w/c 26 March 2007

Monday 26th – Still struggling with loosing that hour in bed yesterday and despite planning to be on site bright & early we didn't make it until 9:30. Full day of hacking out the upstairs internal gable in preparation for pointing it on Wednesday. The garage must have called to sort the Merc out over the weekend as it's back on 4 wheels. It's turning over now but the engine's not firing up! With the battery disconnected for nearly a week I wonder if the immobiliser has activated? We call back to Najac for lunch and there's a message for us from Ian. We'd asked him to organise a couple of stères (0.6m³) of wood for the stove and it was going to be delivered this afternoon at 4:00. Quick lunch and back to hacking out until 3:45 when I leave Barbara to it & go back to Najac to unload the wood. He's there on time & it only takes a 1 hour to unload & stack the wood by which time Barbara has finished the hacking out and is building up two recesses in the wall which were probably windows at one time. M. Leduc called to see P & C to finalise the timetable & costs of their project, once again accompanied, thankfully, by Thierry. All goes well and he hopes to start work the first or second week in April.

Tuesday 27th – Off to Rodez to take P & C to the airport but first they have to call at the local architects to break the bad news that they won't be using his builder. Not an easy conversation as he would earn a substantial fee for managing the project but he accepts their decision with good grace. Once in Rodez we pick up some tiles we'd ordered a couple of months ago when they were in the sale. Drop P & C off at the airport and head for home in time to call at the garage and see if we can get the car sorted. With excellent timing we arrive just as I & V do and Ian helps me tell the garage owner about the problem with the car. The three of us go over to the house and after lots of head scratching it looks like the petrol pump isn't pumping! The mechanic, via Ian, says it looks like the anti-theft system has activated and he'll check with a colleague what to do and will ring tomorrow. I also mange to find out that the newly arrived Land Rover Lightweight is owned by a retired gendarme and he's considering selling it. Barbara didn't seem all that interested and appeared to turn a deaf ear. Still a lot of work to do!

Wednesday 28th – Phone call from Ian early this morning to say the garage have rang him and would like me to drop the car remote locking controller in. They're going to try a new battery and failing that will have to get it to the auto electrician in VDR. I spend the morning plastering & Barbara is pointing the wall upstairs. After lunch I call over to the garage with the remote & am fortunate, again, to meet 2 local men who speak excellent English. The remote doesn't spring to life when the new battery is fitted & I leave the keys at the garage for them to collect the car sometime tomorrow. I also have a good look round the Lightweight and can't believe what great condition it's in. The current owner has obviously spent a lot of time and money on it and I have the feeling if he does decide to sell it could be well out of my budget. Back to the house and spend the afternoon plastering & pointing.

Thursday 29th – The Merc has gone by the time we get to the house and we get straight on with brushing down the wall we pointed yesterday. We use a wire brush first then finish off with a hard scrubbing brush & although I say it myself (& I can because it's Barbara who's done the majority of the pointing) the result is great. About 10:30 Stephané Regourd arrives to finish off the electrics & by the time he leaves at 11:55 on the dot, he's explained the workings of the tableau de protection and we have power & light. Things are starting to take shape. We make a quick dash to the local builders merchant for some chaux & placo pate and call in at our local shop in La Fouillade for lunch. It's the type of shop where you can't ask for the wrong thing, curry paste, Pyrex dishes, cabbages, they have them all. The lady who runs it must be 80 if she's a day and 'dashes' back and forth between the café next door and the shop. Hope I'm still 'dashing' around at her age. As with most French villages La Fouillade also has a bakery, butcher & bar & we're making a concious effort to use them all. Lunch over & I'm plastering & Barbara's pointing away, what a team we make. We clock off at 5:00 with no sign of the Merc.

Friday 30th – Babs is up at 6:30 and off to brush down the pointing we did yesterday leaving me to tucked up in bed. Things are looking up and I could get use to it. She's back just after 9:00 for a quick shower and we're off to locate a free standing hand painted kitchen unit fitted with a Belfast sink available from stock and all for less that €1,000. It could be a long day. First stop is to a local artisan in nearby Lunac. His work is beautiful and would fit the the bill perfectly but he can't deliver until early October, which is perhaps just as well as I'm sure his prices would reflect the high quality of his workmanship. On to VDR and a magasin we've visited many times before. They don't have anything to show us but produce a catalogue showing exactly the item we're looking for. A quick check of the price list & we can't believe the price being quoted but never being ones to rush in to things we say we'll think it over and call back later. As it's now lunch time and everywhere is closed we decide to head for Figeac, approx. 35 kms away and somewhere we've haven't been to before. It's a typical small French town with lots of cafés, estate agents & artists studios but very few furniture shops. There's also a derelict cinema called 'La Rex' which is currently being converted in to trendy apartments. Must be happening everywhere. One store that looks interesting from the outside proves, once we've entered, to be a bit of a disappointment apart from a picture hanging on the wall. It's of a ship at sea with the title 'In All Weathers – J L Thompson Shipbuilders, Sunderland'. These Makams get everywhere. On the way back we call in at a Brocante (an antique come junk shop) but with no luck. We do have luck when we leave however when for the first time in a while I pull on to the wrong side of the road & fortunately there's nothing coming! Once Barbara has calmed down we decide that we should revisit the magasin in VDR and place the order for the piece of furniture. Never being ones to waste time we also call at the local hire shop & check out the prices for the hire of a mini-pelle (small JCB). Whilst the owner is showing us the machines outside, a lorry unloading a Portacabin with 1 man at each corner, bursts a hydraulic pipe and the cabin crashes to the ground just missing them. I've never seen so many French workman move so quickly. Back in VDR we head for the magasin and are welcomed by a very anxious assistant. 'Desole!' Turns out she's made an error on the price and the unit should be nearly 3 times the price she quoted. Ah well back to plan B & off to Ikea.

Saturday 31st – Think this will be the shortest blog entry so far. Spent the day decorating at Gilly's and it's bangers & mash for dinner. Suppose I could go in to detail about the spuds & sausage but I bet no one's really that interested.

Sunday 1st April 2007 – Ditto for Saturday really apart from it's duck for dinner tonight. Heard from P & C that their builder plans to start work a week on Monday & Paul's booked on the same flight as Matthew so it'll be a house full next weekend. Let's hope it's a bit more interesting & I have something to tell my millions of readers.