The Kitchen: Where was I? Where am I? 3 of 5

This is a partial repeat of yesterday's posting but I wanted to remind myself of the snippets in the story!

The electrician took 4 full days to re-wire the house to a new tableau electrique situated in the kitchen.  It needed updating and needed to supply 32A.  His workmanship was excellent, well thought, well tempered, well organised, well paced. A happy man!

The plumber who arrived on Friday did not come on the Wednesday because i think I understood  that the plumber who was to come didn't or couldn't or maybe was taken 'off the job' because I threw my wobbly on Day 1!!!!

The Friday plumber was in great haste!  I think there had been some disagreement because the delay incurred meant that they both needed to work in the same corner at the same time. IMPOSSIBLE.
Also they each needed their car in my courtyard!
They were very chatty with the plumber talking nine to the dozen about La Chasse etc...
BUT neither could really do their individual tasks.
After I think some heated words and various telephone calls the electrician departed to do another job. I didn't understand waht was happening but he returned at 4pm.  The plumber who had worked through his lunch hour, eating on the hoof (he said it was exceptionelle!)  completed the re-connection of the central heating pipes, reinstalled the radiator and did the first fix for the sink.
It was only later that their plan for the day unfolded to my understanding!

The electrician had to return or else we might not have had electricity for the weekend!

The Friday plumber arrived with lively, bouncy energy, chatty, but by the end of his labour he was tired, quiet and seemed depressed.  Fortunately, I chatted to him about his work, was positive and managed to bring a smile to his face. I praised him for his work and also was laughing at myself; my Monday reaction to holes in walls generating an emotional wobble which unfortunately caused the two artisans to need the same corner at the same time.  He then seemed to relax!  It's a Friday night.  One must go home on a good note!

He remarked that my friend and I made a good team!
He with his knowledge, expertise and advice about plumbing / electricity / my house...because he knew, remembered, showed the plumber and electrician that some work that they planned did not need to be done... it was already done .... (showed the central heating steam escape valves positioned in the living room, which I had forgotten about, and where the central heating plumbing pipes were...
and she / me with her / my French language skills!!!!!!!
My friend and I looked at each other. I laughed as he looked blankly. Well, it was in French and my French understanding is so much improved over the last six years!

I think that it was and is such a shame that he and I can be good friends when not in disagreement or power struggles, and that, what a waste it has been, that we have thrown the relationship away because of emotional, mental, physical factors from the each of us; ill health, early retirement, family and financial issues forcing us to be on the breadline for some time.
That's just too many issues to deal with in any partnership.

It was doomed to fail.
I was fearful, cautious, needing a secure, safe home and partner surrounded by my belongings, needing purpose in life and people ( not stones and sheep and isolation from culture), who had reverted to child behaviour as a result of far too many unhealed, un-understood traumas, being over needy and emotionally coping with grief and bereavements that I wasn't then aware of....coping with major post operative stuff that dealt a blow of inner womanly grief for over three years... on top of the loss of a career and the issues with my son, daughter, parents...

and he fearful, throwing caution to the wind, nomadic, as I didn't understand then that he had done it before and would do it again; that is, to ditch all belongings including a safe and secure home for travelling, for helping others, for volunteering because that is the true kindness and generosity of my friend who I had fallen in love with! He too, in the course of our relationship had lost employment , having to return to self employment, divorce and difficulties with family as well as personal self. 

Isn't it a shame that we couldn't sort out the BETWEEN STUFF then ?   

HOWEVER, despite the past, I was so happy to greet his arrival on the afternoon of the day when the electrician started, the afternoon after I'd freaked out for reasons too complex to explain here.


The next day my friend and I helped the electrician save time and labour simplifying his life by prepping the attic space and flooring.   I hadn't thought about this before and really I had no idea what was about to happen with this major operation of re-wiring!

It was such a joy to see the electrician's face light up (excuse the pun) as he witnessed how we had helped him.
It was such a joy for me that he came on Wednesday and told me he had a new method ... it would be to do as we had suggested and that I had agreed with the estimator who that week was unavailable. Yes he would pass the wires across the attic floor and down!
Win-Win!

The electrician returned on the Monday of the following week. We had intermittent electricity for most of the day.  He made good all the plasterboard work. Every night apart from the Friday as he ran out of time he made sure the workspace was spotlessly clean.  At the end of his work, he had made good all the plasterboard to an excellent level.
At 17h, the man had changed as he always did every morning and lunchtime, from day clothes to work clothes. He went home clean and sprightly with a spring in his step. The client was happy and relieved that the major work has been achieved.  A big worry lifted!

The Kitchen: Where was I? Where am I? 2 of 5

The wall and floor had been marked out ever since November. Every now and then I would measure the height, width and depth of each cabinet trying to decide where the sink, hob, oven, microwave should go.
Now,  I know there isn't much choice with a 3665mm linear wall,  but I wanted a U shape and I did not wish to lose even 10cm of wall space.
Occasionally the tape got moved.
During the winter I did a 3D model with tables, chairs, metal rods, wooden planks, boxes and anything to  bring the measurement to the correct level so that I could 'pretend' to use a sink, kettle, hob, oven.

There might be photos of this. ( a reminder to me to find some)

Later in the planning months feeding my anxiety, angst and headache, I tried to think of where the kettle should go, the blender, food mixer, chopping boards, pots and pans and baking dishes, cutlery and crockery, teas and coffees, canned foods, oil and vinegar bottles and wine, food waste bins, remembering that also the room behind my kitchen is a laundry room / with dishwasher, sink and washing machine. The system is working well.

In catering, it is important to have a circular movement as much as possible so that food preparation areas are not contaminated by the dirty dishes area.  I know this because in France I researched a "tea shop business" in this house before there was one in the village...and I quickly realised that I did not have the money, skills or artisan to do this for me when the whole house was in need of TLC and I was practically, emotionally and mentally off the wall!!!!!!!!!!!
I know that!
Anyway, enough of the negative past... onwards!

And so it came to pass that the tape was helpful to the electrician even though he had 'a plan' done by the estimator'.  (I'd made minor changes!!!!)  So I gave him a copy of the final IKEA print out plan as well as my own 2D folding images... 

