Another visit from Chris and a New Roof

Not such a shock for Chris this time when he arrived at the house - no major demolitions had taken place.  Lots of little jobs to do and he's here for 2 weeks this time.  He was pleased with the progress on the roof and soon got chatting with the roofers to discuss the finer points!  My life is easier because I don't have to do a daily report with photos to report progress to him. He is taking a daily walk around 'his estate'.  The weather took a turn for the worse, but at least it was substantially better than in the UK.

I bought some white mustard for the raised beds and lucerne for the orchards, to improve the quality of the soil while I am waiting to plant. Green manure - we're on our way to being organic.


A long weekend with Kate and Nico. 

Bergerac

The intermittant rain meant we spent a lot of time huddled in the caravan, though.  We still managed to have a good time, involving a lot of alcohol.  

Kate and her Dad bonding over a drink in Bergerac

Bergerac

A rare opportunity to eat outside - Nico, Chris and Kate

We had visitors on Saturday night, a horse trampling across the new Boules court and our first-ever molehill. [Yes, I tried making a mountain out of it but it's harder than you'd think!].
Sunday night we had another boules-loving equine and 2 molehills.  OK, joke's over! I spent the day researching ways of poisoning, exploding and otherwise killing them.

Monday bought ANOTHER speeding fine, from the day I was going to meet Chris at the airport [must have been keen to see him!]

The roofers continued to work steadily and we got an estimate from a plumber to put standpipes in the garden and to do some other work.  It seemed reasonable and we had had such a good experience with the French roofers that we decided to go ahead with the French plumber.  Everything seems to be such a gamble, my stomach is continually rebelling against all the stresses and strains.

Three weeks after they started, the roofers completed their work, it looks brilliant!

Chimneys all gone!

Front

Side view

Sadly, the day was spoilt by news from the people in charge of inspecting the micro station that Darren has installed it without permission and that refusal to sanction it is automatic in these circumstances.  We await a visit from the guy in charge.

The week was a mixture of working and catching up with old friends, Steve and Caron, Patricia, Tim and Teresa and meeting up with some new friends.  The plumber arrived to carry out a lot of smallish tasks but it feels as if progress is actually being made at last.

By Monday we should have 2 standpipes, a hot shower and some electric sockets in the house, water mains connected properly and repairs done to the caravan.   But, and there's always a but, Darren has not responded to our emails or phone calls and he still has to connect some of the downpipes to the water recuperation unit, finish the path and deal with the fact that the government has denied permission for our microstation, due to his mistake. 

Chris's last night was spent at the village meal, held in the open air opposite the mairie.  The beef was so rare it almost moo-ed, the wine was 'unusual' and the main act was an aging Charles Aznavoour lookalike, slightly balding, slightly paunchy and very lecherous, backed by four Spice Girls wannabees.  We left before the dessert - it was almost midnight by then anyway!