La Darnoire

It’s been raining rather a lot recently; so because of the lack of sunshine we’ve had to light the boiler stove to keep the water temperature up.

The electricians have now finished their work at the aged FIL; there is now hot water on tap in the house for the first time since it was built. There is also a new three-phase plug in the attached garage. This may sound inconsequential, but it’s very useful. You see, this is where the grain used to be crushed for feeding the cows. On a steel two-wheeled frame sits a powerful three-phase motor.

This is attached by a three-metre long canvas drive belt to a grain crusher, mounted on a wooden frame. If you’ve ever read The Adventures of Tintin: Red Rackham’s Treasure, you’ll know exactly what the machine looks like. It’s illustrated in the part where Thomson and Thompson visit a farmer friend for a holiday, and end up turning the handle of this contraption. Except this one does not actually have a handle. Why am I mentioning this? Well, as previously stated, our neighbour T&M has caught the home-brewing bug, and now makes his own beer. Whereas I tend to use the kits in a tin (because they are so much easier), he has purchased several sacks of malted barley. This needs to be crushed before the beer-making process can begin; so several times a month he pays us a visit in order to use the machine.

Before the fire, this was not an issue. However, since the failure of the electricity supply, the only way to operate the grain-crushing machine was by hand. And due to the lack of a handle, this meant manually pulling the drive belt. Which, I can assure you, is a fairly exhausting job. So now that the three-phase motor is operational again, the grain-crushing should be a lot less tiring!

Quite a lot of unrelated things have occurred recently. So let’s start with a progress report on the renovations here.

The construction work on the outside shower is nearly complete. The original corrugated-iron roof sloped from front to back, which meant that one could not stand upright at the rear wall, which is where the shower will be located. I removed the roof (not a major operation, as it consisted of two small corrugated-iron sheets), and used my bricklaying skills to increase the height of the rear and side walls so that the roof will now slope from back to front. I’ve used recycled bricks taken from the collapsed garage at the aged FIL. All that remains to be done is to reinstall the corrugated-iron panels, pour the concrete for the shower pan, and then plaster the walls. The shower can then be installed.

I surveyed the remaining plumbing requirements for the rest of the house (future bathroom, etc.) and we went to BricoDepot to purchase the copper pipes and relevant fittings. I decided to stick with copper pipes rather than PEX tubing; although it’s more expensive, it will last longer and there will be less danger of rats gnawing the pipework. Not that we have many rats or mice around of course, as the cat has been hard at work, but prevention is better than cure. We also purchased a small electric cement mixer which will come in handy for when the barn floor is laid. The aged FIL does have a cement mixer; but it’s tractor-powered. This would have been fine, except the only way to tilt the barrel to pour the cement into a wheelbarrow is by climbing inside the tractor and operating one of the hydraulic levers. In other words it would be a two-man operation.

LSS has cut the majority of the grass around the property with the tractor, including the horse paddock. The weeds and grass along the line of the electric fence need to be tidied up with the strimmer; I made a start using this but was driven off by horsefly attacks. I need to fabricate some sort of horsefly trap as these nasty biting creatures are out in force this summer. Either that or I need a suit of armour. In the interim, LSS intends to talk to the horsey people in Lamotte Beuvron to see if there is any product which works as a horsefly repellent.

The weather has been fairly sunny recently apart from a few overcast or rainy days, during which we’ve lit the boiler stove. Since the installation of the solar thermal panel, we’ve only needed to light the stove three times. In fact due to the strong sunshine yesterday the temperature at the top of the thermal store reached 59.8 degrees. I have now installed a small swing-gate valve in the solar circuit and this would seem to have solved the convective heat loss problem; the pump is also not switching on as frequently. I have taken advantage of the fact that we don’t need to light the boiler stove daily, and swept the stove pipe. It was badly in need of cleaning! However, we should really have a chimney liner installed. This should improve the draught and decrease the buildup of soot and creosote. LSS will telephone the local chimney sweep to get a quote for this, as it’s not something I’m comfortable doing. We don’t have a ladder long enough to reach the top of the chimney anyway!

Wildlife diary: We now have a juvenile black-crowned night heron visiting our pond on a fairly regular basis. Other wildlife news: it appeared that a fox had started visiting the garden during the night; the bucket of water-soaked bread for the chickens which is left outside overnight has been discovered on its side a few times, with some of the bread eaten. It was highly unlikely that the cat had done this, and a hedgehog would not be able to tip over the bucket; so a fox is the most likely culprit. LSS actually saw one near the aged FIL’s house the other day. And as we have rabbits, these would also be highly attractive to an animal of vulpine nature. Unfortunately the live trap we have is too small to catch a fox.

