Chimney and Forest Walk

Posted by Simon

Work on the gite is progressing quite well and, although, Rosie is wishing for rain I'm not, as I have a hole in the roof where the chimney stack has gone through. The roof surrounding the chimney is covered in plastic at the moment but still I'd rather the rain stays away.

I have finished tiling the bathroom walls and this evening started on the floor. I have been putting on the walls, in the other rooms, a type of paper which will then be painted. I hope this will protect the walls better plus I think it makes a better job and hides a multitude of sins - not that there are any of course!

It has been a lot of work but we did all get out for a lovely afternoon walk, the other day, in the Forêt Domaniale de Valcongrain. There were many wild flowers growing and bilberry bushes in flower. The leaves were just coming out and the boys had great fun searching for pine cones. I won the competition for finding the biggest cone but Ben found the nicest cone and Tom 6 different species. The forest is a 10 minute drive from us and there are marked trails for walkers, horse riders and mountain biking.

The dogs also had a great run round although Saari could not understand why she was not allowed in when we got home - and I've still the car to clean out. Why couldn't she shake before getting in the car?

And I'm hopefully off to the UK next week to collect the kitchen - Jon and Ally finally got home late Saturday night. Only a stressful week late.

First April Showers!

Posted by Rosie

Yesterday we had the first April showers of the month. Up until then April had been uncharacteristically completely dry and whilst this has helped Simon with the gite (no muddy boots in and out of the door, able to leaves supplies and tools outside etc) it has been a real problem on the smallholding side of things. And yesterday, the 2 showers were not your typical April downpour, just a bit of drizzly rain for less than 20 minutes each. Not enough to fill water butts, not enough to help the grass grow and not enough to do more that wet the surface of the vegetable patch.

So today I will be back to filling the butts from the well, giving sheep extra feed and watering the seedlings in the veg garden. There is a bit of rain forecast for the week-end and whilst I know lots of people would prefer a dry week-end I really am praying to the rain gods to deliver the odd decent shower ..................... Please!

Reasons to visit Lénault in April

Posted by Rosie

Fast Cars and Foraging!

If car racing is your thing then the last week-end of April is perfect for you as the annual Suisse Normandy Rally takes place all around here with 4 courses over 2 days. (www.lerallyedelasuissenormande.fr). Our road is part of one of the Sunday courses so is closed for the day as cars hurtle along it at breakneck speed. However, we are not complete prisoners and by parking the car down on the bottom road and walking down the valley footpath we can "escape."

If like me you aren't really into fast cars then maybe a bit of foraging is more tempting. April sees a flush of greens that can be eaten but for me this year two particular plants have taken centre stage - Wild Garlic (Ramsoms) and Dandelions. I use wild garlic leaves to pep up all sorts of dishes from quiche to pasta sauce and this year I even made wild garlic and leek risotto (minus the leeks!!) which was delicious. With dandelions, it is not the leaves but the flowers I pick for dandelion jelly. I have 7 jars cooling as I type and I am wondering whether I will get a good set. Last years batch was more like runny honey than a jelly but it was perfect for pouring over pancakes and drizzling into porridge. No great loss then!!

The Ripple Effect

Posted by Simon

At this moment in time I should be driving to Ouistreham Port to get the ferry to the UK and then on to our friends Jon & Ally to collect a kitchen for the gite. But a phone call Monday changed all that.

There were Jon and Ally (with many others) enjoying an Easter break in Egypt when a volcano in Iceland decided to blow and the holiday was extended. Although able to stay in the apartment they did not have a clue when they would be coming home so decided to delay their new kitchen, which in turn means dates to collect their old kitchen have to be delayed. Which also means plumbers and electricians on both sides of the channel had to be contacted and dates changed (and on down the line) - hence the ripple effect. And as our electrician said 'Who have thought that a volcano in Iceland would delay a renovation in Normandie?' Well there you go it has. Well to be honest it hasn't really delayed things here - more re-scheduling.

Anyway I have plenty of other jobs to do and have been forging ahead with those. We have now put the doors in - after a rather embarrassing problem. One set of doors would not open - jammed solid. So a trip up to Caen and the supplier soon solved the problem - now who would think the doors just needed unlocking! Oops. With the doors in we could then finish the insulation and boarding. Now we have started the more decorating parts of the works on the upper floors and presently I'm tiling the bathroom.

Last week we had Amy (daughter of old neighbour) stay with us and help around the place. She helped both in the gite and the garden plus helped around the house, with the boys (and erecting there new trampoline), and walking the dogs, amongst many other things. Amy was a great help and between all of us we got loads done.

