A Water Tight Roof, and Babies Too

We made a conscious decision, and of course a financial one, to arrange for our furniture to be taken out of storage and to be delivered to us. We had kept it there far longer than we intended, and were paying a monthly fee for the privilege, so we arranged the date for about six weeks away, which gave us time to complete the roof on the larger of the two extensions, and make a water tight storage area.

Various friends helped us with this, which was great, and gave us a huge boost. There were a couple of weeks, when we had to cover the volige (in the UK, you would call them roofing sheets) with tarpaulin to save it from the typical Brittany weather and tiling here is not done in the same way as in England, so like the electrics, you need to understand, and get your head around the different methods.

When we were at this stage Ryan flew over to stay for a few days. It was his first visit here, so like when Tom visited earlier in the year, I'm sure it was a bit of a shock for him to see how we were living, but Ryan was prepared to 'muck in' and help.  He loved it here - the peace and quiet, the complete darkness at night, the animals, and the general lifestyle. First job though, was to buy him some wellies - always a priority here ! There was a good amount of father/son bonding time on this visit - building and painting new animal housing, cutting trees down, burning rubbish etc. We took him to the market at Chateauneuf de Faou and were disappointed that we weren't able to buy some more chickens, but discovered that they aren't available over the winter months - it seems sensible and obvious to us now, but we were still novices ourselves. It was disappointing when it was time for him to leave, but I'm sure he'll be back ! And of course, he will see the changes that have been made since the last visit.

As we were approaching Christmas, thoughts turned to presents and cards, and the difficulty and cost of finding appropriate items here to send back. I discovered a couple of suitable websites for cards, and use the Internet for presents now. It doesn't have the same personal touch though, which is a shame. I enjoy taking a trip to Ikea in Brest, as they always have a good variety and stock of useful items and their Christmas displays are lovely. I've been a few times with girl friends and enjoyed a pleasant lunch there too.

Craig desperately wanted to buy a tractor to help with the workload, and found one on E Bay, that we had shipped over here - cheaper than we could buy one here ! It was to be a bit of a project for when Craig had nothing to do !!!

We had our first babies - one of the rabbits produced her first litter. We were delighted, but couldn't see them as she had covered them with fur and straw. It was several days before we could count them, and about another two weeks before they started moving around their cage. How exciting though.

Right - the roof was sorted, so if Craig could get the floor laid in the extension, then we would be on track for the furniture .....

 

 

He did it.....just in time for the delivery. It was a huge amount of pressure on him, but he got there. Floor laid, and ceiling joists in place. I am very proud of him !

 

 



It gave us the opportunity to see the view we will have from the lounge when we are in there (and when it the building materials are cleared !), through the French doors....

 

 

How exciting it is all becoming.

Getting Closer to Watertight

Once the walls were well on the way to being completed, thoughts turned to the roof. Craig is not a great lover of heights, so we contemplated getting professional help - that is, until we had some quotes !! There were various options open to us - someone to do the job completely, maybe just the trusses, or perhaps the tiling. In the end, the decisions were made based on the finances, as is often the case. To have the trusses made and delivered would necessitate the need for a crane - and the costs incurred, so Craig called upon his professional knowledge, books and the Internet, and decided to do the work himself. It was hard and stressful at times, but as progress was being made - all worthwhile !

The larger, lounge 'end' is taking shape...

 

The whole house looks huge now - our elderly French neighbour asks if we are going to open it as a bar or a night club !



 

Craig is understandably proud of his work, and the fact that he is working so high despite his fears....

 



 

The inside of the roof looks great, almost a shame to hide it...

 



 

 

The local Fete du Beurre (Butter Fair) is an interesting afternoon out. It is held annually in the village next to ours - St Herbot - with many stalls - clog making, basket weaving, honey, butter (of course), cheese, cider making, Breton dancing etc. It is very well attended, and a good place to take visitors.

One issue that always tugs at the heart strings when you are away from home, is when members of the family are ill. At that point, the distance seems huge, and you feel very useless. Thank goodness for the telephone and Internet ! We have over time had various members of the family in hospital, so have had to rely on other people to give us updates and progress reports. It is a big tug on the heart strings though.

Our daily routines are often interrupted by visitors, which is great (most of the time !), and gives us the opportunity to stop, have a cup of tea, and catch up. It is nice to think that people are made to feel welcome enough to return for another visit - maybe it's the cakes that I have time to bake now ! We have made some good friends here - who can be relied on when we need help, and who we are more than happy to help out when they need us. The tendency is to gravitate towards the English speakers, understandably, but we have tried to integrate as much as we are able, and we are on speaking terms with all the French neighbours, and have been invited for coffee and aperitifs by them, on many occasions. We know that they are always there to help us too, and have in fact done that every time we have asked.

