Author: v8owner

The year did not start too well for our hens. Actually December wasn’t that great either. We’re now down to 14. In December one of the younger ones developed what I can only describe as a sneeze. Although she was still eating, every so often she would stand still, and sneeze. Not a little feminine “‘choo!” sneeze, but a full-bodied “CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!”

Later that day there was a bit of a commotion in the hen-pen so I went over to have a look. Sneezy hen was now on her back, with her wings going flap-flap-flap-flap. As I reached her, she expired.
An autopsy revealed nothing unusual, so she went into the freezer.

Then this month we lost one of our four originals. She’d been looking a bit off-colour for a day or so, so we separated her from the others. Unfortunately we found her dead the next morning. This one received a ceremonious burial, as we thought it was probably safer not to eat it.
We intend getting another four hens in February, as we’ve had the oldest for nearly three years now. And we may soon be getting a cockerel; one of LSS’s pupils has offered us one. Although if it starts waking us up at 4 a.m. it will end up in the pot.

On New Year’s Day we went to visit neighbour J to have the customary “Galette des Rois” – a cake with a little ceramic object hidden in it. The person who gets the object is King or Queen for the day, and has to wear a silly paper hat. The only way to eat this cake, is carefully – because dentists are generally closed on New Year’s Day. We took advantage of the visit to take Mrs Bunny along to visit Neighbour J’s Mister Bunny, thus starting the next batch of rabbit stews and bunny-skin slippers. Speaking of which, I have found a template for making moccasins, so I’ll be constructing some before too long. I may even post a photo!

We think there’s a garden dormouse living in the ceiling. In the evenings there’s a “scratch-scratch-scratch” as it nibbles on its nuts. Cat is most annoyed – she can hear it, but can’t catch it. I’ve ordered a live trap, and will see if we have success with that. We’ve tried mousetraps without success – they appear to be too small. Rat-traps simply have their bait removed without being tripped; which is why we think it’s a dormouse. I considered making my own live trap from a length of pvc pipe, but in the end decided to just buy one. When I was at University, a friend and I earned a bit of money during the holidays by surveying the small mammal population of a local forest reserve, and we used live traps for this. If I remember correctly, the bait was a mixture of oats, peanut butter, and candle-wax. I’m not going to go to all the effort to make that sort of bait for our dormouse; a piece of bread smeared with peanut butter should do the trick.

On the 6th January our neighbour (the one with the gîte) had planned on emptying his pond. I went along at various times during the day to see how it was progressing. His intention was to see what sort of fish he had, and how many. Several helpers dragged a long net through the nearly-empty reservoir, and another person in full pond-wading gear scooped the fish into large plastic buckets. It turned out he had gudgeon, some perch, and a few carp. The pike which he had previously introduced had simply disappeared; maybe they were eaten by herons. Interestingly we found that there were quite a few freshwater mussels in his pond, each around 15cm in length.

The captured fish were transferred into holding tanks ready for reintroduction to the pond once it had been refilled with sufficient water from his borehole.

As for us, we don’t think we’re making sufficient use of our own pond as far as a food source is concerned. Gudgeon are all right to eat, although there is a lot of effort involved in cleaning sufficient quantities for a fry-up. Neither of us are particularly keen on eating carp – there are too many small bones even if one gets rid of the initial muddy taste. So we’re considering introducing some brown trout and/or large-mouth bass. Tilapia would have been great, but they would not survive our winters.

The toilet walls are still not finished, as I’ve been busy with various other tasks and repairs. But the bathroom is now at least fully enclosed, and we’ve splashed out on the luxury of an electrically-heated towel rail. Although it’s sold as a bathroom heater, it is primarily to dry the towels, because up until now we’ve been hanging them in the kitchen. Where they certainly get dry, but also tend to acquire the smell of whatever cooking happens to take place.