Yes I might try and post a photo of these later...

Before the electrician started work and he WAS KEEN, I insisted we talk about the plan, discuss where the switches etc were to be, showed him the attic. He and I agreed that we each were 'en accord' with the necessary work! I really didn't want mistakes because I HAD NOT PAID ATTENTION.  This has happened before.  My former partner, a retired general builder, suggested on more than one occasion when the former electrician was here that I should not keep an eye on the artisans to monitor them!!!  As a manager and teacher I always used to monitor helpers in and out of my classroom or I would discover the work done with the children or the display was not what I wished or that it exceeded my expectations.... true, I gave everyone licence to contribute.  I was not rigid though I was a disciplinarian.  I am sorry to all those who thought so. On the other hand we had rising SAT results year on year at end of KS1 .. my class ... so much so that....ggggrrrrr....that is another story best left alone for the moment!
In the photo, the gap in the old and new layers of plaster-boarding is so that the plumber can do his work when he arrives!

The holes in the walls are where the switches and wiring has to go! These were made by the electrician on his first day.

After about an hour of the electrician working and me wondering WHY there were TWO circular HOLES up high on the wall I remembered I must take photos... so this was taken from the distance of the living room so as not to alarm him as he was in and out to his car gathering tools, wires etc as were required.  I watched with fascination as he rodded and pulled wires up behind the two layers of plasterboard old and new. The new wall. The newly fixed, plastered, sanded, filled, sanded, filled I don't know how many times with at least three coats of paint and which my friend was cross because I had not finished painting the final coast as I said I would do. 
My reasoning apart from the fact it was winter,  was that I did not wish to use more of the F&B in case the walls were ruined.  THAT was November last year.

OH no... now they are being ruined.  My heart leaps into my brain!  Imagine my friend's wrath when he sees it all later that day, when he arrives from the South of France, when he is specifically returning to get my kitchen designed and installed!
My fears rose. I wobbled. My internal alarm increased.
I asked the electrician what these holes were for and he explained how there would be two above each socket etc.
WHAT???
I explained how the wires were supposed to go across the attic floor as agreed with the estimator.  We even had discussed that this morning.  Yes he said but he has to do it this way, his way!!!!!
Where was the estimator?
Unavailable
On holiday training to be a pompier!!!!!
aaargh!
Helpless. Helpless.

Eventually, he spoke to a boss and the two  kept saying that I had no choice... to which I disagreed.
I spoke at length on the phone to the boss.

Meanwhile the stress that brings out the tears and the anxiety took hold.  I apologised and explained that it is one of the reasons why I lost my career position...and that this reaction to stress is very inconvenient to me!!!  It is my disability. I wish I could control it. It is my fuse! It is my valve!
I like to avoid stress!!!!

We had been discussing for about 30 minutes and it is just before midday.  
He asks if he should stop work.  I ask his advice. I also say if he thinks it is best to.
"Yes I think so.  Thank you.  I will discuss with my friend and when you return tomorrow we can discuss with him."
He has another job that he could go to.
It was as if we had each negotiated so as not to lose face and also it was important to me that we ended the morning without anger or resentment. I needed an electrician after all this time!!!!!!
We agree that I would telephone in the morning.

The next day I phoned at 8h to say that it was OK for the electrician to carry on with his method.

My friend was not angry. He had expected some ruination but agreed not 20 holes.  We went to the attic and accessed the space where his wiring could go.  My friend cut out the fragile flooring below the hot and cold water pipes which I revealed. Normally they are shrouded in several layers of polystyrene board and silver insulation against any frost.
I cleared all the rubble that lay beneath. This was rubble from the years as well as from the roof replacement. The floor is unstable and so it is important that people tread where we have put reinforcement lengths of wood or melamine. The old ping pong table had been put there as well about two years ago!

Below the boarding is fibreglass above tommettes above the ceiling below.  It was dusty and we did wear masks and hats!  We realised that the old hole where the extraction unit used to be was once a hatch, probably accessed by ladder to the attic where people must have once lived.

I didn't mind these holes as they are below the work surface!

Here you can see the offending holes near the ceiling and there were going to be many more!!!!!!

As he finished he replaced the circular cut outs  using lissage / filler. The electrician was exceptional in my opinion.  Good people skills.

This was the old casing...

Here the new is being installed - unfortunately I forgot to take the photo of the cascade of wiring spilling from the ceiling before each set of three were connect to the appropriate trip switch.

All done.  Trauma ended.... for the now!!!

In between comes the plumber with amazingly sorted containers!

replacing the central heating system pipes that I cut out because the flawed the architrave over the door and window so it wasn't aesthetic!   A costly choice!

He did the plumbing for the sink and again excellent workmanship. Pleasant manners. Men who worked happily in their jobs. A joy!  I highly recommend this team!
Continued in next post.

The Kitchen: Where was I? Where am I? 1 of 5

Looking back:

It was a year ago that 35 year old kitchen cabinets, inherited in 2010, began to be removed! There were already gaps in the kitchen where various parts had perished!  Now, some of the better carcasses were upcycled into the laundry room

This was my kitchen... look back to here.

Some became destined for the dechetterie.
Some are still under the open shed roof waiting to be reused or passed on. The copper on the extraction hood  invites me to lift it off for selling or using the copper plate!  BUT I don't have skills!
Some doors without their carcasses are perfectly good when painted if someone can make a cabinet to fit.

When the oven stopped at the end of August 2015 I was bereft, but I knew that I would find a way to cook as I love cooking, especially when others are here to eat!
Out came the 40 year old two ring gas hob. Excellent.  Though it had to be housed in the atelier almost open to the elements! Jolly cold out there and it was and still is a mad dash to watch the pans from burning whilst backwards and forwards to the sink and to prep food.
In February friends sold me a gas hob with electric oven; an overwhelmingly saviour!
NO, I do not like slow cooking in a special electric pot.
NO, I do not like electric steam cooking.
YES, a microwave /combi has its uses. 
I tried all of the above.