Days Out But Still Continuing Progress

One of our favourite trips out is to the annual Onion Fair (Fete de l'oignon) in Roscoff. During the
whole weekend, various activities are held: including an Onion Market, a demonstration of onion braids, a display of old tractors and old tools, cider and bread making and other street events.

The onions for the annual festival are supplied as bulk or braided, both organic and traditionally grown. It is also possible to taste bread with stewed onions, onion pie, bread stuffed with onion and of course the inevitable onion soup. Traditionally, the red onions were distributed across the sea, by the 'Onion Johnnys' who carried the onions in braids on their bicycles, and sold from door to door in England. I had never heard of this, but when I spoke of it to my Dad, he remembered their visits !

 

We always buy some of the produce to show our support, although we now grow our own of course, and proudly braid and hang them in the kitchen.

 

 

It's always a lovely day out, and something we have done every year so far.

Another annual fair that we try to go to, is the street fair in Commana. It is very traditional, with animals - horses, chickens, rabbits, even kittens being sold, stalls selling cheeses, meats, craft items, and also fairground rides. We bought a male rabbit to add to the growing collection, and named him Roger !

About this time too, we further added to our growing menagerie, as a neighbour very kindly donated four very sweet, quite tiny ducklings - be warned, they grow - very quickly ! Two were bigger, but she persuaded us to have the two smaller ones too, as they had been 'adopted' by the bigger ones. The funny thing about the ducks, and the other birds we have had over the last couple of years too, is that it becomes a little battle to get them into their houses at night and close them in. They learn after about a week what they have to do, but until then, we have to allow ourselves time to chase them around the pens and under the houses. Sometimes, we have to 'handball' them in to start with, until they become used to the routine. All good fun !

So, with these, and the rabbits, and the dog, we were starting to feel like a little smallholding....

 

The building work was continuing at a good pace too. We had a delivery of concrete in the pouring rain - not one of our better days ! I think to be honest, that to say it was pouring, was an understatement - it was torrential, and thundering at the same time. For those of you who know about these things, you will understand the dilemma, and the frustration that Craig felt at this point. He felt that we had just wasted best part of 1000 Euros, but he did manage to salvage the situation in the end.

Once the floors were dried, the walls started to go up, and luckily for us, the weather wasn't too bad. We did have a few wet days, but we also had days when it was so hot that work could only be done in the morning, and then early evening.

At this point, I made a trip back to the UK, to celebrate the first and second birthdays of our granddaughter and grandson respectively, so it was quite exciting to return and see the progress that had been made. Sometimes it is good to take a break like this to enable a fresh view to be seen, but Craig was unable to do the trip this time, as he needed to crack on with the build.

We had brought our car from the UK with us, and needed to re-register it here with French plates, and French insurance etc. It is not an easy process - or cheap either ! Firstly, we had to obtain a Certificate of Conformity from the manufacturer (I understand that some supply it free - ours didn't !), and change the headlights so that the lights shine away from oncoming traffic - we had a good result there, as our headlights had a switch on the back which altered them so we didn't need to buy new ones. Next step was a CT test (Controle Technique), which is a little like an MOT, but lasts two years, and then a visit to pay the Import tax at the Tax Office, and also the tax at the Prefecture. Yes, it's all pay, pay, pay !  Eventually, we received the new registration number through the post, and we could buy new number plates. It is strange not to have a Tax Disc on the windscreen, and we now have the CT sticker and an insurance sticker there instead. At a glance, you can see whether a car is legally on the road with correct insurance and a valid CT, which I think is a good idea.

We Continue to Grow.........

We are on the move - well, the building is......the plans are starting to come together and the new extensions are growing. As the house is on a slope, the extension for the Utility room has to be at one level and that for the lounge at another. The ground at the lounge end of the house, is in fact about a metre lower than the rest of the house, so there was a lot of measuring and head scratching in order to build the extensions to the same level as the rest of the house. I'm glad Craig knows what he is doing, and that we have a son who is a Quantity Surveyor who can verify the amounts of concrete needed etc. Craig was correct in his measurements, but it gave him a bit of security to have them confirmed.

Once this level was reached, we needed to have it backfilled and then wait for the concrete for the floors to be poured.

 

All the while this work was going on, we were continuing with other 'projects' around the house and garden.

 

We bought the first of our animals (well, after Arthur the dog of course), and those of you who are a little squeamish may want to skip the next bit ! - which are to be used for breeding and eating. The first additions were two little rabbits - very cute, but NOT PETS !

