Having survived Storm Ciara we now have Storm Dennis to contend with! The ground is becoming more and more sodden and the site is slowly starting to resemble Stourpaine Steam Fair or Glastonbury without the musical entertainment!! The tent is fairing well and so far we have only had to reset a few pegs. The driveway is performing admirably which means we can enter the van without bringing too much of the garden in with us.
Steve had been having issues with his chainsaw (in that it will no longer spark) so we decided to return it as it came with a two year guarantee. Having experienced taking items back and knowing that the customer is always wrong I was a little apprehensive. I was relatively well prepared for the conversation although I wasn’t sure whether I could trust Google Translate with the translation of ‘spark’, but thought I may as well give it a go. The chap we spoke to took the chainsaw off and came back and asked what fuel we had been using so we explained that we had been using the proper mix of oil and fuel (two stroke). He said it smelt as though it was pure petrol and that we hadn’t been adding oil. We were emphatic in our reply that we had so he said it would have to be sent somewhere and we left our number (explaining the excessive numbers of digits) and now await a phone call!
The next day I went to the van to check my phone (there seems to be a relatively consistent signal if I leave it on the dashboard) and discovered that I had had two missed calls from a French number. Not sure whether this would be about the chainsaw or something else entirely I managed to find enough signal to make the call. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was the sawmill, advising that they wanted to deliver the wood that evening and would be with us in half an hour! (This did actually take two calls as my signal cut out!!) Sure enough, half an hour later (pleased that we had already got the cash organised!) the lorry with Hiab arrived. The Douglas Fir was unloaded and both men commented on how much work we had to do and asked whether we were sleeping in the tent. In my bestest French I replied that no, the tent was our store, we were cooking in the garage and sleeping in our ‘camping car’. After they left I really don’t know what came over me but I was absolutely overjoyed and excited (in Steve’s words like a dog with two dicks) and couldn’t help but dance around. I even found some music on my phone – Edmundo Ros – The Wedding Samba (that we know from ‘A Good Year’ starring Russell Crowe) and then some Beach Boys!! I couldn’t get the huge grin off my face but can’t honestly say why I was so excited!
The next morning we had the physical task of relocating the wood from the roadside into the main building – our initial thought that it could stay where it was delivered was scuppered as it would get in the way when we commence cobbing. Initially I passed the wood through to Steve who then walked it into the main building, but he soon got wise to the fact that I was doing very little and he was doing lots so decided that we should work differently. I was inside the building near the original front door, Steve would walk the wood along the outside of the building and I would place the planks on the piles he had created. This time we were both constantly working (me worrying a bit about slipping as we have a rather muddy puddle in that building). I was amazed at the different weight of some of it – it seemed to range from heavy to very heavy and I had expected it to be quite light!! We worked quite well together and had it all moved by 10.30! Now we are just waiting for Alex and some better weather!
Having relied quite heavily on our oven on the boat, being without is proving quite interesting as we have to cook differently. When we had been at Alex’s I had prepared a stuffed focaccia, but when I turned on the oven it was no longer working, so we improvised and cooked it in a cast iron casserole dish on top of the hob – fairly successfully, so with this in mind we decided that we should try to make one here and cook it on top of the wood-burner. This was not quite as successful as the heat from the fire only really helped to double-prove it! Steve, in his wisdom, decided that he would place the cast iron dish in the fire (I suggested wrapping it in foil to try and protect it!) and after about twenty minutes we had an extremely edible, albeit slightly crunchy in places, foraged wild garlic, chives found growing in the wood, sun-dried tomato, mozzarella and cheddar stuffed loaf – delicious. We have decided that next time we will line the dish with paper to make getting it out easier! My beautiful blue pot (originally used solely for vegetarian risottos on the boat) now has a very stylish black mottled effect – but at least we can still use it. It is used for pretty much every meal (with the exception of egg and chips!!) News on that front, our second attempt worked!! Red potatoes (marked as suitable for frites, the same as the white ones) became lovely twice-cooked chips! Another tasty snack was the oven-baked cheese, onion and brown sauce baguette sandwiches we had for lunch the other day. We thought it would be a good way to eat day old baguette and decided that probably five minutes a side would be adequate – we weren’t really concentrating on the timing and probably left them in five or six minutes too long as, Steve’s especially, was a little bit on the charcoal side – although the onions were cooked perfectly!!