Living alone, I cook very simply and maybe this has not always been good for the digestive issues I have! I tend to pan sauté fish, meat and veg in olive oil.  But I like it so am not going to change!
I lost confidence in cake making and meal making during the course of the year. Gradually, the passion is returning when visitors descend!
I like to find new recipes as well as re-discover favourite ones so I am looking forward to a display of my cookbooks. .

The saga of finding an electrician who I felt I could trust to do all the work and not to leave me in a mess was based  on the year long experience (between October 2014 and December 2015) of having Collet mess me about over the Chauffeau Thermodynamique. Basically he ignored my continual plea for help.  I had the choice of the most enormous noise in the house, sucking up warm air,  blowing out cold, or no hot water at all.... which was not good for my mind nor my physical ailments.  I became extremely depressed even though I rallied to  follow my grandmother's footsteps. "I can do it" was my motto.
Eventually, the compressor died completely. Whatever the electrician did in May 2015 (his only visit before I called in Protection Juridique, who took almost 3 months to solve the problem, the result of which was not to my satisfaction) to enable hot water, eventually blew all the electricity in the house forcing me to have no hot water for months between July and mid October, when then he arrived under instructions from the legal team with a manufacturer rep and an independent "expert".  He reconnected it, having contacted someone else to know how to do it!  This was the same as in May 2015 but it blew again the whole house electricity again in mid November. 
Patiebce had worn rather thin. Stress levels were high.
Finally, as reported in this blog I scrapped everything and paid for a new Chauffeau electrique with a different company.

The kitchen
Eventually after three estimates and a friend's offer of his friend, a jobbing electrician who was between professional contracts, I continued to feel uncomfortable until eventually I decided for various sound reasons to ask BERTUCELLI to do the work even though the cost!
I am so glad I did!
I am waiting for the sink delivery so that I can recall them for the second fix of plumbing.
I am waiting for them to connect radiators for central heating but that is because I've asked them to wait so I can stage payments.
All seems good.
Another large company were helpful but a small drip on the chauffeau electrique waited three months before it was repaired, making my decision easier!  They didn't get the work which was a shame as I liked the patron.

Continued tomorrow.

Company

Today is the day when I gain company ... and I HOPE ... round the table communication, negotiation, and all those other skills I used to have when working in the educational world.  I have done a lot of work on the planning of my kitchen and also I have not done enough to formulate a complete decision.  Not many people have ever chosen a complete kitchen but I admire them.
I have been blighted by waiting for funds to build up and apart from winter hibernation,  crabby moods, illness and all other responsibilities that come with being a property owner, I have been blighted by electricians!!!!!!  
HOWEVER, I have hope and maybe the second one that came last July might be the one!   I have waited for devis and they have not arrived!
I also am going to explore the other French kitchen company because there is still something about me that resists IKEA ... or the one and a half hour journey each way and their apparently high delivery and installation costs.
I have found a work top colour.  I like it that it is not black, grey or wood.
Anyway, I must away... I must fly like a little bird, see the blue skies and the sunshine!

First March and a dragon!

I would like the imminent arrival of my friend, to be so, rather than a foe, but I can imagine his frustrations experienced by such a sensible and capable person, when I have daily frustrations with me, myself, I, personally, within the circumstance that I live.

However, I am up against acquiring estimates from reliable electricians as well as to find those who I have confidence. A discussion today with a friend who knows one of those who has been here to estimate the cost, set me back into DOUBT... aaaargh...

Then there is the flooring. I feel confident about my choice if it is still in the shops. I would like wood! Having just oiled one oak floor it doesn't take so long to dry if one warms the 50 / 50 mixture beforehand and does not slather on too thickly.  Two coats done!!!  The linseed / turps has changed the colour of the wood, now looking bright and shiny!  The other two oak floors need one more coat. I was stopped in my tracks with back problems in November after I had moved furniture and oiled the floors on my knees......

Then there is the furniture and the positioning of the appliances. The placement of the oven is still grieving me... I would like it mid level but I do not want it to impose visually in the room where one steps down into the room which has four doors and a window. I am convinced to go for the U shape rather than the L shape so hopefully my friend will be patient and offer advice suggestions on the last detail.

I have measured out the floor plan and the wall plan and have even taped where the splashback, extraction unit, plugs, switches and lighting have to go.  Have not chosen the splashback.   I do have an IKEA plan ... fourth model... but it will have to be re-verified for items because I have changed the positioning a little!

If we have to do the flooring, take a break, do the electrics, take a break, get the IKEA stuff , take a break , order appliances, take a break and then install it all then so be it!!!!!!!!!!!

If he gives up on me then so be that too!!!!!!!!
I hope not.

Now, to stop blogging and posting and wasting other task time!

Surfacing from a 14 month Saga....

The meeting of October 28th was awful.  Stress was unbearable. Now emotions were rising out of control as I had not taken anti-anxiety pills for several weeks.  I succumbed to a secret swig of brandy at one point because I couldn't contain my despair, fear, frustration, sense of injustices, annoyance, plus a level of feeling rejected and abandoned by the lawyer, the expert independent assessor but more so by the electrician and the rep from THERMOR.  It appeared to me and others that they had no CARE or APPRECIATION of my difficulties endured in the last year.

The invoice for this 2 hour plus meeting was absorbed by the electrician. I dread to think how much he was charged BUT GOOD... it is my only satisfaction from this SAGA.

The electrician who never deemed it 'entrepeuneurial' to look after his client deigned to come 35 minutes early.  I wonder what he was hiding from!
On the day of the meeting I'd just finished the domestic cleaning for the morning and was about to have a much needed coffee. He'd arrived early.  He insisted the meeting was at ten but I showed him the letter as he waited by the gate. He wanted to come and measure the room. OK.  It wasn't in my interests to be unpleasant! He looked rough and unshaven. His mobile phone screen was smashed.
I let them pass my roadside gate.
From previous other electricians who had been invited to look at the machine I knew that the room was only just at its lower limit and the machine did not have sufficient ventilation.  How odd that this is the first thing the elctrician wished to do as if he knew what the problem was!
The rep started to ask questions whilst he measured in what appeared to be frantic behaviour.   I thought they'd purposefully arrived early to disturb me.  She was aghast when I'd said I'd not had hot water for two months... clearly, she did not know the story! THIS shocked me.  After 6 weeks of waiting since speaking with Protection Juridique insurance for which I'd paid monthly for five years why hadn't the lawyer communicated with the manufacturer?
Then these two asked for the electricity fuse to be switched on.  Immediately the chauffeau thermodynamique blew the general electricity in the whole house.  AT WHICH I asked them to leave to return in 25 minutes at the correct hour because I thought the independent expert should be present. Why should I have to tell the story twice?  YES, he also did not seem to know the story.  Why did it appear that Protection Juridique had not told him. i felt that I was being judged.