A couple of days later, identification was certain; it was definitely a fox. We now have only seven chickens remaining; I found the remains of number eight in Sloe Alley. That’s the end of their free ranging I think; it’s a good thing they have a fairly large hen coop. They’re not too happy about being shut in; but we’d rather not lose them all.

The team of electricians – including LSS’s cousin – arrived earlier this week to make a start on the upgrade of the aged FIL’s house. (LSS is still not talking to him, as he has once again reverted to being unpleasant). Today the team leader took LSS to one side to inform her that the aged FIL is constantly interrupting them by calling for the head of the team to attend him at his bedside, where he asks for progress updates, and then does not like what he hears. For example, as soon as the electrician explained that they had completed the installation of the small hot water cylinder in the scullery, the aged FIL became very cross.

“I don’t want any hot water cylinders. Take it away. And I don’t want the distribution board mounted in the kitchen either. I also don’t want all these plug sockets all over the place.” Of course at this stage, what he thinks he wants is irrelevant; he’d already read and signed the quote, and the hot water cylinder is not strictly for him anyway. It’s to save time for the carers who give him his daily wash. Once the hot water cylinder is up and running, they will no longer have to wait for the kettle on the gas ring. And the distribution board is not being mounted in the kitchen (although this would be the most practical place for it). According to the aged FIL’s previous wishes, it’s being put in the small outbuilding next to the house, which used to be his “office”.

The reason he doesn’t want it installed in the kitchen is because of the fire risk. He firmly maintains that these modern distribution boards burst into flames on a regular basis. Unlike the old style distribution boards, which never catch fire. Oh, wait – the recently burnt-down garage doesn’t count, of course. The fact that if, in the unlikely event that the new distribution board does burst into flames, the fire will not be immediately noticeable because it’s in a different building, escapes him. Of course, this also means that if one of the circuit breakers trips, one needs to go outside and into the other building in order to turn it on again. Oh well, we don’t live there so it’s no skin off our noses.

He’s also not happy with the routing of the electrical conduits. He did not want them inside the house running through walls. So the only other option was for the electricians to run them from the distribution board into the upper floor. From there they descend through the ceiling to each plug point or light switch. Of course the aged FIL doesn’t like this plan either. “I don’t want conduits running around all over the floor upstairs, it will be untidy.” Too late; and it’s not like he’s going to be climbing the external ladder to visit the upper floor anyway.

The most recent thing that has annoyed him is the new light-bulb in the kitchen. The old one used to be mounted on some sort of pulley system, so that one could pull it down from the ceiling to illuminate whatever it was you were doing. This was absolutely essential, as it was a 40-watt bulb; and if it was in its upper retracted position you could barely see anything in the gloom. Of course this has all been removed and a relatively bright 60-watt bulb has taken its place. Which the aged FIL is unhappy about. “It’s not bright enough.”

Right, one 500-watt light bulb coming up.

Well, the work should all be completed by Tuesday next week. The aged FIL may well decide he is not going to sign the cheque, in which case LSS will simply draw out cash from his account to pay the bill.

We’ve also received one quote for the rebuilding of the burnt-down garage. We’re still waiting for quotes from two other companies; it’s been over a month since these have been promised and LSS has chased them both by email and telephonically without result.

Becoming slightly worried, she spoke to the insurance company about the delay. Apparently, there’s no need to rush; they allow a period of two years to elapse before the file is closed. The builders obviously know that. But we’ll simply ask two other companies for quotes. It does delay things a bit though.

Carglass turned up today to replace the rear window on the Renault 5. And, as luck would have it, we received another free gift for using their services! It was a voucher for a free car wash at a Total garage. Unfortunately there are no Total garages in the immediate area, but as LSS travels through quite a few towns to give English lessons, I have no doubt she’ll be able to find one somewhere.

Yesterday this years’ batch of parsnip wine was bottled (18 bottles). We should be able to drink it at Christmas.

The lunchtime post included a recorded letter from HSBC stating that my account could not be closed until they were in receipt of my bank cards and chequebook. (Despite HSBC having stated that they did not need these returned!) As LSS had the afternoon off, we drove to Argent-sur-Sauldre where I handed in the items, and had my recorded letter signed and stamped to the effect that the items had been received. Now we wait. Again.

Wildlife diary: A day late, but better late than never. Yesterday morning we saw some movement on the other side of the fence past the pond. The binoculars were employed, and I counted nineteen wild boar – about seven large ones; and the rest were youngsters.

