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.

Grasping the plot

Thought we’d have a change of pace today, and a rest from the hammer drill for Brian. So we decided to get the ‘plots’ (the name for the round supports) and rafters fitted for the deck of the shed.

Brian took his time measuring and fixing the frame, to ensure that it wasn’t only the right size for the deck, but also square. He does this by measuring the length of the diagonals, which should be equal.

We then set about placing the plots and laying the rafters, which Brian had already cut to size. He then fixed the rafters in place, and finally adjusted the ‘plots’ to take the weight evenly.

It had all seemed quite challenging to start with, but once we could see how it was all going to work, it became quite easy, although it took us all day. We were pretty pleased with the outcome.

Chipping away

Today it’s back on the wall. It’s looking so much better already even with the cement just taken off. It’s proving quite tough, but he knows it can be done because our Workaway Chris showed it was possible, so he keeps chipping away.

End of day two. It is very hard going on his hands and shoulders, the hammer drill is quite heavy, and combined with the vibration, it makes the whole process very difficult. However, it’s much quicker than doing it manually with a hammer and chisel!

Shed delivery

Great excitement this morning as our shed was being delivered. I heard the lorry pull up outside our house, so I called Brian to come and help. Unfortunately a neighbour needed to get out of their driveway, so the delivery man needed to pull up further along the road.

Now it seemed like he completely blocked the road, and had no intention of moving again until he’d made his delivery.

It did arrive a little damaged, but we decided Brian would be able to fix it, and probably less hassle than not accepting the delivery.

All we need to do now is finish the pad it is going to live on. And then build it of course.

Another stone wall

With a little encouragement from a friend, we decided the stone wall to the left of the steps needs the concrete chipping off, and the pointing replaced with chaux. It will be so much more in keeping with the wall on the right that they did last year.

Some friends are arriving next week to help repoint it, so Brian wanted to get on with preparing it ready for when they arrive.

It’s a really tough job, the hammer drill he uses is quite heavy, and so this is not a job I can currently help him with. But he’s got started, and has made some good progress.

See you soon

We woke to beautiful blue skies this morning, and you could feel the air starting to warm up.

We were all up early as Lauren and Max were heading off to continue their adventure, travelling around Europe.

Wonderful adventures ahead, which we will hear all about when they come back on their return journey.

We headed out for a few errands, and once they were done we made time for morning coffee. It was gorgeous sitting in the sunshine, even though it was still a little chilly.

I’d wanted to pick up a few more plants for the garden, so we popped into Genty in Châtillon-sur-Seine. They always have some good quality plants, so it was nice choosing a few to take home.

I’ll try and get them planted this week.

Potting pansies

It’s been beautiful in the garden, and seeing all the spring colour coming through motivated me to add some more. I found these beautiful little pansies in the Leclerc the other day, so went about cleaning and tidying up some of my pots for them, that I hadn’t had a chance to empty out from last year.

To help minimise spreading any diseases in the plants I washed out all the terracotta and porcelain pots—it’s just a good habit to get into

I think the little pansies are now looking vibrant and beautiful in my repurposed tureen.

It also wasn’t long before they attracted a little bee to investigate.

Carrying gravel

The day started with laying down a weed surpressant membrane. Brian had made some metal hooks, just to secure the edges and corners, which helped speed things up.

The next task was to carry the gravel up the two flights of steps, and up the first part of the slope, to the prepared area. I was able to help shovel the gravel at the bottom, whilst the others carried it up there. Luckily Lauren just loved the physical work out, which was good as there was a lot of trips up the hill needed.

It was fabulous having many hands helping out. We stopped for a little coffee break and biscuit after about an hour, then got straight back on it, and were finished by lunchtime.

A lot of effort, but great fun.