Missing the Vine

In order to make the house more secure and to give us additional privacy, we decided to build a proper wall where this gate is. Last year I was grateful to Lizzie and Josh for putting up the green screen as a visual deterrent, but truthfully, an athletic young fellow could hop over this gate quicker than you could say, well, "Josh".

Formerly a steel pole went across the top of the gate. It supported the long, heavy vine, which in summer is lusciously leafy. It grows so fast, you practically have to fight your way back in after a quick nip to the boulangerie. However, in winter, as you can see from the previous picture, it doesn't provide any cover. More reason for the new wall.

Mr Kelly knew we were keen to preserve the vine. To that end, Henny noticed a few days ago that it was pruned right back to the woody trunk in preparation for removing the steel. But yesterday, sadly, the vine was almost gone. I'm sure it became too problematic to manoeuvre once the steel was out. Here you see the beginning of the new frontage, which will also support the roof. The steel pole was bang in the way.

I'm sorry for the vine. It was given a very radical haircut, but the root system and the half that hangs over the garage are still in place. I hope it will come back and we can re-train the tendrils over the new wall. Any comments from my green-thumbed friends?

Top-Top No Top

A different view. Taken from the 1st floor tower. Before, if you stood here, you would see the plastic roof below. Now that it's gone, you get a good look at the courtyard, garage, leafless grapevine and street beyond. You won't see it from this angle for long. New roof coming soon.

Full Steam Ahead!

The permis de construire has been granted! As you know, we've been itching to get started. The permit came through just in time; any longer and my job would have fallen off Mr Kelly's busy schedule for months. So, Raymond sent the boys round and we're off with a flourish and a big bang! Only a couple of days in and already there is much to see, or less really -- there's been even more destruction.

Henny, intrepid foreign correspondent, sent these pictures this morning. She called first, "Open your email, I want to hear your reaction when you see this."

Holy shit! Plastic roof gone! Let me refresh your memory. Straight ahead is the former "hobbit door", which was once the main entrance to the house.

same view, before

The plan is that this room will become, in modern British estate agent parlance, a large kitchen/diner. What used to be a window --

--is now an entrance to the living room. Here it is from the living room side with a view of the great outdoors, I mean kitchen.

Scaffolding is going up. The little balcony has been removed. The 1st floor window will be made smaller (sadly) to accomodate the pitch of the new roof, which you can just make out by the 2 red chalk lines.

Here's the rear view. The men on the roof are preparing to make the opening for the new tower window which will have the most wonderful views. The rusty bracket holding the power line is going. Instead the electricity supply will come into the front of the house, out of the way, and as Raymond points out, then it will actually be legal.

My lovely friend Elina wrote from Maryland, "Please tell Henny we will NEVER get tired of photos of the ongoing work at Top-top. Personally, I want to see every tile laid."

Girl, we hope you were serious!

New Year's Day 2008

There were 14 friends round the table at Henny's for New Year's Eve, an international affair, in Alignan-du-Vent. By the time we'd wrapped up the leftovers, it was 4am. The next day, Hans and Christa rang to see if we were up for a walk to clear our heads and possibly jettison a few calories. We piled into the van, plus Lara & Louis, the Domaine Bourdic dogs, and headed for Vailhan. Hans and Christa are Swiss. When they're with Henny, the 3 of them usually speak French. But to give me a little language breather, we had a German-speaking day, which I still find easier. It was a splendid sunny day for a walk in the hills.

You can always see this peak when you drive around the area, but not from this vantage point.

On the way back down, we stopped off to visit this statue of the virgin, high on the hill, with her commanding views. When we got down to where the car was parked, looking way up, I was rather impressed we'd been there, and that my knees had let me make it back down.

Happy New Year!

Not Tile Shopping

One day we set out to find the last big tile store in the area that we hadn't yet exhausted. Henny decided we'd make the trip the long and gentle way round, so we stopped off in Capestang for lunch. It's on the Canal du Midi. How's this for a beautiful setting on the way to the shops?

Tile Shopping

Our new favourite pastime. Not. What a decision to make. You've got to get it right. The pressure! I'd love old, beautiful re-claimed tiles, but they're not so easy to find and if you do discover them in good shape, which is the key, they're expensive. I dreamed of polished concrete until Mr Kelly handed me the estimate. Back to the tile stores.

So here are some possibilities. Nothing is definitive, save one. I lined them up for comparison. Henny deliberated, "I'm not sure, I kind of like the one in the lower left hand corner." I replied, "Good. They're the ones that have already been laid on the bedroom floor!" (To be fair, they're completely hidden under cardboard for protection during building works and we haven't clapped eyes on them for ages!) But it is confusing, the different choices from the various suppliers, trying to keep within budget, and when nothing is screaming out "I'm the one!"

The lavender ones are strong contenders. I don't know if they "do it" for you in the photo, but they are lovely and subtle in real life, and surprisingly neutral. We've held them up against almost every colour under the sun!

It's a bedroom!

Still waiting for the big contract to begin, but meanwhile, there's a development to share with you. The ground floor has once more been divided into living room and bedroom. And better than ever before, this nifty new wall actually goes from floor to ceiling! So for the first time, the bedroom is a real room. Thanks to Freddie and his dashing young apprentice, Josh, who was on work-experience that week, so we took complete and utter advantage of him.

I'm assured that propeller will go someday. It was the extractor fan in the former kitchen!