The French Renovation

There is no light pollution up here on our French mountain, so we can see a sky simply spilling over with stars and planets and other shiny objects every night. It is truly breathtaking! For the past few nights, we've run out to watch the International Space Station hurtle under/over Mars in the Southern skies. For me, this emphasises our unity as a planet of human beings. 

The knocking out completed, Kevin moved on to fitting the French doors. That's the frame in. Kevin used bits of rock he'd just smashed out to lumpen up the cement mix. There'll be two steps up from the kitchen, and one step out onto the terrace. Doors safely in place as the sun sets... Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed that there is a rather nice cream and black range cooker loafing in the kitchen. We bought it at a very special price (a quarter of what it would cost in the UK) from an electrical store called Boulanger , which is a rather obscure name; it means 'baker' in French. But then I guess that there are electrical stores with odd names in Britain, for example, Curry's. That could be equally confusing. And there are lots of people called ' Baker' in England who might well decide to set up a business selling electrical goods, although it would be difficult to resist selling bread and cakes, wouldn

Well, we have some interesting viewing data today. Hello, Russia! United Kingdom 260 Russia 228 United States 56 France 52 Ireland 21 Germany 7 Spain 2 Canada 1 China 1 Mauritius 1

This is what we call the Party Bird. It knows one note, and it repeats it loudly from dawn to dusk. It reminds me of a party-style 'whoop!'. When I say 'one note', I don't include the fact that it has a very, very slight upturn at the end to give it the 'whoop factor'. It makes us feel less inclined to party after three hours or so of whooping. I've no idea what type of bird it is, so do let me know! These holes have appeared on the top lawn. Polly is as interested as a lazy old lady can be. She brought us a little mouse this morning. But these holes are not mouse-sized. They're about three inches across. Any ideas? Yes, this last photo does look a bit like an elephant face. Every day when I water the hydrangeas, this little chap scurries out and away. But today, he stayed for a while! Off up the wall to who knows where... , oh, wait a minute, the only thing up there is my bedroom to be... Meh...

Thick Paint Stripping and painting metal shutters is usually a rewarding task, as one may gaze in wonder and self-satisfaction when the upgraded shutters are in place. But the activity is not without its complications; I wear goggles to protect my eyes from the multiple lead paint chip bombardment, but if I choose to breathe through my mouth at any point, the law of Nigel ensures that lead paint chips will enter my mouth and then have to be removed before ingestion. I also end up with a lead paint chip smattered body, requiring repeated cold hosing-downs. Not so bad in these temperatures... Paint Station Stripping Station I've just got to the end of my first tin of Bleu Turquin , and I did note that it was getting thick and sticky. I persevered, however, and produced the monstrosity below to the left. I added a smidgin of white spirit to the tin, and, hey presto, I produced the smoothest finish on the shutter on the right. This means that I will have to wait for sh