July visit...

I'm exhausted but satisfied at achieving the below tasks...

Strimming the perimeter grounds. David had already cut the grass so strimming was all that was left. The grass and verges are always the first to get attention.

Digging up the grotty tarmac weed haven outside the front door to create a temporary gravel area for flower pots. Perhaps in the future the gravel can make way for some nice York stone edged with something complimentary. For now, this gravel had to be moved from the back where the patio is to be laid and what better place to move it to?

I wished I'd taken a photo of the weeds before starting...

Sanding beams in the breakfast room. You'll probably catch sight of these in a later photograph.

Removing the stone circle from the back garden and defining the circle ready to begin building properly.

5. Tiling the floor in the breakfast room, part of the kitchen and the entrance to our living room, with David. You can see one of the sanded beams...window ledges to be completed next time when the ceiling boards come down to have the insulation put in (too expensive to buy from France...must come from the UK). Here is David, Eileen and their granddaughter Amy...plus my plate of spag bog. The table top was several pieces of old timber from a chapel in Derby and the benches from timber from a chapel renovation in Nottingham that David salvaged from the skip. He's done a fantastic job and this is our first meal on it...just prior to setting off for the airport.

6. Selecting stone and building a retaining wall by the patio. Selecting stone is the most laborious task ever...

7. Moving the patio slabs as they were delivered in the middle of our entrance.

The sand isn't in the way so can stay where it is...they ended up to the right of the entrance...

8. Repositioning the guttering to the bottom edge and roof tiles at the back of the property.

 My first-time soldering...cutting a hole and inserting a down-pipe at the correct angle isn't the easiest of jobs...

 Custom gutter brackets...

 All in place...including the lower level extension at the end...and re-painting the dormer.

9. Adding an inch to our table foot so that the table is level (photo not available).

David was involved with plastering Helen and Scott's bathroom and bedroom, boarding the dining area, making the dining table and benches and tiling / grouting the dining area floor.

It wasn't all work. There was that trip to the coast at Arradon, the mini-motorbike rides along the deserted country tracks, the cycle rides, walks in Yvon's woods, feeding the fish in his pond, chatting with friends, reading books, and chatting around roaring fires during those cooler evenings. I rarely finished work before 9pm and in bed before midnight.

No wonder I'm tired!

We had one visitor (Mr. T)...

I could really have done with the boat ride but was too busy...

Next time...along with the guttering above the windows and roof tiling at the front of the property...the work never ends...there is also the well to build (just in front of the boat)...and the renovation of the bread oven, and staining the windows, and...

The biggest disappointment was misplacing my boarding pass and having to pay 40 Euros for them to print another one. Rip-off or what!!

On my way

Now that my suitcase is being packed, I'm beginning to look forward to a quick flight, being picked up on arrival, Bastille Day celebrations, meeting friends and getting a lot more work done.

I hope to finish the guttering front and back, make significant progress with the patio and tackle a host of small jobs.