Posts

Image
Thursday to Monday 4-8 June 2026 There were about 20 planks left from the old woodshed, so we made a kindling box. There was one screw left and a few split and broken half planks. A complete recycling of all the old corrugated iron, zinc-aluminum roofing and timber planking. Sunday and we are still putting final touches to the project but it is nice and hot again. After our wonderful feed of Ill d’Oleron oysters last week, we decided to get some moules from the marche. They were small compared with NZ or Tasy mussels, but they were clean and fresh. Will a kg do? Give it a try. Well, sweated leek, lots of garlic, some vermouth, a little Chardonnay, some parsley and chives from our kitchen garden, oh and butter of course. A squeeze of fresh lemon and steam the little beauties. Consumed with the remaining Chardonnay and a fresh, buttered baguette to mop up the sauce. Happy campers! Some in the party suggested that mayonnaise and frites would be good. They sure would have but we’re d...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
  Saturday 30 May – Wed 3 June 2026 Saturday was a full on work on the project day and Sunday a day of rest. A grocery shop in the morning and a bit of measuring up in the afternoon, before the mandatory G nT under the cherry tree. Monday, and Willie turns up at 0600 as promised. The sun was just coming up. He and the boy worked without hats, water, food or breaks until 2 pm, laying the concrete block foundations, on top of the 500 mm deep reinforced concrete foundations. Bloody hell, they build like the Romans! Well… they were conquered by good old Julius and there are a lot of very long, straight roads. Anyway, very interesting to watch. We, on the other hand, continued with the timber planking of the woodshed. A long day. Roast chicken on the BBQ for dinner. And so it continues, creeping slowly to a complete woodshed. At 10.00 AM Wednesday the last bolt went into the beam and the woodshed is complete! New shed Old shed Still doing it tough.
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
Friday 29 May 2026 We have just returned from two days in Ill d’Oleron, a nice, quiet and very sunny island off the Bay of Biscay coast, south of La Rochelle. One hour from LPR. A very good idea from Lady P to take a couple of days off and book a 2* hotel and just wander around and surf the beaches. Now, Thursday’s departure was marked by forgetting the car keys and the day for her just got worse. Flashy, well he had a ball. No coffee you see, because we left a bit late and had to make the rendezvous at the oyster shack before the 12.30 “we’re closed for lunch” bullshit. Oh, dear roadworks. Not a good vibe. However, the oysters, freshly shucked from the seabed, with a nice little Colombard vin blanc, just before closing, were delightful. Detailed research dictated that we head for J&J snack bar for fish and chips for a late lunch overlooking the estuary. Oops, closed kitchen. Just a bit late arriving. Their restaurant kitchen is however open for only fish and chips at a sligh...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
Wednesday 27 May 2026 France and Europe are in the grip of a heat wave. It gets 36c to 39c and everyone drops dead, hides inside or puts tinfoil on the windows. We, on the other hand, don a hat and dig holes for shed posts. And on that subject, we have been bitten by European wasps (twice) and probably by some nasty spiders while doing la Project.   Luckily old Flashy has a special drug kit to take drugs, rub on ointment an so forth, so we don’t die. Flashy got to play with a big circular saw and a very large Bosch angle grinder. All of these were needed to build the Palais des Bois and using big gear is always a hoot! He’s alive. Angle grinder cuts sorta kinda straight. Fuck**g sparks everywhere and safety glasses, well you can’t see a bloody thing thru them! Nonetheless, roof panels are cut and screwed. That’s fixed nicely, not stuffed as some might unkindly say. I must say, it has been a wonderful time working on the project with Lady P. She’s OK at the start of the da...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
  Monday to Sunday 18-24 May 2026 Cold and drizzling for the past couple of days but we can move some dirt about to fill holes in the lawn. Flashy has commenced the deconstruction of the woodshed, carefully removing 3” rusty nails and long screws to save the 120 mm x 25 mm planks that clad the sides of the monstrosity. Bloody thing is framed from 35 mm x 3 mm steel square section, welded. However, the timber is Nordic Pine, so reasonably soft and not too weathered. Coming apart nicely. A trip to Rochefort on Thursday was a nice interlude. Rochefort is at the estuary of the Charente River and is a clean and well laid out town, where after extensive and unproductive shopping for Lady P’s Gala Dinner ‘casual chic’ outfit, we adjourned to a nice restaurant overlooking the river, a bottle of Pully Fume and some oysters and steamed fish. Saturday saw two of the eight poles of the woodshed erected. And Sunday, 6 of the eight in the ground. Oysters at Rochefort. Someone had creme bru...
2 comments
Read more
Image
Sunday 17 May 2026 This year we made a commitment to be in LPR while the building project was completed. This should finish around the end of October.   So, we are just living in rural Charente-Maritime at St Loup and earning our bed by gardening and house upkeep. Flashy is repairing and building a wire fence on the boundary and Lady P, after designing the kitchen extension and liaising with EL and the builders, is about to assist Flashy in the construction of a new woodshed. This will not be any woodshed. The old one is to be dismantled and parts recycled for the new. Stand by for le Palais du Bois! And now the story on the truck. We need some poles for the new woodshed. These were found high up on the wood stock in the timber yard and on special, at Bricomarche. Except they were four metres long. Not even two metre ones would fit in the Peugeot. ‘Have ‘em delivered,’ says Flashy’ ‘no monsieur, it’s much cheaper to hire the truck,’ says Pierre. So, for 30 € instead of 50€ we...
1 comment
Read more
Image
  Mon 11 to Sat 16 May 2026 Trenches and steel are all in and now we await the concrete, due next week. We took Emma Louise to a little restaurant in the nearby town of Migre to Restaurant Source du Moulin de Migre where Lady P and Flashy had been last visit. This is in the middle of nowhere but popular with visiting French and some locals. The chef is the son of the owners and is Paris trained. Their three course Prix Fixe menu was 17.50 € . Not as good as last time but the coconut infused carrot soup with a soft poached egg floater was very nice. The confit of chicken with mushroom gnocchi was ok but the tart and crumble dessert offerings were awful. A nice drive in the country though. Thursday was Ascension Thursday. This has remained a national holiday in France since the concordat agreement between Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII, in 1801. And of course, our builders don’t work on that day and all take Friday as a sickie. So, we decided to go to Bordeau...
Post a Comment
Read more