There I was already to blog at the weekend when we had a minor (I'm hoping it is) crisis. We'd ordered a ready-made staircase and had been all excited on Friday when the shop rang to say it was now in stock and we could collect it on Saturday. We headed off to Montauban, trailer in tow, early on Saturday morning with a shopping list of bits & pieces we required to move the barn nearer to completion. The rain abated as we loaded the staircase on to the trailer and headed home. P arrived early Sunday morning and within a couple of hours the first part of the staircase was assembled & things were looking good. It was when we came to put it in to place that we realised things weren't going according to plan (a French plan that is, that we'd been very pleased with ourselves for being able to follow). Despite having supplied a detailed plan to the shop when we'd placed the order it was obvious that no matter what juggling we did the staircase was not going to fit. Oh dear! (or similar words). There was no taking it back as the assistant had made it clear that the item couldn't be returned and the chances of convincing a Frenchman that he was wrong were zero. Those who doubt this should read chapter one, 'Thou shalt be wrong (if you’re not French) – Why every Frenchman is Monsieur Right, of Stephen Clarke's book 'Talk to the Snail'. So having worked through plans A to Y we resorted to plan Z and made contact with a local carpenter first thing on Monday. He agreed to look at our 'problem' and having taken a few sharp intakes of breath said he could get the staircase to fit and would return later in the week. Fingers crossed he's as good as his word and I'll keep you posted.
In between the trials and tribulations of converting the barn we've had a couple of important visitors. Rebecca arrived for a nice long break on Friday 10 followed by Matthew on the 15. Bit of a hairy flight for Matthew with the plane having to circle above Rodez for 40 minutes waiting for a severe storm to move away from the airport. What a lovely welcome to sunny France. It was great to have them here at the same time and we had a really good time with an excellent belated birthday meal for Matthew at the L'Oustal del Barry in Najac and an even better home cooked wild mushroom risotto on Saturday night. Obviously the good food & not so good wine did the trick and it made twisting arms to give a hand painting and moving plasterboards that much easier.
We've been able to move things along well since we got back and had we not had the staircase fiasco I think we'd now be cooking & eating in our luxury Ikea kitchen. There's one thing for certain, when Barbara gets back from the UK with her mum she won't recognise the place. She headed back to the UK on Wednesday for three weeks to do some more work with 'Country Cousins'. With her working so hard I'll have to make sure I do my bit and have all the items on my extensive to-do list crossed off and completed by the time she gets back.
UPDATE – The carpenter was as good as his word and yesterday he arrived at 8:00, took part of the stairs away to cut down to size. He returned just after lunch to fit a new step he'd made and put the staircase in place. To say I was relieved when it slotted in to place perfectly is an understatement. It looks great and although originally I wasn't going to get him to fit the bannister I think a phone call to him on Monday next week is probably a good idea. The phrase 'spoiling the ship for a hapeth of tar' springs to mind.
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