w/c 30 April 2007

Monday 30th – Another landmark day to day with a phone call to the removal company to arrange delivery of our furniture & other possessions. They've been in store for 6 months & it makes you think that as we've managed without them for so long why are we bothering forking out £2,000.00 to have them delivered. I'm sure when they arrive on the 22nd May we'll wonder how we've managed without them for so long! We've been receiving selected TV recordings from Caroll on DVD over the last few months and haven't missed TV as much as I thought we would. Having said that I had made a phone call to a local company who install satellite TV capable of receiving Freeview stations and he wants €550.00 to supply and install a system. A bit expensive for our fix of Coronation Street. Today we received our normal deliver of special offer leaflets and one of them has a dish & receiver for €39.90. Paul had spoken to someone locally that had bought a similar system & had been able to receive all the BBC TV channels and radio. I'm a bit of a doubting Thomas but having checked things out on the internet it looks like we'll be able to get a limited English TV service for just €39.90. It's got to be worth a try. Another phone call to a broadband provider and we should have a service up and running by the day we move in. €34.90 per month for broadband & free phone calls to anywhere in France, Europe Canada & the USA. Pity we don't know anyone in Florida who we can call for free and arrange a cheap holiday. We also get a UK phone number so you can all phone us for the price of a local call.

Tuesday 1st May – It's misty, raining and cold! How's the temperature plummeted to 10ºC?Typical weather for a bank holiday even here in France. The French don't bother to move their holidays to the nearest convenient Monday they always take them on the actual day. This year May day has fallen on a Tuesday so they take the Monday off as well. Not a bad idea. Second coat of paint to the WC & utility room today and the investment in the Dulux Valentine paint was well worth it as it's only going to take two coats to cover the shocking pink favoured by the house's previous owner. Thierry had rang last night to say he would be calling in today with his friend to see if they can safety, and economical, remove the hanger. All's OK and I mention the fact that it has an asbestos roof and we will need a certificate to say it has been disposed of correctly. Thierry's friend tells us that there's a problem across France in disposing of asbestos; currently there is no 'enterprise' able to dispose of it safely. The only factory there is, in Bordeaux, is not yet ready for action and any asbestos has to be stored on pallets covered in stretch film. Thierry agrees to give the local notaire a call, he's the font of all knowledge in France, and check out the legalities of disposing of the roof. In exchange for the hanger we have agreed to accept enough wood to erect a garage & wood store. These will be made from oak as Thierry owns a substantial oak plantation! Continue with the painting this afternoon & Paul drops in on his way back from dropping Caroll, his mum & Martin off at Rodez. Thierry had mentioned he had a friend who has ramp that will enable us to get under the car so tomorrow we plan to have a go at repairing the Merc. Good old Thierry and fingers crossed once again.

Wednesday 2nd – A big day for Babs today as she's off to have her hair done at a hairdressers in VDR and she's a bit concerned that she'll come out with a red tint. We'll have to wait and see. Despite the rain Paul & I get the Merc up on the ramp and start applying the mastic. The instructions say to leave it to set for 4 hours so we head over to the house and measure up for the jobs Paul's going to help with over the next few days. After lunch we pick the Merc up and with it running like a dream and head off to VDR. Having spent what seems like a small fortune on insulation, but I'm sure when the -10ºC temperatures return we'll be happy we spent the money. Back at the house I get a phone call from Barbara and it's good news. She's happy with the hair cut & tint, it has an acceptable level of red in it, and it was way cheaper than the London Tony & Guy salon she'd used previously. We receive the devis from M. Lagarrigue and it doesn't take long for us to decide to go ahead with him. A quick phone call to Thierry and he says he will contact M. Lagarrigue and co-ordinate the removal of the hanger at the same time as he does the groundwork.

Thursday 3rd - The stone supplier had rang last night to say the hearth was ready so it was over to collect it first thing. Only slight problem was that he'd cut it to the wrong size which was very disappointing as we'd waited 3 weeks for it. 'Not to worry I'll get one of the lads to cut a new piece if you don't mind waiting 15 minutes'. It's sorted quickly and we're back at Lagarrigue fitting the new hearth by 11:00. Paul then gives a valuable hand fitting a flap at the top of the stairs to keep the dust out, slats around the loft area for the insulation & tidying up the area at the top of the stairs. Barbara continues to wheel the paint brush like a professional and finishes the kitchen. It's a really productive day and the pizza for supper is well deserved by all.

