The big clean up

The thing with using chaux is it gets everywhere, and the plants do not react well to the lime, so I was keen to clear up the dropped chaux along the wall as soon as we could.

We couldn’t quite believe it created another six bags of debris. I feel another déchèterie trip coming on.

I’m thinking about some plans for planting. First though I need to get some compost dug in, to help nourish the soil after taking all the debris out.

I can smell summer

As I walked out into the garden this morning, ready to have a look at what I could easily achieve on my own, I spotted my first peony flower of the year. It was on my tree peony, a gorgeous candy pink.

I wandered up the steps towards my dahlia bed, and in the warmth of the air I could smell summer. Sweet and calming. The bees 🐝 are already buzzing around. They’ve woken up now, eager to get out and start collecting the sweet, early pollen from the blossom on the fruit trees, which seems abundant.

My cherry tree which we’d planted two years ago is starting to strengthen and flourish. I’ll enjoy picking them on the way up to the pool.

Free and organised

We bought some cheap pine shelves from ikea for the shed, and they are ideal for helping me get organised in there. I’d also collected a few old fruit and vegetable trays from the market to use to put things in.

A great way to recycle what’s free, plus they are just the rustic look I was after.

Hang tight

With the latch now fitted correctly, and the windows sealed in with their wooden cross bars, it was time to take the doors up the slope and fit them on the shed.

It was another gorgeous day, so we both headed up there, carrying everything we thought we would need to do the job. Brian had already taken the doors up.

First things first, Brian measured where the hinges were to go and marked them on the door frame.

It all looked simple enough, however having to align three hinges was not that simple at all.

With all the pieces screwed into place we could drop them on. They were not perfectly straight, and we needed the door to hang closer in places. They had a clever little way of turning on a thread though, so that each hinge could be moved closer or further away from the frame. However you needed to take the door off again to perform this, and as it was fiddly, it was not something we wanted to keep doing.

We were both extremely pleased though with the results. I am looking forward to getting the rest of the shed painted, and to start taking some of my garden paraphernalia up there so it will be easier for the summer.

Easter lunch

Our friends Julie and Andrew picked us up to go to Essoyes for an Easter lunch at a restaurant they like; La maison della Mamma. We’ve never been before, so we were looking forward to it.

It’s just off the main square, opposite the mairie. The menu looked interesting, with four courses for €38, so we relaxed back with a glass of champagne to kick off our meal.

First up was a little amuse bouche: a tomato and pepper gazpacho. Very tasty.

Then came our starters: I had the asparagus in morilles cream, and Brian had the vol au vent with sweetbreads. Both lovely.

Main for me was lamb, a spring favourite, and Brian chose the fish.

Finally, we both had the same dessert, with coconut and passion fruit.

It was all very delicious, and wonderful to spend a relaxing lunch with friends.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter.

A bit of persuasion

We woke to glorious sunshine, so straight after breakfast Brian was outside putting the second coat on the doors.

I came out and joined him, and went up to put the second coat on the back wall, whilst he started to understand the fixings for the doors. Which I have to say were not easy.

He soon realised that the door handle latch was the wrong way round for the doors. Normally you would find a couple of screws you can unscrew and turn the latch around. But this door handle had tiny clips that had been fixed into place, that were not designed to be removed. This wasn’t going to stop Brian, he got a pair of pliers and proceeded to man handle the lock apart. A few expletives later the lock had given in, and he could swivel the latch to face the other way.

A little bit of persuasion and the lock was back together and ready to use.

Provence vert

The aim today was to get the doors painted with their first coat, so that Brian can finish putting them together, and fit them to the shed.

We were both really pleased with the colour we had chosen—Provence vert—and how the paint was going on. I think the green completely changes the look of the shed, it makes it feel older, more used, and gives it a heritage feel.

It was such a gorgeous afternoon we decided to also paint the back wall of the shed, however we do need to do two coats within 48 hours, so hopefully the weather will be dry again tomorrow, as we won’t get two coats done today.

It’s looking great.