Although we have the shower and shower glass, it has not been installed yet. I still need to do the tiling. Another sticking point is that I will have to construct a support bar for the shower glass. The custom size of the shower (1m x 1.2m) means that commercially available support bars – even if you are fortunate enough to find one – are simply not long enough. Fortunately the Aged FIL’s stock of welding rods includes some for stainless steel welding, so I may try that if I can find some suitable tubing.

Even though the bathroom is not fully complete, I’ve already obtained most of the materials for the next project; a 320 Watt solar panel installation. These panels will not be placed on the house roof, but rather on a frame behind the workshop. That way, we don’t need planning permission, and they’ll be easier to keep clean. The idea is that they will power the borehole pump and the 12-volt thermal store installation. However, LSS has banned me from proceeding with the solar panel installation until the toilet walls have been finished. Fair enough, I suppose.

Another thing I have been considering is a way of heating the toilet cubicle. My original plan for the toilet and bathroom was to use central heating radiators, which would get their hot water from the thermal store. I had installed a radiator in the bedroom as a test. However, although this radiator does get warm and at least removes the chill from the air (which is fine for the bedroom – you don’t want the room too hot), we’ve found that the thermal store water is not really hot enough to be able to heat the room. We thus obtained a separate gas heater for the bathroom. But as for the toilet, I’m going to try something different. I’ll be installing a ceramic light socket on one wall, and fitting a 100-watt infrared bulb – the sort that is normally used to keep poultry chicks warm. I’ll report back on how it works. As for the rest of the barn, this will be a large open-plan area. And I intend building a thermal mass rocket stove to take care of that.

We’ve had some success with the Moley infestation I described in my last post. We had a mole near the reedbed, and another in the front courtyard. Both of these were successfully caught, but within 24 hours their vacant tunnels were inhabited by two new moles. One of these was also successfully caught, but unfortunately we then had a severe frost. I say unfortunately because although Moley Number Four triggered the trap, the frozen ground prevented the trap from fully closing. We are now unable to open the polytunnel door because of the frozen molehills surrounding it. I’m sure it’s doing it on purpose.

We’ve also had our first snowfall of the year. It didn’t last for too long though. Mind you, one can see where the insulation has been installed in the roof of the house. The snow has melted on the uninsulated part of the barn, but the rest of the roof is still white.

I haven’t mentioned the Aged FIL for a while. Well, there’s not much to report. He still spends the majority of his time in bed, looking at the ceiling. LSS did manage to arrange for an optometrist to do a house call, with the result that the Aged FIL will be getting new spectacles. At least his ceiling will be a bit more in focus. As for me, I’ve made a start on sorting out his workshop. Generally on Sundays, LSS takes him his weekly shopping, and I accompany her with a large galvanized bucket. Whilst she’s putting the food away, I fill this bucket by the simple expedient of sweeping everything on his workbench into it. I then bring it back to my own workshop where I sort it out.
“Scrap metal.”
“Dustbin.”
“Dustbin.”
“Scrap metal.”
“Ah, a Facom spanner. Keep that.”
“Scrap metal.”
“Ooh, a possibly useful tool….. except for the fact that it’s broken. Scrap metal.”
This man never threw anything away. And I mean anything. I found packets and packets of used incandescent lightbulbs. All with burnt-out filaments. Mind you, I have found some useful things; some waterproof military metal first-aid boxes. Plus a couple of metal ammo boxes.

His workbench is now nearly clear. Now I can access all the stuff on the floor underneath. Then there are the cupboards. Then the various piles of junk in the corners….. I can see this is going to take a while.

So, LSS had a good time in London, doing lots of touristy things with Lady A. She did think of me whilst she was there, because she brought back some M&S mince pies!

The bathroom ceiling has now been installed, and I’m pleased to report that having a bath is now a much more enjoyable experience.

We also paid another visit to Bricodepot in order to buy some more timbers and OSB ready for the construction of the toilet walls.

