It has been another busy month!  I have finally decided that I do enjoy stonework.  With the ex-front door/new window plinth completed, we decided that I should start to rebuild the stones at the base of the cob walls.  First came the preparation:  There had been some concrete repairs done at some point in the past so that had to come off/out and whilst doing this I discovered that the stump that had been growing through the building (which Steve had cut flush) was now a bit more accessible and hoped that Steve could remove it!  As expected he came to my rescue and it has now gone!!  I then had all the loose stones and cob to remove (along with any remaining weeds and roots) followed by investigation work into the largish holes in the walls – I only found a couple of old nests!  Next I needed an assortment of stones, which I created into one of my famous piles, to allow me to get going.  Of course, I wasn’t happy with just one pile of stones so I ended up with at least two out the front with me with trips round the back to the large stone pile to break up the monotony! As Steve was busy frame-making (separate update to follow shortly on that!) I was able to do things my way!! He only had to lift one large stone into place for me and I could use the existing stones as my guide.  Suddenly I discovered that I could, in fact, do this job quite well and it was easy enough to leave when I got the inevitable “Tree, can you give me a hand please”!  The main building took a week and I am extremely pleased with the result!

Then onto what was, in my mind, a major job – the ‘garage’ building.  This building had, in the past, been completely hidden by trees and bushes with a telegraph pole sited close to the building and we had been a little concerned how this would affect our repairs – but after clearing the area we discovered that it wasn’t going to cause an issue at all.  By now we had used the majority of our largest stones and were wondering how we would fill the void.  Steve decided to take a walk down the lane and came across a very large stone which he thought he could relocate (thus removing a hazard on the cycle route).  He also found another couple of large stones in the paddock and then, whilst cycling we spotted a beautiful stone in the middle of a field.  We both commented on what a perfect stone it was but felt that we couldn’t just go into the field and help ourselves – so with heavy heart we left it!  Then one day, the field was ploughed and miraculously the stone had been moved from the middle to the very edge of the field – they obviously didn’t want it and we were only too eager to give it a good home – so Steve loaded it onto my bike rack and I wobbled my way the couple of miles to the property!  One morning whilst working on the wall a chap went past in his van with a sheep in his trailer and he waved a cheery ‘bonjour’.  About twenty minutes later he appeared from the opposite direction and glided to a halt.  He jumped out of his van, greeted Steve and shook his hand and proceeded to explain that he had something in his van for us.  I was a bit dubious, thinking it might entail some part of an animal (especially as anything lamb-related is banned from the boat!) but he went round to the passenger door and hefted a large stone from the passenger seat!  He thought we might want it and said that if he came across any more he would leave them at the property.  What a lovely man!! He said he liked what we were doing and we have taken his donation as a real endorsement that we are doing something worthwhile!  The stone now has pride of place in-between the two telegraph poles and it fitted perfectly next to the field-rescue.

In France there doesn’t appear to be anything like a building inspector although that doesn’t mean we haven’t been subject to periodic inspections.  The local community, whilst promenading, do tend to stop quite frequently and inspect what we have been doing.  So far, all comments have been favourable (although our understanding of French may mean that we have only chosen to understand the favourable!!) but they do appear to be impressed with our progress and style and slightly concerned about our lack of electricity but pleased that we are using the traditional techniques.

The wall has now been completed and I am a little sad that I have no real stonework left to do!  We are now ready to start cobbing – just waiting on the straw, which has been cut but not yet baled!!