June has arrived already!
Only four weeks to when we move in.
2nd June – Friday The Electrician returned today and switched the electrics over from the ‘Hangar’ system, to the new board that he set up on Thursday. All went well except for a bit of a hiccup that gave everyone a fright. He had to drag his cable, attached to the old cable, through the existing electricity board’ plastic tube. Some of the old cable pulled through without a problem but then it seemed to get jammed and no one knew why. No matter how hard they pulled, it didn’t budge. Was a new trench required? Robert suggested that they first take the new cable to the far end of the tube and try to pull it back the other way. Relief all around as this worked. The reason for the problem was that the original cable had not been long enough and EDF had joined two cables together. The join was quite a large piece of metal and for some reason, it got jammed in the tube when pulled in one direction.
The roof people moved the scaffolding from the west to the east side and will start stripping the asbestos sheets off the roof on Monday, even though it is a holiday weekend and Monday is ‘Whit’ Monday.
By the way, the umbrella is not stuck like a little cocktail umbrella, in the container of slates, it is standing on the sun patio further back…… LOL. The finished side of the roof looks great, although we have to drive down the road about 100 yards and use binoculars to inspect the top from afar. Robert will climb a ladder to inspect it before the end of the job.
Plasterboard was delivered and unloaded under the scaffolding. It will have to be moved before Monday! Unfortunately, the unloading system couldn’t get it inside the main door as intended. As is evident we have started moving the pile on the right.
3rd June – Saturday We got the rest of the batons up in the ‘West wing’ (? )and all is done on that side of the building until next Tuesday when the plumber arrives. Robert has drilled holes for pipes through the wall where required.
Today, in between helping Robert and sawing up the batons for him, I finished cutting the grass and that has made a big improvement. I also cleared the frontage onto the road of long grass and weeds etc. Tomorrow I intend to lay some ground cover membrane, add a little compost and bark mulch on top. This will be the base for wildflowers seeds. My only problem is how to easily get water to this area from the building. The ground on the road side of the fence is not ours, but evidently, the local authorities don’t do any upkeep on it. Our neighbors have nice frontage, so, we feel that we should do the same. For now, the wildflowers will suffice, until we decide on a more permanent plan.
From the inside, this is a view of the completed side of the roof with an air vent inserted
and this is a view of the other half – with the asbestos sheets still in place.
We had a lovely surprise visit from a friend who called over to see how we are getting on. It is great when this happens and gives us a breather to stop, without any guilt, and to sit and have a chat and cuppa. He also gave me a little advice on my potted roses, I am worried that the soil might be a bit ‘claggy’, but he seems to think they are doing OK
4th June – Sunday Aaaah, I remember the days we might have had breakfast in bed on a Sunday, watched the news and then Andres Marr, but today we were at Kerivet at 9 am.
It has got to the stage now that we are constantly moving ‘stuff’ around. Always trying to place it close to where it might be needed. We are not sure how water tight the roof will be tomorrow, with heavy rain expected and the men removing at least half of the asbestos sheets before then. Therefore, we can’t leave anything out in the main part of the building. Wood floor panels moved into the little room, plaster board transferred inside and covered securely with plastic. All the white under-floor insulating sheets moved away from the wall so that Robert can put up the rest of the batons.
Our friendly little mole has been busy preparing nice soil for my plant pots ?
We had another lovely surprise today with a visit in the afternoon from friends, it was great to have an excuse to sit on the sunny patio and enjoy an afternoon cup of tea with biscuits. ☕️ ? ☀️
The wildflower seeds are starting to grow along the fence and in open areas where they were sowed……
I prepared the wildflower beds at the road fence and managed to complete the job before we left to go back to our ‘digs’ for dinner.
The wheelbarrow was busy, with bags of compost, bark mulch, and not to mention lots of rocks! Rain started as I was finishing, not wanting to leave the job incomplete, I was like a drowned rat within minutes. ? ☂️ ? ? Luckily, I take a change of clothes every day! All done, seeds sown and I needn’t have worried about the watering as there will be rain over the next two day.
