for the price of a skip...

how is it possible that such a little cottage, and such small renovation dreams can create so much rubbish! There are occasions when only a skip will do - but they cost an absolute fortune, get filled really quickly, and worse of all the contents get tipped into the local landfill - and that's not a legacy we want when the house is finished. So, we have become rather clever, cheeky even. 

We have sacrificed the cleanliness and suspension (and probably future road-worthiness) of the husbands darling golf and turned it into a mobile rubbish remover... The local tip is fantastic, they have a great recycling thing going on - and we are actually quite friendly with them now - did you know you can recycle mdf?!


the car is full
la voiture est pleine

just what the doctor ordered...

the good doctor ordered some fun... and it came in the form of snow! again! that's twice in one year we have been snowed in, and all work has ceased and we've put on as many clothes as is reasonable and headed to the hills... well, the golf course actually. There is nothing quite as much fun as dogs eating snow...

the dog and the snow
le chien et la neige

holiday blues

We are bad company today...  Our little fact finding trip to France is over and work must begin again. Noel, our cross staffie, is as happy as a spring lamb though. Much as he doesn't mind it too much his trip to “the spa” was only a short one this time. He goes to the rather fabulous Hammerpond Kennels just outside of Horsham.  Much to our surprise they all adore him... We spied him through the fence when we went to collect him wagging his tail off, oblivious to us. He’s absolutely exhausted and slept through a log delivery which is most unlike him.


We’re pretty tired too – in France we stayed just outside Mirepoix within sight of the pyrenees and did a little walking to get a better view... The rolling downs of Sussex and regular dog-walking don't prepare the body for the mountains - though the view was pretty spectacular...

the mountains
les montagnes

all work, no play...

all work and no play... would be very dull... especially when you are stuck indoors all day long - painting, tiling, sanding. It is freezing outside of course and jumping jack frost is well and truly out and about. But it is magical. Days like these are few and it's best to make the most of them - for an hour outside at least... We ditched the work and went for a walk - nice and early to see the mists rising

the fog le brouillard

apples - no leaves...

it must have been an incredible year for apple growers, judging by the famous (in our house at least) tree of many apples but no leaves... even after the incredible storms we've had! they look like they're hanging on for christmas...

l'arbre de pomme
the tree of apples!






we'll have to wait for the frosts until they fall!

as autumn rushes in...

As autumn rushes in, and winter arrives with a howl, and blue skies are almost a thing of the past our thoughts are turning to heat... 

ciel bleu

blue sky

We’ve decided not to buy a new oil tank, or indeed to move it - but instead to buy a new oil burner... The one we have now is very, very tired and not enjoying the dropping temeratures - just like us. It burns for an hour or so, and then gives up. Luckily the Nice Boiler Man showed us how to clean the little glass filter of soot - and we can get it going again and coax it to work for another hour. 

Luckily last winter we made one of the best ever investments in a long desired and perfectly formed French woodburning stove. Actually we bought a multifuel - though we rarely burn anything other than Sussex wood! The little thing, once it gets going heats the whole house for hours, looks beautiful and makes almost no dust or indee debris the next day. It must be fed of course, and so regular trips with to the wood store have become a feature of our winter mornings now. We try not to light it until later in the day - and so before the days chosen project begins the best thing is a march with the dog. 

feuilles sur le sol

leaves on the ground

He hates the rain - hates it - so we look for a weather window - just 30 minutes when we can look at all the leaves on the ground and the almost bear trees, and try to have a little faith that next spring all will be green again

when is a door not a door...

...when it's a wall!
God bless the husband. As November came roaring in the time seemed right to remove the old, unused, unloved front door - and block it up entirely. Noel thought this a fabulous plan - if a little breezy for a couple of days.

ou est la porte?

We've had the bricks a while - they will never match exactly of course - but a trawl through the salvage yards of sussex offered a near match. the bricks would originally have been made not far from our house - but short of knocking down a wall the new, old ones will have to do.

They'll weather in time too. The actual fabric of the building is amazing - it's beautifully made - but it's still plainly a cottage - the brickwork is rough, the cavity is empty and clean, the lintels are made from wood!

