Journey down

On the journey down, we were amazed at how much standing water we saw.  We'd just missed the rain, judging by the road surface, but fields were absolutely sodden, once more, and streams had overflowed their banks.  England has had plenty of rain, but had been dry for a while before we left home, so we weren't expecting that.

Needless to say, the garden was, still (again?), so soggy that we couldn't get on to it to weed!  Boo...  It needs it, desperately.

When we chatted with the neighbours, they all told us that the rain had only just stopped before we got there - we'd missed the flooding, but still saw the evidence of enormous rainfall when we were leaving four days later, so they really did have it come down.

My obsession with how cold our house gets was fuelled by a look at the thermometer...  -11°C, inside, of course.  I think it was down to -15/16°C outside - really must buy another minimum/maximum thermometer! 

One thing I found upsetting, not in itself, but in case it had been left for us, was the mummified cat I found upstairs.  Thinking it over later, we think it had probably got itself caught in the rafters and an owl (or another cat) had knocked it off much later.  I know the wind can't have blown it, because the house has been shut up, and in the summer I had all the doors and windows propped open, letting a howling gale through on some days.  I know it sounds paranoid to think someone might do something as nasty as leaving a dead cat in our house.  Until last summer I wouldn't have thought of such a thing, but we were talking with M. Lorin about his tractor (we'd said he could leave it in our barn again if he wanted), and he said thank you, but no.  The last time someone had put sugar in his fuel tank.  The thought of someone trespassing on our land to do something that mean was disquieting.  Oh, well!

New shutters

Dominique Baty has fitted our new shutters - I was so concerned in the last post with getting down the stuff from our meeting with M. Boyer and the "breaking & entering" that I never answered the first question: it was Dominique B who replaced the chain, when he came to do something to the shutters (I think he came back & painted the têtes-bergères and hinges).  He had come to the house a couple of days before we got back, and found the chain cut.  He had noticed that Dominique D's stuff was missing, so we think DD must have gone to the house, knowing that we were due there at the weekend.  Sneaky, I think just about sums up how I feel about him at the moment!

Because it had been so rain-soaked, the paint that Dominique B had touched up was still wet and that, coupled with the knowledge of how the damp upsets new joinery, made us reluctant to open the shutters.  So we didn't!  Of course that meant no sun got into the house, so it didn't warm up much.

Meeting with M. Boyer

We went to M. Boyer's office (I can't remember if I've mentioned that) for an all day meeting (9 -5.30, phew!).  It seems as though there were no points left unaddressed, but I'm sure I've forgotten most of them by now.  We looked at some sketches (by the end, I knew that we'd have to send some scanned alterations, but I can only think in French for a certain time before losing the will to live!), and David has christened M. Boyer "nitpicker pursuivant".  This made me think of a certain beautiful young lady of my acquaintance (hi M - you know who you are!), but nitpicking to the highest level is what we need!

The Boyers took us to see their house; they are in the process of renovating an old house themselves and are keen to use environmentally friendly processes wherever possible.  We really liked the hemp/lime wall covering - it's rougher than plaster, but apparently a really good insulator (doesn't need rock wool or glass fibre as well).  Also, the finish can be left as it is; no painting, I like that idea!  If all our insulation/plasterboard has to come out (and it sounds as though it does!), that would be a very good alternative.

While we were saying goodbye to the Boyers, a flight of cranes went overhead; they sure are noisy brutes!  It was lovely to see them; perhaps we'll get around to trying to see them nesting next year...  Once we'd seen the first skein, we saw them again several times on the journey home.  They fly much more untidily than geese, whose neat V-formation made it comparatively easy to tell the difference.  Also, if they are low, the noise gives the game away!

Dominique Drouot's insurance

M. Boyer has spoken with Dominique's insurance company - there is a problem getting copies of his certificates.  M. Boyer thinks this is because either Dominique has stopped paying his premiums, or because there is an existing claim being made against him.  Either of which doesn't look good.  Apparently M. Boyer needs to contact the head office in Paris to get copies, which he is trying to do.  Bureaucracy always takes time!

In the meantime, he believes that Dominique is not insured for: insulation, metalwork, building work and plumbing.  So that's pretty much got our job covered!  Obviously this will influence whether Dominique can re-do the work, so we need to know the answer...