5th June – Monday Robert left me today! ? But that was OK ? I was dead off asleep at eight o’clock so he headed off to Kerivet on his own. I awoke at 9 and couldn’t believe that I hadn’t heard him leave. This house is VERY noisy with creaky floor boards upstairs that are impossible to miss. Anyway, I had a lot of chores to catch up on. Laundry…… sigh….. defrosting the freezer in readiness for our leaving at the end of the month, also preparing a large Cottage Pie. With a kitchen where there is ‘nowhere’ to put anything down, it was juggling from beginning to end……. I won’t make another one in this house!
It was a really wild day, very windy, which nearly dried the clothes before the rain arrived at lunch time. The hens enjoyed a big pile of potato and carrot peels and I even managed to spend some time with the mare, taking her a few carrots. She knows that I sometimes carry the carrots in my pockets, so, now she smells me up and down, to make sure that I haven’t forgotten to give her one that is secluded somewhere other than in my hand. Welly boots get a good sniff and then the pockets of my shorts……… with me hoping that she doesn’t ‘think’ there is something there, and take a nip.
She is so hungry that she has taken to eating the cherries off the tree that overhangs her field . I’ve seen her reach up and pull them down, ending up with all sorts of foliage hanging out of the sides of her mouth, while she sorts out where the cherries are. Even with the face mask on, she is surrounded by flies. Who would want to be an animal to put up with being bitten by flies all day.
Robert worked on his own today. He fixed on another load of batons, prepped for the plumber who starts work tomorrow and also managed to put up some plasterboard. The roof men removed half of the east side of the roof, but unfortunately, with rain forecast tomorrow, they will not be working until Wednesday.
June 6th – Tuesday Have to go over to the farm the Ophelia, the owner of the horse and let her know that her horse is eating from the cherry tree. I looked on Google last night and evidently ‘wilting’ leaves on a cherry tree contain arsenic and are fatal to horses if they eat them. The leaves are not wilting now but later on they could be a problem.
Plumbing started today and we now have water in the house. More on Thursday….
A welcome break for the the plumbers !!! One of the plumbers looks like he could do with a trim?
Meanwhile, I was preparing the under floor insulation sheets. This entailed stripping off the extruding piece on one side with a Stanley knife and then slotting it into the groove on the other side.
It was an incredibly windy day and no one working on the roof. Rain showers came down like stair-rods. But, most of the day we were just on the edge of the bad weather……
To the West
To the East – like a summers day!
Beautiful clouds
Wednesday 7th June I drove Robert to Kerivet for 08:30 and then set off, back to Dinard to Le Roy Merlin. There were a number of incomplete orders that had not been delivered, along with a wrong toilet delivered that I took back to exchange. The service is extraordinary at that place. I had a very nice young lady called Celine, come around the store with me sorting out the problems. However, it did take the best part of two hours to do the ‘sorting out’. So, by the time I got to the checkout, I commented that I thought that this inconvenience warranted at least another 10% discount. There was no argument. By that time I had the attention of one of the senior ladies on staff as well. They took the 10% off and that was worth about €80 to us.
Meanwhile ‘back at the ranch’ – Robert had received another delivery from Le Roy, this time the windows and the hall door. Can’t wait to see the hall door – it is behind all the windows, which, of course, have to be moved!
We had a call on the tractor mower that I had advertised online, and the young man arrived shortly after the windows. Having checked the machine over carefully he agreed to buy it, drove it onto his trailer, and after paying Robert, he left.
It was a great little machine, but SO noisy and not nearly as good for exercise as the motor mower.
The roof has been cleared of the asbestos sheets and the skip is wrapped up and ready to be collected. The underwater resistant membrane has been fixed to the roof, we are water tight and ready for slates tomorrow.
Robert has started putting down the floor in the ‘Living Room’
After a long and productive day, we left home for home at six o’clock.
BUT, before we departed, we did a bit of celebrating !
When we checked the mail, we found an envelope from the Mairie – this contained the ‘Permit to Build’ on the plot to the front of the property.
If anyone is interested in building a nice little home, holiday or permanent at this perfect location – let us know
AGAIN!
Wednesday 7th June to Wednesday 15th June.