The Belgian Dubbel I mentioned in my last post has now been bottled, and should be ready by Christmas. Speaking of which, LSS has now put up the Christmas decorations. This consists of a string of fairy lights draped around the lounge. Unfortunately we just don’t have room for the tree this year!

The hunters carried out an unscheduled hunt last weekend, and managed to bag four wild boar. They were all very pleased with themselves, and the Hunt Chief proudly told me they’d only fired 50 cartridges.

Yes.

No comment. Still, at least we now have some more bits of wild boar in the freezer…

The little 12-volt transformer which has been in constant operation for two years, powering the solar thermal panel pump (as well as all the temperature gauges) gave up the ghost last week. I’ve bought a replacement on Ebay, but in the interim have connected up a car battery to do the job; this is the reason I opted for 12 volt pumps and gauges. Once we get around to installing photovoltaic panels on the roof, the transformer can be discarded. The battery is currently (hah! pun!) being kept topped up with one of the aged FIL’s old battery trickle chargers.

Other little repair jobs have cropped up as well.
Recently I have been having fun with the reedbed solar panel installation. The battery has gone flat twice in a row, and the cause of this was fairly easy to diagnose. In the winter, the sun is quite low on the horizon, so the solar panel is in the shade of the polytunnel all day. This is a simple thing to fix; just mount the solar panel on a mast. I found a four-meter length of iron pipe in the aged FIL’s courtyard – this will make an ideal mast. Ah, yes, but there’s a snag. You see, I need to make up a bracket to mount the panel to the newly-discovered mast. And in order to do that, I need to weld some bits of steel together. Now the aged FIL had a welding machine. Unfortunately it is no longer usable, as it is now a burnt-out pile of scrap due to his garage burning down. Well, I’ve been keeping my eyes open on Leboncoin (an internet second-hand goods site), and found one very reasonably priced, two hours’ drive away. We went to fetch it last Sunday.

So I am now the proud owner of a three-phase 180Amp arc welder. Fortunately the aged FIL did not keep his massive collection of welding rods in the same building as the welding machine, so I have a vast selection to choose from. Apart from many different sizes of ordinary steel electrodes, there are also nickel rods (apparently for welding cast iron); stainless steel rods, and (I’d never heard of these before) arc cutting electrodes. These strange beasts are apparently used for cutting through steel, much like a plasma torch.

Of course the arc welding machine is very heavy, and when LSS and I lifted it out of the boot of the Hyundai, I managed to twist my back; so I’ve been out of action for most of the week.

However, I have now managed to test the welding machine out, and the solar panel bracket has now been made and fitted. Whilst I was at it, I made it adjustable; so the solar panel angle can now be set at the optimum angle depending on the season of year. Ignore the extension lead in the next photo; it was to power my electric drill. Note also the myriad of molehills; but I guarantee this particular Moley will not be there for long:

If you want to read some more details about the reedbed solar panel installation, you can have a look at this page: http://www.la-darnoire.com/greywater-reedbed.shtml

And….. (drum roll)….  I’ve made a start on the next book, which should be ready early next year.

Well, I may not make another post before the end of the year, so we’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.

Yesterday I dropped off LSS at Lady A. As mentioned in that linked post, they are off to London for a few days, with LSS having been hired as a travelling companion (read: interpreter). So I’ll be looking after the hens and bunnies on my own for a few days.

Friend V stayed with us for a while in autumn, and we discovered that she delighted in picking berries. We therefore gave her the task of picking blackberries. And mushrooms. And sloes. However, her enthusiasm meant we had a total of 9kg of sloes in the freezer. Which was immediately classified as “full”. And as we were recently given a leg of wild boar by M&O, we had a problem. Either we needed another freezer, or I needed to do some brewing. The latter option was cheaper, therefore the next batch of sloe wine has been started. And as 9kg of sloes was a bit much for one batch of wine, I’ve made some sloe gin as well. The pumpkin beer has now been bottled, but I still have about 50 empty beer bottles in reserve. This is apparently Not a Good Thing, so I’ve started brewing a Belgian dubbel beer.

