A River Runs Through It

A copy of a postcard, taken rather a long while ago. Our house is the one on the left.

We had a little stroll through the village at the weekend and took some video of the river Artaut. We followed it from the source where it comes up through the old stones, just before the ‘Lavoir’ – which is the old wash house. It then flows through the village, past our house – which is just before the little weir where it turns and flows under the road – then out through the village, where it calms down as it widens slightly, trickling alongside the road. It is so clear and sparkles when the light catches it. As it leaves the village deep, rich green grasses hug its borders. The freshly washed strands tugged gently by the flow along its banks.

Oh, no peanut butter

It was a beautiful warm October day. We decided to enjoy the warm sun and do some jobs in the garden. The lavender was in need of being cut back, as over the last couple of years it had got a bit unruly. We have some gorgeous mature lavender plants all around the house where the silvery blue greens of the plants compliment the stone of the house. In summer the scent of lavender greets you as you walk through the gate. Today we were up for giving them a really good prune, in addition to trimming off the flower stalks, this will help prepare them for a beautiful array of flowers next year.

Earlier in the week, when we’d been shopping, I’d failed to find peanut butter. Not wanting to be beaten by this hurdle, I decided to make it. It was actually quite simple, toast 200g of peanuts for 10 minutes in the oven, stirring them on the tray to stop them catching. Then once they are totally cooled whiz them in a blender. I added a bit of salt, and some walnut oil as they were a bit dry. I didn’t have peanut oil otherwise I would have used that.

So when we got in from doing the garden, I cooked us the Peanut Butter Chicken Curry, that I’d found in the September edition of Good Food magazine, and it was simply delicious. I used chicken thighs but I think the addition of a chicken breast would be good, or potentially do it as a vegetarian option, maybe with halloumi cheese. I will definitely be making it again. (The recipe below does say it’s gluten free, but mindful to use GF soy sauce) We enjoyed it with a rather nice chilled bottle of Alsatian Riesling from G.Metz, their Grand Cru Muenchberg.

From the Sept edition of Good Food magazine – here’s the link https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/peanut-butter-chicken-curry

Drizzle, two ways

We had a couple of deliveries to end the week. Firstly Christophe had arranged for our silo to be filled, it was all very exciting but very noisy which surprised both of us with just ‘how’ noisy the pellets were as they were blown into the silo. But it didn’t take long, 20 minutes or so, and the delivery man was done and on his way to his next client. Christophe and the team should be finished up early next week, so we will be ready for the chaudiére to be tested very soon, and we can learn how to use it.

The second delivery was the wood for the stairs. I realise it may not look much at the moment, but this is going to be our staircase in the barn. Brian assures me. Luckily the rain stayed away long enough for the delivery truck to leave the woodyard. However it was a bit drizzly when it arrived, so it was a quick offload so as not to get it wet.

Whilst all this was going on, I made us a cake for the weekend. The recipe was blackberry and orange, but I didn’t have any blackberries, so I made an ‘Orange and plum cake’ and rather delicious it is too, even though I say so myself. It’s a drizzle cake, so really moist. The plums add a nice touch of sharpness against the sweet orange sugary drizzle.

It had gone down rather well with our afternoon cup of tea.

Floored

It was a beautiful warm Autumn day today, however I couldn’t put off the ironing anymore. So a marathon run on catching up on Netflix was in order, and I got on with it.

Brian decided to try and address some of the ‘not so good’ floorboards. There are a few to do, but luckily we have some similar ones that we had taken up when we did the two bathrooms. The plan is to review both bedrooms and the landing and see what needs fixing.

The first ones he addressed are in the corner of the double bedroom (Magnum). He started by measuring the good boards, slapping some wood worm treatment on as a ‘just in case’, then prepared the shape for the new ones to be fitted. It was then a case of cutting them, fitting them and then nailing into position.

Measuring up

Capturing the detail

Job complete

L’Automne

I love the change in seasons, autumn particularly because of the changing colours from the greens of late summer to the rich golds and reds of the new season. We love to make long walks in the colder air, especially in the forests where the trees are curling up for winter, the air whispers with the chattering of leaves falling, and the sunlight’s now softer and searching out the forest floor. I love taking the time to plan and enjoy a change of meals – warm casseroles, spicy one pot dinners, roasts, homemade soups, and a few naughty puddings.

We took some time yesterday for a well needed walk around the village and its vineyards, enjoying their changing colours. Although we did encounter a bit of drizzle, it was a beautiful walk.

It’s technical

Quentin, who is the plumber – I’m thinking engineer as well though – is working hard to install our new chaudiére (pellet boiler). Well we think that’s what he’s building. It looks amazing, it’s such a very complex looking arrangement with all the different elements coming together. We think tomorrow he will need to start digging across the courtyard to lay the pipes, so we are hoping the weather will improve.

