Parquet

Cast your mind back to last February. Saints were still in league 1, Clegg and Cameron had just come back from honeymoon, and the only worry people had about Greece was broken crockery.

About this time, we were putting down the new floor in the Bathroom. We decided on Chestnut parquet. Research on the web suggested that it was a bad idea to use hardwood in a bathroom, but on further research, none of the people saying this had ever tried it. Also, our old house in Salisbury had pine floor boards, since the 1930's and that was still standing.

I was lucky enough to be able to borrow a nail gun from my friend Pete ( the orange thing through the door).

This made it very quick to fix the boards, and had lots of safety features, so that you couldn't go all Mel Gibson on any unexpected visitors.

The shower tray was a bit of a challenge.

I was lucky enough that the long board fitted round it with no cutting but, after that you couldn't get the clamps under it to tighten the boards.

Out of necessity, I learnt a few new tricks about rasping out the grooves to make a snugger fit.

Getting the last boards down next to the wall required a bit more fiddling and ingenuity.

After that there was the small matter of filling small gaps and sanding it all down. I used a 1/2 plate sander and took my time. I had tried using one of those large belt sanders that you can hire once before , and it left so many grooves at the edges that I had to hire a carpenter to come in and sand it all down ( with his 1/2 plate sander).

To finish it off, Tina applied 4 layers of varnish.

We were finally ready to fit the bathroom.

January 2011 - Plastered !

At the start of the year we were finally ready to start plastering the bedroom.

This was a big challenge, due to the size of room, the sloping ceiling and more importantly, the fact that neither of us are plasters.

We learned a few lessons from the bathroom, washing the walls down before we plastered to stop it from bubbling up, and also make sure you use the french 2000 plaster, as it is best fro skimming.





I also made sure to leave the last section I did each day for 20 minutes or so before I went back and polished it.








This cross beam was a nightmare, as you couldn't get the float behind them to spread the plaster evenly, so I had to improvise with jointing knives.

It took an bit of sanding down, to get a good finish, but not as much as the bathroom had. It took almost as long to get all of the dropped plaster and dust off of the beams, the floor and me.

I also managed to fill in round the window, covering all of the mortar and getting a decent finish, for an amateur.

.....

Before we could start to plaster the bedroom, Mr H advised us that it would be best to plaster board the other side of the walls. Otherwise you might find that your new plaster cracks while you are busy hammering something on the other side of the wall. First up, we had to finalise were all of the wiring and light circuits needed to go and wire it all up.

Then Tina had to but all of the insulation in for soundproofing. We just used rock wool for this, but you can spend £40 or more per metre on specialist soundproofing,if you are worried that someone is going to set up a recording studio in the spare room.

As you can see, this work involved standing on a wobbly ladder next to the abyss. Not pleasant, but we are hardy souls and are used to it.

The bottom layer of plasterboard was quite straight forward.

The top of the wall needed scaffolding to reach.

Now it is starting to look more like a house in there, not just a barn.

Bathroom update

We have been working very hard these last few months , and are starting to make great strides in the barn.

The bathroom is starting to look like a proper room now. I have plastered all of the walls and ceiling. This was the first time that I had attempted a whole room, and it was quite a challenge. The more I did, the more I got used to it, getting a more polished finish as I went along. It did take a lot of sanding down and re-filling, but we got there in the end.

Tina then took over, cleaning all of the plaster spillage of of the beams, and then re varnishing them. Then she applied two coats of undercoat, as plaster drinks up paint, and can change the colour. This did mean that we got away with only one coat of the actual paint for to finish it off.

We did have some fun and games with plaster bubbling up when it was painted. We think this was caused by patches of plaster dust on the boards, where they had been gut, or stepped on. Sometimes it took 2 or 3 attempts to fill them back in, so now we are a bit more careful about washing the boards down before I start plastering.

The next job was to raise the floor level, so that we could hide the shower pipe. This was quite good fun, as the existing floor was not quite level, and the 10 cm joists that I bought were actually between 9.5cm and 10.2. I bet you don't have that problem with German timber.

I had to use lots of different size bits of wood to wedge it all level, but luckily I have hoarded a pile of crap just for these eventualities.

A couple of the joists were so wet that they were twice as heavy as the others, so I used a lot of noggins, to stop the wood from twisting when it dries.

Now we were ready to fit the shower tray. It took three of us to shift it upstairs, as it was so heavy.

It has now been connected up, and tested for leaks, so soon we will be ready to put the floor down, once we have done all the mucky plastering and painting in the bedroom.

If you want to get ahead, get a hat

With all the snow last year, we found that the fins on the back of the compressor for the heat pump cot covered with thick ice, which bend some of them out of shape.

As extreme weather seems to be the norm these days, Tina thought it was best to build something to protect the compressor from whatever weather gets thrown at it, so we decided to build a roof over it. This is normal practice in Scandinavia, but didn't used to be necessary in South West France.