Friday 4th – And we're off to Ikea for the kitchen. It's a 2 hour journey to the nearest store in Toulouse so we're on the road for 8:45, trailer in tow. After a slight detour and a phone call to Caroll to get the right directions we arrive ready for the trauma of ordering & collecting 6 items of self assembly kitchen furniture. It's bad enough visiting Ikea back in the UK, what's it going to be like in France? I know I mentioned it last time we were here but it really is amazing how many English people there are in the store. All collecting furniture, bedding & kitchen equipment for their second homes & gites. After standing in the wrong queue for 10 minutes we mange to work out that if we're wanting to order more than 5 items we need to get an assistant to do it for us. The cue we're in is for kitchen design. There's an assistant just become free and we ask if he can help. 'Of course & I speak English if that helps' he responds (all the staff have the flags on their name tags indicating which languages they speak). The kitchen's ordered, with the exception of the sink top which they will text us when it's available, and we head off for lunch before collecting our items. It's very civilised with a great choice, including meat balls, a selection of wine and freshly ground coffee. Just the thing to calm the nerves. I'd noticed that there were posters across the store offering 20% discount if you joined the 'Ikea Family' so when we got to the tills and we're offered membership it was a definite yes and a €240.01 saving. Half an hour later we're loaded up and back on the motorway heading for Montauban and Brico Depot, the French B & Q but substantially cheaper. With our furniture on it's way the only thing that would hold us up moving in on the 22nd was the lack of a shower. Paul had made a few suggestions on how we could install a temporary solution & Brico Depot had the answer, a Tardis like all in one shower cubicle for €135.00. They don't have the one in stock we've come for but for €75.00 more we get one with side jets and a seat! Just the job after a hard day slaving away hacking out & painting. By 8:00 we're back at Lagarrigue, with the Merc beginning to sound like a jet fighter again, and manage to unload our purchases just before the heavens open.

Saturday 5th – Barbara heads to Gilly's to finish off painting her new windows & I make a start on putting the kitchen units together. All goes well until I push one of the dowels a little too far and make a 'small' hole in the laminate. Merde, merde, merde!!!!!!!!!! Looks like when we go back to collect the sink unit we'll also be picking up a side panel. Barbara turns up about 12:30 with lunch and we work on until 4:00 painting & assembling kitchens without any further mishaps. Originally we hoped to get a dishwasher from Ikea but they had deleted it from the range so we headed off to VDR to track one down. After a bit of negotiation we get a good deal from the shop where we've bought the fridge and arrange for them both to be delivered on the 15th. The work M. Lagarrigue is doing for us will give us a lawn area of approx. 3,000 sq. metres, not something I'll be able to cut with my hover mower, so we call in to one of the dealers selling small ride on lawn mowers. They're a bit more expensive than I'd thought and second hand machines don't seem like a good idea as apparently older ones can be pretty unreliable. I feel a bit of www. research coming on before we splash out on one. We've finished supper and Barbara disappears upstairs and returns minutes later with the roofers devis and without a moments hesitation picks the phone up and gives him a call. As I don't suppose many customers call at 9:10 on a Saturday he answers the phone and there follows a very brief but productive conversation in French. He says he will commence work at the end of May but that isn't good enough for Barbara who goes on to make a rendezvous with him on Wednesday at 5:00 PM. Well done Babs & you deserve that glass of rosé.

Sunday 6th – Finished the kitchen units (with no further mishaps) and then on to fitting the new light fittings we'd picked up at Ikea. Despite French electrics being completely different with negative & positive not being labelled on plugs & sockets thanks to multi language instructions they're a doddle to fit without even a screwdriver being required. By lunch time Barbara's finished the first coat of emulsion on the living room ceiling and is ready to do a little more undercoating. Paul turns up at about 3:00 and gives a hand taking a couple of millimetres of the French doors and giving a bit of advise on fitting skirting boards. The suns out and a cold beer beckons at the Bar La Plage.