As mentioned last time we have purchased a bench. We went to a vide greniers at Etables Sur Mer looking for a bench and also a companion set. The only companion set was a bit fancy with a dragon head so we decided against that but then saw a rather large bench. It was 150 euros but the stall holder also had another one that he hadn’t put together for 100. I thought it might be too big for us to transport and we initially walked away and thought about it. However, seeing the quality we decided we couldn’t leave it there. We had no difficulty getting the pieces into the van, although some of the slats were a bit slimy. Once we got it back to the property we discovered that there were more slats than required so we can actually make another bench too! I spent a day brushing off and sanding down and we let them dry out a bit. Unfortunately the metal connecting bars were not provided so Steve has been thinking of ways of fixing it. He decided that the short term fix would be to use studding, however 18mm two metre lengths are difficult to find and unfortunately we cannot find connector nuts for the 1 metre lengths we can buy. So plan b – rope with stainless steel eye bolts. The time had come to work together to place the slats in position whilst holding up the two ends. We needed about twenty hands to perform this task, however we had Steve’s two and mainly only one of mine (as I was spending time holding my back – it helps the ache!!). The worst part was when Steve wanted me to hold my end vertical and, as has become painfully obvious, this is something I really struggle to do – my eyes can’t be straight, but Steve blames it on the fact that I’m a leftie! After a few slip outs and falling moments we managed to achieve it and so now we have an extremely comfortable, heavy duty bench. Funnily enough, driving through St Brieuc we spotted identical benches in the old town area – now we know where it came from and I am tempted to send Steve under cover of night with a spanner to purloin the bars to fix mine!!
With a couple of fairly dry days Steve was convinced that we could start cobbing. I was not so sure as the weather forecast didn’t look that promising. However I was unable to stall any longer and so we agreed that we would start with the new wall, rather than continue with the repairs as this would give us maximum protection from the weather. To ensure the new wall would tie in to both the gable end of the main house and the concreted stone pillar at the garage end, my first task was to knock out some cob holes for keying in the new cob. Steve had the slightly more technical job of finding fixings, drilling into the concrete and attaching said fixings (old rigging parts from Shearmyste – continuing with our mantra of reusing where possible!) With these jobs completed we quickly got into the cob-making habit. Steve mixing the cob mixture with water, me doing the straw adding and stomping, then we would place the cob onto the stone wall together and I pushed and manipulated while Steve started preparing the next batch. We were like kids in a candy shop on the first morning as we had made six batches before lunch – we used to only do 5 a day, but we did only do two more batches that afternoon as our bodies had forgotten quite how strenuous this task actually is. Still only about another three months of cob making to do!! My manipulation was not up to scratch really and went over the stone plinth which resulted in a bit of a bulge, however this was easily rectified the next morning as a trowel cut through the new cob leaving a nice finish following the stone line. This looked really good until the following morning and Storm Denis with his westerly wind and torrential rain had decided to relocate some of the new cob in a muddy mess at the base of the wall – see, I was right Steve, about it being too early for cob and about the February you were expecting (a carbon copy of last year, sunny days and 22 degrees C) – you should have believed me!
With Alex’s anticipated arrival, it was agreed that his sleeping quarters would probably be best off in the garage building – along with the wood-burner and kitchen – a true bedsit completed by an outside toilet!! Having found an extra sleeping pod in our tent, we thought it would be a good idea to set that up for him as it affords him better protection from the weather and as long as he can cope with the smoky environment it should be really cosy!! I pumped up the airbed, found the sheets and duvet while Steve was playing with a tarpaulin to act as a wall and door to the garage building – it now slightly resembles a Bedouin tent! Once again Storm Denis has played a part and managed to delay Alex’s arrival. He should be arriving on Tuesday now, hopefully fully prepared for hard work and wine!!
Fate Or Folly 