Roof, gas & Albi

Monday 7th – Off to work with Paul this morning with plans to assemble the 'tardis' and fit the window. For €55.00 the window proves to be a real bargain and after only 30 minutes, removing the window sill & using a squirt or two of expanding foam it fits perfectly. The shower tardis takes a little longer to assemble but by 12:00 it's in place and ready to be plumbed in. Once again for the money it looks like a good investment and will definitely make life easier & cleaner. At 1:30 we head over to M. Regourd and arrange for him to visit on Thursday and prepare things for the installation of the stove & cooker on Friday. It's always entertaining communicating with M. Regourd and seems to be getting easier, could be all the hand signals he uses. Gilly & Sidney called in and were most impressed with the shower cubicle. Makes me think that it would have been a good idea to invest in a couple of the cubicles instead of having to tile two showers.

Tuesday 8th – Another bank holiday, VE Day. No point having a day off as the weather's awful and everywhere's closed. After removing one of the French doors & trimming the bottom Barbara applies a lick of paint & it fits perfectly. More paint applied to the ceiling, the beams coated in linseed oil, mastic applied to the skirting boards & a door made to fit under the stairs. Good going for a bank holiday and then it's back to Najac to meet Caroll's mum & husband.

Wednesday 9th - VDR this morning for those all important supplies of yet more paint & to collect the double glazing units we'd ordered last week. That hadn't arrived but were due later in the morning so we have an excuse to hang about in VDR and have a spot of lunch. We also check out the lawn mowers because despite Barbara thinking we'd be able to strim 2,000 square metres of lawn my www. research says this could take some time. As seems to be the case on so many of our visits to shops the assistant speaks very good English & is very helpful and even offers to take a machine outside and demo it. Lunch out makes a nice change and we pick the glass up and head back to Lagarrigue just in time to meet our neighbours. They're over from the UK to meet builders & plumbers etc. to discuss the work they want done on their house and Lagarrigue is the busiest I've seen it since we arrived, especially when P & C arrive along with Caroll's mum & husband. The suns out and they're able to sit on the veranda while Paul gives me a hand finishing off my first attempt at building a door (it is only a small one). We're expecting M. Hugounout, the roofer, tonight at 5:00 and when by 6:00 he's not arrived we begin to get a bit fidgety. Not to worry at 6:40 he turns up & once again we realise we'd got our timings wrong. He plans to start the work at the end of May or early June and we go over where we want the windows in the new roof. At one point we begin to panic when we think he's asking us to remove the 'sarking boards'. These are the large pieces of wood on to which he'll attach the stone tiles. What he's really saying is do you want me to dispose of them. Thank goodness for that, I couldn't see Babs & I scrambling across the roof with a claw hammer & pincers. Called in to Najac on the way home to see the British vintage car club that would be staying at the local hotel tonight. There were pre 1930 12 Sunbeam/Talbots all in immaculate condition. The wine is flowing and the Maire is entertaining everyone with his saxophone rendition of the French national anthem.

Thursday 10th – In work for 7:30 just in case M. Regourd turns up and at just after 8:15 he arrive and gets straight to it. The gas is ready for the cooker but there's a problem with the hand basin in the cloakroom. I hadn't fitted the plasterboard with a piece of wood to support the sink and he'll need some special fixtures to secure the basin to the wall. I show him the shower cubicle and he 's sure he'll be able to do a temporary fix for us and by 12:00 he's off promising to return tomorrow morning and fit the douche & basin. I'd offered to help our new neighbours to cut some trees down so with chainsaw in hand we manage to fell 4 trees with only slight damage to their house. I'm glad it was his chainsaw and I was only the goffer. It's worth the effort in what's turned out to be a hot sunny day as both Barbara & I are rewarded wit a nice cold beer. Aren't some people organised? By 4:30 the double glazing sealed units are in the French windows and they look really good. With the sun & rain we've had the grass had really grown and the field was now very overgrown. I'd thought we could ask Iggy's dad if he knew anyone who would cut it and take the hay away but as we were still struggling to understand him I'd come up with this brilliant idea. Type what we wanted to say in to the Google translate website, print it out & give him a copy. It worked great & he understood what we wanted the problem came when he responded. I think we managed to work out that he wanted to know if we wanted money for the hay or were happy to give it away. We just couldn't get across that we'd be just happy if someone where to cut it for us. Ah well back to the drawing board or, better still, the French language lessons.

