B & Q, Varnish & Bl***y Placo

Monday morning and it was off the VDR to track down the cheapest place for a trailer full of placo. I headed for the builders merchants we'd used for the insulation as they were the new boys in town & were keen to establish themselves so hopefully they'd be open to doing a deal. The same man we'd spoken to last time was behind the desk & I was welcomed with 'Bonjour M. Hill, sa va, café?' After making me an espresso & getting the croissants out he asked if this was the sort of service that I'd have got at B & Q? I gave him my shopping list and after a few minutes on the computer he came up with a very competitive price and the deal was done. So it was back to Lagarrigue and on with a week of placoing and plastering, it really is becoming a little boring and very difficult to come up with anything interesting to put in the blog. I could bore you, even more than normal, with all the different plasters we've looked at; ready mixed, quick drying, extra sticky... the list could go on and on but I won't for a change. With P here we've made really great progress and without his help getting some of those 1,200 x 2,400 plasterboards in place would have been a real challenge.

As I mentioned last week P is here to work on their new house & on Tuesday 13 window & 3 French doors were delivered all in need of a few coats of wood preserver & varnish. Wednesday it was brushes at the ready and on with the first coat. Thursday morning we finished the second coat of wood preserver on P & C' windows & it was time to hit the high spots of VDR. We needed to pick up some more plaster and the vital supplies of food & wine. The builders merchant couldn't help but comment on the performance of the English football team the night before & in all honesty it was very difficult to find a witty response. Once we picked up more plaster it was off to the wine merchants for the other essential. It's become a bit of a concern to Barbara that the wine merchant now says 'Ah bonjour Monsieur, Cotes de Tarn?' It still comes as a pleasant surprise that you can buy 5 litres of a half palatable red wine for €8.00. We're heading back to the UK for Christmas & New Year & you can be sure we'll be taking one or two litres of Cotes de Tarn with us & the good news is that they've now got 10 litres containers available!

Anyway I must go...more joints to be plastered and I've a lot to do if I'm to catch up with Barbara.

More Placo & The First Fix

After spending Monday morning plaster boarding we headed up to Limogues to collect Paul from the airport. On our way there we were once again reminded how strong and dominant the English language is. Why would a French haulage company have a tag line 'The King Of The Road'? Paul was over to start work on painting the doors & windows for their new house and hopefully between brush strokes he'd have time to give us a expert hand fitting out the chambres & en-suites. On Monday evening we'd received a phone call from the charpentier who was making the dormer windows for us to say they were ready and he would come and fit them on Wednesday afternoon. With the Regourds also due on Wednesday it seemed that at long last everything was coming together. True to their word the Regourds arrived at 8:00 and by 11:30 the first fix was complete and my plans for an easy day pottering about chopping logs for the stove was in tatters. Leaving us to it Stephané said he hoped they'd be able to return towards the end of next week and make a start on fitting the bathrooms. M. Pereira, the charpentier, arrived as promised at 2:00 & set to fitting the windows. They look great & the roof is finally weatherproof & complete.

So it was another full week of plaster boarding and finally we're within sight of sleeping in our own bedroom for the first time in over 12 months. Barbara has issued an ultimatum that come hell or high water skirting boards will be fitted & walls painted by Wednesday 28th November & I for one am not going to disagree with her! With P's help we've made really great progress and the concerns we had about how to fit plasterboards round the windows melted away once P set to with the saw and Stanley knife. While P & I were fitting the boards Barbara made real headway tapping the joints and applying the several layers of plaster necessary to finish the job.

The weather has turned really cold and every day this week we've woken to a hard frost with temperatures down to -5ºC. On Saturday P & I had a day off and headed over to Albi & although there wasn't a cloud in the sky the temperature never got above 1ºC. Although Barbara denied it I have a sneaking suspicion that she was quite happy to see the back of me for the day & enjoyed plastering the joints (perhaps that's stretching it a bit). Sunday morning we usually allow ourselves a bit of a lie in but this week we were woken bright & early by the sound of gunfire. The local hunt was at the bottom of our field in hot pursuit of some poor creature. I didn't manage to see what they were after but with the massed guns of La Fouillade after them I don't think it had much of a chance. Hunting is big in rural France but doesn't involve wearing a red coat and riding a horse, here it's fluorescent base ball caps, camouflage jackets & trousers & I'm sure everything they manage to shoot ends up on the dinner table.

