As suspected I did not post a blog last week as we were entertaining, and being entertained, by some very good friends who had arrived for a fortnight’s holiday with us – their third year. As a result the last week has perhaps been a little lighter with work than would normally be, and it is possible that the coming week will be as well although there is a lot to be done as you will see …
That’s not to say that we haven’t been doing anything. The last blog I posted said that my focus would be one more day’s cladding on the exterior of Grange and then concentrate on the hedges to get those cut before our friends arrived. At least I managed to achieve the first and thank you to everyone who posted such kind comments on our Facebook page when I put up the pictures of it complete which I hope you don’t mind me posting here too.
I was less successful on the hedging task and only managed to do 1½ hedges bordering the orchard before other tasks required my attention! They are left for (hopefully) this coming week.
I did manage at least to, finally, complete the terrace and parking space behind Priory and Granary. Having finished the new walls and fences a couple of weeks before I had not got around to clearing up some of the lumps of dried mortar to allow me to fill the shallow trenches alongside the walls. When this was done I could cut the existing sleepers down a little to replace those and clear the pile of stone that I had made when I dug the foundation trenches back in April. We have also added the new BBQ, parasol and garden furniture that we have bought for terrace all of which has made a huge difference and meant that not only have we been able to enjoy it with our friends but, more importantly, I can finally tick the job off the list as fully complete.
When I posted my pictures on Facebook of the front of Grange fully clad I mentioned that it was done to all intents and purposes. What was outstanding was the final nailing at the base of each plank with special nails that our builder recommended as they don’t pull out of the wood but I had run out. Having replenished this was another half day’s work but now done.
I also mentioned that, while a great milestone, we still had a lot of fitting out internally to complete and I have made fairly good progress on that too. While it uses a little more wood we have decided to clad the interior of the 2 central bays in exactly the same way as the exterior as they will remain open and so be visible from the outside. A couple of day’s work and I have nearly completed the left and right hand side which look great (although as you can see inside is already getting filled up with ‘stuff’), just the top plank to add when we have decided what, if anything, we want to put on the ceiling. The rear wall also needs doing but I am waiting on our friendly electrician visiting next week to advise on what cabling is required so I can drill the relevant holes and wire it in before hiding it all away. Another task for the week ahead.
The largest change is that I have laid the sub-floor of the games room upstairs which is really helpful and makes it far easier to walk around! We are not sure if it makes the room look larger or smaller losing all of the joists but it certainly makes it look more like a room! The end room should also get started next week but I am unlikely to finish as I need to buy more boards.
The final task of note was that we took advantage of lots of our friends being here to move a very large piece of slate, which formed a bench on the front terrace of Kergudon, to a new position in the orchard. We were given a lovely jasmine plant in the spring by some very good friends who visited and we plan to grow that on the terrace so it can fill it with scent but we needed to move the slab. As the orchard is now taking shape with some more attractive plants, we thought that it would be good to have a bench there in the shade for people to relax. Looks good but I need to finish the ground around it and make it properly steady – another for next week when it looks like I’m going to be busy despite our friends still being here!!
You will notice that I have been fairly restrained and not mentioned our internet issues again and, thankfully, we are online at the minute. Needless to say, since having had our service restored we have had another period offline without any explanation, justification or apology. We await a response to our letter of complaint …
Finally, if you are already planning holidays for 2018 or are looking for an opportunity to come out to France for a short break in the late summer and autumn, Brittany Ferries have published their timetable for next year but also have some great deals for short breaks for the remainder of the year. For the 2 years we have been here the weather in late September and early October has been really pleasant and we have some wonderful packages that we know you will enjoy. We look forward to welcoming you to Kergudon.
Salut.