 

 

 

Arthur was fascinated by the new rabbits, and would have sat and watched them all day. He has been the same with all the new additions we have had - chickens, rabbits and ducks, although we have never let him near the sheep. We are well aware that he is not to be trusted though, and he is never unsupervised near them. He did chase one of the chickens once - our mistake - but never caught her, which as those of you who know Arthur, probably just about sums him up !

 

We also had some window grills made to replace the original broken ones, that had parts missing etc. In fact, they were so bad, that one day when the lock on the front door seized up, Craig managed to climb through to let me out - yes, we were locked in ! It was something that we had to list in our Planning Application too. Some houses have wooden shutters on the windows, some have electric roller blinds, and others grills. I think that the two former ideas must help with heat loss as well as security, which is not a bad idea. However, we had grills originally, so that was what they needed to be replaced with.

 

 

The days fly by, and the jobs pile up. Sometimes it's difficult to see the wood for the trees, and its a question of prioritising what needs to be done on a particular day. I know that people wonder how we manage to fill our days, but believe me, it's not difficult !

We Have a Visitor and Footings!

The weather here is so variable - it's just like the UK - of course we are not that far away, but the Summer of 2011, our first full Summer here gave us all sorts that we needed to work in and through. We had such hot days that we just sat, or dozed, trying to get things done before it got too hot, or as it cooled down, and then days when the rain cascaded down the road, so much so that we thought about buying a canoe.

Our first 'proper' visitor was Tom, one of our sons, who flew into Dinard to stay for a week. That's one of the problems now that Ryanair no longer fly into Brest - the journey time to Dinard ! It takes just over two hours from here, and it's not the most exciting drive either. Brest was a lot more accessible, with a drive of about 45 mins or so. Never mind - it's lovely that people want to visit us, so we are of course very pleased to see them.

I'm not sure what Tom was expecting though - I'm not sure that he was expecting a blow-up bed and a toilet in a huge open room ! Never mind - he is very placid and easy going, although he would probably be the first to admit, not much use with the DIY !

We took Tom out to show him the local area, being mindful of the fact that we had to continue with the on going work here too. We went to the local market in Huelgoat, walked round the lake, and sat drinking coffee on the pavement (not literally of course !). We went to the beach and to Carhaix, the nearest town, and Tom even came to my weekly French lesson - I'm not sure whether I asked him what he thought of my French, but maybe that's because I didn't want to know the answer !

Meanwhile, we measured out the footings for the extensions and had them dug out.

I took Tom back to the airport on the day the concrete was poured for the footings, so that was a busy day for us all, but we were out of the way I suppose, which is often a good thing. We left Craig loading out three pallets of blocks ready for the new walls.

I think that it's visits like this from close family, that have made us realise from early on that this isn't our 'forever' home. It's an adventure for NOW, while we are still young enough and fit enough to be here, but in another year or two, or maybe longer, we will be looking to be nearer the family.

A New Loo !!

We were delighted to discover that we had people wanting to visit us, but it brought another pressing issue ! At this point we had no flushing loo !!!

Now, I'm not saying that we had NO loo AT ALL, but only a chemical port-a-loo type, that was suitable for the two of us, for a short period of time, but definitely not for visitors. It was even embarrassing if anyone popped here for a coffee, and asked to use the 'facilities', and now we had a septic tank, there was no stopping us.

It's very easy now looking back on it to say, that Craig fitted a new toilet, and that was it, but of course it wasn't an easy, or a quick job - Craig would say that nothing ever is here !

Firstly, Craig needed to make a hole through the wall from the proposed bathroom to the outside - OK ?  Well, the walls are about a metre - yes, a metre - thick to start with, and are granite - one of the hardest stones, and the hole needs to be at such a height from the floor that Craig needed to be sitting or lying prone to make it, which is not an ideal position to work at. After several hours of blood, sweat and swear words, Craig broke through the wall. What an occasion ! We celebrated with a nice cup of tea !!

The next stage was to connect pipes from the toilet to the septic tank, all at the correct gradient to ensure a good flow - I'll leave that bit to your imagination. I lost count of the number of times we were up and down the ladders, and then the stairs. It's all better than a work out at the gym - no more 'step' exercises needed !

Don't worry, the pipes won't be on show for ever - they will be hidden by the new extension on the side of the house - but that's another thing - we had to ensure that they were at the correct height to be hidden and not be in the way of the any of the new structure !

Once everything was in place, pipe-wise, Craig fitted and connected the toilet.....

The chair provided a useful 'side table', but we never 'sat side by side'.

It may not seem much to you reading this, with your comfortable clean modern bathroom, but after a while without one, this moment seemed the best moment ever, and I felt very lucky to have the luxury of a fully functioning flushing loo !

Looking back it all looks very primitive now, and I can't believe how quickly one gets used to things as they improve, but its true, and it's good to remember so that you know how far you've come.

