The Kitchen: Where was I? Where am I? 4 of 5

FLAWED / FLOORED

After his adventures in the South of France my friend was collected at a bus stop not far from Leroy Merlin and as this is an hour from home I suggested we go to look at the flooring choice dilemma!

PART ONE: The Choice
It was weird because the final choice was something I had looked at last November but discounted the idea as too busy! I am drawn to this antique style. I am not sure if this precise one was there then but it certainly was when I went with a female friend in February.   My eye was attracted but not the mind because I was trying to choose between REAL wood flooring and ceramic tiles that looked like wood.  Somehow, the cost of real wood seemed obscene for a kitchen and modern-look-like-wood ceramic tiles seemed to not tick my box!! Why have false when one could have the real thing?

Having described my thoughts/ choices, we started to look at other options.  Other tiles, Vinyl, Stratifiée etc..
When I showed him this, there was an IMMEDIATE, exclamation of "YES".
And so I came to purchase 16m2 of this lovely carrelage suitable for exterior and interior but also kitchens. 
In case the link disappears the tiles are:
Carrelage gris & blanc effet terre cuite Villa l.20 x L.20 cm by ARTENS.

To my surprise I realised that grey was indeed going to look good with an almost white kitchen!
Pattern in a plain kitchen was good.
19th century French Provincial style appealed and though a little highbrow I thought it would suit the character of my house!  VOILA!
Angst resolved.

I found this website after I had bought the tiles.
Lovely photos and a little history.
One cannot afford the real thing!

PART TWO: Opening boxes
Whilst the electrician and plumber were in the kitchen room we opened the boxes of tiles.
Not knowing the plan we decided to sort the 12 mixed boxes into piles of the same pattern. Each box contained 36 tiles. 
Ah, it appears that the each box contains a different number of each of the NINE tiles that make the pattern.
After opening all boxes, each pile of one pattern was not the same height... hence oh oh oh!
Each pile counted between 41 tiles in one of the nine patterns and 51 of another.
See in the photo the nine piles of tiles all at different heights!

At the very end of the tiling exercise  of laying the kitchen floor, there were no more tiles of the pattern which we had the least of.

At one time I was convinced we would need to order another box...but with careful planning at the cutting stage, the last of the least fitted a corner where I shall see it every day! Just to remind me!

We also tiled to the back linear wall under the cabinets because I absolutely hate unseen things being skimped on.  I like to know it is clean and tidy behind the plinths.  Also if ever the cabinets have to be removed it will still show a level floor!

Next, we laid the nine in a square according to the model on Leroymerlin website.
Then we laid three more sets making a 6 x6 tiled square with the 3 x 3 square four times repeated. 
Did we like that?

We re-arranged with always the lightest coloured one in the centre, whereupon we discovered that each tile has its own orientation!!!!!! GOSH!
Then we could see other patterns. For example one could see a 4 x 4 pattern within this!
Then one could see diagonal patterns. Oh help!!!!!! Too busy!
That took at least two hours!

PART THREE: Skirting board cut.
At some point in the kitchen renovation process, my friend sawed out with an adapted tool, a small gap off the base of the skirting board.  I held the vacuum cleaner to collect the dust, scoured out the muck, 3 buttons. screws and a 1ct coin!

 

We had to do this  or else the tiles would not have slid under the walls.

On another day he made a cover board to access the water pipes if ever necessary. A clever thinking man! I have loved him and not just for his practical skills! I probably still do love the man I met! People change. He has changed and so have I! We just didn't manage to maintain the togetherness.

PART FOUR: Laying floor tiles
After the artisans departed we started to think about where to start.

First of all find mid centre. We again checked the floor level. We found each straight line between the passage ways.  Four door ways.. so how to centralise the pattern... and as we progressed the nine pattern changed! Finally, the plan was decided so we lay the pattern without glueing to see an effect!

Into the grand salon...

 the external doorway

into le petit salon called Oval Room

 I started to pile the tiles in sets in the correct orientation to make it easier to pass to the tiler on the other side of the straight edge and to ensure the tiles stayed correct. Easier said than done!  It was good team work!  Though I am not strong enough to use the electric tool that mixes the adhesive - the one like a food mixer!

PART SIX: A halt in the proceedings!

We discovered the problem with the adhesive! HALT whilst we took a day out to change the sacks of glue!!!!!
When I phoned Leroy Merlin they asked for the bar code and without question said I should return it.
Various things then occurred to me and the detective in me emerged.
The system for dating building products of a powdery nature has changed. There used to be a date of fabrication which means it then has a certain shelf life. Now... the bags contain the date by which to use making it much easier to work out the age of the product whilst it is in the shop! Here is the jointing powder barcode with DLU - date de l''utilsation.

Here, the adhesive we bought with date of fabrication.
It should be OK but when we opened it,  the powder was lumpy, not the correct powdery texture suggesting that it has been stored badly either in the store or in transit.   BIT RISKY TO USE!

When we got to the shop we noticed that the new packets have the DLU ...
h'mmmmm only one month later in the shop than when I bought mine!