This morning it was minus 7.2 °C at the solar panel on the roof. So needless to say I have the kitchen range lit!

What else is there? Oh yes, the project. Well, the bathroom walls have been built and insulated, and the light fitting installed (LED of course). Here’s the framework around the bathroom:

The first layer of panelling was then fitted:
A thick layer of hemp insulation was applied as the outer layer of panelling was put in place: (This is the wall between bathroom and toilet. The insulation cost us nothing; the neighbour with the gîte had some left over from one of his construction projects – he runs a construction company).

Today’s task is to fit the ceiling, and then we should be able to have a bath in non-draughty conditions.

I’m not convinced about the tadelakt shower tray; it still seems a bit soft. Still, it would be fairly easy to scrape away the last layer of lime mortar and replace it with mosaic-type tiles. Will have to see how it does once the shower is installed. We’re still awaiting delivery of the shower glass (as the neighbour with the gîte was ordering a batch of glass for another of his construction projects, he very kindly offered to add the shower glass to his order, thus saving us the delivery costs). I think a couple of bottles of pumpkin beer will be headed his way.

The week started on an interesting note. I was in the workshop when LSS came to see me. “The electricity has tripped. Are you using any machines?” I wasn’t, so went back into the house to reset the breaker. I noticed a strange plasticky smell, but didn’t pay too much attention.
Five minutes later, the electricity tripped again. This time there was definitely a smell of burning plastic. A CSI-type investigation ensued, and the culprit was traced to the three-phase main circuit breaker, which had melted.

Fortunately the husband of one of LSS’s cousins is an electrician, and a year or so ago he had given me a cardboard box of unwanted bits and pieces. One of these pieces was an older-style three-phase circuit breaker! This was duly installed, and the electricity switched on again. As you can tell, because I’m typing this on a piece of equipment which requires electricity, the installation was successful. However, I ordered a replacement circuit breaker from the French website I’d used before, Bis-Electric. If you’re in France, I can recommend this company; the part arrived the following day – which, if you’re not in France, is very unusual indeed. Next week when LSS is away giving English lessons, I’ll replace the replacement circuit breaker with the new one. We’re still no wiser regarding the cause of the failure. It could have been a power surge – after all, this is an old farmhouse at the very end of the electricity supply line.

Another trip to Orleans was also undertaken, in order to purchase a tile backing board. You see, the wall next to the bath will be constructed from wooden framing and OSB (Oriented Strand Board). This is easy to install, but after some research, I discovered that it has a disadvantage; you can’t fix ceramic tiles to it. So I purchased a 4mm-thick tile backing board. This will be glued and screwed to the OSB. One can then happily fix tiles to it without any fear of them falling off. And, as you may agree, tiles falling off a wall would not be a Good Thing.

The Aged FIL is now slow-roasting, and is nearly half-baked. In other words, I installed the two wall-mounted panel heaters. A grand total of 3,500 Watts of EDF’s finest electrons are now heating the immediate exterior of the farmhouse and contributing to Global Warming. You see, his house is not insulated. It’s not something he was prepared to do.

Here, the floor tiles have now been grouted, and another coat of sealer applied. Next week: Wall construction! I’ll need to bring the scaffolding into the barn, as I’ve discovered that the stepladder is just too unstable on the newly-sealed floor tiles.

This year’s batch of elderberry wine has finished fermenting, and is now ready for bottling. This will be done today.

And finally, a word regarding last night’s dinner; chicken drumsticks and chips. As is customary in this household, the chips are my department. LSS took care of the chicken. And as the kitchen wood-burning range is now in daily use, the chicken went into its oven.
After twenty minutes or so, LSS removed the dish to turn the drumsticks. She must have been momentarily distracted by something else, but returned the dish to the oven, and informed me that I could commence the chip frying. Twenty minutes later, the chips were done, and she opened the oven.
“BUT! WAIT A MINUTE! WHERE’S MY CHICKEN?” she cried.
I looked. The oven was empty.
“Uh oh.”
She’d put it back into the GAS oven. Which was obviously not in use. I must admit I burst out laughing. Which did not go down too well.
So dinner was a bit … delayed.