It seems like much longer since I updated, suffice to say, we have been very busy. Now that we are at the ‘putting together’ stage, we find that we are having to move supplies from one place to another and then have to move them again. Impossible to do it just once. My wrists will never be the same again. Wooden batons, short cutoffs, insulation, plasterboard and of course the ‘refreshment table’. LOL We have had lots of late afternoon trips to buy supplies, including our washer and dryer and fridge which will be delivered on the 23rd June. Lots of trips to hardware stores for various bits and bobs for windows, plumbing etc.
Robert has completed most of the underflooring
Men working on the roof –
A HUGE Orange moon last weekend –
The first window going in….. this will be in the single guest toilet at the back
Measuring the ‘hole’
Placing the window
Trimming up the sill
Success – first window done – doesn’t look like Robert at all, does it!
If you think poor Robert looks ‘shattered’ that is because he is!
Great job
Cherries ripening and oh so sweet – on the tree in the garden of our rental house.
Seeds coming up
Working in the roof, vacuuming, stacking the batons that I had thrown up from the ground floor and will be used on the ceiling for the insulation, and also straightening up the big bags of insulation that Robert and Saul lifted up. I noticed this little old nest in one of the cavities of the cement wall blocks.
Yesterday I had to go off to Le Roy Merlin to pick up the wall cutter and what did I (silly idiot) come back with, but a ‘Tile Cutter’. Now, I totally admit that I should have known that this was not a blade that was going to cut through a cement block wall. However, in my own defense, I somehow thought that what was hidden in the box was the greater part of the blade and the necessary equipment. Robert and I had been to the store the evening before and had reserved a ’35cm blade cutter of walls’ machine. The information was written on our reservation rental document. I therefore, did not pay enough attention when the young lady carried the box out and put it in the car. But I should have known when I looked at it…………………. shouldn’t I!!!!!
I was nearly back to Kerivet when Robert phoned and said that LRM had phoned and told him that they had given us the wrong machine. I suppose the person who was renting the tile cutter had turned up!
After a quick cup of coffee, I started back to LRM, a good 45-minute treck. Boy, was I mad. When I arrived I had a few words with them and they gave us the machine with no charge and for the next day too…. but we did have to pay €90 for the use of the blade. What a waste of a morning……
This is the size of the machine I should have collected in the first place.
Robert on his knees doing prep for the en-suite and Saul outside cutting through the wall
In this video (click the pink link) you can see the dust and hear the noise – this had been the norm for a few days.
What a deafening and dusty job……..
Coming to the end of another week. The roof is finished Friday morning, hopefully, we will have more windows in by early next week. Plumbing to continue on Friday 16th and the Fosse Septic people start on Monday for four days. This gives us ten days to get more stud walls up, insulation, start of the plaster board going up and the electrician back to complete the work. Robert is insisting that after the weekend he will be working nights as well…………………. we shall have to see about that.
Video of the Drone taking more pics
16th June – Friday More celebrating!!!! Today is the 17th anniversary of when Robert and I met. We had talked on the phone and emailed for over eight months but this was the first time we actually ‘met’. So, we have had champagne on the flow and have had some unexpected visitors call by to join in the festivities. This celebration will go on for the full weekend, if you are nearby, or afar, you are welcome.
Lovely scene this morning – 7am in the field out back –
mum and daughter saying ‘Good Morning’
Saul having to drill holes to weaken the blocks before sledgehammering them out for the new window
See how much brighter it is!
Yaaaaaeeeee Roof is finished!
Saturday 18th to Tuesday 20th June Celebrating with the bubbly over the weekend. We were delighted to welcome lovely friends on Saturday and more on Sunday who called by to help us celebrate the first day Robert and I met, back in 2000. We had a busy weekend otherwise – a lot of ‘moving’!
Guest cloakroom/toilet window installed and finished and the next lot of plasterboard up.
Robert put up the first room dividing stud work between the laundry and the guest bedroom. We marked out the bedroom, bathroom ensuite, and the guest toilet/cloakroom. Phew….. sigh… it all looks so small when empty and only marked out on the floor!