My point with P. J. insurance / legal support was that the electrician was neglectful and had not done what he said he would, i.e. return after May with information as to what was wrong.  He had not CARED! I was bringing a case against him for that as well as that for course I needed hot water but now I had lost all confidence with this machine AND the electrician AND Thermor who I had contacted by email and spoken with on the telephone and each time they said I must call in the original installer.  I had tried since October 2014 when the machine made large growling sounds in addition to the hum!

During the meeting the electrician phoned  a frigoriste. I now know that although he installed this water heater he is not a qualified frigoriste!  It took him over an hour to prevent the machine disconnecting electricity in the whole house!

Eventually, desperate to find a solution to end the SAGA and have hot water, I agreed under severe pressure to sign an agreement that I would pay 420 euros for the mains d'oeuvre / replacement of a compressor which was dead (oh if only I were!!!!!!) and the electrician and manufacturer agreed to pay 828 euros for the compressor.  M y rising stress and tearfulness was unhelpful.  It is always uncontrollable.  There was no sympathy for my mental and emotional dis - ease as the independent technician spoke sharply to me and told me to stop crying. Believe me in situations like this the panic and anxiety arises and I revert to being like a child. I hate it!
So I signed. Breaths of relief could be heard from all.
THEN, the independent expert said I had to keep the doors open between the kitchen and the laundry room because the machine needed ventilation. They had not agreed what to do about that!  I was even more upset and exasperated.  They don't have to live with this situation which necessitates hearing the noise of 55 to 58 decibels (we recorded the sound level on an APP on a friend's smartphone)... plus having all hot air in other rooms being sucked into the laundry room to feed the machine!!!!!!!!

THEN they went away.   I was exhausted. 

Once calm and in discussion with others I realise that my anxiety and indecision comes and goes continually because it seems ludicrous to spend 420 euros with other ongoing issues, when for 1000 euros I could employ an different electrician to instal a chauffeau electrique in the same place. That is a normal ballon / tank. People had said to me: "Cut your losses and replace it with NEW."

As I'd had two estimates from two large companies quoting the same I chose one!

I called in an electrician recommended by Parisian locals.  I call him 'The Man from Montmorillon'.   He'd told me that the model is 'un mauvais serie' and he'd seen many of this model dead within a few years of installation - either le compresseur or le cuve is the reason.  This was the prototype model and subsequent models were modified by the manufacturer. The rep never said a word at the meeting (well she wouldn't I suppose!).  Unfortunately I was not aware of this factor until after the meeting on October 28th....
So because of that I cancelled the frigoriste making a second date into the next week in order to 'buy' myself more time to make a conclusion / decision.
Oh,  more troubles!!!!!
The machine cut the electricity in the house again at 8h 20 on November 18th. 
Immediately, I contacted MR COLLET the electrician who gives very poor service. I left a message as I had to goo out and he phoned three hours later. Reluctantly, he said he would be there the next morning at 8h BUT never arrived.
I  have no qualms in mentioning his name in these days of Trip Advisor and other such exposing of malpractice. It had been set to heat water without using the compressor.

Weirdly, on November 18th, the machine connected again and the lights went on but the machine did not heat water as we discovered after 24 hours having used the water for shower and bath that day.  So me and my lady guest had no hot water after that for two weeks, when then I went to UK for two weeks.

So, in a dilemma, I further delayed on the frigoriste replacing the compressor because I was anxious that I had signed an agreement and actually wished to withdraw from that agreement.  Although I'd asked by letter and email and tried by phone to ask about my rights.. always I was told that I must have the compressor replaced!!!!!!!!!
Fear took hold.  
When the lawyer made a three way phone call with him and I on November 23rd,  he accused me of cancelling the frigoriste (TRUE ... when she asked :Is that true?) and he agreed he'd said he would come to my house, then never did (TRUE ... he said when she asked "Is that true?")  Again, under pressure of not knowing if I could withdraw or not  I agreed to do what she insisted thinking that this was a stupid step to take, because of what the man from Montmorillon had said.
 
So... I contacted an AVOCAT whose opinion I felt I could follow. He wanted a copy of the agreement I'd signed. I never received it and at that time neither had the Protection Juridique.  The avocat commented that in his opinion water heaters were not worth repairing and they should be taken out and a new one installed... SO THAT IS WHAT I DID...it was the confidence I needed to make a decision.

How did I manage without hot water for two months then two weeks?  With great difficulty.
Well... it took up to two hours depending on my activity back and forth to the tap, microwave and kettle to boil water and fill two orange BnQ buckets.  Diluting hot with cold, I sat in an empty bath pouring water over me bowl by bowl!   HOWEVER, this was easier than 2012 when I had to do that in the exterior bathroom when outdoors was -26 degrees. The radiator in the outhouse didn't much improve the heat of the room!  Ah ... history and the joys of French housing!!!!!!!!!! One has to laugh at the memory!

The artisans working for the 'Man from Montmorillon'  imstalled the new water heater on December 14th.

BLISS...
a) there is SILENCE IN THE HOUSE... even my English / Italian friend had said the previous machine was a racket. Poor girl she didn't get a shower or a bath either!!!!!!
b) There is NO COLD AIR IN THE HOUSE.
BUT all is not yet hunky dory as there are two small leaks on each of the hot and cold taps on the tank. I need a new disjoncteur and I need the machine connected to heures creuse and heures plein.

