today, I actually wore my The North Face waterproof jacket. In the South of France. In August. Gadzooks!

 TODAY'S WORK ON COTTAGE #1

 Kevin pours out my next load of attack chemicals.

It's been very wet, yet there is no water in the cottage, despite those windows just being holes in the wall. I think that's a good sign. Floorboarding is coming along nicely, now that I'm the cutter and gluer. Teacher, you see; we are all potentially award-winning cutters and gluers. If only there'd been some colouring in. Ah, but that comes later. I couldn't go up the tower today due to the uber-wet, but perhaps tomorrow I can begin to 'colour in' the North wall!

The roof and tiling arrangement is quite interesting. Rows of planks, with slate fish scale tiles nailed on. We're not looking forward to the installation of the four dormer windows. It's going to be quite tricky; we have to approach from the inside, as the outside is quite awkward to access. The French call dormer windows 'sitting dogs', 'chien assis'. If you know how to do this job, please come and help! We'll feed you.* We've received planning permission, so we're ready to go!
Another little surprise. We've discovered another piece of wall that is just earth! No ants this time. What on 'earth' is going on here? We've scooped it all out and will need to fill it with stones and mortar. I hope there aren't any more earth walls to find!


 We want to raise the big beam at the front of the fireplace so that we can put in an accessible Aga. As you can see, we have acrow props ready to help us with that. The bit that involves taking out some stones to start with has been a bit nerve-wracking today. The thought of the entire chimney breast collapsing is quite dreadful!
 Still standing...

* Seriously!

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