Tuesday 17th – Early start to pick the Merc and trailer up from Lagarrigue and then collect some stone to patch up P & C's drive. After all the rain we'd had last night it was going to be real fun getting the trailer out and after 30 minutes we'd got the car well and truly stuck in the mud. You can imagine the noise the car had been making as we'd tried to pull the trailer out and it wasn't long before Iggy's dad turned up to see what all the noise was. 'Iggy's dad' is our French farmer next door neighbour and as his dog is called Iggy he's been christened 'Iggy's dad'. Sad I know. 'Ah tracteur' and off he goes to get his old Ford tractor. The rope we have snaps and Iggy's dad suggests we use a chaine. A chien? Iggy will never be able to pull the car out! Ten minutes later, when we've used a 'chain' to pull the car out, and after several merci beaucoup's we're on the road and heading for the builders merchants. Two loads later the drive is looking good and Babs and I head off to do some work. P & C call in on their way to VDR and we have along discussion on what we should do with drive area and the landscaping around the house. Paul calculates that it'll take approx. 60 tonnes of stone and as well as hiring the mini digger we'll also need a dumper and a roller. With the digger costing €800.00 it may be worth getting M. Lagarrigue, the contractor who had done the ground work at P & C's new house, in to give us a quote. We'll be seeing him on Thursday so we'll ask him then. I spend the afternoon with my new belt sander working on the kitchen floor & Barbara rubs down the front door and applies the undercoat.
Wednesday 18th - Moved some stone for P & C first thing, call in to get some fish for tea from the mobile fish stall in Najac and then off to do a bit of strimming, continue sanding the floor, fixing the kitchen ceiling & slapping the paint on. We get a visit from Iggy's mum and dad who normally don't understand a word we say but when Barbara asks if they'd like to look at the work we've done it's an immediate oui. We think they're impressed with what we've done and after a lot of hand signals and at one point during the conversation Barbara thinking we were being asked round for lunch they depart and wish us bon appétit. It's a really beautiful day and we sit outside and eat our sandwiches in the blazing sun. Barbara's getting the brew ready when she shouts for me to have a look at this massive green lizard she's just seen. It's gone by the time I get there and I'm sure she's exaggerating when she demonstrates how long it was. P & C call in on their way to the airport and drop off an old chest we'd found in 'the ruin', Barbara thinks it will make a great bedding box. On the way home we drop the cheque in for M. Regourd and he tells us he'll be at the house first thing tomorrow to get the toilet plumbed in.
Thursday 19th – The Regourd family are all hard at it when we get to the house with Stephané putting the socket and switch covers on and his father & brother working on the plumbing. Barbara continues with the painting and I do a bit more more strimming until I spot Barbara's green lizard. She wasn't exaggerating about it's size as it must be at least 30 cms long and bright green in colour. I shout Barbara over and whilst we looking at it Stephané walks over to see what's grabbed our attention. He tells us it's a Lézard Vert and is dangerous because if it were to bite you it will hold on tight!
(A quick check on the internet tonight also says that they aren't afraid of humans and will give a nasty nip if approached. Think I'll be using a lot of long handled gardening equipment in future). By lunchtime the Regourds are finished and at last we have a working toilet. Barbara just can't wait to christen it but insists I hang the door first. Although the doors come fitted with hinges they don't come with handles and in her haste to use the toilet she pulls the door to and locks herself in. Hope there's no Lézard Verts in there with her! Really hot afternoon spent sanding the floor and painting.Friday 20th – A beautiful morning again and M. Lagarrigue should be up at P & C's digging out the foundations so we'll pop up and ask him to prepare a devis for our work. By 9:00 there's no sign of him so we head over to the house to see if the Regourds have returned. No luck there either. We need to check our fast reducing bank balance and as the cash machine wasn't working this morning we'll have to call in to the La Fouillade branch of Credit Agricole, our French bank, before 12:00 when it closes. There's a new garage opened in La Fouillade and thinking he may be desperate for business I decide we'll call in with the Merc and see if he can do a temporary fix, or do I mean a bodge job? After Barbara's excellent explanation of what we want, in French, he says he can do it but not until next Wednesday. Great news & fingers crossed it works. Back at the house Barbara's burning off the many layers of paint from the French doors while I do a little more strimming. I read last night on the t'internet that Lézard Verts (and snakes) thrive in long grass so I think this will be a regular task. Only problem I have is that the strimmer is a b****r to start when hot and I have to leave it to cool down and do the work in stages. With the sun high in the sky it's time to head indoors and finish sanding the utility room floor. It's definitely the place to be as by lunch time the temperature is just a midges off 30ºC. We'd received an email from Pierre Segonds last night to say he would call in at lunch time today to see if we were happy with his work and to drop off his facture. He arrives at bang on 1:30, no surprise there, and we tell him we're delighted with his work and write him out a cheque. 'Bon journée', I'm sure it will be when he cashes the cheque, and off he goes. Spend the afternoon much the same as this morning but with Barbara varnishing the floor & me sanding the doors. Have an early finish at 5:15 to see if M. Lagarrigue has turned up. Still no sign of him so back for an early beer as the weekend starts here!
Saturday 21st – VDR first thing to drop the strimmer off and get some supplies in for next weeks work schedule. We need paint, silicon, door handles, putty, glass & lots of other interesting items! We also need to organise a fridge & can't believe our luck when at one of the magasins we see exactly the fridge we want with €300.00 off. Quick as a flash it's ordered and delivery organised for the 15th May. I'll have to make sure I'm elsewhere that day 'cause getting it up the steps is going to be difficile. Bit of food shopping then back to fit a weather strip and new lock on the main door. All goes well until we fit the handle and the key won't go through the hole! Back to the drawing board or, more precisely, the shop. It's another beautiful day and we're off out tonight to The Salamander, a local restaurant, with Gilly & Sidney and have a booked a table overlooking the château in Najac. It should be a perfect end to a productive week.
Sunday 22nd – The view, weather & company made our night out at The Salamander a success but the meal, from a menu that has remained unchanged for the last 4 years was only average. The Magret de Canard in a sauce of local honey was tasty but someone needs to tell the chef to lay off the garlic in his green beans and perhaps not to cook them for quite so long . He should also attempt to give the impression that the mushroom tart is home made. Welcome to 'Hill's Dinners'. Off to the house this morning to pick the Merc & trailer up & then back to Gilly & Sydney's in Najac to collect a couple of sofas & transport them up to their new house 5 kms away. Their house in Najac is next door to the church and we'd asked them to make sure there wasn't a church service on. I could just imagine the scene as the Merc growled it's way up the hill & the priest battled to be heard. Not the thing to do in France, upset the local Catholic priest. The move went well and we were back at Najac for lunch all in one piece despite Gilly deciding it would be a good idea to give the left hand side of the road a try for a change! We had lunch sat on G & S's terrace overlooking the Averyon gorge with the sun blazing down. Do we really have to go and do some work this afternoon? We did and put the weather strip on the French doors. With the doors on & off several times and the temperature reaching 32ºC we were ready for another cold beer by the time we headed home at 6:30. Anyway must get on as we're moving out for the week & need to do a bit of packing.
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