Unfortunately the Aged Aunt passed away last Saturday. The funeral was on Wednesday; these things are dealt with pretty quickly here in France.

The cider I mentioned in the last post has now been bottled. We have a grand total of 44 bottles:
Also in the last post I mentioned the shower tray. In the next photo you can see the wooden wedges I made in order to get the floor sloping correctly. I just glued them in place temporarily; once the lime cement had been poured I removed them and filled in the gaps. You can also see the first lot of travertine tiles in place. The circular plastic thing on the right of the photo is the cover for the non-return valve for the shower waste pipe.

The weather has certainly become colder recently, but fortunately all the tiling has now been done – for this year, anyway! I still need to grout the tiles, and according to the weather forecast I should be able to do this on Wednesday next week. We’ll see. Here’s what they look like – they have been sealed with a breathable sealer:

I’ve also insulated the bathroom roof. Not that it’s made much of a difference when having a bath though; after all there aren’t any walls yet – and the wind whistles through the gaps in the wooden barn door! Never mind, the situation will improve shortly…

A brief interval to show a photo of today’s breakfast:
The only thing not locally produced was the baked beans…

One of the Aged FIL’s myriad of little electric heaters has given up the ghost, so there’s something else which has been added to my To-Do list; installing two wall-mounted panel heaters in his house. His current heaters were not really designed to be on 24 hours out of every 24 – I’m surprised they’ve lasted this long. Anyway, at the time his household electricity was being upgraded after the fire, LSS had the foresight to ask the electrician to install two heavy-duty plugs for wall-mounted panel heaters. Of course the Aged FIL was very cross about this. “I DON’T NEED ANY HEATERS!” Fortunately we didn’t listen. Now he’s complaining he’s cold. The National Grid shareholders are rubbing their hands together in anticipation, as the company will soon be able to afford cases of champagne for their meetings.

One final thing – I used an ordinary car battery for our reedbed solar-panel-supplied sump pump. It’s lasted a year and a half, but has now unfortunately given up. I now know why you shouldn’t use a car battery for this sort of installation; the lead plates in its construction are too thin, and cannot withstand the slow charge and discharge of a solar panel system. We’ve thus ordered a replacement 80Ah Deep Cycle AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) battery. These have much thicker lead plates, and are better suited to the job. Just thought you’d like to know.

So, a few progress photos are in order, I think…

However, before we get to these, LSS lit the kitchen woodstove this morning for the first time this season, as the kitchen was feeling somewhat chilly. Autumn is now here. Which means, of course, that the pressure has been on in order to get any plastering or mortaring finished before the temperature dips below five degrees. (This adversely affects the set of the lime mortar). But I’m pleased to announce that the plastering has now been completed. Not the entire barn, of course, but the brick walls of the bathroom and toilet:

In the foreground you can see a gas heater which we bought for €20. It dates from the 1950’s, and still works. I renewed the gas pipe though! Oh, and the more eagle-eyed among you will notice that the area above the windows is not yet plastered; this will be done once the ceiling is in place! (Actually I’m not too sure whether I should say “plastered” or “rendered”. No “plaster” has been used; it’s a mixture of hydraulic lime and sand.)

Next week I can start laying the floor; so hopefully this task will be completed before it starts to get really cold.