New Windows - New Look....

We needed new windows !! No doubt about it - they were rotten, cracked and looking very sad, and of course, being on the front of the house, very obvious to see. Here - I can't say, here in France as I don't know about elsewhere - but locally, the windows on the houses are very unlikely to be on the north facing walls, and are often quite small for the size of the rooms inside. There was at one point, a Window Tax too, which precluded the poorer habitants from opening up the spaces or adding extra. It does mean though, that the rooms are often quite dark and gloomy, which in the Summer is not a bad thing, but in the Winter months, means that the lights are often on all day.

However, we had to ask to replace the windows as part of the 'Planning Permission' process. Any work on the front/visible part of the house appears to need authorisation - from demolition to renovation to construction, even a 'like for like' swap. To help with the light inside too, we asked to have extra windows on the back, which in time, when complete, will make a huge difference to us.

Before we were here full time, it was easy to contemplate decisions like style etc, based on the choices we had in the UK. Once here though, we find that choices are much more limited. The windows open inwards too, which did appear very strange to us, but I have got used to them like this now, and actually find it very useful. It is so much easier to clean them - no hanging out of the window, or climbing ladders ! The draw back though, is that you can't put too much on the windowsills, and you have to make sure that the curtains allow for the opening inwards too. We have been told that they open inwards to make it easier for the Emergency Services to gain access if necessary, but I'm not sure if that is right, as most houses have security grills, shutters or external blinds. The other occupied houses in our hamlet have shutters/blinds, which means that when you are out in the evening, there is no visible light from the houses (and no street lamps either!), and it appears very very dark !

BEFORE......

Anyway, once the style was chosen, the windows sourced, and Craig had varnished the frames, the work needed to be started. Craig decided that he would change the two downstairs first as he could practice on them without balancing up a ladder at the same time !


ON OUR WAY..........

 

 

The downstairs windows were replaced in one day, and the top three took another couple of days. None of the openings were exactly the same size, and in parts, chunks of granite had to be chiselled out to allow the new frames in !

 

Never mind, all done and dusted, and what a huge difference it makes to the frontage.

 

 

AFTER..........

 

Next stage......a flushing toilet.............

Septic Tank Installation

After the initial excitement of the demolition, we had the unenviable task of clearing the site. Several friends asked for some of the metal sheeting, and we took the remainder that we were not able to reuse to the local Scrap Merchants. We offered free firewood to anyone who wanted to collect, and had three people take us up on that offer, which was a big help. We needed a bonfire for the rest, which here is easier said than done, as there are times of the year when you are not allowed to have a fire, and in some communes, you are banned all year round.

The next big project on the agenda was the installation of the septic tank. It amazes me that in this day and age, there are people living here with no plumbing facilities. Our house had not been empty for that long, and previously had been lived in by a elderly man, who had managed with one electric light, a single socket and cold water - no hot water, no toilet - and an open fire.

The installation is a relatively specialised job, and we had to obtain permission, and various reports to show the potential site, the local water courses, the general lie of the land in relation to the neighbours, the placing of the bathroom, sinks, washing machine etc. It also involves different types of sand for filtration, which took some sourcing too.

The first stage was to dig a huge hole..........

 

 

Then have sand and gravel delivered, and for those who know our house, you'll know that we don't have the easiest access, or the biggest road for this type of lorry.....

 

 

Prepare to drop the tank in..................

 

 

Then watch it disappear............

 

Once everything was in place, and all the pipes in situ......

 

 

............... we had to arrange for the 'Water Board' to inspect before we could complete and connect. They needed to sign off and issue the appropriate certificate.

 

The inspector arrived while it was raining heavily, and after a cursory glance at the work, asked to come inside, where he ticked all the boxes and crossed all the t's, and announced that it had passed, and the certificate would arrive in the post ! We had been told that this inspection was crucial, and that we could expect him to test the depth of the sand, ask for photos, and receipts...but nothing ! What a relief.....and as expected the certificate arrived within a few days, and we were legal !

 

The French love their bureaucracy, and at each stage of this renovation, we have had to jump through hoops, but saying that, we have found that if you ask them for help with this, they are only too willing

to help. We had heard from other Ex - Pats how awkward the various authorities can be, but we have not found that at all. If they see that you are trying to help yourself, and trying to comply, then fine, but I think if you expect them to speak English to you, and expect that the rules and regulations are the same here as in England, then you won't get very far.

 

Rant over.......we have a new Septic Tank....so we are happy !!!!!



Demolition Day

A huge momentous day today.....the day we had been waiting for, for so long.....the day the hanger came down !!

The hanger on the side of the house was massive, and in a very poor state. To enable us to do the work we wanted to on the house, it needed to go.