Placo, Placo, Placo.

Well there was a distinct lack of fireworks here on Monday. Don't know why but the French don't seem to make much fuss about Guy Fawkes. They are catching on to the Halloween craze and there were plenty of witch related goodies in the shops although I'm delighted to say we didn't have any trick or treats. We've been greeted this week with some really keen frosts followed by some sunny & bright autumnal mornings. It's a shame we've not been able to get out & enjoy them!

It's been another week of fitting placo and adjusting the metal framework we installed last week. Despite working out all the corners & angles there always appears to be one plasterboard that needs an extra bit of support, fortunately the self-tapping screws make minor adjustments easy. We've been back & forth to the builders merchants for the different types of placo we need, vapour-proof vert for the en-suites, fireproof rouge for round the chimney & plain old buff for the rest of the walls. Using the trailer and backing it into the barn has made life a little easier, it's just a pity there's no easy way to get the plasterboards up the stairs. M. Regourd, our electrician & plumber, had called last week to say he'd be with us on Friday to start the first fix for the bedrooms & en-suites. Not wanting to get in his way I made a start on fitting the insulation to the ceiling of the cellar & by the time M. Regourd arrived at 11:30 (on his way home for lunch no doubt) I'd finished. With an armful of conduit & a crayon he was full of apologies. An emergency had arisen and he now only had time to mark out where we wanted the sockets, lights & switches but promised to return next Wednesday with the bathroom fittings that he'd had in store for us since early May. I think the thought of being able to have a relaxing bath at long last made Barbara feel quite excited.

Friday afternoon we headed into VDR for some vital supplies, food & wine, and whilst wandering round the supermarket we bumped into a lady we'd met a couple of times earlier in the year. She'd moved to France a couple of years ago with her husband and three children. When last we'd spoken to her they'd been waiting for the roofer to turn up, sounds familiar. Turns out he fitted the new roof and then gone bust and as they now had more leaks than before he'd done the work she was feeling pretty low. Added to this the fact that the French authorities are no longer renewing Carte Vitales to foreigners she was feeling pretty down. She was off for an interview as a cleaner, a big change as she'd been a senior manager for Vodafone back in the UK, & hoped that this would solve the health care problem. Having sold up lock, stock & barrel in the UK and as she obviously loves the life here it would not be easy to return to England.

Short one again, hopefully there'll be something more interesting to report on next week.

Tin Snips & All Saints Day

After having had Matthew here for a few days & then Jane & Derek this week has seamed a little flat & very quiet. Jane & Derek headed for Paris early Monday morning, it was great to see them & we had a nice relaxing few days showing them the high spots of L'Aveyron. When they'd gone it was back to work.

This week we finished off the insulation & started in earnest building the bedrooms. The metal system that's used widely here makes life a lot easier when it comes to building the partition walls. With a tape measure, a decent pair of tin snips, lots & lots of self tapping screws, an electric screwdriver & a plumb line the rooms have come together well & we can now see two bedrooms, an en-suite bathroom & landing. Fitting the doors is also relatively easy as the door & frame come as one complete unit with hinges and locks already fitted. I just hope the plasterboard goes on as easily which, with Barbara being all of 5 foot tall, might be a little optimistic. By Thursday lunchtime we were ready for a trip to the local builders merchants to collect some more materials. It's only three kilometres away which is just as well because half way there we remembered that it was All Saints Day, a French public holiday. So it was back to the house & on with a couple of other jobs. To get to Lagarrigue you pass through a small 'Aire de Combe', a picnic area, and despite it being the 1st of November it was a fairly warm day and people were making the most of the holiday and it was quite busy. As with everything food related the French always like to do things in style, not for them a pack of sandwiches from M & S, out comes the selection of cheeses, meats, a fresh baguette & of course, a bottle of wine. I guess they'll be OK today, the gendarmes will also be on holiday.

On Saturday we helped G & S move their remaining bits & pieces out of their house in Najac. The Lightweight came into it's own & with trailer in tow we looked just like Steptoe & Son without Hercules. I guess if Gilly reads this she won't speak to me again, as the items we moved could not in anyway be described as junk!

Well that's it this week, bit short I know, but not much more to report.