Moved these windows from the other end of the building – boys o’boys they are HEAVY but no problem with a Robert system.
More bags of insulation ready to be hoisted up into the roof till later.
Plasterboard! My dread. Carried all of these in from outside and Robert started putting them up. Remember my disaster with the screws into the floor batons? Well, we thought that I would have no problem drilling the screws into the plasterboard after Robert had it in place. BUT, not at all. Must be something about drills and fiddly screws….. so, after a couple of tries, I resigned from that task and went outside to cut down and dispose of some branches of the overhanging tree at the back.
This is the window for the kitchen which will be set into the wall that is going to be built where the large roll down door is at the moment. The single windows weigh a ton, I don’t know HOW we will ever get this ‘mama’ off the ground, but I am sure Robert will work a system. He has done so for most of the heavy items and they have been moved with very little human exertion. I wonder was he around when Stonehenge was happening?
Merry Mole has been busy, and so have I. I collect the fine soil from her digs and it will soon make a lovely flowerbed.
Monday morning at 7 am, ‘Dave’ the Fosse installation man arrives with his digger
This is the filtration bed at the back of the house
By mid-day Tuesday the job is nearly completed
The Fosse is set into a deep hole nearby.
The pipe running along the side of the house, picking up all the exit water pipes along the way.
Everywhere is a mess with piles of earth on both sides of the house
All of the debris from the windows piled along the side of the house will be incorporated with the Fosse landfill
Dave is going to level out everywhere tomorrow before he leaves – this will make a big difference! I moved all the blocks from around the sun patio
so that he can work on that area right up to the edge of the patio
Beautiful rich soil.
To round up the past week…… everything is ticking along fine. The weather has been roasting, but no complaints. We have all the windows installed except the front kitchen four windows on the east side for the media room and the living room. The hall door goes in on Friday, the big door will be stripped down on Thursday and block work to start on Friday. Plumber comes on Wednesday and we should have a toilet soon after that. Bathroom tiling to commence Thursday. Friday evening Robert and I will head up to the ‘lock up’ in Dinan with a van, and collect our bed and some bedroom furniture, in readiness for moving in on the 30th! OR before – we both love being at Kerivet and I can see us sleeping there as soon as the bed arrives! Providing, of course, that the toilet and shower are also working by then!
21st June – Wednesday – the longest day of the year and also known as ‘World Music Day’, La Fête de la Musique is a free public festival celebrating music and its arts. It takes place throughout France each year on June 21st. Coinciding with the first day of the summer, this celebration took off in 1982 with Minister of Culture Jack Lang.
This is Henrietta, the little brown hen. Since we moved into the little Bretagne house that we have rented for three months, I have walked across the garden to the hen pen belonging to the farm next door. There lived, in very squalid conditions, five hens and two cockerels. One cockerel was magnificent with long waves of deep chestnut and red feathers, strong comb and wattle and it looked like someone had chopped off the poor creatures spur that would have otherwise been lethal, considering the size of the stump. The second cockerel looked a lot less handsome. The five hens were non-descript, although there was a pretty little black and white one. When there were any tidbits for hens I would go over, call them up to the wire fence and throw the food over. They always came running. Although the cockerel woke us up at times from 3 am onwards, and would loudly shout his Cock – a – Doodle – OOOOOOO continuously until after eight, I still admired him. He was kind to the hens and always let them eat first, kindness or stupidity. I regularly saw the hens snap a tasty bite right out from under his beak and he never complained.
Anyway, a few days ago I took the usual offering and was surprised to see the henhouse door wide open and not a hen to be seen. It suddenly struck me that we hadn’t heard the cockerel for a while. Not that we would have noticed as being so tired, we were sleeping solidly till six and then up, out and away to our house. Suddenly there was a little peep and a flutter of wings and from the far end of the pen came one little brown hen who was delighted to have some company and food. I assume that the feeders are in the shed and that they are fed regularly.
