In order to get the kitchen finished, we’re probably going to have to put off taking the car to the garage to Tuesday as we have no idea how long it will be there. I will drop by though to let them know it needs to come back.

Rather busy with work but do manage to make it down to Luchon to go and clear them out of board for the replacement kitchen flooring. In fact we couldn’t get everything we need so are going to have to further delay the garage to clear out the other branch.

Matt replaced the blade on the saw so managed to cut up the last of the rods we have from the old ceiling. He also put up a few more rods.

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Almost there. I even managed to find some spare time hiding in a dark corner so helped Vicky with a review of her assessment – for which she has confirmed that she will be eternally grateful. We’re both exhausted now though and in bed very early.

[25 January 2021]

Tuesday

We are up at dawn to get things done before work, or at least trying not to cut too far into our evening. It’s feeling pretty cold this morning so I throw my clothes on the heater to warm up for a few minutes before I put them on and Matt’s made me tea. I also have to get an email out ahead of a meeting with the NHS CEOs on Thursday so manage to fire that off before we go. It’s meant to get hot later but the ground is frozen solid when we leave. I love seeing the really crisp snow lines on the surrounding hills/mountains.

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St Gaudens was crazy misty, you couldn’t even see the train tracks which were only about 100m away if that. Can’t imagine how cool the view could have been from Tim’s place with this mist covering the whole village.

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Actually he has sent me an image..

First stop is BricoMarche to pick up some ceiling hangers, result as we managed to find them individually. We only needed 5 but they come in packs of 100 and don’t tell you online that they do them individually so glad we checked. Surprise next stop at Conforama to have a look again at the mattresses. One of them had a massive 70% saving but this wasn’t shown online so thought we would investigate. After a quick chat with the shop lady she explained that the special price was because it was the demo model. It was super comfortable and at 30% of the original price it was too good to pass up. She was very confused when I said that we would take it there and then, thankfully Matt remembered the word for trailer (‘remorque’ by the way) as she seemed very concerned my dodgy French was at fault and I didn’t understand the question. I also saw a possible rug to go in room 7 but not entirely convinced. I recorded the delivery tariff too just to offset against the price we have paid out for the trailer – just €840 more to go before it’s paid for itself!

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Next stop, Chausson. We have now officially cleaned out two of their stores of 9mm OSB and 5mm ply!

Back at home and we quickly unload the trailer, and far less quickly drag the mattress upstairs. After struggling at length with trying to get my hands under the bottom it I sent Matt to grab a ratchet strap. Clearly I am a genius as I just looped it under the mattress and tada, easy(er) way to get it up the stairs.

Time for work. Manage to squeeze a quick trip in to the descheterie. It’s rather necessary since all the rubble sacks are full and if we are going to pull up the floor soon we are going to need them – particularly if we don’t know when/if we will have the car. As we are emptying them I spy a plastic bowl with some terracotta pots in. It’s just out of reach. But I wasn’t going to let that stop me. I find an old broom to hook it with and Matt drags it up for me. Winning! Free pots!!

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In the evening we go back to working on the kitchen. Boy, this is time consuming. I really thought we would have finished this at the weekend. Quick dinner and then a lovely hot, bone warming shower (second shower, naturally). After an early morning we are exhausted so it’s just a quick update to the blog and then off to bed.

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[26 January 2021]

Wednesday

It’s a busy day for work today so not much to update. Matt did however manage to do the last bit so we have finally finished the ceiling frame.

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The next job will either be to start running the cabling or starting framing the external walls. Either way, both are tired so time for a relaxing evening and early bed again. Yes, we are increasingly exciting.

[27 January 2021]