Friday 11th – No sign of the Regourds but it's a sunny day and the cooker & stove arrive today so it's tidy up time in preparation. 'Bonjour' and Iggy's dad is back to try and make himself understood. Still struggling I give I & V a call and Vilia says she's on her way to La Fouillade and will pop in and see if she can help and 15 minutes later she arrives and we head round to Iggy's dad's house. Within minutes all becomes clear, he doesn't have a machine capable of cutting the grass but will speak to his son and a friend to see if they would be able to help and would we like to join him and his wife for a coffee. We do and find out not only his name, M. Guilbert, but that he and his wife are delighted that we are renovating the house and bringing some young blood (what a nice man he is) back in to the hamlet. He's also pleased to hear that we intend to live in he house for more than just a few weeks a year. We also learn that they have three children; a son who's a farmer, a daughter who's a teacher & a daughter who's married to a major in the army. We come away thanking him for his hospitality and help and saying that once we move in we would like them to come round for aperitif & nibbles. We'll just have to make sure I & V are available as well. Just after 2:00 the stove & cooker arrive and what had started out as a good day turns in to a bit of a nightmare. First of all the cooker we'd ordered was the one out of the shop (literally) and we were paying full price for something dozens of people had prodded & poked so it was a 'non' & back on the van with it. Next the plasterboard I'd fitted above the stove was not fire resistant (common sense must have deserted me when I fitted it) and I was despatched to the local builders merchant to collect a piece. Obviously I have to take the Merc and just as I'm pulling on to the main road the bloody exhaust joint snaps and it's left scraping along the floor. You can imagine the noise and when I get to the builders merchants there's a few laughs from the assembled staff & customers & more bad news; they've no stock. I manage to get the car back to the house and the stove installer says he can fit some fire resistant blocks but will have to charge us for it. We give him the go ahead and 2 hours later and with black paint on our lovely lime washed wall the stoves up & running and looking great. Why can't French tradesman take their time and prepare the work area first?

Saturday 12th – We've decided that we're having a lie in and day off to day. The suns out & it's a glorious morning and by 10:00 on we're on the road and on our way t Cordes. Cordes is a medieval town located high on a hill approx. 25 minutes away in the direction of Albi and there are a couple of brocantes (antique shops) and as we're in the market for a small table to put the computer on it seemed a good place to head for. There was a market on with the usual mix of fresh produce, meat, fish, cheese and a few clothes stalls. Very busy and a lot of English people wandering around. We had a quick look in one of the brocantes and decided that although not in keeping with a renovated French farmhouse the prices may mean that when we visit Ikea for the sink top we may also be looking for a computer desk. Come to think of it I don't suppose there were many computers in traditional French farmhouses either. We walked up to the top of the village and had lunch overlooking the glorious French countryside. With it's mix of restaurants and arty crafty type shops Cordes is well worth a visit if you're ever passing this way. Albi is only another 25 minutes further on and as we intend having a full day off we decided to head in that direction and come across another brocante. Prices here are a little more in our league and there's a small late 18th century table that will do a treat. After a bit of haggling we agree on a price and the deal is done. It was just what we were looking for but the only thing I can think of is Harry Enfield's new character 'I saw you coming' in 'Ruddy Hell – It's Harry & Paul'. On to Albi and a lovely cup of tea sat in the square overlooking the catherdal and watch the local children performing circus routines to the assembled friends & parents. This is the life pity we've got to get back to work tomorrow. On the way back I spotted an old Renault 4 for sale and although it wouldn't be a direct replacement for the Merc it might be a good runabout. It's got 2 years CT (MOT) and only done 41,000 kms and they want €1,400 for it. As it must be at least 25 years old it seems like quite a lot of money, We've had a really good day and finish it off with a pizza and bottle of red.

Sunday 13th – Up early and digging out the drain @ P & C's. There's been continuing problem with the septic tank and Paul had decided that today is the day it's got to be bottomed. By 12:00 and a lot of digging we've laid a new drain and the water is flowing well. Let's hope all's OK as digging out the trench again is not something I'd be looking forward to. Babs has been at the house all morning painting so I pick some bread & a slice of quiche up and surprise her with a lovely lunch of ham & cheese (nothing new there). The afternoon is spent painting, strimming & hacking out. I'd bought a SDS drill from Aldi back in the UK before we came out and at last & I've finally put it to work. A good investment at £29.99 – good old Aldi.