I wondered if someone had been told to move the hens and the cockerel to a new (and hopefully better) pen and had missed this little brown one. Last evening I sought out the farmer, who doesn’t speak any English but we communicate OK. I explained in ‘pigeon’ French, my concerns. He laughed and said ‘Oooh No’ while he showed me with his hands the wringing of the necks! “Aaaahhhhh Non!!! Vous les avez tués” (you killed them). ” Ooohhh oui”, he laughed and shrugged. I asked him about the little brown hen and he told me that it is a ‘runnair’ – but I don’t know what that means. Then I asked him about the cockerel……… with the same result. “Mais c’était magnifique” I exclaimed. He shrugged, laughed and did the wringing neck again. So, I thought, as I walked back to the house, this poor little brown hen is just waiting for her end to come – maybe Sunday dinner?
Just before going to sleep, Robert had a brainwave. He suggested that I go to the farmer and offer to buy the hen, and then give it free to our friend who keeps a few hens running free in her garden. What a lovely thought for this little hen who we now call Henrietta.
Had to be at Kerivet early but coming back to load the car with some ‘stuff’ to save having to do it all on the 30th when we move out. So, I went over to the farmhouse and the lady there told me that the farmer is out working in the fields and she doesn’t know anything about the hen and to come back later. She doesn’t speak a word of English. She made out that she wouldn’t wring the neck of the hen, her husband does that. I got the feeling that she thought I wanted to buy the hen to have for dinner myself! I had to impress upon her that I was going to pay for the hen and come with a cage to take it to live in my garden. Heaven forbid I go back later, when the farmer is home, and find that he has got the wrong message and poor little Henrietta is sitting in a box with her neck wrung!
Mud and nettles – Henrietta has made her little nest over in the right-hand corner in the bushes
Mostly nettles!
More on this later – fingers crossed!!!
22nd – June – Thursday Seems like a week since I last updated. There was a good and not so good result on the ‘Henrietta’ story. I went over to the hen run with some scraps on Wednesday evening. There, was little Henrietta waiting for what was to come over the fence, and lo and behold……… suddenly two more little brown heads appeared out from inside the shed door. Ophelia called over to the house, saying that she had received a message that I needed to see her…. LOL, She told me that the fox killed the cockerel and the hens, so, I can’t understand why her father expressed the actions of wringing their necks. I will have to put it down to miscommunication. Anyway, she has added more hens and at the time of writing, we also hear that another cockerel has been added. On Friday evening we saw a fox sneaking across the back-field, no doubt the current hens will go the same way as no security has been added for their safety.
Digger is loading and the Fosse Man is about to leave – job completed
Mound of soil gone to filling in the drainage area.
Tank has been covered over and blue pipe ready to have the junctions fitted. (Soil must be raked off pipe first).
Drainage area level and ready to be seeded with grass
Somehow an opening window and one with no opening were placed here, today the non-opening was removed and replaced with another opening one.
Peter, very kindly stapled all of this insulation. What a neat and measured job he did.
Plumber has been working hard, we now have running water in the house – but ‘ **** BEWARE****’ no outlet ?
We have two toilets ready to connect
Thursday evening, Robert and I went to a builder supplier and bought the tiles for the guest bathroom.
23rd June -Friday
Side door removed to prepare for the new Hall Door to be installed
View from the inside out, last block to go
Meanwhile, Brian is placing the first block in the rollover doorway.
Robert is cement mixer man.
Doorway blocked up and resting until Monday when the window will be put in.
Front door fixed in but can’t be opened yet! Oooh dear, I went off to get the lunch and when I returned there was no way to get into the building except ‘OVER’ the wall!!!!
Where there’s a will there’s a way!
With helping hands along the way…………..
I made it in the end – but note the left leg of my shorts has slipped over the arm of the ladder!!!
Rain clouds gatherering
Peter raking the soil off the blue pipe……
Saul preparing for the lintel to be hung.
Measuring for the window
The view from the living room…….
In the middle of everything, the washer, dryer, and fridge arrived!
This photo was taken just after the lintel was put in place.
Click “HERE” to see the video
Friday evening after everyone left, Robert ‘shuttered up’ the space and filled in with cement, preparing for Monday when the rest of the blocks go on and the window will be put in. It is good that the roll-over door can come down over the opening. The owner is coming on Monday to take it away.