As promised, here’s a report back on the carp. After it had been frozen for a week, LSS cooked it in the oven using a stuffed carp recipe. Mixed results: I’m pleased to report that there was no muddy taste; in fact the taste was very nice indeed. Only one problem remained: all the tiny little bones. Now if anyone knows of a way to get rid of these please let me know!

On the renovation front I’ve made a start on the conversion of the little outhouse which used to be the external toilet; it’s going to be used as an outside shower room. I’ve bricked up a large hole in the end wall which was apparently used to empty the latrine bucket, and have turned my thoughts towards waterproof render. Because one wall of the outhouse is the exterior wall of the barn, this wall needs to be made waterproof, and yet remain breathable. I don’t particularly want to use ceramic tiles as they’re not that cheap. So I wondered, “How did the Romans do this sort of thing? They were very fond of baths, but did not have access to modern chemicals for waterproofing, and I don’t recall seeing glazed ceramic tiles on the walls in Aquae Sulis.” (Today this city is called Bath, of course.)

Well, after a bit of research I discovered a process called tadelakt. Originating in Morocco, it uses hydraulic lime. In simple terms, the wall is rendered with the lime (which can be coloured), and then floated smooth. Before it’s totally dry, a soap paste is rubbed into the surface and then polished with a flat stone. The chemical reaction between the lime and the soap forms a compound called calcium stearate (which repels water). So I’m keen to give this a try.

I’ve also finished constructing an extension to the woodshed complex; there are now three large bays, so this should be sufficient space for all our firewood needs. Now I just need to collect more fallen trees/branches; there are still some at the aged FIL’s farm.

The solar panel is still working fine; if we have three overcast/partly cloudy days in succession the thermal store does not quite get up to a satisfactory temperature for sufficiently hot water; but then lighting the boiler stove for an hour (three or four logs of wood suffice) is enough to bring the thermal store back up to a comfortable level (over 50 degrees). We’ve only had to do this once since the solar panel was commissioned. However, I have noticed a slight design flaw. Once the sun is no longer hitting the panel, the temperature of the panel drops. No, this is not the design flaw. The design flaw is that after a while, the panel temperature starts rising again whilst the temperature of the bottom of the tank falls. This is very gradual; about 0.1 °C every few minutes. Because the panel is higher than the thermal store, I think that convection is occurring within the pipe.
Although the positive aspect of this is that the panel will not freeze during winter, it does mean that the thermal store is losing more heat than I’d like. I will therefore install a swing check valve in the pipework where the heated solar water enters the heat exchanger, and see if this makes a difference. I will also be adding some insulation to the PEX pipework.

LSS decided to cut the grass with the petrol-powered lawnmower. All went well for a while until she moved into the courtyard, where there is quite a bit of gravel.

The lawnmower blade contacted one of these small stones, and propelled it outwards at great speed. Straight through the rear window of the Renault 5.
“Hello, insurance company? Um, you replaced the windscreen of the Renault 5 earlier this year.”
“Yes, that’s right, we have your details here.”
“And then you replaced the driver’s door window on my father’s Citroen.”
“Yes, why?”
“Well, I hate to tell you this, but the Renault 5 needs a new rear window.”
“!”

From now on when she cuts the grass, all vehicles will be removed to a safe distance. And the house window shutters will be closed first!

In the afternoon we had a visit from the purchaser of an old farm trailer which LSS had listed for sale. It’s capable of carrying 5.5 tons, and weighs 1.3 tons empty. We’re never going to use it.

The chap turned up with a large truck, and it was my job to put the trailer onto the lorry using the purchaser’s ramps. These had seen better days, and were incredibly bent. Fortunately the tractor has a towbar attachment at the front as well as the rear, so I found it much easier to push the trailer up the ramps instead of having to reverse it on! Now we’re just waiting for the purchaser of the non-running JCB to come and collect it (we’re selling it for parts; it would be too expensive to repair, which is a pity). That should be the last of the large equipment. But there is still more stuff which needs to go, including a fertilizer spreader, sprayer, cement mixer, branch chopper, and possibly an hydraulic log splitter. Not all of it is working, so some of it could well go to scrap.

The aged FIL and LSS have had a bit of a falling-out. About a week ago he decided he wanted his “office” cleared, ready for the installation of the new electricity supply therein. He didn’t want the control board in the kitchen (which is where the electrician proposed it was installed) because of the risk of fire. (?) He would rather have it in his office (which is a padlocked room adjacent to the house). Don’t ask. LSS informed him that she didn’t have time to do it straight away, but would get around to it well before the electrical work was due to be done (we still don’t have a date). Unfortunately this was not good enough, so the aged FIL called Mr. M (the woodcutter) to ask him to do it.