Yet yippppeeeee...enter the 21st century in Western Europe! 
How lovely it is:

a) to have a hot bath to keep clean, enable bodily functions, relax and warm muscles and nerves at any time of day.
b) to wash the psyche and produce better morale to appreciate sanity ... a hot fall of shower water cascading onto my head or plunging head and hair under hot water is extremely good to combat dark bouts of depression that seem to beset me. 
c wash pots and pans and do the dishes; it isn't such a chore when before I needed to walk back and forth with a kettle of water whilst not having a kitchen in the kitchen room.
d) hand wash clothes is easier.

ALMOST the END OF THE SAGA... all when there is no kitchen appliance or surface in the kitchen........ Will I ever face the fear of how much it costs when I'd lost contact with the price of things.   

In the interim, the second roof ridge was repaired; they broke a load of tiles from the roof as they clambered to the ridge on roof ladders in two places. At the same time they repaired the second lucarne. The timber was soft and powdery.  So there goes the kitchen funds saved out of pension! 

Ah... did I mention the word BLISS????   Must have been an error! 

Ongoing not hot water issues

It will be more than two months since no hot water from the boiler!
This morning an Independent Technician will arrive to give an unbiased diagnosis of the criteria affecting why I have no hot water and why the French ARTISAN installer (he will receive request to attend by 'lettre recommandée... signature required)  has not been responsible for:
1. not coming to look at it in October 2014
2. not doing what he said he would do, i.e. contact manufacturer to see how to repair it and report back to me... ( maybe he did do the first part???)
3. not doing as he was asked to do by Protection Juridique earlier this month
4. apparently installing in a room too small in terms of cubic space
5. apparently installing in a room without sufficient ventilation in and out

And so... what will this morning bring???  
Let us HOPE!!!

This was my kitchen

This was my kitchen......a good quality kitchen for its day, installed in 1985.  I inherited it five years ago. These photos were taken on the morning of gutting out.  I have enjoyed cooking in my lifetime and this room is the last to be renovated. It has scared me! A door on every wall plus a window to the outside world!
Casements worn around the edges, wall tile grout crumbling, worktop tile grout falling out, ceiling with torchis needing attention, beams shiny brown, oppressive to me, copper hood with not connected evacuation unit discharging into the grenier space above can be recycled,  oven works but I have no idea what temperature it bakes at!  The dishwasher looked as if it was new but quickly broke four to five years ago and was recently disposed of. The built in fridge froze foods every four weeks or so when I had to defrost the tiny freezer cabinet with water water everywhere.  Ten years ago and more I used to have a fridge that cleaned itself. What a joyous invention that was!  Last year I inherited the joint freezer and our joint Bosch larder fridge from my former partner who gave all the joint owned possessions to me when he sold his house to go travelling. 
Currently, existing kitchen furniture is being recycled, repainted for the laundry room which sits behind this kitchen.  La Buanderie,  as it is called in France, is in the part of my property that is on the Napoleonic cadastral plan.

I like my Ikea trolley but it did not normally live here!

Oh my.. I have detested that hanging lampshade!!!! It is I believ number two and saved from a house I once part-owned forty years ago.

and then we started to pull the oven from its housing and the wall...

like a Victorian camera...

and lo, behind the cabinets is a vestige of wallpaper, circa French 1985  (vraiment akin to English 1965!!!)  which I thought I had eradicated 5 years ago!!!  It really is an art form of its time.  One can see the colour scheme in harmony with the retro floor tiles!!!!!!! Then, this kitchen was amazingly modern in this French village. Then this kitchen was very very expensive!

I wonder what the flowers are....
VOILA... all to be renewed for someone in the next 30 years or less to say "Quel horreur!"

Staircase

The staircase created a dark corner in the 40m2 Grand Salon. Workawayer iii started to sand it by hand. This was extremely difficult for him or anyone even though we had the correct sandpaper to remove varnish.  Four years ago when the beams were sandblasted it was thought it would be too harsh for the staircase but I now wish we had tried.  Nevertheless, I asked the Workawayer to paint the underneath; it is surprising how much reflected light has been brought into that corner.  All the paint cans stored below have been removed and the 'cave' (pronounced 'carve') beneath the staircase has a cherry wood lid. That has been treated for woodworm as have the stair treads.  So I am hoping this little niche will become a place to sit and read! The hanging electrical wire is because I need safe electricity upstairs and for some reason the electrician didn't update the wiring or plugs and I need two lights in the attic space. Hence, a trail of wiring!

Before

After

Accomplished on Friday

The shutters are painted...
plus one of my children's old pine bunk beds, which separated and made two single beds... out with the old and in with the new! Now they are Skimming Stone white to match the skirting boards.  I've had them for about 35 years!
One may still continue to belong to my former partner who is out in Asia doing Workawayer and having it seems some unpleasant experiences as well as good ones!   I left him some of my furniture but now he has sold his house and it has all been returned to me for storage If he ever returns to collect or dispose!
Ivy from the stone wall and other rubbish was taken to the dechetterie!
Workawayer ii cooked Tortilla.
The rain came again!
Photos are to come!
Must dash as Workawayer iii arrives today, Saturday!
Private space will be non-existent for ten days!

Accomplished on Thursday

Finished primer/undercoat.
All bar one set of shutters have one coat of topcoat so haven't quite achieved target as 'le chaleur' stopped painting!
Scraped, filled, sanded, primed and repainted bubbled paint on interior of small room.
Cleaned windows therein and damp-wiped floor and all paintwork!
It is the cleanest room in the house! Ready for Workawayer ii to return!
Prepped lunch.
Baked bread; the dough was started day before and kept in cool room to halt rising!
Wrote emails.
Looked at blogs.
Rested in afternoon shade waiting to do a other few hours work!
Whilst the grass was cut by my assistant, I cleared ivy from some of stone wall and the side of my stable/garage but there is more to do!
Took aperos and prepared evening meal!