This afternoon we did manage to go out for a short walk around the village vineyards, however it just started to drizzle as we got to the view point. Stunning view never the less.

Sheltering under the trees

The view on the way down from the ‘point de vue’

Coffee and Eclairs

This morning was a slow start as it was a very wet drizzly day, so I made the most of it and sat reading a couple of favourite magazines I’d bought when I’d made my quick trip to the UK. I was planning a few different meals for us to try. There’s a very tasty looking peanut chicken curry by Tom Kerridge in the Good Food magazine which I’d like to give a go, so if I can get some peanut butter I will try that out.

Yesterday we drove into Troyes, well, to McArthur Glen in Troyes. Typically shops in France do not open on a Sunday, but McArthur Glen does, which is great for us, being used to enjoying the odd spot of retail therapy on a Sunday. However we were not there to visit Timberland, Napapijri, Calvin Klein or New Balance, we wanted to buy Brian a new saw. The ones he had we just didn’t think were up to the job for the projects he has ahead. When we first stumbled across McArthur Glen we visited the Black and Decker shop, which had some great deals on their branded tools. So we returned to check it out, and left the shop having purchased a jigsaw and a bench ‘chop’ saw. A very worthwhile visit.

My treat was to take a couple of eclairs home for afternoon tea. Mine was the salted caramel one – absolutely delicious.

Fire Starter

So where did September go? It’s the 4th October already. One day I was writing about lazy days by the pool, and drinks in the hot evening sun, and now it’s a warming early evening Apéro of red wine by the crackling fire listening to Dylan on the similarly crackling record player. ‘Turned on my record player….’ Maybe it should have been a touch of country with ‘Cracklin Rosie’.

I took time this afternoon cleaning the fire out. Brian brought the wood in for me, along with my assortment of kindling to light it. Pam recommended using an egg box, which I have to say works really well. So I collect my empty egg boxes to use, along with any odd bits of wood Brian discards, it all goes into my fire starting box.

I seem to take on the role of fire starter, whilst Brian keeps it fed all night, sometimes just ticking over, but other times roaring. Tonight it’s roaring.

Wood you believe it

This week we went to order the wood for the new staircase Brian is building in the barn. We visited a couple places to understand what’s available, and found that they do have quite a choice of hardwoods, however they may not always be the sizes you need – it just depends what is available. We adapted the plan slightly and have now ordered the wood that we need, which will be delivered next Friday, but only if it’s not raining. Apparently they will not deliver in the rain, I love that.

I know building the stairs is a completely new challenge for Brian, but he enjoys working with wood and always achieves great results especially when working with hard woods. He likes the precision. I’m now looking forward to seeing how this comes together.

Friday morning Christophe arrived with François and Quentin to prepare the concrete base for the boiler, and ready the kit for Monday when they will start to install it. They positioned the chaudière and put the silo together, the difficult part starts next week.

The floor got a smooth concrete treatment before the chaudière was positioned

Shutters Up

The forecast for the next week is extreme rain, never really sure what that means, but there does seem to be a lot of water forecast. I had kept reminding Brian, whilst the weather was good, to finish removing the weeds from the other half of the river. The part that flows down-stream from us needs to be clear, to allow the water to flow and to prevent any blockages that might lead to a flood. I doubt it would happen, but you can never be sure . So just in case, the first job for Brian was to do what he could to ensure the water was flowing okay, otherwise he knew that I would be reminding him all day.

It was all a bit drizzly already, but he got straight on with it with no complaining, just on with the wellies and into the Artaut. The commune will come and clear the weeds if we pile them up next to the road, so we can just leave them there.

When we first bought the house this job used to take us all day, then when people came to stay they would volunteer to help out, so it often would be done in a morning. Now Brian can do what he needs to in an hour. I’m not sure if that’s because he knows what he is doing now, therefore he is quicker, or because he does it regularly there are less weeds now – we cannot recall. Either way it’s always nice when we see the river running clear.

Next job, we needed to get the shutters finished, having the area under the barn is great, as I was able to work in the dry. Lilly and Dillon came and slept next to me in their box, purring as they slept.
I was able to get the final coat on the first pair, so that they had all day to dry. And I then started on the second pair. All sanded, cleaned and ready to be painted. I’m thinking a few days and the second pair will be completed as well.