Last Sunday (the day after he had helped us install the solar panel), Mr. M came around to discuss the aged FIL’s request with LSS. He said that unfortunately he did not know where to put any of the stuff which was gathering dust in the office, so LSS had no option but to go to the aged FIL’s farm and help. This took most of the morning (and she had planned on working in the vegetable garden instead). The office is now empty; we have lots of paper for wood-stove lighting, and LSS has not spoken to the aged FIL since. She still takes him his shopping, but doesn’t say a word.

Speaking of gardening, the vegetable garden has come on leaps and bounds. We have 15 rows of potatoes (over 300 plants) and rows of beetroot, parsnips, carrots, courgettes, beans, and peas (which have already produced pods). Watermelons and tomatoes are also present, as are lettuces and apparently cucumbers. For the first time LSS seeded some pumpkins and sweetcorn, and there’s some rhubarb in one corner. So she has done a lot of work!

Since the completion of the solar panel installation a couple of days ago I’ve felt at a bit of a loss. Not that I’m short of things to do; the woodstore needs extending (and more wood needs to be cut). I need to create a gate in the back fence, increase the height of the roof in the outside shower, and create a panel wall for the future corridor into the barn. But I haven’t been idle; the woodchipper has converted a pile of branches into wood chips for the compost, the elderflower champagne has been bottled, and the parsnip wine has been racked – fermentation has nearly finished!

And the solar panel is still producing heat for the thermal store. Even though today was partly cloudy, the water temperature at the top of the store is 52.6 degrees.

What a day! We finally have solar-heated hot water! In the morning I filled the solar panel loop with 8 litres of antifreeze (propylene glycol) and connected the rest of the wiring for the controller board. Unfortunately there was some air in the system, so this entailed switching the pump off for a while in order to let the air bubbles rise into the expansion tank. During this time the temperature of the solar panel rose to a massive 92°C.

I then experimented with different pump speeds. It’s a Laing D5 Vario 12V pump, and has five speed settings. After some trial and error, I found that pump speed 3 provided the best all-round operation. Speed 5 was cooling the panel too quickly.

I also discovered that one of the temperature gauges had failed, so I swapped a couple of gauges around so that the non-working one was the least important reading (the room temperature of the upstairs area).

In the afternoon I bottled this year’s batch of Elderflower Champagne, but I could not resist peeking at the control panel every so often to see the changing temperatures in the thermal store!

Yesterday LSS bought a second-hand wardrobe for €20; we went to fetch it with the trailer. We’ll be able to save a bit of space in the bedroom by using the wardrobe instead of the long free-standing clothes rail which we currently have. And space needs to be saved; the bedroom will become smaller shortly when I start constructing the corridor to the barn.

Wildlife diary: A very strange-looking bird was stalking around the edges of the pond in the morning. Some swift research revealed it to be a black-crowned night heron – the first one we’ve seen!

As yesterday was extremely hot and sunny, we had a barbecue in the evening, followed by bowls of strawberries. Food miles travelled by strawberries: approximately 1 metre. (There’s a large flower pot near the barbecue, and the strawberries therein have really produced nice fruit this year).

We also did a spot of fishing in the pond. The result was four decent-sized carp (around 1kg each). We are going to try putting them in the freezer for a couple of weeks in the hope that this will remove the muddy taste. I’ll report back on the results! After all, during medieval times carp were an important food source; and if they didn’t taste very nice I’m sure they would not have been so popular.

We had also arranged for Mr. M (Neighbour J’s brother) to come and give us a hand in the afternoon with putting the solar panel onto the roof. He’s a woodcutter by trade, and a very helpful chap in general; but we don’t see very much of him so I don’t think he qualifies for his own abbreviation entry in the list to the right!

He arrived just after lunch, followed by T&M. The solar panel was carried from the barn and placed on the ladders without incident. Unfortunately hoisting it up the ladders onto the roof did not go as smoothly. Due to the heat, the bituminous paint with which I had coated the underside of the frame started sticking to the ladders, so it was no easy task sliding it along these. Still, it got there in the end at the cost of a few rope blisters (mine), and the solar panel is now mounted on the roof. It had been up there for less than half an hour when steam started escaping from the connectors at the ends of the copper tubing (there was still some water left in the panel from the pressure testing). The connectors had purposefully not been fully tightened, and were already far too hot to touch! Unfortunately I won’t be able to connect everything up tomorrow as we’re going to a restaurant in Salbris for the annual reunion lunch with LSS’s cousins. Hopefully on Monday! But a heartfelt thanks to both Mr. M and T&M for their assistance.

Just a short post today. As it’s the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2720920/POWELL,%20WILLIAM%20GERALD

He would have been my uncle.