Amy returned the UK last Sunday and I took her to the port to catch the ferry. It was extremely busy as people were coming by various means to the ports to get home. There were coach loads of people, taxis arriving every few seconds and queues to get on the ferry out of the terminus doors. It was quite a sight seeing people either with skis and dressed in winter clothing or people with shorts on coming up from the south and not looking very warm - as it was a little chilly in Caen that morning. Most of these people were having a very extended journey home.

And I had a lovely early morning walk on the beach with the dogs before heading home to do more work on the gite.

BBQ

Posted by Rosie

We have just had our first BBQ of the year. Simon did the cooking whilst I watered the polytunnel and fed the animals. We had our own pork chops and salad leaves but the spuds and sweetcorn were bought. Spuds are looking good in the polytunnel though so hopefully we'll be eating those soon. Can't wait!

Blog Silence - sorry!!

Posted by Rosie

I've just realised that it is a week since we last posted so thought I'd better get typing and assure everyone we are still here!

We had a friend staying last week who volunteered to come over and help us out - so we got her gardening, filling holes in the gite walls and dog walking amongst other things. The garden is looking pretty good on the digging front but dare I say it, I desperately need some rain. Seedlings are emerging but being so dry, they are very slow to grow on. I don't think I have ever known such a dry April (not one shower) and the strong winds earlier in the month further contributed to the soil drying out.

We also need rain to get he grass growing - as fast as it grows the sheep eat it and I am still having to give them hay. Not that I am short of hay; I said to the local farmer that I may need some more hay and did he have any and a week later he turned up with a large round bale. It won't go to waste though, even if we end up using it for bedding, as straw is the same price if not more expensive than hay at the moment. Talking of sheep, little does this little fellow realise that he is getting his last bottle feed tomorrow morning. He's a healthy 20kgs (measured on the bathroom scales!!) and I am out of powdered milk. Could be a bit noisy round our way tomorrow then.

Poultry numbers are on the way up. Both Hilda and Matilda (the ducks) are sitting on a total of 26 eggs but as we are not sure whether Matilda's eggs are fertile (we have never seen her and Harold do the special cuddle as it is known around here) so we have swapped some of Hilda'a eggs into her nest, marked them and will see which hatch. May 19th is hatching day for Matilda and Hilda a couple of days later. One of the young ducks has also started laying and Ben found a soft shelled egg under the hedge. I've not found any more yet but she is sure to lay others somewhere.

I bought 4 new hens at the market last week - the buyer, as usual, assured me they were ready to lay but I didn't realise they were THAT ready - one laid an egg in the box on the way home. I was going to get a picture of them but on the way there I found this swallow on the drive. Unfortunately it died a few minutes later, I assume from exhaustion. Very sad but it gave Tom and Ben a wonderful chance to see a swallow in close detail. Chicken pictures will have to wait I'm afraid.

Simon said he'd be along late to write a gite update - just don't mention how the volcanic eruption in Iceland had delayed the installation of out kitchen or how it went putting in the front door and french windows....................!!

Onwards and upwards.

Posted by Simon
I've just noticed that it is over a month since I last did a post. So it must be about time to update about the gite and some other bits.

Things are progressing quite well with the gite, although never as fast as I would like. Both sets of stairs are now in. A job that went surprising well and getting stuff upstairs is now much easier. Most of the walls are now insulated and boarded except for those sections that have some services behind or adjacent to the doors. At present we are trying to install the doors but one set of doors is causing us a bit of a problem and the frame has been in and out quite a few times over the last two days. Hopefully the problem is now sorted but I will not know until I get the doors in place tomorrow.

Most of the major works are done now although I still have the chimney flue to complete and we also decided to install a heat exchange ventilation system. The ducting has taken a bit of planning but hopefully it will be of benefit. The next stages are to fill gaps etc on the boards and then spread on the surfacing - like a very thin plaster. Then it's decorating, tiling, flooring, kitchen, bathroom and so on and so on. Not much to do then!?!

I have also, eventually, got a slide for the boys tower. This I fitted Sunday morning and they haven't stopped playing on it since. So that is a job I can tick of the 'to finish list'.

Bathroom Tiles Saga - Part 2

Posted by Rosie

Today we went back to a DIY shop to buy some other bit 'n pieces we had forgotten yesterday, the DIY shop where we had first looked at tiles last week. Now whether the tiles were not on show when we went last time - or whether we missed them because they were partnered up with some yucky pale yellowy-brown ones, I don't know - but there, on display AND in stock were bathroom wall tiles we liked. They were a little more expensive than the ones we tried to buy yesterday but we found some floor tiles that were much cheaper.