We bought the framework from Leroy Merlin, and fixed it to wall with chemical fixings, as the wall is a bit to crumbly for raw plugs, and the canopy will be a bit heavy once all the tiles are on.




I managed to re-cycle some old pallets to make the voliges that support the tiles.




We also had enough left over tiles to cover it all, so in a couple of days the whole thing was done.



Now we just need some snow to see if it works.

Progress

We have been cracking on with the new bedroom and en-suite bathroom this year.

In the winter, Robert installed all the pipework, so we were then able to start insulating the walls, chip boarding and then plaster boarding them.

It was a bit tricky, fitting everything round the pipework, as we tried to get as close as possible to the pipes, for a better finish.

Tina then varnished all of the beams, before I started jointing the walls, as this made it easier to get all of the spilt plaster of of the wood.

We decided to skim the walls, rather than dry lining them, as it took ages to do the joints in the living room, and when the sun hits the wall from a certain angle, you can see all of the joints perfectly.

The french plaster has taken a bit of getting used to, and I will try a different brand for the bedroom, as recommended by Robert, but as I had already bought the cheap stuff from BricoDepot, I am going to uses it up, rather than bin it ( tight/echo warrior ) .

The window has been plastered, and a concrete sill has put in. and Tina has now undercoated the hole room, and painted the ceiling as well.

The paint for the walls arrives next week, and when that is done, we will be ready to start fitting the floor.

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Departures and Arrivals

Sadly, our eldest cat Niemi is no longer with us. She was t'ignorait with F.I.V two years ago, a disease that attacks the immune system, which left her with a sore mouth and throat. As long as her food was minced up, she was fine.

However, this year she developed mouth cancer, which is very aggressive in cats, and eventually, we had to take the difficult decision to have her put down, as her quality of life was just not there anymore.

Henri was a bit freaked out by it all, and was obviously missing her, so we asked some friends to let us know if anyone had any kittens that they wanted a new home for. We expected it to take months, but within days, Peter and Wendy told us that friends of theirs had found a kitten that was trying to live in their barn, but needed a new home, as they had three dogs.

So the next day we collected the kitten and got her checked over by the vet, to make sure that she didn't belong to anyone.

She is called Daisey, and after a bit of hissing, she gets on very well with Henri, apart from when she attacks him when he is trying to sleep. She is very possessive of the cat baskets, no matter how much Henri whacks her, and has even moved onto the log basket.

No kittens were burnt in the taking if this photo.

Prime Porkie Workie

Last summer, we agreed to have a half share in a pig, with our Dutch friends Joop and Cathelijne.

The pigs had a free range life for 6 months, and we were able to contribute to their diet, with some surplus apples and courgettes from the garden.

In February, the gig was up for the pigs, and it was time for the pot. Joop hired a butcher from the abattoir at Confolens. Farmers in France are allowed to slaughter 2 animals a year, for there own consumption, provided it is performed by a qualified slaughter-man.

The butcher arrived a bit early, so by the time we got there, the sow had already been killed. The male pig, by this time, had an idea what was coming and put up a bit of a struggle, as the butcher and Joop tried to tie his back leg to a tractor, so that he could be hung and so that the blood can be collected for black pudding. It took a few attempts, and a lot of squealing but finally he was tied on, and could be dispatched with a bolt to the head.

That was a bit unpleasant, as was the drawing out of the intestines, but if you eat meat, then I suppose you should be aware of the consequences.

The carcases were left hanging overnight, to drain, and it was back the next day for the butchery.

The butcher was very quick. So fast in fact that he finished our half and moved on to the next half before we had even noticed, making it a bit tricky to sort out who's pork was which.

In the afternoon he chopped all the mince for pate, rillettes and for sausages. We then mixed up spices for a few different flavours, french style, as Cathelijne had done the year before, and some Spanish, Italian and Cumberland recipes, from a book on sausages that i had been given as a present a few years ago.

Day 3 was spent mixing the pate and rillettes. The pate is cooked in jars in a big vat, overnight, while the rillettes are cooked on a stove, jarred up and then boiled for a while more, to sterilize and seal the jars.

I think we ended up with over 30 jars in all, of different flavours. We have tried some out on friends and visitors, with very good reviews.

Finally, it was time for the ham. Joop and Cathelijne had made one last year, and it was delicious, so we thought that we would give it a try as well.

First, you rub a mixture of eaux de vie and spices on the outside of the ham. Next, you soak some cloth in the same mixture, and wrap in around the bone endings. to protect them. Now cover the ham in salt, and keep it in a box for 2 to 3 weeks, depending on the weight of the ham.

Finally, remove the ham from the salt, and hang the ham in a ham sack, in a room with a constant cool temperature for about six months.

Hopefully, it will taste like Serrano or Bayonne ham when it is ready. It is hanging in the corner of the study and it smells good already.

Living on the Ceiling

We decided that we didn't want a cathedral ceiling in our new bedroom, as it would take too much heating up, and leave too many beams showing for spiders too hide behind.