We nipped out to do some shopping whilst leaving the shutter to dry, then when we came back we approached the task of putting the first pair of shutters back up. The first one went up easy enough, with a little bit of direction from me - “up a bit, back, no forward, down! Down, yep we’re there.”
However the second one was a bit more difficult. One of the hinges at the top of the shutter, attached into the wall, was loose. Brian commented “we have a problem”. That’s all we need as we are hanging out of a window 12 feet up, hanging onto a very heavy and unwieldy shutter, which we have spent over a week renovating. My thought is ‘let’s just get it up and sort the problem after’. Luckily, Brian had the same thought which he shared. So with me hanging on to the back of his jeans, and him trying with both arms to wiggle the shutter into place, he realised we had another problem – “I’ve made a mistake!”, he exclaims. “What now?”. “It’s upside down!”.

We’re all ready now for a week of unpleasant weather.

Cheeried – is that a word?

Wednesday – straight after breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast I got on with painting the shutters. Brian decided rather than put the second set back up without painting them, as other things had taken up the time we had allocated for them, we should push to get them completed anyway. I think the thought of having to put them back up and then take them down again in the spring spurred him on. His aim was to get the second pair sanded today. We were both feeling the pain of another day painting, but cheeried each other to keep going.

I managed to finish getting three coats onto one of the shutters, and two coats onto the second. So very nearly there on one set.

I have put a coat of Dulux aquatech on one of the second pair, just waiting for Brian to complete the sanding on the other one. We are hoping it will stay dry enough tomorrow to do that.

White Coat

We started the day with a renewed enthusiasm and excitement this morning , so much is on the job list we just need to get a few jobs ticked off, as currently we just keep adding new ones on.

Brian wanted to put a final coat of paint on the walls in the new downstairs cloakroom, so he did that whilst I continued with the shutters.

We both then came together to get a coat of white paint on the wall which will be behind the new boiler. We thought it would be good to do this to help keep the dust down, and will also help reflect some light in that area.

Lilly wanted to help out, and managed to get white paint all over her coat

No, No, No – Yes

We woke early to the sound of rain, pattering on the shutters. The forecast was that it would be around most of the day. I felt we needed a little treat to kick start the morning. So whilst Brian was up at the pool checking on the chlorine levels I made a couple of apricot pastries and popped them into the oven. We had these warm – something sweet with our coffees.

Lee-Anne called at around 11am to confirm our new water and heating boiler was going to be delivered early afternoon. Our old oil boiler, although still working – with a lot of tender loving care – is not very efficient, and really on its last innings. The new pellet boiler will not only heat the house more effectively and efficiently, it will also heat the hot water. There are three main elements to it – the boiler/furnace, the hot water tank, and the silo for storing the pellets. Christophe wanted to take delivery of it at ours, so he and Lee-Anne were going to head over early afternoon to be here when the lorry arrived.

First the tank to heat not only the water for the radiators, but to provide hot water for the house as well

‘That is not going to fit under the lintel’ ‘no’ exclaims Lee-Anne, ‘no’ I call, ‘no’ states Brian - ‘yes’ Christophe calmly replies

Now the boiler/furnace

And lastly the silo, which is flat packed. Christophe and the team will be back later in the week to ready things prior to it being set up next week. Christophe has planned it so we can keep the old oil boiler in situ until the new one is up and working. We will then decide when to decommission the old one depending on how much oil we have remaining.

Lighting up

Sunday needed to be a day of planning for us. We had been really quite busy and needed to take some time and step back to reflect on what we had achieved and what we needed to do to move things forward over the coming weeks. We know that a lot will be happening, like the cooker being delivered. What we need to do is ensure everything is ready and finish off some jobs we have started.

Firstly, Brian finished putting the lights back up in the barn which he’d had to take down for the demolition work, then he took some time to finalise his plan for the stairs. We now need to find somewhere to order the wood and get it ordered. We have been given a few places to try, so we will be looking at them on Monday.

Next was to look at the additional electrics we need in the barn, and supply a plan to understand the cost, this we needed to consider and Brian produced a plan which we sent off to Lee-Anne.

I want to work at getting one of the sets of shutters finished and back up. I think the second set will need to be postponed until the spring. So we will put them back up. Maybe we were just to ambitious with our time. We are also thinking with the change in weather it may be best to leave the second set.

Then lastly we needed to consider my collection of lights for the kitchen and how they would work. I’m really looking forward to getting these installed, which I’m hoping will happen this week.

A taster of what the lights will look like

Charade

Autumn has definately arrived.

We were invited out to dinner on Thursday evening at Véronique and Antoine’s. We bought the house from them, and they have been generous over the years inviting us to their new house in Chatillon sur Seine, which they have been renovating with exquisite style. Whenever they invite us to dinner they always try to introduce us to new people, with a mix of French and English speakers – such a great opportunity and a really good way to practice our conversation. Véronique is a wonderful cook, and Antoine a very attentive host, so everyone always has a very enjoyable evening. Thursday was an excellent evening with lots of chatting, sharing stories and laughter.