All I can say is phew!

The Good News and the Bad News

Posted by Rosie

The Good News

Simon and I went up to Caen today to buy various supplies for the gite. Simon had seen some bathroom tiles in Leroy Merlin so we headed there first and after an hour and a half of umming and arrrring, finding suitable floor tiles and working out how many we needed we were happy with our choice. We then chose floor tiles for the kitchen floor and added the tile adhesive onto the trolley before moving on to the heat exchange unit area. That was a bit fiddly sorting out but we got there and piled everything onto the trolley.

"Do you have a Loyalty Card?" the assistant asked, looking at how much stuff we had accrued. He explained the advantages and told us we would start collecting the points straight away. So I went off to sort that out whilst Simon added more stuff - outside lights, a gate bolt and other bits 'n bobs.

Whilst waiting to get our card I saw a poster that said you got 5% discount on anything bought on the day you get your card - excellent. It got even better as we had somehow managed to get our card in the week of an extra-special offer when you got 10% off all the purchases that day. Doubly excellent. But this good luck just couldn't last .........

The Bad News

Remember that hour and a half sorting out suitable bathroom tiles. We went to order them and this was the point where it all started to go wrong. Kitchen tiles were no problem and in stock but we knew there was a 10 day wait on the bathroom ones. Actually no - not a 10 day wait - the line was discontinued. Yes, you did read that right - DISCONTINUED!! The man was very apologetic but it didn't change the fact we had wasted all that time and still had no tiles. We spent the rest of the day trawling round other tiles suppliers without luck. The trouble is, once you have an image in your mind it is very difficult to switch to a different colour scheme. We did find some we liked and in stock BUT at 90€/m2 they were way out of our budget. So the one thing we said we HAD to come home with eluded us and we are running out of places to look.

Blowing away the Cobwebs

Posted by Rosie

We decided to have a complete day off today so after doing the animals first thing, we headed off up to the coast with dogs, kids' bikes and general beach paraphernalia. As we neared the coast it was raining so we took a short detour to The Pegasus Bridge Memorial and Museum, one of many D-Day Landing sites of interest in this area. The rain soon cleared and general mutterings amongst the ranks ensured we were soon at the beach at Ouistreham - and boy was it blowy. It was perfect weather for those foolish enough to windsurf or kite surf but I have to say rather them than me - the water must have been freezing. That didn't stop either the dogs or the boys getting wet although luckily the former more than the latter (and I had been organised enough to pack a change of clothes for the boys). After an hour of brisk walking/biking along the coast we went out for an Easter Sunday lunch before returning to the beach in the afternoon for the obligatory digging of large holes and sandcastle making.

In the morning, with the exception of those foolish bods in the water, we had almost had the beach to ourselves, but in the afternoon it was a completely different story. The promenade was packed with people, well, promenading, and on the beach there was a good number of children having a great time - invariably watched over by slightly chilly parents. It may have been sunny but the wind was bitter - you could almost see the cobwebs whizzing away!! Being a beach day though, ice-creams had to be eaten and at least there was no chance of them melting before they were finished. Eventually the cold (and numb bum from sitting on the sea wall) got a bit too much for Simon and I and we dragged two sandy and rather weary boys back to the car. Let's hope this is the first of many more beach days this summer and that they are all a touch warmer than today.

This time it passed

Posted by Rosie

Once every two years, cars in France need a CT, a Contrôle Technique, (the equivalent of a British MOT) to check, on that day at least, that your car is roadworthy. The Renault passed a few weeks ago and then it was the turn of the Ranger. I was a little worried as I had been told that it could fail if you change the wheels and Simon had recently changed them. Would it pass? Would it fail?

It failed!!

However, it was not the wheels but the lights. The man at the CT garage told me that the front left light was an English one suitable for driving on the left-hand side of the road, not a French one.

"But it can't be," I said "we changed both lights when we brought the vehicle over here and it passed the last CT."
"It is definitely British - has the car been in an accident?" he asked.

Slowly it dawned on me what had happened. After Simon's visit to the ditch in the snow, the front light in question had needed replacing. I phoned up the garage where the work had been done and explained this. At first he couldn't understand what had happened either but after a phone call to his supplier the penny (cent?) dropped with him too. He had ordered the new light using the Ranger's VIN number which of course is English so the supplier had sent an English light. He was very embarrassed and ordered the new light straight away and swapped it last week free of charge. It still cost us 12€ for the Contre CT but at least we know that if work needs doing again on the Ranger lights again we must make sure French ones are ordered!