Looks a bit wonky, but not important
Nice and secure with the door down.
24th June – Saturday
A day to gather everything up and get it all in order. I processed all of the wooden batons up into the roof – Robert did some more work on the front and spent time preparing the area for the shower in the Guest bathroom, which we will be using when we move in…. later this week.
There are about ten drills of various sizes for various applications
June 25th – Sunday………. Robert went off to ‘Work’ at 8 am and left me at base to catch up on personal admin, laundry etc. He returned at 11:30 am to prepare for an afternoon ‘OFF’ – HURRAY ? We spent the afternoon and into the evening with Brian and Marie Christine who presented the most delicious meal – so many dishes – that we enjoyed from when we arrived at 13:00 hrs till after 18:00 hrs when we went home. We were most certainly rejuvenated with the welcome break.
June 26th – Monday The men came and removed the roll-over door, Robert prepared for Brian and Peter’s arrival to help put up the rest of the blocks and to put in the window. The boys worked so hard all afternoon and it was touch and go at 17:30 to get the job finished
Peter = Cement Man Robert= Morter Board Man Brian = Block Man
Video Laying the Blocks on the Cement
Video Laying Blocks from a Ladder – The ‘System’
Peter with a glass of water at the ready and Robert preparing to lift the morter board
Brian ready for the next block
Peter taking over as Morter board trainee
“Doing well Peter – a little higher”
Leaning the board agains the wall makes it easier.
Robert is now ‘Block Man”
Up the ladder (wibble-wobble) and hand up the block
All measured to precision
Tap it in
-
LAST BLOCK
Like a glove……
Having taken out the end windows the frame and centre window is very heavy. First lifted onto a low trestle that Robert had made up. As the guys lifted each end, I placed a block underneath. We raised the window gradually to the height of the opening and then pushed it into place
(Another of Robert’s well thought out systems)
So glad that the window is now securely in place
Huge compliments to these guys for a great job so well done – not bad for four hours of an afternoon
From this point, Robert and I dashed off to Matignon to pick up a rental van. We then went on to our lock-up in Dinan and loaded the van with beds etc. that we will need for the weekend ‘move in’. When we got back to Kerivet at 20:45 Brian was sitting waiting for us in his car. He had come back to help us unload. We were very grateful. We then loaded the van with rubbish to drop off to the Decheterie tomorrow morning, before returning the van.
29th June Thursday – ONLY TWO DAYS TO GO!!!!!
James confirms that the Ballon
is now functioning and after filling
with water and heater on – we now
have hot and cold running water
Fantastic!!! Now I don’t have to take everything home to wash, or to run outside to dispose of the ‘slops’. LOL
Electricity man was here today and we have more cables fixed.
Robert has been busy too (that is an understatement!!) The shower tray is in, he has tiled the back wall. The toilet is in place, and working, (phew!!) and just to the right (out of the picture he has also tiled the floor of the guest cloakroom.
To me, this had to be the scariest job. The long blue pipe was plumbed into the fosse. Robert then had to connect all of the outlets into the blue pipe. Each outlet had to be joined at a certain degree of fall to make sure that all exiting water went the right way. One chance to cut into the blue pipe and to join and glue the pipes coming out of the house….. a mistake would be disasterous and require a big re-do!
I complimented Robert on this magnificent job. He said that he has been mithering for the past few months over how to do it. Acutely aware of the cost of an error.
Meanwhile – ‘back at the ranch’ …………………… I have driven a few trips to St. Brigitte rental house and brought back several loads of our belongings. Timing my travels around keeping everyone up to date with coffee and tea and lunch of course. In the evening it was time for move clean up – more wooden batons to go into the roof and wood flooring to tidy up…….. finally vacuum – friends coming for aperitifs this evening ……
30th June Friday …… tomorrow is D-DAY
Busy day today – Robert checking and finishing off some of the plumbing, putting up some more tiles around the shower and as I type just finished – 22:31 Went to Le Roy Merlin earlier to collect the glass shield for the shower and also two doors that had been ordered last month.
Today I transported most of what is at the St. Brigitte house and it is all sitting here and there, waiting to be sorted out over the weekend.