For several days before the planned 'D - Day', Craig started to strip the parts off it, that could be reused, and also parts that would make the actual demolition slightly easier.

We asked several friends if they would be able to help 'on the day', and early on the designated morning, everyone was there. I'm not sure what the 'Health and Safety' officers would have had to say about the methods involved, but we tried very hard to keep everyone safe.

 

 

We went from this......

 

 

to this..........

 

 

 

in a matter of seconds.

 

But to this..........

 

 

 

took the rest of the day !!!!

 

The most tiring day so far, but by far the most rewarding. The sun shone, we all worked together and made a huge step forward.

 

Thank you to everyone who helped x 

 

 







Cooking on Gas

From having a microwave, a deep fat fryer and a one burner camping type thingy, we moved up to a working gas hob - with five burners - WOW. What a difference ! It opened up a whole new menu for us !

It wasn't as straight forward as that, of course. It involved emptying cupboards, moving them out, taking plasterboard off the wall, and of course putting everything back in situ again. One thing we have found out here - nothing is ever straight forward.........

Having said that, it was definitely worth doing, but funnily enough, we decided then that the position wasn't great, and we have since moved the whole lot to a different place. It is worth noting, that you need to be adaptable in this situation - our overall plans for the house have remained relatively stable, but the 'inside' ideas have altered slightly as we have 'lived in' the rooms, and realised what we do and do not need/want.

Now, several years later, it is amazing to think how we coped with such basic amenities. Each addition - the hob, then the oven a while later, hot running water, a flushing toilet, is such a huge step forward, and no one, except people in the same position, can know the same excitement over such things. And, to be honest, no one, except these same people, can understand how you manage for so long without these things.

The most exciting time was to come though - the planning and demolition permission was granted ! It took about a month in total - not too bad to be honest, but it was a nerve racking experience. We had a couple of meetings with the Planning Office, a lot of negotiating between us all, and eventually ......WE WERE THERE !! Despite the predictions of all those who were 'apparently in the know', everything we wanted, we were given permission to do !!!
 

 

 

It seems like the fruition of our plans, but also the beginning of a lot of hard work.

 

We certainly are 'Cooking on Gas' now.





The Arrival of Arthur the Dog

We had always planned on having a dog, and had even decided on a name 'Arthur'. He was to be Jack Russell type, who would help us, would be a working dog. We would get him as a puppy, and train him - all when the house was completed and we had time for him.

However......things never work out as planned do they ?

We had a think, and decided that in fact, we would be better getting a puppy BEFORE the work was complete. Why would we want a puppy weeing everywhere that had just been 'done' ? Wouldn't it be better to have him while we were working so that the worst bits were out of the way ?

We wondered about the Rescue Centres here in France, and looked at the website for SPA in Quimper. Immediately, we saw a little dog called 'Figo', and decided to pay them a visit. We were pleasantly surprised to see 'Figo' still there, as we assumed that maybe they put little appealing dogs on the website to draw you in !

The place itself was an eye opener to be honest. It was full of large pedigree dogs - there were Newfoundlands, German Shepherds, Hunting dogs, all barking and penned in. The staff were doing their best, and obviously relying on volunteers to walk the dogs and help look after them. 'Figo' was a rarity, a little Jack Russell/Fox Terrier cross, being carried around tucked under the arm of any willing person.

We were allowed to take him out for a walk - although he obviously had never had a collar on, let alone a lead ! He was doing somersaults, and would much preferred to be have been carried !

Anyway, we decided to give him a home, and had to agree for him to be vaccinated, chipped and neutered before we were allowed to collect him two weeks later.

 

I can remember the journey home well - we had always planned on him sitting in the back with a seat belt - who knew whether he would hate the car or not, and jump around like mad ? He didn't - Craig sat with him just in case, he got into the car, had his belt on and promptly fell asleep with his head on Craig's lap !! Even now, two years later, he's the same - loves the car, and just lies there all snugged up (mind you he does have a pillow to lie on), and enjoys the ride !

 

 

We have been very lucky with 'Arthur' as he is now known. We had no idea whether he was house trained or not - he was ! His history, as detailed on the paperwork from the SPA was quite vague - he had been picked up wandering along a road near the coast, and he was approximately 12 months old - that is all we knew.  He didn't make any noise at all for a while, and we did wonder whether he was deaf, but one day suddenly made a little squeak, and then there was no stopping him ! He obviously didn't understand English, so sometimes conveniently, I think, decided not to hear or understand us, but now doesn't understand French !  He loves his walks, except if it is raining, and now walks without a lead. He can't be trusted near the road though, as he chases the cars and tractors, but is very sociable with everyone who visits. He is however very unsociable with other dogs, which is often very awkward !!

