July 1st – Saturday – Well, we made it!!!
We got up this morning and packed our ‘Sleep by Numbers’ bed into the car along with a few other things – Robert under pressure to get the shower finished. I returned later in the morning and packed up the last of the odds and ends, cleaned the house down from top to bottom and picked some nice flowers and greenery out of the garden to leave in a big vase on the table for the people arriving in this afternoon. Handed the keys over to the caretaker and as I saw Ophelia with Toscane (the mare in the field behind the house) I went over for a chat. Actually, during my final ‘spit n’polish’ (as they say) of the kitchen I was also busy toasting some bread I had kept for the horses……. not only do they love carrots, but go mad for fresh bread or toast. So, I went over with both. Toscane was having ointment rubbed onto where her fly mask has irritated her ears and head….. she stands so quietly when with Ophelia…… After our chat, I left and returned to Kerivet.
Now for the big sort out! But what does it matter – everything is everywhere – tomorrow is another day and the main thing is we have a functioning toilet, a shower that will be functioning tomorrow and a room with a very comfortable bed. We have hot and cold running water, a microwave, toaster, kettle, turbo-oven, fridge-freezer, washer and dryer. My computer and screen work and we can watch TV on there too………. so tomorrow is Sunday and first ‘lie in’ day for months………..
Beautiful sunset to the west – a good omen.
July 2nd – Sunday – What luxury!!! Breakfast in bed!
Everything sorted out – TV and Apple TV connected and working – only on WiFi but so fast, it is unbelievable! Shower now working too.
What will be our bedroom is the ‘overstock’ area to the front of the house.
This is the ‘Laundry room – but functioning now as the ‘Kitchen’
Living room with media room through the door (in darkness) and the guest bed and bathroom to the left.
Living room in the foreground – Kitchen to the front.
This will be the ‘media room’ but for now makes a very cozy bedroom.
A big window to go in here ——- later…..
Toilet and shower – guest bathroom
Store area – will be master bedroom
Shower working!!!!!! Tiling to be completed tomorrow.
3rd July – Monday
Off to Le Roy Merlin today to get a few supplies – took a few photos on the way – Hydrangeas grow beautifully over here – and roses …….
What a bank of Hydrangeas! Every time we pass by I don’t have my camera… until today.
These are planted in what looks like a large pipe cut in half
Work goes on – cloakroom toilet ready to be connected.
And let me not forget to tell you that I have also hung the curtains!!!!
Bubble wrap on all the west side windows to give some privacy for us and the neighbours …. LOL
6th July, Thursday – Another busy day today, couldn’t log in yesterday so a little compilation.
Robert plumbed in the washing machine – I don’t know how he works in these small spaces!
The second toilet completed and functioning – this will be the ‘cloakroom’ toilet
Towel rail fixed and connected. For those who email and ask questions, the towel rail is quite heavy and not only fixed to the plasterboard. Robert also added a wooden frame behind the plasterboard, to fix the towel rail to.
Now that we have the washing machine working we need a clothes line…….. LOL
Potted roses doing well.
I moved these 84 blocks to this pallet
from this one………
I weeded and cleaned up this area.
Now, I need to cover it with a weed defying membrane and order some gravel
Cut down this hazelnut tree which had overgrown itself and overhanging the neighbour. Have to get the rest out tomorrow.
Piled up the tree remains over the fence
Gathered up all the waste wood and sorted it in readiness for our neighbor Bruno to come and collect it tomorrow, for his fire and barbi,
Tiling finished in the bathroom and a shelf put up in the shower
So, here ends another busy day – managed to get the grass cut as well and at least eight loads of watering can in wheelbarrow both full of water, carried to the road to water the wildflowers that are dying in the hot weather that we have been enjoying for the past week.
Now – at 00:19 I am off to have a shower and get to bed – on-line scrabble buddies are waiting for me to do a couple of words and then…. to sleep!
12th July – Wednesday Well, we have not been slacking, wood and insulation needed to be moved, lots of tidying up jobs, finishing off in several areas. However, as of today, plaster board has been put up on the east side and Robert has completed the under flooring. Peter was very good to come and help with the plaster board, his favorite job, so we couldn’t disappoint him!
Apart from being ‘Vacuum Lady’ I also operated the plaster board elevator. My Certificates are hanging in the office……. LOL
“Come on, Peter, heave ho, get it up there!”
Peter and I expressed our concerns that the beam would not clear the top of the window shutter box.
Robert had checked the measures and had no doubts…
Completed ceiling – two hours Monday morning and two hours on Tuesday morning. 20 sheets of plasterboard –
At least three more carloads still at the lock up in Dinan – has to be out before the 19th July – most will go to the local lock-up
Looked out of the kitchen window, this evening, and there were three Woodpeckers out on the grass
Mum and two kids
It has been great living here full time, but, I have also discovered that, now that the pressure is off, it is much harder to fly out of bed ‘early’ each morning and to get stuck into the next job.
17th July – Monday Work continues but at a less frantic pace.
This is the door into the Guest Toilet – We have had a couple of ideas of what to call this room…..
In view of all the hype this weekend about Dr. Who Robert came up with ‘Tardis’.
Because it is a small room for visitors to go for a ‘wee’ I came up with ‘Tweenie”
What do you think or have you any suggestions? Let us know……
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While Robert was working at home, I headed off to Dinan to bring back as much as I could, out of the lock up that we hired.
