Demolition Man

The break was good, but we couldn't justify putting off the internal renovation any longer.  The electrician has disabled the electrics everywhere but in the two rooms that we are living in, so we were able to take down the plaster off the walls without danger of electrocution.

Renovation of old farm house, with concrete lintel

Electrocution isn't the only danger with the walls though.  The plaster here is tricky, as it is massively thick and heavy blocks that can come down in one piece weighing about 10 or 15Kg each or as, in one room previously, a whole wall.

The detail of the renovation has not yet been fixed because we don't know what hides behind the plaster.  In some rooms we think it's concrete blocks which we'll need to recover, while in others it will be real stone which we would love to leave on show.  Even where it is real stone though, it may be covered in render or otherwise be so damaged that we'll just have to cover it anyway.

You can see in the photo that a concrete lintel has been smashed very unsympathetically into the stonework, so there is no way that the wall could be left uncovered.

When we know which walls will be stone and which will be plaster, we can then decide on the location of power points and switches, and whether the cables run through the walls or in conduit on the surface.  

It's a bit haphazard not planning the job out, but our experience here has shown that too much planning means that the job is done wrong as the reality behind the walls is never what we expect.

House Swallow?

Maybe he was a bit confused about his identity, and thought he was a House Martin but, whatever the reason, the Swallow shouldn't have been flying around in our bedroom.  

On the upside though, he may have munched his way through some of the copious flying insects that share the room with us.

Luckily Swallows are one of the most accomplished flyers, so even though he was scared he avoided crashing into any of the furniture or the windows.  We opened the bedroom windows and shut the door, and after a few more tours of the room he shot out of the room, over the pond and away.  Hopefully the experience won't cause him too much upset and he'll still be around for years to come.

Update:  The Swallow must like it in the house, as he has been in another two times.  In the end we had to shut the door until he'd got fed up with the game.

Wrong Again

Reading the weather forecast just to see how wrong it can be probably isn't what Meteo France expects.  It has gone beyond the point where we rely on the forecasts, so instead we are now amused at how inaccurate the forecasts are, with rain invariably forecast for 4 or 5 days ahead.  Each new day brings a new forecast, again with the rain due in 4 or 5 days.

Occasionally, there is a twist, with rain forecast yesterday for today.  Unsurprisingly, there is no rain today and now none forecast until next Tuesday.  Where did it go, who got our water, how difficult can it be to forecast the weather for tomorrow when it is the same as today?

We've been to Leroy Merlin

Like a couple of yokels, we don't go to the big town much. Today we faced Tours for the first time in weeks, spending 6 hours in Leroy Merlin buying plumbing and electrical bits and bobs.

The electrical equipment is especially expensive, as French regulations restrict the number of lights and sockets on their respective circuits, and require that there are dedicated circuits for many of the items that we would expect to put on a normal circuit, such as a washing machine or dishwasher. As each of these circuits needs its own circuit breaker spending many hundreds of euros on the 'fusebox' for the house was easily accomplished. Of course, we could have saved quite a lot by buying really cheap equipment, but our electrician wasn't happy about that, so we compromised by using ABB equipment instead of Legrand, as this was about 20% cheaper.

We have chosen to have the house rewired as the existing wiring does not meet the current regulations and, in our opinion, is fundamentally unsafe. So, while it is expensive, we are glad that the rewiring is finally underway.

Pea Pods

Young pea pods in May 2011

It's funny, isn't it?  It was more an accident than any great plan that we bought a house with so much land.  We needed a  house with doorways and roofs at least 2m high so that my husband didn't have a permanent headache, and we wanted sufficient land to ensure that we didn't have invasive crops like rapeseed closely surrounding us, but we hadn't really thought too much about what we would do with the land.  As it turns out, we've converted to wanting to grow our own fruit and vegetables, and so one of the joys of living here is we now have both the space and the inclination to develop a vegetable patch. 

While it has been difficult to prepare the ground without powered machinery and keep up with watering the seedlings during one of the driest Aprils and Mays for over 100 years, we were rewarded last night with a most glorious sight. As we moved along the rows of peas and beans checking the roots were still covered after the moles' latest tunneling exploits, we spotted several pea pods had started to develop. At last we feel as if all the hard work has been worth it as, for me peas are the food of gods ...... next to chocolate.

We had been concerned we would not get any peas this year as after transplanting our pea seedlings into the veggie patch last month, we trawled the internet for information on how to successfully grow them. After about 15 minutes we wished we hadn't looked because the general consensus from sites including BBC Gardening and the Royal Horticultural Society stated peas should be grown in cool climates, ideally around 18 C - 20 C. They also required free draining, potassium rich soil and plenty of water. With a sloping south-facing vegetable patch, temperatures regularly in the high 20s, rocky clay and chalk soil, and no rain things did not look good. 