Accomplished on Wednesday

Work started on sanding shutters and doors which were last worked at by my own fair hands within a few weeks of owning this property. Why? Because they were either white or brown. Can't remember without consulting photographs.  I consulted my son by telephone, as we seem to be getting on much better. He said that if bare wood was showing after sanding, then to prime with undercoat because top coat would key better! So all 7 shutters and doors were sanded and half were coated with B.I.N. primer which does not need sanding! Whoopppeee!  With Workawayer ii, we hope to finish at least one top coat on all 7 on Thursday.
The small room window overlooking the road, though hidden behind shutters, revealed that it had never had a top coat on it...(out of sight, out of mind!)  but it had been sanded.... so a quick damp clean of all the cobwebs and dust, then a light sand.  I managed to get two top coats painted. In all 10 hour man hours of labour,  plus I did an hour at lunch time finding paint, preparing paintbrushes, putting cardboard on ground. The window had to be left open all night with shutters closed because I didn't want the draught insulation tape to peel off, nor the window to stick to the frame. Workawayer ii had to move bedroom, which was a good thing anyway as it needs a clean. Despite what I said about keeping windows and doors closed, or open with shutters closed, to keep his room cool, a plague of flies infested his room! Indeed, today there is an untold plague of flies, unseen in the four years I have lived here, so burning citronella candles and have placed squashed garlic on a saucer in rooms!
In addition, I walked long strides first thing in the morning to stretch the leg muscles, swept the courtyard, watered the potager, washed the linen, did the ironing, prepared fish pie with sautéed potatoes newly dug from my garden, served with steamed broccoli and a nice Burgundian Chardonnay................
All praises sung to Workawayers!
However, although I am a hard taskmaster, I am a good host, so do expect a little extra on the domestic side without having to ask and I was trained to say: "Is there anything I can do to help?" or just pitch in and help!  I am trying to educate but perhaps he thinks it is I with the problem! Hey ho!

No More Brown

The view  of the brown courtyard portal is No More Brown. The garden gates of my home, (affectionately known as Fort Knox) are now a beautiful silver grey - comme moi! heeheehee!
With HUGE and GRATEFUL thanks to Amanda without whom (as one says) I would be looking at Dark and Gloomy.  Her motto is HAPPINESS and she certainly has brought that to me via WORKAWAYERS.  So too has Steve her partner when they sanded and painted the vast French shutters a few weeks ago!

Transition stage

However, I removed the green plastic coated wire mesh at the base of the metal gates and have discovered that Big Feet slips through, so I must purchase posh silver netting as a deterrent for little dogs and cats to squeeze in and out of my courtyard from the roadway!

A battle between beauty, aesthetics, practicality and fortress protection! 

Now what do I do about those walls? 

ADDENDUM:  

 http://restlessinfrance.blogspot.fr/2012/07/vous-avez-une-barricade.html

This gives a good picture and explanation of how the gates used to be!!!!!!!! 

PROGRESS!

Grey gives a breath of fresh air

My Workawayers were the most loveliest of people...I have been so lucky!
I had already met A in my daughter's home town when I visited UK in March/April. Such a small world! We had already agreed an exchange of labour for accommodation and food, so to meet beforehand was re-assuring.  I planned various smaller tasks but in actual fact PRIORITY A absorbed the week, however, when wet, cold weather on Wednesday prevented painting, PRIORITY B was achieved sufficiently to secure broken posts and holes in a wired fence on PLOT 13!  Bravo S and A for removing the dead tree and sawing it for logs! PRIORITY C was to move the piano and filing cabinets, to sand and paint the skirting board behind.  GREAT! Three jobs done!
It is absolutely amazing to have beautiful grey linen-fold shutters (see comments) rather than nasty brown, badly varnished, ingrained with dirt, blotting the view on my lovely house shutters.  The cream on the cake was to see grey from the inside when looking out.   So uplifting!
I had no idea it would take so long.  I worked too at sanding and using the special expensive undercoat that seals and prevents resin and varnish permeating through the paint!  I knew how difficult it was!
When I was at work in my career I would often join the persons working according to 'my instructions' to see if it should take that long! ... or to see if there was a better way of doing things.  I love it when people have initiative, as S & A did ... I love being open to being wrong (hard as that is) and that someone else has a better or quicker approach because of their own experience or knowledge.
S & A were unimaginably energetic and proactive. I can see how being younger makes a difference! They started work at eight and continued for five hours each day.  A was so lovely that she painted the third top coat on the outer leaves of the shutters on the Saturday morning which was more than she was required to do.  I need to paint one or two more coats on the inside!  They have pride in their work. They were fantastic company and yet we did our best to respect personal space. We shared the love of good food, music, wine and quiet moments to rest. They used the bikes and explored the village.  We went to La Place but after 5 hours work each day, with inclement weather as the week progressed, it was not conducive to sit and watch the world go by.
They were very motivating and encouraging and so I have promised to take certain action!
Thank you to Susan for telling me about WORKAWAYERS.

Spring 2010 - old single glazed windows with brown shutters folded back

Summer 2013 - change tp double glazed windows without battens

Summer 2014 - grey shutters closed

Summer 2014 - double glazed windows with battens and grey shutters

Summer 2014 inside to outside

I have another young lady coming from Ohio who will arrive in several weeks time and the PRIORITY will be sorting STUFF!

POSTNOTE:
Maybe the correct terminology is 'folding wooden shutters' ... or maybe they are bi-fold...

However, despite advice from builders, painters and decorators that the correct method would be to remove and paint flat, as in 'horizontal' ... we ignored advice on account of the peculiar flexibility and size of the doors.  In our opinion it was easier to open, close, fold in different arrangements to paint on both sides.  Initially, I was going to leave hinges unpainted but I did local research by wandering through the village on an bservational walk!  Hinges were left un-painted with nasty brown varnish but painted when les volets / the shutters were painted!

For those who are interested: we sanded the doors by hand as machines just jumped about...( maybe being on a flat surface would have helped but we didn't want the problem of not being able to get the doors back in situ!).  That took us 15 hours!  We removed all the shiny varnish and lumpy blackened dribbles. We did NOT sand to bare wood. Then we painted the doors and hinges with a product called Zinnsters B.I.N. which keeps the resin and varnish where it is!  It was recommended by Farrow & Ball for brand new pine skirting board.  After that S & A used modern vinyl brushes especially for water-based products and rollers but the brushes worked best.
The paint I used was being sold at a 40% on the last promotional day at LeRoyMerlin:
RIPOLIN EXPRO 3 for exterior wood and extreme weather.  I have enough for the gates but wish I'd bought more for the other type of shutters. The OUCH factor on my bank account nearly caused a heart attack!   THANK HEAVEN for WORKAWAYERS! I am now in Paradise when I look out of my bedroom and living room!