 Here are the old bags on promotion!  We smell a rat!

I asked for a reimbursement for the inconvenience of travel and a waste of a day's work when the problem with the adhesive was clearly not my fault.  I asked after I had seen that the same bags that we'd bought only four weeks prior were being sold 'promotion'.  They were within the correct date... but clearly I think LRM knew the problem!  I suggested to LRM that I thought the regs had changed and was this true. They confirmed.  I also suggested that in this case the product has been stored badly or damaged in transit. They said that it was possble!  When they finally understood  WHY we had bought the sacks back for exchange and not re-inbursement,  they seemed to 'be aware" saying that they would remove all the sacks from promotion.   I think they knew they had been sussed although I never returned to see if they kept them off sale!
I was offered 6e to cover the cost of a two hour return journey and petrol costs for 100km    When I said that was an insult expecially as I have spent a lot of money with them over the last six years and more I was then offered 15e which I had to accept ... of course all three or four store staff wished me a good day and off they sped asap!!!!!!!

It was ome satisfaction but 'fait attention' one has to be cautious with large companies and stand one's ground!
I am glad my friend was with me otherwise I don't think I would have received any refund.
He verified as an artisan that the goods were not good and well done him as he kept patiently quiet, did not get upset and left it all to me!

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.

Lazy cake posting!

To save time as time has passed... and I hope the organiser does not object - easy to delete if so - I report her report on the CCC that I managed to get to in April when I had missed February and November.  All the cakes contained alcohol but it was difficult to detect!   Various portions of cakes came home for the freezer and are almost gone!  They were delicious. Yum Yum but not good for my tum. Increasingly, I am avoiding wheat and some grains that make diverticulosis unhappy!  One colonoscopy experience is more than enough.  After 40 + years, when I have on about six occasions found myself in hospital, unable to function, I am increasingly aware of my food intake!

It never ceases to amaze me about not only the quality OF the taste of the cake but moreover the shape, design, flavourings, ingredients, decoration and more.   EVEN more fun is the STORY that comes with the cake from its baker.  I really would have liked our club to have collated recipes for the cakes. I think it would have made a very good publishable book...

NOT TOO LATE Jean!

Confluence: La Gartempe et La Creuse rivers: two rivers and their hamlet

I like being at these kind of junctions!

On Saturday my friend accompanied me on this walk I had been intending for some time.  The track wasn't always where I wanted one,  and in one place woodland had been ploughed by the farmer!
The confluence was difficult to see through the river bank shrubs and trees. The soil was alluvial. Lovely word...the land probably isn't geographically speaking such,  but... I like the sound of words...

Uxorious is another word I like the sound of ... and the meaning!

The ground was strewn with interesting stones;  a large 'potato stone' I carried home!  Some of the rounded stones were far too huge to move but a river could dislodge and move them over the years!

We came across a millenium garden out in the middle of nowhere.  Now that isn't true. The somewhere was Confluent - an agricultural hameau and when I saw it a few years ago, on a Patrimoine day,  it seemed untouched.
BUT NOW, if you look on Google map you can see where builders and farmers have carved out the soil to renovate a house, expanding land like a gravel pit but it isn't one.   AND also, several buildings have been re-roofed with red brick colour metal.  OH DEAR! What of conservation? 

We went because I wished my friend to see the wind powered turbine invented, constructed by Ernest Bollée and one of his sons Auguste, who, I think also have something to do with the invention of bicycles and I was led to believe that the auto-moto-velo museum at Chatellerault has information about them.   I have a leaflet somewhere!

PHOTOWALK
The Millenium Garden is rather nice and I can imagine sitting on one of the available benches in the sunshine of peaceful solitude reading a book.... 

 Walking at the edge of planted crops to reach the river...

 Along a pea field the tracks of deer or small chevreuil?

 Oh...how did the crow get into the cage... we watched and thought... then saw a dead one in a second cage. Were they bait?  Or had they entered the cage set to catch partridges?  We each wanted to release it but cautious?  Then he opened a door whilst crow or rook sat still until his freedom fighter had returned to a distance.   The black bird cried 'phwew' as he got free!  Hop Hop ... something wrong with a wing or hungry bird needs to gather strength.  We continued looking back seeing him still on the ground.. But then, when we got to the fox or badger holes we saw a rook or crow soaring as if to say 'Thank you".

On the way back two man made lakes seemed much bigger than when I was last there. WE came across a dolmen which was once considered the best in the region but last century it was destroyed. 

PEOPLE!!!

The stones around once marked the limit of the tumulus ... it was once a burial hill...

 As we came to the road it all looked so different.  But there was the wind turbine in the distance.

 And now the uniform holes for plastic doors and windows... and the razing of the countryside...

 Old French stone house

 How to create a wall in a barn...

 Gates of importance...

 all at the crossroads                           at                                                    on the site of

 

 red metal roofs!

 beautiful old shutters and their nailed crossbars...

 how many people ever stayed here?

 ans the gate is secreted from view

 Times of old...