Frog Chilling Out

Frog chilling out in pond on hot summer's day

The frogs are very much at home on our new pond. These young frogs love to spend their time floating just below the surface of the gorgeously warm water. They remind me of swimming lessons when I was a child when we were instructed to 'float like a starfish' ....... watching these little chaps I think our teacher could have said 'float like a frog'.

Sunday Brocante

The Pastis is in the cupboard but there are no glasses to serve it in, so we set off to the brocante first thing.  At first glance it looked hopeful, but on closer inspection there was either glasses missing from the set or damage to the glasses.  As we want to use these regularly we need a full set of perfect glasses.

We love the brocantes, especially seeing the old bits of farm machinery that have been uncovered from the back of a barn after 50 years, but we do wish that stuff was priced.  We know from our own and other's experience that without clear pricing there is a premium for Les Anglais, so we are very careful buying anything if we are not with our French friends.

Black-Tailed Skimmer Dragonfly

Black-Tailed Skimmer Dragonfly on chain over pond

It never ceases to amaze us how creatures find their way into new ponds. Our pond in the courtyard was completed towards the end of last year and has been slowly filled via the rainwater butts since then. We did add a few buckets of water from our old pond to the new pond to help get it started but we made a deliberate decision not to add insects or animals to the pond as we wanted things to take their natural course. 

We did not have to wait long before pond skaters, water boatmen and other tiny creatures started to colonise the water.  They were swiftly followed by some young frogs and palmate newts, who were probably happy that dinner had arrived before them.  In February large clumps of frog spawn could be seen bobbing just below the surface, so while we haven't seen any mature frogs in the pond they must have visited. 

Black-Tailed Skimmer Dragonfly on chain over pond

The latest addition to the pond are some enormous, brightly coloured dragonflies. We love watching them as they dart across the surface of the water munching on the midges and mosquitoes, stopping only briefly on the chain or a plant to take a short breather. 

Their wings are particularly fascinating as they look as if they are made from finely woven silk that would fall apart in the gentlest breeze.  Yet, when flying fast across the pond surface the dragonflies flap their wings noisily, like a child's windmill, and change direction instantly to chase another doomed insect.  

Our hope is these beautiful creatures will lay their eggs in the pond so that we will be treated to an even larger flying display next year.

Pied Wagtail

Juvenile Pied Wagtail eating insects off pond plant

Juvenile Pied Wagtail looking for dinner in pond

Adult Pied wagtail

With the days getting hotter the new pond is proving to be a great attraction with the birds. The House Sparrows have now got used to the idea of hopping across the stones in the shallow area so that they can get a drink whilst the Swallows artfully skim across the surface making both us and the frogs jump.

It is however the Pied Wagtails that are the making the most of the pond. I am sure they think they are water birds as when they are not sitting by the water they are bathing in it or paddling in it. It has been very entertaining watching the juvenile Pied Wagtails being shown how to feed in the pond.

Juvenlie Pied Wagtail eating in pond

Bonfires are banned

Normally we don't read the council noticeboard  because the information on it is not really that interesting.  For instance, the previous time that we looked the notices were about the council buying a plot of land to guarantee access to a couple of houses.  Certainly not earth-shattering news for us.

Luckily for us though, when we popped into town the other day we did stop to have a read, and found out that bonfires are banned due to the drought.  It's a bit of a blow really, because we had a clear out of the barn and found a lot of rotten wood that we want to burn.  We would keep it for the stove in the house, but it is so rotten and riddled with woodworm that it probably won't give off any heat.

The grass on our fields is looking incredibly dry and would probably catch alight without much trouble, so it's likely that, even without the ban, we wouldn't have had the bonfire.  It would be terribly upsetting to turn what has become a real haven for birds this year into a blackened and barren landscape.

Meadow showing effect of drought May 2011

A doorway to nowhere

As I said in a previous posting, there is no point in making firm plans for too far ahead with this house because it will take any opportunity that it can to throw an obstacle in your way.

Blocked up doorway revealed during renovation work

This morning we were minding our own business, gently bashing down the plaster panels in the bathroom that were lining the tuffeau wall when a wooden lintel hove into view.  What, I said to Mrs RiotLife, is a lintel doing in the middle of a solid stone wall?  Well, a bit more gentle tapping and it became obvious that it's the old doorway into the next room.  

Blocked up doorway revealed during renovation work

Now, this is a wonderful house, but previous renovations have modernised the interior to the extent that other than the stone walls there is nothing of character visible.  Because of this, wherever we find a 'feature' in the house we aim to highlight it.


The upshot is that what we had intended to do in the bathroom just won't work, so we are looking at how we re-jig the room to show off the doorway while taking account of the need for the room to be closed. 

Tuffeau Walls Revealed

Our house is mainly built of tuffeau, a limestone extracted in the Loire Valley. As part of the renovation of the house we have decided to expose as much of the tuffeau stone walls within the interior as possible. With a building this old it is not surprising it has been transformed many times during its lifetime, with the result being there are layers and layers of different wall coverings on some of the walls.

The wall coverings include modern crepi (a sort of interior render), ceramic tiles, lime wash and mortar. We have decided to strip back all the walls to the bare tuffeau in order to give ourselves the opportunity to inspect the walls and repair where necessary. The plan, in as much as there is one, is to leave the tuffeau exposed on the interior walls while heavily insulating all exterior walls. In this way we can retain some of the original character of the building while not racking up enormous fuel bills and wasting tonnes of energy.