Blocked road

The road out of our village towards Chacenay was closed for a few days, as the commune needed to clear some of the trees.

A few had lost branches over winter, and a few more were in risk of falling, and blocking the road, so they called in the tree fellers to tidy things up and make the road safe.

It has certainly created more space at the side of the road. It will also help protect the wildlife, as it’s often hard to spot the deer when they have tree cover right up to the edge of the road.

Cheeky

We were invited for dinner at our friends house, along with a couple of other friends. It’s always a lovely night out, but last time we were here Brian managed to run the edge of their border over in the car. So this time they made sure he could see it properly.

Their house is in Burgundy, and shares similar geology to Champagne, although we’ve never found fossils as big as the ones they have.

It was a lovely night out, and so nice to spend time with friends.

Bags for life

We couldn’t believe how much rubble Brian had taken out of the wall. There was simply bags of it! When we loaded it all into the car the front lifted up.

I’m not able to help lift such heavy things at the moment, so unfortunately Brian had to do all the heavy lifting. The great thing is though that in France they make taking ‘stuff’ to the tip really easy.

It didn’t take long for us to empty the bags and head for home for a well deserved cup of tea.

Those ‘bags for life’ really are very strong.

Getting comfy

We said cheerio to Chris and Sara this morning, as they were heading back to the UK. We were heading into Dijon, so we decided to take the opportunity to pop into Ikea, to see if we could buy some shelving for the new shed—I couldn’t resist a few other bits as well.

We also nipped to Leroy Merlin, and also bought some paint for the shed. Hopefully the weather will warm up a bit, and we can get that done later this week.

Fête du vin—Bar-sur-Seine

The Rotary club of Bar-sur-Seine launched a ‘fête du vin’ last year. It must have been a success, as they ran it again this year, and we decided to go along.

Wine fairs are such a great place to try not just lots of different styles and types of wines, but also experience vertical tastings. This is a tasting of the same wine made in different years. It really allows you to taste how a wine may develop over time.

There were about 12 producers, all with at least six different wines to try. We paid €4 for our glass, and could then taste as many wines as we liked. It’s a superb way to spend a couple of hours with friends, and also get to buy some great wines.

All hands on deck

The time had come to start building the shed.

Sara and I slowly started to take the wooden boards up to the now decked area. It all seemed like a huge 3D jigsaw puzzle to me, and I couldn’t see how it would become a shed. They immediately started piecing the bits together, squaring off the corners, and ensuring it was placed correctly on the decking. They clearly had a better idea of how it worked than I did.

It really seemed to come together quite quickly, and we were all excited to see it go up. Wanting to keep the workers energised, I nipped off to make some coffee, and bring the last of the chocolate brownies out.

Sitting in the sunshine, chatting about our week, and enjoying the view of our garden (that was now looking so much tidier), was all quite delightful, but the boys were itching to go.

Now that things were taking shape, they asked us if we could put a second coat of the protection on it, as rain was forecast for overnight. Sara and I got out our paint brushes and rollers and got on with the task.

It didn’t take long at all.

In the end, it took all day to build it, and they did run out of time to put the doors on. But Brian and I decided it would be better for us to paint the doors before they go on, so we will get some paint this week and finish it off very shortly.

For now though we are super happy with what we’ve all achieved.

A fabulous day in the garden

Sara and I spent most of the afternoon weeding the herb bed alongside the path at the bottom of our slope. She had already spent the morning potting up some plants for me, and had weeded the path. It was a glorious way to spend the afternoon, chatting and weeding, and listening to the guys banter about how they would tackle the next job on the list: the shed.

This evening we had planned to eat at L’Union, one of our favourite local restaurants in Essoyes. Anthony, one of the owners, is a great Sommelier, and always makes a good recommendation on what wine to drink with dinner. The food also never disappoints us of course.

Another fabulous evening spent at L’Union.