On leaving we realised that you can no longer go out without a jacket – Autumn had definitely arrived.

The salon at Antoine et Véronique’s - such a gorgeous warm welcoming room. Veronique has such wonderful french style.

Last night we lit our first fire in the salon since arriving in France. We sat down with our g&t’s and watched ‘Charade’. Appropriately set in Paris, I love to see all the old fashions. Audrey Hepburn looking gorgeously stylish.

Tonight it was red wine, Jonny Cash, then Hot Chocolate.

Pot Rack

About a week ago it was confirmed that our new cooker will be delivered the second week of October. With this now fixed Brian needed to refine the plan on how the units will work in the space, and decide on final measurements for the cooker hood and worktops.

We have decided to go with the stone worktops, so Brian has created detailed guides to have them cut. There is no room for error, as we cannot just cut a bit off, or add a bit on, if they do not fit. Christophe, our plumber, came and measured up for the cooker hood, as it needs to fit around the extraction pipe.

Also, it was very exciting today as my new (reclaimed) pot rack arrived. It is an old railway luggage rack from a SNCF train. We found it on my new favourite website, Selency.fr. I can’t wait to get it up on the wall, but know we need to wait until the sink is in.

Offering it up to the wall to see what it looks like. We are thinking of mounting it on a piece of mahogany wood, which will come from one of the cabinet worktops, before it is fixed into place

The Wall

M. Humbert and the team finished up today. Brian is busy knocking down the wall in the laundry room (in the making). He is taking care not to damage our old boiler, we need it to keep going a bit longer. It really is a one man job though, very loud hard work and dusty. I am helping to move the debris.

There will be more work to do in there later in the year, but for now, I’d like to get the washing machine set up again as soon as we can, as a temporary measure. That means I’d like to wash the room down to get rid of as much dust as possible.

We then need to decide on what’s next as a priority, the staircase to the store/craft room, storage of tools etc, or reinstating the cellar. Oh, and not forgetting we need the kitchen finished.

Well on its way

Tuesday morning - It’s another glorious day. The nights are really chilly already, around 10 °c, but the days are still full of sunshine and getting up to 27°c.

M. Humbert is working hard on the barn. It’s been a very dirty, difficult job, removing years of decay, and I can only refer to it as ‘discarded stuff’ - like old shelves, bottles, broken tiles etc.

Today they are clearing the last third of the barn, which holds the well and water pump that supplies the pool. It’s also where the cellar was. We have a passive cellar, which is half above ground, the cold damp from the earth floor creates the right conditions to maintain a constant temperature and environment to store wine. Brian will reinstate this once the area is cleared.

They will then finish building the shell for the store room above the ‘soon to be laundry and boiler room’.

Brian is going to build the stairs up to this, they will wrap around the corner.

This view will not be seen soon as a wall will be going up here to create the store room. We may one day utilise part of this space, but for now I like having the air above the parking area and log store.

Log Jam

Brian jumped out of bed around 7.30, “It’s raining!” he exclaimed. “If you can get out of bed, pop the kettle on”. That was good, It meant I didn’t have to go and help him cover everything up that was stockpiled in the courtyard. We really had not expected rain until Sunday evening. But it was only drizzle, so didn’t take much for Brian to throw a few dust sheets over everything.

We then had a nice slow drink of tea and discussed the plan for the day. M. Humbert, our builder, had given us homework. We needed to move the shelves and everything on them from the main barn, and take the electrics, lights etc, off the beams in the cellar and pump room. Didn’t seem too difficult, but what we didn’t want to be doing is to keep moving stuff from one place to another. So we decided we needed to work on the middle barn first, as the ceiling was removed now in there, and prepare that to move the shelving into. Sounds easy, but the first job was move the log pile.

The new log store

Spot the difference…..

Tomorrow all we need to do is move the shelves from the main barn, and take down the electrics in the cellar and well room. But for now we are both looking forward to a nice hot shower, and a glass of champagne or two.

‘Hay, down there!’

They got off to a dusty start, clearing out the top of the barn. The first job was clearing the hay that must have been there for well over 20 years.

We had a wonderful surprise, after they’d finished sweeping the right hand side of the barn, as part of it still had old flagstones underneath the years of dust and dirt. Not quite sure how they can be incorporated yet, but we will think of something.

Next stage was to start to build the floor going over the boiler room. It wasn’t long before beams were going up and we could start to visualise the space. It looks such an impressive expanse with its aged oak beams, some as good as new, others warped and twisted, or straining under years of doing their job. Those we can replace, but generally it looks good, and with some repair will last for us being caretakers of such a delightful building.

The middle of the three barn spaces