Onwards!

The ACT and Scenes of THAT PARTICULAR movie has ended ... just for a while, so onwards to Workawayers, who arrive today!

Chastisement:
I returned home yesterday to the cat who greeted me (she speaks cat language) but the bird was definitely not by the door when I unlocked it and in the space of seconds, there it was! When younger she was a great hunter of moles and rabbits and would negotiate busy roads to get to the common and return with her booty. Then aged about 4 or 5 she used to leap two metres or so into the air and catch bats!  Is this how the warm, limp swallow was captured? A funeral was necessary of a bird that symbolises spiritual freedom!  Was it her way of knowing that the other owner had departed?

Hopelessly wrinkled

On 6th March I washed and ironed the new Egyptian cotton bedlinen from The White Company bought July 2013.  Hopelessly wrinkled.  I tired inwardly whilst steam ironing after what felt like two hours on and off .... and so washed the duvet cover and sheet again at 30C, as indicated. This time I reduced the spin speed and ironed whilst wet according to the instructions and dried on the line.  Previously I had ironed whilst damp.  Again Hopelessly wrinkled.  I've phoned the company who say they have not heard of this problem before and as it is past 30 days since I made the purchase they probably can't refund.  However, they will send a return post label and the technical team will look at £133 worth of bedlinen and if they cannot refund, will send it all back to me!
I don't understand why the 4 pillow cases are acceptably crinkled, wrinkled after ironing... but the sheet and duvet cover are rather like that dress fabric which has been crushed, pleated, crumpled and wrinkled...... I wouldn't put this bed linen on my own bed.  I've read that with repeated washing the fabric gives in and the wrinkles disappear but I can't quite believe that in this modern age of instant gratification!
It is so annoying as I wasted much time today trying to prepare beds for the Italian guests.  I am using them as guinea pigs for the chambre d'hôte .... I'm not sure I like giving up my perfect room and the cleaning has to be impeccable with not a cobweb, spider or feather in sight.  It's worse because the opportunity arose without me thinking it through, as it is good to help people, do the voluntary mine host thingy.  I often step into situations where I think after the event!!!!!  Fortunately, my friend stepped in to suggest that this and that could be achieved.  I was so pleased as other efforts to bring people in to help have failed or not yet come to fruition..
HOWEVER...
The guests are absolutely charming in that Italian way... Bellissimo... and this morning I am thinking that although the current arrangement is a little difficult, it could work if I were to get a toilet and shower in another part of the building. Is it worth the hassle and expense, I ask myself? 
 We enjoyed MY FISH PIE .. every version different.. and a Coeur de Neufchatel cheese which I bought over a month ago, stored in the fridge, took out yesterday morning for it to breathe and there is hardly any left!!!!!!! The Paschka whilst delicious was too calorie / fat laden for my lovely guests...and in my fridge which is a freezer it makes delicious ice-cream!

Facing the onset of Spring

Days become lighter mornings and evenings and with that a frosty morning snap has arrived.
My arms have been working, stretching, lifting, carrying, which seems to suit the pain.  It's very odd, because at night, the pain keeps me awake or wakes me so that I lose sleep.  I have a sneaking suspicion that the inflammation has reduced but am reluctant to say that there is improvement, or that the pain is getting better.  Ginger tea is the order of each day as it is a natural anti-inflammatory! And so it is and so.

The media reports about the elderly. Am I becoming thus :)? It is scary!  I loved to hear about Nell on Woman's Hour this week. She is 100 Years old and a true inspiration. She cleans every day and says it's much easier for her  once the lady has giving it 'a do' ... what a marvellous expression!  Keep on moving that's what we've all got to do.  Use it or lose it.  I do my best to keep moving but it has to further improve! When I sit still and cannot peel myself away from technology, I know that if I can dance or 'faire le repassage' / iron the bedlinen whilst David Bowie sings then I will feel better!  But I like to sit and write / type, read the news, research this and that which the internet provides.  It has transformed my life.

Whilst Facing the onset of Spring:
There is a 2 stere stack of logs from 2013, yet I daren't touch them as they are stacked so well.  Therefore,  using the machine, I have started splitting logs from the January 2014 delivery. Really that wood needs to dry out a little more as some will not give to the 400 kilo pressure.  Smaller/thinner oak logs give greater immediate heat.  Although the sun has been shining,  some days or parts of days are still pretty cold, but there are times when one can have morning coffee or afternoon tea in the courtyard or rear garden.  There has been what I call a RAW East Anglian spike to the crisp, cold-blue sky and an edge to the wind. Tonight, 5th March, one can see Orion The Hunter lit by the myriads of stars and single crescent moon.

Whilst Facing the early Spring, pages of Life turn...
I've been walking around my house climbing ladders, sorting and spring cleaning.  I like DIY when part of a team, even though I am mainly the support skivvy. Friendship should have been more than working at home improvement.  It's been a fact that I can't do this work alone. Eventually, with not great effort, I succumbed to accepting an offer of help and I, in turn try to help him.  I've said it before that 'It's not yet finished until it's finished'.  Friendship doesn't just cease. Whilst there is laughter and fun which makes us happy, there is another day to celebrate, another day to live, another day to gather happiness around us!  What is happiness? What is friendship? What is a relationship?

I know that if I truly love someone then that love will go wherever she/he stays and wherever she/he goes. In the case if my friend, I hope that my love will give him courage to find whatever he thinks he is looking for, whatever he thinks he didn't have when he lived with me! I give him my blessings.
I / he / we haven't always been kind to each other and that fact hurts me beyond belief in my darkest moments... and...then I wake up!!!!!
I / he/we have been quite frustrated with each other for all sorts of reasons.  
It's a shame and a waste of friendship! 
I don't understand how people have successful friendships let alone relationships or marriage!