The large African teak wall mirror from the dining area – long and heavy – but I managed to get it ‘in’ leaning on the top of the front seats.
I then packed the rest underneath – three garden statues and other miscellaneous
Even the front seat – and floor.
BUT – it was all worth it – to see the space emptied except for two bikes and one statue for the last trip tomorrow.
This evening we went exploring. We knew that there is a small harbor nearby but never had the time to find it….. till today.
What a little jewel in the crown that we live in.
The dark area beyond the boats are the Moulle beds – there is a processing place just around the bay where the can be bought fresh from the sea.
Even Geckos!! Lots of them in the rocks.
The O with the X in the middle is where we live – only about a five minute walk to the harbor.
We also discovered where the ‘secret’ beach is …… ” THE CHATEAU DE SEREIN BEACH ” Click for the full story
Another jewel in the crown
Short “video“ of Port de Saint Gerran
22nd July – Saturday
It seems much longer than only 5 days since my last update. The guest bathroom floor has been tiled and the shower area completed.
The last tile of 40 ……
And in it goes …….
The guest toilet – the ‘Tweeny’ or ‘Tardis’ room, is nearly finished – a sliver of plasterboard and some wallpaper is all that is needed.
Meanwhile, outside I have been battling to level this area. I think this will be good enough to go to the next step……
Got the ground cover membrane down before rain stopped ‘play’. We have had some terrible storms, wind, thunder, and lightning over the past few days. It is VERY cool too….. more like late September than late July.
I will finish this off tomorrow, ready for the gravel delivery on Monday morning…… then, the ‘real’ work will begin. ☹️
July 23rd – Sunday
Easy day today – a few jobs completed and then off to get some shopping before SuperU closes at one. After stopping, back home for coffee and delicious toast and marmalade we headed off to check out the beach at Chateau Serien, supposed to be one of the most spectacular in the world (no less)!! We parked the car at the entrance to a wide pathway through the wood. Couldn’t resist a photo of one of the many pretty thistles.. and then some more of the luscious ferns and undergrowth to the beautifully thick canopy of trees, that kept us dry from the rain that had started to fall.
And ….. then… it was magical to see the beach opening up through the trees…………
The tide was out. We met several people heading to the moulle beds in the distance. They carried buckets or baskets of
various sizes, obviously a routine exercise. The furthest land point on the left is our little Port de Saint Gerran that we and
you were introduced to a few photos back up this page.
The sand is golden, but after a week of rain and storms is quite sodden and darker then normal.
Loads of lovely shells to collect
Pretty wild flowers
The rain was coming down quite heavily, so we headed back up the path through the woods to the car.
Sign posts for the hikers – a haven of wonderful routes for hikers and/or cyclists
A short video of the Beach Chateau Serien
July 24th – Monday
At 08:45 the ‘beeping’ of the reversing truck alerted us to the fact that the gravel truck was arriving! We were ready and waiting.
As luck would have it the back flap of the truck didn’t work and therefore the gravel could not be slipped out gradually. So, I ended up with a huge mound at the far end and then two smaller ones. At a glance, it was easy to see that their calculation of covering 180m2 was much less than what we require. I would guess about ‘The same again, please.” It took me 90 minutes to loosely spread some stones to hold the ground cover in place. The persistent wind insisted on lifting and moving it.? Then, to spread the mound at the far end- helped along with an omnibus podcast on my Nano of ‘The Archers’. ?
Now, it is time for coffee and toast……… at least it is not raining today!
FIVE POINT SEVEN TONS OF GRAVEL SPREAD TODAY AND ANOTHER THREE TONS TO DO TOMORROW!
19:30 – Heading for something to eat. I really wanted to get the gravel spreading finished before eating. We took a break this afternoon for a few hours and enjoyed a cup of tea with Mo and Peter who popped over to see us….. then we popped over to Erqy to order some more wooden panels, which were delivered ‘gratuit’ (!!!!) at 18:30 this evening. We also ‘popped’ into the quarry office and ordered another 3 ton of gravel – coming tomorrow.
Meanwhile – inside the house, Robert has been forging ahead. Put up another section of stud wall and the door into the bathroom
Robert also fixed the toilet permanently in place – plasterboard behind with a little shelf at the window and the toilet plumbing glued securely.
These jobs that look relatively easy and stress-free are not for me….. so much measuring, cutting, drilling and triple checking.
July 26th – Wednesday Eight tons of gravel leveled and the bathroom almost finished!
Poor Robert! I don’t think he could even squeeze a lemon, his hands are so sore. After four days of cutting the sections for the stud wall, and fixing into place….. but it is just about completed – a few small pieces of plaster board and we are ready for another visit from the electrician.
Meanwhile – outside, I have finished the west side. If you had told me three or four months that I would be able to level EIGHT tons of gravel, I would have said, ‘NO WAY!’ But it is done and it was no bother. Laid the flag stones yesterday and unpacked all of the ‘ornaments’ yesterday too. I know most of them look like they should be in a skip but what the heck – they fill a little space here and there.
Before the cladding goes on, later in the year, we still have five windows to go in on this wall, plus one more around the back, from the media room. That room will, therefore, have one big window looking out of the east wall (last window in this picture) and one looking out on the back. One window to replace the centre one here, and two more between that and the hall door – one of which will be in the conservatory.
21:00 hrs now and lashing rain ! ?