The French Renovation

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 t

I don't know if the French for wild birds is les oiseaux sauvages, but the man in M. Bricolage didn't correct me. I'd been looking for some bird nuts and wild bird seed to replenish my British feeders, so I visited the pet department in the store. There are sacks and sacks of food for parrots and other 'pet birds'. There are cages full of imprisoned budgies and other exotic species. Me: Do you sell food for wild birds? Him: You want to feed wild birds? Me: Yes. Him: (Laughs) Me: (Raises eyebrows) Him: And do you want to feed all of the fishes in the sea? Me: (Laughs... and retreats) Why do I want to feed wild birds? There does seem to be a plentiful supply of natural bird food sources around here. It's for my benefit, isn't it? I like to bring little tits and finches into my parlour, all the better to nosy at them and take photos like these ones. Discuss.

STILL LIFE STUDIES FROM THE SITE Wait! This one's not 'still life'.  It's Polly's 15th birthday today, and, aside from licking her lips post-meaty feasting, she's been on a heat-seeking mission:

Kevin's been plumbing into the night. I've been his 'boy' for some of the time, but it's slow (and chilly) work.   Many joints have been soldered...   The downstairs toilet now has a hot and cold feed, along with a waste pipe. Those pipes also pop through the wall to the utility cupboard next door. Kevin's popped a length of lagging on what must be the hot feed, but he tells me this is not properly done yet, he was just 'trying it for size'.   Pipes going up through the 'ceiling' to supply the upstairs bathroom. Yes, we do need to fill that ants' nest hole in the wall, but that'll happen when we put the window in.  More upstairs pipage.  And more...  And a bit more...  Kevin will happily use any available surface as his table.  Ah, this. This isn't plumbing, but it's what I was doing to keep warm as Kevin plumbed- a bit more taping and jointing. Kevin was quite excited about thi