Young pea pods in May 2011

We did buy some pea netting from B&Q but were not happy that it was going to work as we could not get it to stretch out either lengthways or top to bottom.  In the Daily Telegraph we saw an article suggesting that instead of using plastic netting you could use hazel sticks.  As we have coppiced hazel in the woods, we have a ready supply of straight and tall sticks, so we have used these to support our later pea seedlings. It will be interesting to see if the yields are affected by the support method. The hazel sticks certainly look more attractive and  as they are readily available in the right size and quantify from our wood they are both cheaper and more ecolologic than plastic netting.

Little Toad

Young toad on doorstep

This is the first time this year that we have seen the toads out and about around the house.  We have seen quite a few toads when we have disturbed them by moving bits of wood or lifting stones, but we had not seen them in their regular haunt around the front of the house.

Cute and cuddly they are not, but we are really happy that they do seem to be all around us as they are supposed to eat slugs and grubs, so hopefully they will make our plants grow.  We even found one under a log in the woods, which came as a surprise to us and him.

Full Moon

Full moon rising over forest trees

Just before the moon rose last night, the setting sun coloured the entire Western sky.  The few wisps of clouds were highlighted bright fire red as we said goodbye to another stunningly hot day.

On the other side of the farm, the full moon began to appear.  We first saw its bright light through the line of trees across the field, then it began to light the night sky.  Where the setting sun had coloured the sky red, the rising moon gave a softer yellow light.

We didn't have long to wait for the moon to first appear above the trees and then be fully visible, a nearly perfect orb glowing bright.  On clear nights like last night, the moon is bright enough to cast a ghostly glow across the garden, sufficient to walk around safely.

Frogs Blowing Bubbles

Pond Frog Blowing Bubbles

We are quite jealous of our frogs, who really do appear to live a charmed life.

With nothing better to do, they spend their days sitting on the side of the pond or floating just below the surface of the water blowing bubbles.  They only spring into action when we surprise them, but they soon get back into relaxation mode.

Common Frog Blowing Bubbles

With the temperature outside at a comfortable 25 - 30°C at the moment, and the water nicely warmed up by being in the sun all day, I would love to be able to join them.  I'm not sure though that the pond liner would last very long if I started paddling about on it!

I guess that I'll just have to leave the pond to the frogs, newts and assorted other creatures.

Pond Frog Blowing Bubbles

Early Salad Vegetables

Being in a farming area, we are very aware how big a problem the drought is for the farmers,  but it is brilliant that it is warm and sunny every day.  It is no surprise to us that it is dry here in the summer, though being dry this early is exceptional, which is why we put so much effort into digging the pond.  We are happy that with all our water butts and the pond we have plenty of water, though it is hard work moving it around.

The upshot is that our salad vegetables are coming on a treat, with loads of radish ready for picking, the spring onions nearly large enough, and so much rocket and spicy leaf that some of it is going to seed.  We even transplanted another tray of radish into the vegetable patch last night.  With this weather they will be ready to eat in a couple of weeks.

Reuse not Recycle - Stocking Plant Holders

Frogs on Stockings

Ever wondered what to do with laddered tights and stockings? One idea is to turn them into plant holders for pond and marginal plants. If you have tights, you need to cut them in half so that the legs are separate.

I have found that the best method is to tie a knot about 30cm (the exact length will depend on the size of your plant) from the open end of the stocking. I then loosely fill the stocking with a couple of handfuls of soil and gravel before placing the marginal plant gently in the middle of the opening and filling any gaps with more soil and gravel. The stocking top is them gently arranged around the top of the soil at the base of the plant. This acts as a seal and holds the soil in place.

The next step is to take another two stockings and put one inside the other so that they are toe to toe. Take a stone that would fit comfortably into the palm of your hand and place in the toe of these stockings. You now need to carefully pull these stockings over the first stocking containing the plant. Having three layers will help to prevent the soil from washing through the material in heavy rain, gives the structure more strength and increases the longevity of the plant holder.

Finally arrange the stocking plant holder on the side of the pond ensuring the end with the stone is in the water. The water will wick us the stocking and keep the plant's root damp.

The beauty of these inexpensive plant containers is they are mouldable, soft, plant

Frog on Stockings

friendly and, once arranged amongst a pond border, unobtrusive. They also make fantastic habitats for all sorts of creatures. As you can see our frogs have taken a real liking to them.

With the lack of rain we have had to use so much of the pond water for watering that the level of the water has dropped below the length of the stockings. Fortunately as the sides of the pond are yet unfixed and the plants are not in their finally positions I can shuffle them forward so that they continue to be watered.