To achieve this, we had to put in a false ceiling. I had done this before, in the cellar, but this would be much trickier, as I had to fit the joists as well. Neither of the beams that I had to work from were level, or square for that matter, so it was not possible to get the joists in nice straight lines, like you would find in a typical UK loft.

To get a level ceiling below that, I then used steel rails, suspended on adjustable brackets., with a lot re-adjusting afterwards to ensure that the rails were all horizontal , and in the same plain.

The lower part of the roof was more straight forward, although it was harder to get the rails in on flat plain because the slope meant that you couldn't use a spirit level.

Tina then fitted all of the insulation on top of the rails, a horrible job unless you like finding loads of glass wool fibres down your top and in your hair.

To fit the plasterboard, we were fortunate to be able to borrow 'Mr Orange', a board lift that belonged to our builder friend Mr H. This is a fantastic machine that means to you only have to lift a sheet 5 foot up in the air onto the top of the lift, and then you can crank it right up to the ceiling.

This then allows you to secure the board at you leisure, rather than trying desperately to find a railing to screw into while Tina holds one end of the board, and the other end rests on my head.

I Love Pavement in the Springtime

In fact, I love Pavement all year round, as Tina can testify.

For those of you who have never heard of them, Pavement were an influential 'Slacker' band from Northern California, who made 5 albums before calling it a day in 1999. I, like many others, only discovered them after they split up, so I was very exited to find that they were re-uniting for a tour in 2010. As the tour was gradually announced, the one and only French date was announced, in Paris.

Their London Shows were selling out quickly, so we got 4 tickets as soon as they went on sale, as our friends Jane and Pete fancied it too, as long as we had an extra night in Paris ( Tina's condition).

We found a great Ibis Hotel near the Bastille, and managed to get TGV tickets to Paris for €100 return for the pair of us. Jane and Pete wanted to get the Eurostar over, but it cost so much to get to St Pancras from Salisbury that it worked out much cheaper to fly straight to Paris.

So, come May 7th, all four of us were up before dawn and heading for Paris, arriving at the hotel just in time for lunch. After lunch, we walked it off along the river to Notre Dame.

Then we took the Metro up to Montmarte, which was nearer the concert hall. The tube station near Sacre Couer was a lot rougher than I remember it, with crowds of North Africans selling anything from fags to mobile phones, but once you fought your way through the crowds, and up to the top of the hill, it was still worth it for the views alone.

The concert was in a venue called Zenith, in a science park built on the site of the Paris Slaughterhouse, next to the Periphique. After our experiences near Montmarte, we were a bit anxious as to what the area would be like, but need not of worried, as it was all very civilised.

The Zenith holds about 6,000 people, and was fairly full, with a good mix of ages. It wasn't all 40 somethings, there were a lot of people who must have been in nappies when the first Pavement album was released. Being in the over 40's age bracket, we forgo crowd surfing for seats next to the sound desk.

The support band were The National, a Brooklyn band who have been around for years , but are finally getting some attention. They did a very good set, similar to the one they did at Glastonbury, including one song that the lead singer performed from the middle of the crowd while he went on a walkabout.

Now for the main event.

Pavement did a fantastic 2 hour set, including most of their almost hits, and a few rarities as well. I'd seen some old clips on YouTube before, and they were a bit hit and miss, but tonight they were on top form. They played 27 songs, including most of my favorites ( no Hex though), but the highlight for me was an amazing 8 minute version of 'Fight This Generation", where Stephen Malkmus really showed why he is such a highly rated guitarist.

This is a YouTube link of Pavement performing Grounded that night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dilPvr2_pM&feature=related



And this is a great site I've found that lists and plays back complete sets of concerts.



http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/pavement/2010/le-zenith-paris-france-1bd4e14c.html





It was one of, if not the best concert I have ever been to. The metro ride back into town was very civilized, so much better than London, now queues, no pushing, no hassle. We even had the energy left for a couple of nightcaps on the walk back to the hotel. Not bad considering the 5am start.






On Saturday, we walked through the Marias ....



Up past the Pompidou centre to the Louvre ...






And on to the Eiffel Tower, where the latest Paris fashion was on show (my T shirt).





For Saturday night, we tried to get into a bar that was in Jane's guidebook, but ended up finding a brilliant wine bar just round the corner instead. Then we tried a restaurant that was in the book, and that was fully booked, but we found a great bistro just round the corner instead, with some really good home cooked fresh food. A far cry from the more touristy places in the centre of town.

By the end of the evening, I was so 'relaxed' that I was speaking french to everyone, including a french guy on a scooter, who stopped us and asked for directions, and cut my attempts off with a french accented "you are not from round here, apparently" which had the girls in hysterics.


On Sunday morning, we had time for a cruise along the river before lunch on the left bank .












It was a great weekend. We got the train back, and were home by 9pm. Unfortunately Jane and Pete got Volcano-ed, so the had to spend a night at the airport Ibis, not nearly as nice as the one near the Bastille.



Pete and Jane did get home the next day, but not before the dog sitter had filled their dog with digestive biscuits.