 

He loves his routine, so fits in very well with us here. He has his last walk at about 9.00pm, and starts prowling around, being very annoying from about 8.45pm. However, we know why that is - he has two biscuits when he comes back from that walk, and is very eager for them, not necessarily for the walk beforehand.

 

He isn't allowed on the furniture, and sometimes when we're playing with him, he jumps up on the sofa, and hides his head, so that we can't see him, and won't tell him off. As for a working dog though - no way !! He prefers snuggling up in front of the fire, in his bed. He's a funny, intelligent, loving little companion, and we wouldn't be without him now !!

 

 

 



Moving Day

May 3rd 2011 - a day that I will probably never forget !

Moving Day arrived - luckily it was dry, and luckily the removal van arrived on time. It was quite surreal to see all our furniture disappear into the van, knowing that we wouldn't see it for a while. It was all going into storage, to give us some breathing space, and we had all the essentials already in France from our frequent visits there. Anything that we were loathe to be parted from, we put in the van, which at the end was so full we could hardly close the doors. Heaven help anyone that opened them by mistake !

I took a last walk around the house that had been our home for 24 years, and we pulled away......

Every part of the journey took on a new meaning - this wasn't a holiday now - it was to be a new chapter in our lives.

We arrived 'home' next morning after a pretty awful journey - there were road works and diversions - but we got here. I must admit to feeling a bit overwhelmed and emotional, but I'm sure that had a lot to do with tiredness. Some friends visited this afternoon, who were also embarking on a similar project not too far from us, and I felt a lot more positive when they had gone, and looking forward to our new adventures. Now, the problem was to see this as our life and not as a holiday !

First job, was to arrange an Internet connection - we discovered that despite all the advertisements, we were limited to just the one provider in our area. However, we needed to be connected to the outside world, so had to grin and bear it. We received the Livebox relatively quickly, but discovered there was a fault on the line, and we had to wait for an Engineer to call for the repair. He came and replaced the cable coming into the house - and we were up and running - outside world, WE ARE HERE !!

Another early project, now we were here full time, was to reapply for planning permission. We had a very beneficial meeting with the Planning Officers in Chateauneuf de Faou. Rather than pussy foot around trying to second guess what we needed to do, we went straight to the  people who know - and were really glad to have done that. It wasn't easy - my French wasn't that good, and their English was on a par - but we got there in the end.  Now we knew the process - there was to be no stopping us ! Due to the size of the project, we had to get the plans stamped and signed by an architect -  and we had to pay a relatively substantial sum for a few minutes work, but necessary !

We had our post redirected from the UK, but we had a telephone call from a lady who lived about 15 minutes from us here in France, to say that she had received a big bundle of mail for us. It seems that as she too was receiving redirected post, La Poste had 'assumed' we were one and the same person, and delivered it altogether ! Now however, our regular postman knows us well - he always gets out of the van and shakes our hands, sometimes brings us eggs sent from his mother, and knows that an envelope addressed to 'Pops' from our grandchildren, is likely to be for our house !!

Knowing that I needed to improve on my French, which was at a rusty O-Level standard - yes I am that old ! - I ventured to the local Babel group. It was a very social occasion, and ideal for those who needed the company as much as the language skills, but I knew very early on that I needed something more intense than that, and discovered that our neighbours had a French teacher who visited their house once a week, and who would be prepared to accept me as an addition to the very small group. There are just three of us of similar standard, and it makes a very interesting , but very tiring, couple of hours on a Wednesday evening. There's no hiding in the corner with just three of us !!

Just four weeks after our arrival, we were on our way back to the UK, for the wedding of one of the children. It was lovely to see everyone again, even after such a short time away. The day was very hot and sunny, and the bride was beautiful ( and the groom too !).

I was a very proud mother of the groom - and only cried a couple of times !

This visit gave us a good break, and made us realise that the pace of life in the UK is not what we needed at this point in our lives. A good trip back, but we were ready to start again in France.

One thing we discovered though, is that every time we go to England, we return with a cold ! I'm not sure if its the contact with other people that we don't have here, or English germs, or maybe the fact that we spend a lot of time outside here and so can ward off French germs - whatever, it appears to be inevitable - visit England - return with a cold !

Decision Time

Several times during our 'visiting' periods, Craig came to the house on his own. Every visit depended on work commitments on both our parts, so there were times that only one of us was available. I wouldn't have felt comfortable staying here alone, but Craig was, and spent the time profitably.

The journey itself was an adventure - he would fly from Luton to Brest (when Ryanair operated that route), shuttle bus into Brest, Brest to Morlaix by train, Morlaix to Huelgoat by bus, and then taxi to the house or vice versa of course. He was always very impressed by the French Transport - its punctuality, cleanliness and the price !