It’s also been a busy time of year harvest-wise. The garden has produced well in excess of 50kg of tomatoes. So we’ve been having stuffed tomatoes, tomato soup, tomato salad, tomato sauce… you get the idea. We’ve frozen over twenty ears of sweetcorn. Unfortunately the potato crop hasn’t been brilliant, so it looks like there won’t be enough to see us through until the next season. I guess we’ll have to eat more pasta instead. The parsnips didn’t grow at all this year, so unfortunately there won’t be any parsnip wine. Melons did well though. Oh – and I mustn’t forget to mention the mushrooms; we’ve collected a couple of baskets of these little morsels too. And as it’s now hunting season again, some bits of wild boar have joined all the frozen vegetables in the freezer.

Yesterday I picked our watermelon. Yes, we have one. Just one. But it’s fairly large! LSS is now making more use of the polytunnel, and has produced several pots of sweet chilli sauce; these plants did particularly well in there.

The tree opposite our driveway yielded a few apples this month – but not enough to make any cider. However, LSS occasionally buys some grain for the hens from a nearby farmer, whom I shall call D.S. because those are his initials. Anyway, his apple trees were simply loaded, and the ground underneath was covered with fallen fruit. She asked him if we could have a few; and being a decent sort of chap, he said we could have as many as we wanted, because he didn’t have the time to pick any. He’s nearly seventy, and still farming, although he says he’s about to retire. Well, we must have picked up at least 300kg of apples. Not all in one go, of course!

Many years ago, LSS’s grandfather gave D.S. a seedling, and the tree is now producing huge red apples. They’re quite nice but taste a bit floury. The little tree which I rescued from the orchard (it had originally been planted by the aged FIL, but he had tied it tightly to a supporting stake with nylon baling twine and then neglected it – so it was nearly dead) has produced its first crop – a grand total of six apples. They’re large, golden-red, and very tasty.

So we now have approximately 35 litres of apple cider fermenting quietly in a corner. And we also have three 120-litre plastic barrels full of crushed apples, fermenting quietly away in the garage. These will be turned into apple brandy by a local distiller (the aged FIL has a permit to do this).

On the husbandry front, Mrs. Bunny produced 4 kits in the first week of September, and they opened their eyes this week. It’s the second time in a row she’s had such a small litter. Well, it just means she’ll be visiting Mr. Bunny a bit more often! I’m now up to date with tanning; I have 36 rabbit pelts in a cardboard box. Perhaps this winter I’ll cut them into furry strips so that they can later be woven into a bedspread.

A while ago I had mentioned that the signpost in front of the property was looking a bit worse for wear. The “D” had become illegible, so for a while now we’ve been living at “La arnoire”. Well, LSS painted a new sign on a piece of board. The dot over the “i” is actually a hole in the board. It looks good, though:

The old sign will be re-painted and then placed at the other entrance to the property.

Back to the bathroom project – I have constructed a framework to hold the suspended ceiling. It will be insulated with glass fibre, and then I will install some white pvc panels. The VMC (air extractor vent) is already in place.

Although it doesn’t look straight, the new wooden beam is, actually, dead level. And square. The roof beams aren’t. Oh, and this photo was obviously taken before the plastering was done!

Some wooden wedges have also been made for the shower floor. These have a 1:100 slope and should enable me to create a shower floor which drains properly. I don’t have a photo of this yet, but it’s on the cards…

Of course the plastering of the bathroom walls meant that the bathtub had to be moved out of the way. As a temporary measure I connected a garden hose to the hot water supply so it can still be used. A length of pvc pipe was connected between the outlet and the drainpipe, and sealed with silicone sealant. However, I have a suspicion that until the mortar for the bathroom floor tiles has properly set, the old faithful “bathtub in our garden” may well have to be returned to use in the kitchen!

Finally, we’ve been watching some of the Rugby World Cup 2015 on the laptop. I don’t support any one team in particular, but I do like watching Wales, The All Blacks, Namibia, Australia, France, and England. And the Springboks, of course.

