Our last posting dates back to the end of June. In the meantime quite a lot of things have happened. Han had just finished the necessary tiling in the kitchen for the artisans (trades people) of the kitchen supplier to take their measurements. More about this later. Subsequently, he had started tiling one of the new bathrooms on the first floor of “Le Creuset”, our Bed & Breakfast, when Cees, our carpenter, arrived to hang and make to measure the new shutters. The tiling would have to wait for a while, because our first priority before the winter was to paint the shutters.
Initially we thought this would be a doddle with a paint gun, but first of all Han had to teach himself how to handle this tool. Either the paint was too thick, resulting in lots of dripping, or the paint was too thin, which gave even more dripping. We had chosen hard wooden shutters of the Persiènne type. This type of shutter has slanting open strips of wood to allow light and air through the shutter when closed. All in all seven large windows with each two shutters that needed to be paint four times on both sides. Eventually, with the gun in one hand and the paint brush in the other, we managed to avoid the dripping and we are very pleased with the result. Fortunately we are not the only ones who like it. Car drivers, cyclists and hikers (often people unknown to us) come to a halt to look and compliment us with our newly painted shutters. Truely wonderful!
Another reason why people stopped was to have a look at our vegetable plot. Not because it was in any way particular, but there was this exuberant pumpkin plant. It had spontaneously popped its head up on the compost heap and was later moved to the veggie plot. It had tentacles of fifteen metres long and ten enormous pumpkins, weighing over 80 kg. in total!
This was a good excuse to organise a small party for friends and neighbours, as it is common practice in these regions to share your gluts with others. We called it an apérotimarron, a by Han invented new French word. Apéro is short for apéritif, an apetising drink before the meal and potimarron means pumpkin. As we were expecting about 20 guests, we chose the dining room of the Creuset to host this event. It was 31st October (Halloween), so a garden party was out of the question. However, the dining room had been used as storage for building materials and as a workshop, so it was very dusty and dirty. It has taken us four days to clear it out and clean it up. Apart from that it was quite cold in the Creuset. It took two days and six wheel barrows full of wood to heat the dining room from 8 to 18 degrees, by making a big fire in the cantou (inglenook fireplace), heating the woodburner and an electric fire. Apart from all these preparations, Mirjam had her hands full making twenty litres of pumpkin soup and four apple pies. It was all well worth the effort – the party went smoothly and a good time was had by all.
We promised to get back on the subject of the kitchen. The supplier, who had given us 20% discount, let us know they no longer provided the service of installation. Furthermore, they were no longer giving us a discount. Merde, what could we do? Cees offered very kindly to install the kitchen, but the extra cost and the loss of the discount would make the kitchen too expensive for our budget. Once more, Dominique, our plumber, came to our rescue. He introduced us to a cuisinist, a carpenter who makes kitchens. The cuisinist will build a kitchen made-to-measure and completely according to our specifications. He dissuaded us to use hardened glass worktops. Apparently they will scratch after a while and lose their charm. The best option in his opinion was granite, which keeps its beauty for “ever”. And so he introduced us to a stone merchant. We have chosen a slightly spickled black granite. All in all, this made-to-measure kitchen with granite worktops works out cheaper than the kitchen from the first kitchen supplier!
Some less eventfull news is that the tunnel between our cellar and the church causes a flood in our cellar. We knew this was the case, but at the end of September, when it had been dry for months, it suddenly started to pour cats and dogs. At this time, the rain water entered our cellar so fast that the newly placed boilers only just stayed dry. To keep them dry, we had to bail out the water into buckets and onto the road every hour and a half even during the night. This was too much! After our plea for help, the entire Building Services Committee of the Council came over to have a look. They opened manholes in the road, inspected our cellar and came to the conclusion that the water came from the manholes of France Telecom. Not something they wished to burn their fingers on… They advised us to dig a pit at the lowest point of the granite cellar floor, to collect the water and pump it out of there again onto the road. Enfin, after a week of digging, Han had dug out a pit of 50 x 50 x 50 and placed the pump in it connected to a garden hose, to drain the water onto the road if necessary. Even if it pours now, we can sleep through the night without having to set the clock every hour and a half to bail out the water!