The problem this journey created were numerous, but mainly that he was unable to bring much with him - including clothes, so we started leaving our 'French Clothes' here as much as we could. I would visit the launderette before we left, so that our clothes were fresh and clean ready for the next visit.

On a couple of occasions I visited half way through his stay, which gave him some support and companionship, as it was quite lonely here - no television, no computer, just the phone, and radio. Other times, we both arrived together, and then I left him here for an extra week or so. It was strange each time I returned though, as work had been completed that I hadn't seen before.

One lone visit was spent chopping trees and thinning the hedges, with the help of our elderly French neighbour Joseph. He spends his time doing this type of work, so kept Craig going all day, for several days, despite the inclement weather at the time, and having to dry his clothes each evening around the kitchen. It would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall during this time, as Craig spoke no French and Joseph just a small amount of English. Craig would ring me each evening with an progress report, and sent photos too.

The day finally came when we received an offer on our house in England. It was very scary though - should we accept and make the move, or stay and continue with the renovations on the ad-hoc basis that had been going on for several years now ? Craig had no doubts, but I did. I'm not the most adventurous of people. I don't like being out of my Comfort Zone, and this was as far out as could be !! We would have no jobs, be in a foreign country, away from friends and family - our two little grandchildren, the list was endless as far as I was concerned............

BUT.......we decided to give it a go........

What was the worst thing that could happen ? We would never know if we could make it work if we didn't give it a go. We weren't that far away from everyone, and we wanted the adventure while we were still young enough. If we didn't do it now, then we never would, and we could always come back to the UK when we had had enough, if we wanted to.

SO.....the moving date was set, we handed our notices in at work, said our goodbyes, and left the house that had been home for 24 years.

A Shower in the Kitchen ?

It was always a concern, when we returned each time, that the condition of the house and the outbuildings would have deteriorated. The biggest problem was the large hangar on the side of the house - the intention was always to demolish it. It was unsightly and more to the point, unsafe. We used to watch the weather forecast from the UK, and worry that the winds would blow it into the road, and pull the cables down etc. I'm not sure what we would have done if we had the phone call to say this had happened, because its not exactly a 10 minute ride here ! Anyway, it didn't happen - but the worry was always there.

Originally the downstairs of the main house was split into two rooms - the kitchen and the 'other room'. I'm not sure what this 'other room' would have been used for, possibly a bedroom maybe. And we certainly used it for a bedroom for a while. There was a door between the two rooms, but our ultimate plan involved utilising the space in a different way, and we needed to block this middle doorway up, and create two doorways at either end. The easiest way was to demolish the entire wall, and rebuild a new one, and it was an exciting day when we did this, as it was the 'start' of our project and plans. Rather than visit and try and keep up with the maintenance, we were actually 'doing' something constructive.

As I've said in a previous blog, my photographs of all these early works and adventures disappeared in the blink of an eye - or rather in the crack of a CD !!!

After a few visits when we slept on an airbed, it was luxury to have a proper bed. Craig made a great frame, which we ended up using for a few years, and is still in use as a base for drying the onions and garlics. It is good to recall moments like this, as you soon forget how far we have come.

The kitchen started to evolve early on - we were determined that as this would be our main living area, that we would make it as comfortable and clean as we could. All that was here originally was a sink, a cooker/heater and a light. We moved the sink - well, we removed the old sink, and fitted a new sink in a completely different place. It wasn't easy, as it involved moving the pipes, and drilling through the outside walls - a metre thick !! Once sorted, the kitchen units could be built, and put in place, and things could move on - it all sounds quite easy, but I forget that we had to knock the old plaster off the walls, seal them, then stud and plaster board them first !!!

We are very proud of the cupboard doors, as the oak comes from the Althorp estate, where Princess Diana is buried, and close to our house in the UK. I've just remembered that when Joseph (our neighbour) came into the kitchen at this point to help Craig carry the old cooker into the van, he asked if we would be using the new tap as our shower...........maybe they don't have taps like this here !!

 

Our visits were busy, and tiring, and we had to remember that this was our 'holiday' from work. What happened to the long sunny days we would spend on the beach in Jamaica, with a good book and cocktails on tap......SIGH............!



A New Kitchen Ceiling

Our frequent travels from the UK to France involved a journey in the UK of about 2.5 hours, and a fairly equal road journey in France. The longest 'bit' was of course, the ferry.

Brittany Ferries basically have the monopoly on the sea crossings between the South of England and Brittany. There are other companies available, but they dock further along the coast, which is not so convenient. I know there are many people who 'knock' Brittany Ferries, but to be honest, we have no complaints on their service, and especially their timekeeping.

We joined the Property Owners Club, which has become Club Voyage I think now, and receive discounts on each journey. For us, it is well worth the money we pay annually.