Some of you may be wondering what has been happening with the Aged FIL. Nothing much, is the answer. Unfortunately LSS made the mistake of chatting to one of the carers in range of his hearing, and told her all about my sister’s visit last month, which was followed by a friend staying with us for two weeks. The following day the Aged FIL complained he had toothache, and wanted a dentist.
LSS called the dentist the following day, and unfortunately (because it was August) found that she was on holiday; returning the first week of September. So LSS called the doctor to come and have a look at him and prescribe some painkillers. Unfortunately the doctor was on holiday as well, so the Aged FIL received a visit from the locum. Who diagnosed gingivitis, and an extreme case of tartar. A prescription for mouthwash was dispensed, as was some advice for better dental hygiene.
The following day one of the carers presented him with a toothbrush she had found in a cupboard. “What’s that thing?” the aged FIL asked. “It’s a toothbrush. For brushing your teeth,” she replied.
“I can’t use that. You can brush my teeth for me.”
“Oh no I blooming well won’t! You’re quite capable of brushing your own teeth!”
In discussion with LSS, the carer related that she had had gingivitis in the past, and apparently it was so painful that she was unable to eat.
The thing is, the aged FIL is still eating quite happily, so his toothache can’t be that bad. LSS will speak to the dentist again once the holiday season is over, and see what needs to be done. The problem is that we’ve been down this route before.
Make appointment? Check.
Get doctor’s prescription for ambulance? Check.
Arrange for ambulance to take the aged FIL to the appointment? Check.
Ambulance arrives at the appointed hour? Check.
Followed by:
The aged FIL changing his mind and saying “I’m not going.”

Wildlife diary: LSS and I were watching a video on the laptop after supper (we don’t have television). As it had been a cloudy day, the boiler stove had been lit to heat up the water. This meant that the lounge was rather warm, so the door through to the barn had been left open. We were suddenly joined by another animal. It fluttered across the lounge ceiling, flew into the kitchen, and then back again. It was a bat! LSS hurriedly opened the lounge window and I opened the kitchen door. All in vain; it flew back into the barn the same way it came in. Still, we’re quite pleased we have bats. Even if we don’t have a belfry.

As promised, this week I’ve uploaded some photos of the window installation.

Firstly, the roof beams were supported by using an acrow prop. I was then able to install the concrete lintel. Obviously I had to move the bath out of the way first! Once the lintel was in place I could then remove the bricks below it; those which were unbroken will be re-used elsewhere. It was interesting to find that these bricks were of a lesser quality than those found in the house itself; the barn was obviously a later (cheaper) addition!

The first window was then fitted in place. But although I had carefully measured beforehand, it just didn’t look right:

So we decided to lower it by two brick courses. This meant that there was now a gap between the lintel and the window, but this was simply filled in with lime mortar. I obviously constructed a wooden frame first, then poured the lime mortar into the gaps between the frame and the brickwork. Once the mortar had set, I removed the frame. Ignore the grey tubing on the left of the photo above; this was a temporary vent for the Separett dry toilet.

The same installation procedure was then carried out on the second and third windows. Here’s the final result:

Now I need to start constructing the suspended ceiling for the bathroom; once the framework for that is in place I can render the walls. And once the walls have been rendered, I can start using some of our lovely travertine tiles for the floor! Watch this space…

Just a brief post today, as I’m sure you’ve been wondering about the silence. You see, we’ve had a friend staying with us for the past two weeks, so I haven’t had much time for Internet-based stuff. I have however managed to install the three new windows in the barn.

We did buy 45m² of travertine tiles, and these have now been delivered. We actually got them at half price, because as luck would have it, the colour we wanted was on a clearance sale.

The old refrigerator has now been converted into a smoker. I made a smoke generator using a small aquarium pump, and have already tested it. Now we just need to get some cuts of meat and we’re good to go!