Tuffeau wall covered in plaster and concrete

Cleaning the tuffeau is a very messy but not too onerous a job, although you do need to approach it with some care. For example, in the upstairs apartment the tuffeau was covered in a thick layer of plaster over concrete, which we were able to chip and prise away with a palette knife and hammer without causing severe damage to the tuffeau.

Tuffeau wall in apartment uncovered

Because tuffeau is so soft it needs to be able to move, so the mortar between the blocks must also be soft to ensure that the stones are not held rigid and so crack.  To make sure that we didn't damage the mortar we had to be extra careful when removing the concrete from over it.

Uncovering the tuffeau in the hallway

With the renovation downstairs we have the added complexity of rising damp which is causing the tuffeau to disintegrate.  This has been made worse by the walls being enclosed, with the result that they could not release their moisture.  Maybe even worse, the crumbling tuffeau has filled in the gap between the plaster blocks and the tuffeau wall enabling the damp to bridge across. 

Cleaned tuffeau wallin the hallway

Once the plaster cladding was removed we very gently tapped the mortar on the tuffeau to loosen it and then used a palette knife to lift it from the surface of the tuffeau. We are having to be particularly careful towards the base of the wall due to it being very damp and crumbly.  Not an ideal way to make the foundations for a 10m high house!

Once we remove all the old plaster/mortar covering we will clean the joints and remortar them. We hope the result will be a rustic yet beautiful tuffeau wall that will last for many years to come.

Tuffeau Stone

Chateau de Chenonceau from the southern river bank

Loire Valley châteaux, in common with our house and many of the older building in this region, are in many cases primarily constructed from tuffeau stone. Of the many fabulous châteaux in the Loire Valley built of tuffeau, the most famous is Chenonceau.

"Tuffeau is a marine sedimentary rock which is found in the Loire Valley of France. The Loire Valley formed the floor of a vast sea 90 million years ago. Over the millennia, sediment from the sea floor, comprising fossilized living organisms and sand particles, became compressed to form what is now known as Tuffeau stone."

The mining and extraction of tuffeau has created vast networks of troglodyte or troglodytic caves in the Loire Valley which are now been converted into wine cellars, mushroom farms or, as our friend's son is doing, a night club.

Strawberry Bed in front of Tuffeau Stone Wall

The tuffeau stone is a beautiful creamy white stone which glows in the sunlight making even the most modest buildings look absolutely stunning. The big problems with the stone are that it is very soft and porous, which means that it can easily absorb a large volume of water that then causes it to crumble away.  It seems to be particularly susceptible to airborne pollution, which accelerates the breakdown of the stone.

On the other side of the coin, it is incredibly light for its size, which means that large blocks can be easily manoeuvred.  

Shower Tray Removal

It's taken two days, but finally the shower tray has been lifted. It was set below the concrete floor level, then on three sides it was concreted in to the height of the enamel shower tray. As we wanted the shower tray out in one piece to use as a watertight base for a garden fountain, I had to break the concrete away relatively gently.

Shower tray cemented into ground

One thing that we have noticed is that the way that the previous renovation was done has made it almost impossible to perform a light renovation. For instance, because the shower tray was set into a concrete floor, the drain pipes all glued together and set into concrete, and the incoming water supply soldered, it is not possible to simply remove the shower tray and cubicle and replace with an new one of the same size. To remove the shower tray required us to smash all of the concrete and break the drainpipe. To change the shower tap we will have to cut the copper pipe.

It is arguable whether the previous renovation was performed in this way to make it long-lasting, or whether it was done to ensure that any future changes would require the intervention of an artisan.

In any case, the good news is that modern materials such as push-fit connectors for drainpipes and PER pipes for the incoming water are becoming easier to find and much cheaper. As the renovation goes on we hope to be able to convert the whole house to these more DIY-friendly materials.

Montrichard at Night

Montrichard Bridge at Night

Living near a pretty town was not high on our priority list when we were house hunting in France, so we counted ourselves very lucky that we ended up with Montrichard as our local town. It is a lovely ancient market town with a range of shops all the way from mid-sized supermarkets through copious estate agents to a specialist chocolatier that makes the most fantastic cakes.

Inspired by one of this month's categories for readers' pictures on the BBC News site we thought we would try to capture the night sky over Montrichard; especially as the moon is still almost full. We had hoped we would be able to capture the moon rising above the Cher with Montrichard's very pretty bridge in the foreground but unfortunately the moon stayed behind a large bank of clouds so it was not to be. All was not lost however as it was a gorgeously warm night with no wind so walking along the river bank was lovely. The town looked very pretty too with the soft glow from the street lights picking out the ornate roof lines and the dungeon's spotlights making the surrounding trees appear blue and orange against the black sky. To add to the spectacle we were also treated to a fantastic light show in the sky as we watched an electric storm pass by the town ...... sadly without any rain!

Sometimes we think that we comprehend the sheer number and variety of insects here,

Insects swarming around a street light in Montrichard

and then we see something that makes us think again. On the way back to the car after taking the photographs of the bridge and dungeon, we passed this street lamp on the bank of the Cher. Swarming on and around the light were hundreds, if not thousands, of flying insects. We are not sure what they were, however they looked a little bit like large flying ants. On closer inspection we could see that not only were the flies attracted to the light they also covered the lamp post and the pavement below. Certainly an unpleasant experience to walk through them, but luckily they were more interested in the light than us.