He jokingly but seriously says I must take advantage. The Wheels of Life are moving and we face further future LOSS.  On my return from a long drive to buy a matching curtain pole to the first, I sobbed most of the 50 minute journey home!!!!!!!  Why do I cry? I know why!!!!!!!  But as I cry, I think, and thinking whilst I drive helps to unravel emotion, though it's not quite safe to do all this at the same time!  I absolutely know how I feel and it won't go away and by Jove I have tried, even not connecting with him for 5 months!  Its feels like a form of madness, illogical, worse when he have made contact and then are apart.  Unrequited Love, I suppose that is what it is.... 
How are people able to care so much for each other after 15, 30, 50 or more years of marriage? 
What made us so co-dependently close and then what made us fail to keep tolerant and patient with our foibles?  I/he/we made so many mistakes!

Why is it that the smallest of jobs and most final of tasks when titivating interior decoration seem to take for ever?  However,  those 6 French doors of the barn part of the house are at last painted internally.  Now wooden battens fixed to polystyrene backed plaster-boarded walls take curtain poles to receive beautiful Laura Ashley cream damask curtains from a house I left in 2002. They have emerged from the suitcase, visited the dry-cleaners at huge expense, but the lovely lady halved the price as there were 4 curtains, and at last they now provide ambience.  However, I must sit and lower the hem which means using needle, thread and patience.

I'm trying to consider having a chambre d'hôte in the high season.  This week and last we've been working through small jobs where broken door-knobs have been repaired, plumbing to the exterior toilet and sink has been repaired, and there has been much drilling, sawing, sanding, painting.
It has been a pleasure!

Entymology

After the renewal of the mansard roof I've had to find out the names of carpentry joists in order to describe a problem with water when there shouldn't be any on the inside.   There are legs (jambes de force ou chevrons) which support 'la panne sablière', junction of 'le brisi' and 'la terrasson'.  In English they are called 'ashlaring'.  What a wonderful sound!

Ashlaring is a collective noun given to ashlars, which are short upright timbers that are fixed from the joists to the rafters to form the walls of a garret/attic/grenier. They cut off the acute angle between the roof and the floor.
Ashlaring is also a term in masonry when squared stone, cut roughly true on all faces is positioned next to others so as to provide very thin mortar joints.  It is also a collection of such stones.

It can also be used as a verb to ashler / to ashlar meaning to face with ashlars!

The word originated in the early 18th century from 14th century Middle English ascheler and  Middle French aisselier  and Latin axilläris,  the latter creating the word axis.  

Roof pre replacement and a healing foot

I can't access older photos until I get my laptop repaired but if you click on the link below you will access a photo near the start of  this blog.

My house roof before replacement. Terracotta flat tiles and plastic guttering.

Now my roof has ardoise because the pitch was incorrect to meet modern regulations for flat tiles. However, artisans had to raise the pitch anyway because they had to instal a panne faitiere so maybe I could have had flat tiles. hmmm......ANYWAY, I am very pleased with the result. Let's forget about an empty pocket!  I would suggest that money disappears at the speed of light to the comment from Doris Lessing that life disappears faster than water down a plug hole, Nevertheless, I have peace of mind that timbers are not going to collapse in my lifetime in this house and who knows how long that will be? ! I saw and felt how soft and broken the rafters and beams were when on the ground. Another metaphor!  I've been soft and broken when on the ground. I started to write ...haha.. here, but it was no joke.
END of story. I am trying to change the story.

A SHORTER STORY:
Yesterday, I drove to Poitiers ... a long drive there and back; my foot was just a little sore.
The surgeon almost danced with pleasure when he saw my foot...I'm not sure if it was an act or not. He said it had healed remarkably quickly;  he was impressed with my concoction even writing that in his report.   He is extrmely efficient. He dictates the report to his secretary after the consultation whilst one is there and then she collects payment afterwards.  When I said I was so very tired he said that it was not surprising as I'd had no physical or emotional  support needing to be mobile for the builders. He demonstrated how most patients at this stage after an op are still hobbling because they are French and from the SOUTH  and gave me facial grimaces which portrayed their attitude to recovery... and yet he hadn't seen me walk. I told him I need my foot to be mobile because it is liberté referring to the French trilogy..... Freedom is my achievement! Such a kindly man and how refreshing to have a fun, full of life surgeon... of course that is his job to replenish lives... to make lives easier for the human condition, to help people move and  allow Cinderella to go to the ball ... I am of course still waiting for those silver slippers!  My treat will be when I can wear my heeled boots and summer shoes to be mor feminine. Footloose and fancy free is what I wish to be.

We bless this house - une belle toiture

Time to celebrate,  so please raise a toast to my new roof.

The three artisans raised a glass of Cremant de Loire at lunchtime to the little bird installed on high whilst the rain and hailstones blessed the roof.  Before the light faded from the day they had cleaned up and ended the project which started on 17 October.  It looks so pretty and time will tell how it functions.   I wish to live within the attic but it is not yet habitable and on my income is unlikely to ever be so.  The lucarne window is being made to measure and will be fitted in January.
 I am knackered especially cos I looked after the twins this morning.  They are so delightful . They each talk demandingly at the same time so it is very hard to listen to each one and give full attention without ignoring the other... they are only aged two.  I lifted sods of grass beneath the rose arch and we  planted tulip bulbs, putting them in their beds to sleep for the winter, then we made marks on paper with coloured pencils and pens whilst I showed educational posters of "The Owl and the Pussycat" and I sang the poem and other rhymes. They had drinks and biscuits whilst I made the men coffee. They wanted the Easter bunny to make chocolates in the garden. What good memories they have!!! Instead, we made little pancakes which they had for pre-lunch before mummy took them home.

I am also wondering if there is something else wrong as I am so tired and have no physical energy.  The upper arm pain of almost three months is limiting.

Anyway, the good news is that my house looks so different and I feel proud for it. Yes indeed, for it.  Worth every centime but where is my sports car, kitchen and grand piano and my round the world travel ticket?  I jest in part.... I am lucky.

FOR blessings we do appreciate order rather than chaos in life...my heart cries for those who have no roof above their heads for reasons adverse and intemperate...hopefully whatever small amount we can offer will be used to provide food, water, shelter, medical care and will be distributed ASAP to save more lives and give dignity to humanity.   Blessings are needed.