We soon developed our own routines aboard each ship. We always have a cabin, whether its a day or night crossing, as it gives us a base, somewhere to put our bags, somewhere to shower, and a bit of privacy. We made a BIG mistake once, when there were no cabins available in the High Season, of booking Recliner Seats - NEVER AGAIN..........neither of us slept at all, and we ended up, arriving here and then having to go to bed for a couple of hours. Now, if there are no cabins available, we change the date !!

We have had issues, but have found that the Customer Service has been very good, and we have had all our problems rectified immediately. Maybe we have been lucky, but I have no complaints in general.

As our neighbours got used to our frequent comings and goings, they started to chat, invite us for 'aperitifs', and even meals, which was a godsend, when we only had a microwave, grilling machine, and a kettle. Oh, I almost forgot, we had a single gas burner too ! It made us feel more comfortable leaving the house too, as we felt that they would keep an eye on it. They had our contact details, so could relay any issues to us, if necessary.

We always knew that we wanted to make pretty drastic changes to the house, and put in a half-hearted attempt for Planning Permission. I say half-hearted, as now I know the proper procedure, I know that our first attempt was quite poor ! It was quite difficult to complete the forms - the French love their bureaucracy, and biggest issue was - that we weren't here all the time, to answer the questions etc.

I can remember one job that we completed quite early on during our short visits - the kitchen ceiling ! The floor boards for upstairs formed the ceiling for downstairs - so every time someone walked upstairs, dust would fall down into the kitchen. It didn't take us long to realise that we need to prioritise this work. It took a couple of days, but we managed to plaster board in between the beams to make a huge difference to the room. It even meant that we could have some lighting (instead of the one bulb hanging down, which wasn't even in the middle of the room !). In this picture, you can see the upstairs floor boards forming the kitchen ceiling, and a hole where the floor boards were rotten anyway .............

Before we left the house each time, we always had the inevitable tidying up sessions. Locking everything away as much as possible, cleaning, reloading the van with the dirty washing, and switching off the water and electricity. Due to the amount of building materials we had here, we had to leave some outside (well, under the hangar), so we tried to keep them as tidy and contained as was practical. It wasn't easy, but we did the best we could.

 

As our ferry left from St Malo, our journey always started at some unearthly hour of the morning, which inevitably meant switching the water and electricity off in the dark - and often in the rain too !

It was always a little sad to leave each time, but knowing that we had made a little difference was a help, and of course, the thought of a hot shower and a flushing toilet was an even bigger positive !

Visiting Time

Visiting Time

We were pleasantly surprised on each returning visit to find the house in pretty much the same shape we had left it in. There was always that moment before we entered the house that made me panic, when I wondered if anything or anyone had made our house, their house too ! Apart from bits that had fallen down the chimney in the kitchen, and that depended on what the weather had been like - how windy, in what direction the wind had been, and how much rain they had had, there was never anything other than dust. Sometimes it was colder in the house than it was outside when we arrived, but we soon got over that.

On each visit, we brought things with us that made the house more comfortable - maybe a piece of carpet for the concrete floor, or a chest of drawers, so that we could start to leave clothes here, curtains and blinds for the windows. Everything made a big difference.

The problem with such short visits, was that we were unable to start bigger projects, and this continued over the next three years. Once we arrived, we would unload the van, clear up, try to keep the front of the house looking reasonable, and it would be time to head home again. We also had to remember that this was our 'holiday' from work too, otherwise we would go back to work feeling more tired than we left, instead of relaxed and refreshed.

On one visit, Craig knocked part of the render off the bottom half of the house, to stop it dropping off, and fitted a post box - French houses do not appear to have letter boxes. Each house has a post box on an outer wall at the edge of the property, often with the family name on, which is a good help for the postman.

 

As you can see, the goods from the van got unloaded onto the front of the house, and THEN had to be moved again to their appropriate home !

 

We used one of our other buildings for storage, but discovered birds nesting in there at one point, and of course the 'mess' they made was covering our belongings, so Craig made a new door and shutters for the windows out of cedar from the UK. It helped with the security as well though, and of course made the building look a lot better.

 

It also meant that the birds had to find a new home the next year though.

 

Although we had the phone connected early on, it didn't work, and it took us a few months to get it sorted, as we had to arrange a time for the engineers when we would be here too ! There were several visits to the 'shops' in Carhaix and Morlaix, before we managed to find them open ! Eventually, however, it was sorted, and the engineers arrived at the pre arranged time, which I was pleasantly surprised about, but discovered that the problem was quite major, and they had to replace the whole cable to the house.

 

Then once again, time to secure, lock everything up, or down, and leave for the ferry....til the next time !