Dégustation at Robert-GrandPierre

I’d arranged for us, and our friends, to visit our local champagne producer – Robert-GrandPierre. Their Domaine is only about 500 metres from our door, so it’s very convenient. They converted the beautiful Priory, or ‘Prieuré’, into their Domaine residence about 10 years ago. It is an historically important building next to the 11th century church, which was apparently established in 1085.

As you enter the Prieuré courtyard you first see the connecting modern structure, a rather impressive glass and wood atrium in the shape of a barrel. It’s quite spectacular. The tasting room is built into the older part of the building, on the left.

They have a wonderful selection, and we love their champagnes, so going for a tasting is always a delight.

Thank you Céline for a delightful tasting.

The greatest chaux-man

We were hopeful of a dryer day, so the plan was to push ahead on the wall. Brian got the first mix of chaux prepared nice and early.

Then the two of them worked on pointing the wall together. They’d made great progress the day before, so could see an end in sight.

However Brian realised too late that his last bag of sand was a different type, and it was too late to go and get more. Finishing off will have to wait for tomorrow.

Late frosts

At the end of March, and the beginning of April, the vines start to burst into life. Unfortunately, it’s also the time when we often get a late frost in Champagne. If ice forms in the little buds it splits them open and kills the new growth. The frosts this year will get down to at least -2ºC, so many of the vignerons are taking measures to ensure their crops aren’t damaged. The two traditional methods for this are using heat and fans to raise the temperature in the vineyards, or freezing them in a controlled way. Freezing the vines may sound like a silly way to stop them getting ice damage, but it’s the way they freeze that’s important. The vignerons use sprinklers to form layer on layer of ice on the vines, causing the outside to freeze, but the inside to stay warm, preventing the ice from forming inside the bud. It’s a spectacular thing to see, and even more wonderful to see the little buds safe in their ice cocoon.

We woke our friends up early to drive up and see the display as the sun rose.

It’s such a spectacular sight.

Unfortunately our other friends that were due to arrive last night didn’t make it. They had an issue with their car just near Arras and ended up having to make the decision to go home. So disappointing for all. Hopefully we will get to see them later in the year.

Chauxing off

The day started with Brian getting the chaux mixed up and Chris tucking himself away under the tarpaulin and starting to point the wall. The sun was shining, but it was bitterly cold, and we knew the forecast today was very changeable.

I think Chris had learnt a lot from the wall he had helped chaux last year, so he started with great enthusiasm, and progress was good throughout the day.

Brian kept the chaux mixed up for Chris, and spent a little more time just cleaning up some of the gaps he’d maybe missed on his first pass with the hammer drill.

Sara and I were on wood protection. The wood for the shed was untreated, so we needed to get a coat of exterior treatment on it, before our other friends Philip and Jillian arrived to help put it up.

All this happened in between the showers of hail! But we all helped keep each other’s spirits high.

Camping out

Our friends arrived yesterday, and their plan is to help Brian to repoint the wall, and hopefully build the shed.

However, although we have beautiful blue skies today the forecast is not great, and rain, and possibly snow showers, are due later in the week.

So that the rain doesn’t stop their progress, they have put up a temporary tarpaulin to work under.

Next little task was to fix the bitumen tape to the rafters of the decking, and then fix the decking on top of that ready to build the shed on.

First though they needed to carry all the decking up to where it was needed. Having Chris helping out doing this was such a huge support for Brian.

The job was certainly getting done a lot quicker with help. It wasn’t long before they were laying it in place.

Cut and blow dry

We are hopeful that Brian will be able to finish cutting all the cement out of the wall today. He’s had an early start, and my plan is to keep him motivated with lots of little tea breaks and the occasional chocolate biscuit.

He’s clearing up as he goes, putting the chipped off cement into sacks—it’s a good job we have lots of ‘bags for life’, as they make great rubble bags. We’ll find time to take them to the tip later in the week.

It’s so important having the face shield and ear defenders, flying cement and constant drilling needs protection.

It was a little chilly as he got further across the wall and moved into the shade, but so good to see the job nearly complete.

We finished off with me using the air compressor to blow and clean off all the loose dust that had caught up in the joints.

Voilà, ready to be grouted with chaux.