Gîte

We stayed at the gîte belonging to the nephew of M. Lorin, in the next village along the valley.  In this part of the world you can't just say "M. Lorin" and expect anyone to know whom you mean!  We know four M. Lorin (Lorins?), and I'm sure there are more out there to discover!

The house has been done up beautifully - if I remember I'll try to post some photos.  The bedrooms are themed: blue toile de Jouy in the main room, yellow and green in the second bedroom and green gingham in the third.  The sofa in the lounge confirms I'm right in intending to do up our folding iron bedstead as a sofa!  Just need to buy some penetrating oil to free up the joints, then I can sand down the rust, paint it & away we go.  That's, of course, a project for another day!

There's a large eat-in kitchen with a (non-working) fireplace and all mod cons.  The lounge is lovely, but the fireplace not so much.  And it doesn't work - that really does make a difference; we've got so spoilt by being able to have an open fire - it wasn't necessary, with the central heating, but we missed the hypnotic effect of the flames.  But overall this is a lovely holiday home; one that we could recommend to anyone!  (Unless they're particularly tight, of course! He he he!)

Observations on French homes

Following on from thinking about the lovely gîte, there are 2 points I'm not sure about:

1.      Brown kitchens

Why?  I don't think anything more needs saying!  However, in case anyone doesn't immediately twig what I mean (you may not have recently been in a French house), let me just say: brown sink (2-tone, of course), brown taps (2-tone, also), brown tiles (worktop, splash-back &, obviously, floor), brown hob, brown oven (if one fitted) and of course wooden (a particularly brown kind; no beech or birch here) doors.

2.      Five (at least) different types of flooring

We've stayed at enough places now to wonder whether there is some sort of ordinance that decrees you must have at least five different types of floor covering in any home.  Preferably at least four different types (shapes, sizes, colours) of tiles and two kinds of wooden flooring.  I've got pictures to prove it!

Wild flowers

We saw loads of scilla (squills) and hellebores (stinking, I think, but having virtually no sense of smell I couldn't tell!) in the grass verges.  It's so lovely seeing the wildflowers, not something we're used to here...

They were wild daffodils in a couple of woods (the Wordsworth kind, narcissus pseudonarcissus).  We were in a hurry one day, so I never stopped to take any photos.  We went back the next day, and they'd all gone; we'd seen a couple of people collecting them, but I wouldn't have believed they could strip an entire wood.  Someone had...  We saw lots of the wild daffodils in florists and in windows, so I suspect they are either not protected like here, or the protection is just ignored.  We found another little wood we'd seen from the road - across a field, over a stream and behind a barbed-wire fence - and that still had plenty; so difficult to photograph, but at least no one had managed to pick them all.  It was beautiful to see the wood carpeted like that!

Makes me wonder whether I should plant some under our trees...

Back in the UK

Bad news

We got back from our March visit and almost immediately had a mail from M. Boyer - Dominique wants to re-do the work himself.  That was definitely our least preferred option.  We know that M. Boyer won't want Dominique to do any work until he's received confirmation that Dominique is adequately insured, but we sent M. Boyer a list of criteria that would need to be met before we would let Dominique resume work.  This included: a fixed time scale, (punitive) penalties for over-running, starting immediately we're agreed, he pays for materials (we've already paid for one lot!) & a water-tight contract drawn up either by M. Boyer or our notaire.

I have to admit the main reason for sending this list is hoping M. Boyer will communicate these pre-conditions to Dominique and that will be enough to put him off completely!  We'd much rather he changes his mind and offers to pay us back some of the money we paid him!

I don't play poker, but I have a feeling this is what it's like...?

Depression vs despair/inertia

I've been spending some time (an inordinate amount, it feels) pondering the difference between depression (probably seasonal affective disorder) and despair, coupled with inertia.  The only conclusion I came up with is that they feel different, but the effect (i.e. nothing happening) is the same...

Was it worth the thoughts?  Have you been helped?

Cormorant

I was coming home on the bus, crossing the Thames on Westminster Bridge, when a cormorant flew overhead.  It was lovely to see it, but oddly made me think it ought to be in China; I have a feeling I've read (or even seen a television programme?) about Chinese fishermen who use cormorants to catch fish.  Am I imagining that?

Snow

We had some snow - not very much, but enough to cause chaos on the roads.  I hope that we will have some when we are staying at our house this winter (probably a bit optimistic!); that would give me chance to take some new Christmas card photos!