Prior to the friend’s arrival, LSS cut the grass and brush in the alleyways around the property with the tractor. Unfortunately I then had to carry out sundry repairs:
– The cab side window glass became loose and had started falling out, so I inserted a rivet and large washer to hold the glass in place.
– The oil cap has gone missing, so a piece of cloth has been stuffed into the oil filler hole and covered with a plastic bag, all held in place with some wire (until such time as the village tractor shop can order a replacement filler cap).
– The diesel fuel filter drain plug was knocked off, possibly by a springing branch. This meant the diesel consumption was considerably higher than normal due to the leak. New fuel filters have now been fitted, and instead of the plastic drain plug I fitted an M8 bolt which should not be dislodged as easily.
– A low-hanging branch had knocked off the exhaust pipe. This has now been repaired.
– And another low-hanging branch smashed the air pre-cleaner bowl. A replacement was purchased and installed. And at the same time I straightened the air cleaner pipe which had been bent to a 45 degree angle. I also changed the air filter. The aged FIL had written the date on the old one when he last changed it. 1998.

The good news is that we have not had any punctured tyres since I installed the tyre sealant (http://la-darnoire.com/blog/2014/09/16092014.html).

More news will follow next week, hopefully with some photos of the barn windows…

The latest batch of beer has now been bottled. Now unfortunately I need to wait at least two weeks before I know if it’s any good or not!

LSS and I took advantage of the low water level in the pond to reinforce one of the eroded banks. We used old tyres which we filled with bricks and rubble left over from the creation of the doorways into the barn. Any bricks which were undamaged were put in a separate pile; these will be re-used for constructing an external cupboard next to the kitchen. This will contain the gas cylinder used for the cooker, and the upper part will hold ready-use firewood which will be accessed through a hatchway in the kitchen wall. Once this is in place we will be able to get rid of the current wood cupboard in the kitchen, which will free up quite a bit of floor space!

Once the first level of tyres were in place, we backfilled the gaps using the soil/clay which we had dug out of the barn when laying the new limecrete floor. Then the next layer of tyres/rubble/soil went in. All in all we installed four layers of tyres, and the bank of the pond is already looking better. There is one final section still to do, but the pond is deeper there so we’ll need to wait for the water level to drop a bit more. One thing we’re pleased about is that the greywater reedbed empties its cleaned, filtered water into the pond; if we had not installed it this way the pond would probably have dried up completely by now.

I have also poured the reinforced concrete lintels for three of the four windows in the barn. I’m keeping the concrete damp for a week by spraying it with water daily. This helps to ensure that the concrete sets more slowly, and is therefore stronger. Next week I’ll remove the concrete from the wooden boxes and we’ll see whether the casting was any good. When pouring concrete, it’s important that it’s vibrated in order to get rid of any air bubbles and to ensure it’s properly compacted. I used my reciprocating saw (without a blade, obviously!) to give the concrete those good vibrations. I simply ran the foot of the saw along all sides of the wooden box until air bubbles stopped appearing at the top of the concrete.

A while ago I had seen that the aged FIL’s neighbour had an old refrigerator in one of his sheds. On the way to check the contents of the aged FIL’s postbox we stopped there for a brief chat, and asked him about it. He replied that it was no longer working, and was waiting until such time as he could take it to the dump. I asked if we could have it, and he was quite happy to say we could. So I now have an old refrigerator which I’m going to convert into a cold smoker; both to smoke some rabbit pelts (as an experiment; apparently wood-smoked skins are more waterproof) and possibly some cuts of meat. I already have lots of oak woodchips, courtesy of the chainsaw!

We also recovered an old bathroom sink and pedestal from the aged FIL’s shed. LSS cleaned it up, and it looks quite presentable; we’ll be able to use it in our own bathroom. It just needs a new tap and drain. And once it’s installed I’ll be able to stop using a rechargeable shaver!

We haven’t yet had a chance to look for the travertine floor tiles; but we’re going on Tuesday next week. As the place is near Tours we’ll stop there and have lunch with a friend of ours.

And finally, our next-door neighbours are on holiday next week, and kindly offered us the use of their swimming pool whilst they were away. Of course no sooner was this offer made, than the weather turned grey and overcast. Typical.