Last week’s blog said that I anticipated a productive week and I think I am happy with what I achieved. I am certainly happy with the outcome of the jobs.
With the weather having been pretty good for most of the week, dry at least if not as warm as we’d like, we have managed to do a number of outdoor tasks and Dave has continued the dreaded weeding required. However, my major jobs were both inside but were both useful to do and have allowed me to use up some of the wood which takes up space in my new atelier.
At the end of last week I was adapting the large and extremely heavy kitchen island that we had bought to use as a bar in the games room. I am pleased to say that this is now complete and looks great.
Despite our initial regret at having bought the island, now that it is done I think it has helped an awful lot. Even having bought a number of other materials to complete it we now have a bespoke bar, which incorporates the (lockable!) beer fridge we wanted, at less cost than had we bought something commercially, and, I hope, it will prove more robust. We are really happy with how it has turned out. We want to add some baronalia (if that’s a word) such as drip trays and any suggestions would be appreciated.
The second task I am pleased I have managed to tick off, is (another) one that I have meant to do for some time. When we converted Diary (the building with Dave’s gym) the plumbing for the sink and washing machine in the boot room had to pass through the bike shed. Both the pipes were left exposed underneath the bike hooks and I was convinced that, at some point, they would suffer with a bike being dropped on them or someone standing on them to access the bikes.
As this hadn’t happed up to this point meant that I was convinced that we were living on borrowed time. Now with the man shed complete which will also house the lawnmower, I have the opportunity to sort the bike shed out properly, remove the risk to the pipes, fill the holes in the floor with some concrete and make access to the bikes a little easier.
The principal task was to box in the pipes underneath the bikes and generally tidy up. Again, I am very pleased with the finished work.
We are really happy that we have our 3 main gîtes occupied and it feels like the United Nations. We have an Australian couple staying in Granary, a British couple in Priory and, in Hayloft, an American couple who are half way through their month-long stay with us. As Americans, Minnesotans to be precise, they are proficient with a BBQ and kindly invited us for dinner on Friday which was both very kind and very good. It also helped David who was catering for our Australian couple that night with a meal which was very well received.
Finally, some disappointing news. You may recall in a previous blog that I listed a number of the events happening in and around Sizun in the coming months including the biennial Grand Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. This was a great fun event when the centre of Sizun is closed off and becomes a race track for some fabulous vintage cars.
Sadly, this year’s event has been cancelled. We understand that one of the many bodies which have to give their permission for the event, is one which controls all motor racing in France from Formula 1 down and they have determined that all events run through towns have to abide by the normal speed limits! I’d like to see that work for Monaco but, regrettably, it has meant the cancelation of this year’s Sizun Grand Prix. We hope not future events but we’ll keep you posted.
One day this week we went back to Brest to buy lots of material for work we want to do in our Chambre d’Hôte, Stable, which will be the focus of our efforts next week – and probably beyond! More of that next Sunday.
À bientôt.