Just removing the original front door has made such a difference to how the "courtyard garden" looks... better we think

and best of all, with the old door gone, we've been able to crack on with laying the new wooden floor, which arrived on a pallet, no less, on friday morning.

getting a ton of wood for guy fawkes night was ominous - even more so as it was the husbands birthday - but what a good bonfire boy he is...

the new floor looks beautiful & shiny and best of all clean...

c'est tres jolie
it is very pretty!

the little things

it is the little things that make you happy isn't it... we have a corner in the kitchen that is my "standing" corner - it has the radio and diary, a pot of pens and the phone chargers... and a big vase of flowers. Lily's usually. We are blessed that we have an amazing flower shop n the village - almost a flower wholesaler - the quality is so good. Fresh off the truck from Holland they flowers last forever - and the lillies of course smell amazing. In summer we had sunflowers - tournesols - too (thanks Kristin!) to remind us of France.

It is the one spot that seems lovely to me - even though it's chaos all round - the flowers, with dust sometimes on the petals are beautiful. We still have no ceiling in the kitchen, we have no floor as such - but we do have the start of new work tops with lovely, clean shiny tiles!

the flower corner

le coin de fleurs

on the waterfront

and on the waterfront there is much to celebrate. For we have been mainly tiling... in the kitchen, in the bathroom, on the walls and on the worktops. It looks so fantastic - and it's nice to be making something look better instead of the usual destruction - it's entirely possible we have turned a corner (or we have become obsessed with tiles!)

kitchen

the spacers 

et la douche
and... the shower 

all i wanted was a socket...

All that was missing was a plug... just the one - so we could plug the tumble dryer in directly... it seemed so simple - why did i do it? why did i ask? The answer is, my husband loves a challenge, it made him happy

a lovely bit of chasing

and the naturally in the process the kitchen had to be wrecked - again - and just the day after Nadine (the cleaner with a sainthood) had been. Still, the clothes will be dry 

la cuisine sale

the dirty kitchen  

Mirror, mirror...

On the wall, please stay put, please don’t fall... 
Mirrors arrived today - and they look great - two made to measure mirrors for £60 (from Shaws Glass in Horsham - really nice guy at the counter - most helpful with hints and tips) Can't be bad...

the bathroom mirror, and a bit of plasterboard!

so - once the sink is up, the All Seeing I (that's me) will be able to pretend she has a fancy shower room

and on it goes...

It's a Pick & Mix week - a bit of this and a bit of that. All good, but nothing momentous. The tiles arrived on monday, heralding a happy return to the bathroom for Tony - and much talk of "the plumbers will be back soon"...

les tuiles sont ici .... the tiles are here

Noel, meanwhile, continues to keep a close eye on any changes, and all incoming deliveries, when he's brave enough to stick his head through the door (he has a fear of doors - a story for another day) 

la tete dans la porte .... head in the door!

J-J-Jack Frost

AGGH! There was a hard frost last night, the first of the year, and my courgettes have literally melted... It’s weird things that it really gets. I suppose it must be the water content? The fennel and rocket are fine, all the winter cabbages and kale and baby sprouting broccoli look grand – sitting there happy as anything at 8 this morning with frost still all over the leaves. But the courgettes I was saving for a last feast this weekend are gone – where there were huge leaves yesterday there’s just mush – and the poor little fruits are like jelly... Still...


It's a Time for Change  and we’ve moved swiftly into our winter food menu – we had cassoulet followed by rice pudding and fruit compote last night – all home made of course! - we’ll have to do put in a few miles of walking this weekend

 the melted courgettes

  the happy fennel & the rest

it's here...

thursday october 21st, exactly four months after the summer solstice, and with a "snap" winter arrives...
there are many indications it's here - the salad in the raised beds has died - overnight! - the courgettes look like they'll give up soon too. The Robin is back - sitting on the water butt, the Hog (a little hedgehog) is wandering in the bamboo, I'm obsessing about the oil in the tank - as we have planned to move the tank once it's empty - but ideally not in the depths of winter... And... Tony has swapped shorts for trousers!

we really must move the oil tank

I love the seasons, I love the essential chill just so long as we are warm inside...

too many cooks

there are too many people in the house, two too many as far as poor Noel is concerned. He's finding it very hard to get on with his daytime snoozing... oh, it's not the banging and drilling and hammering he minds... it's the incessant arguing about "sounds". 

Where I prefer Radio 4, Tony's daytime choice is Carl Cox. As far as Noel is concerned there are 2 many DJ's 

Still - he can bury his head under his blanket OR he can go outside. Some of which is looking decidedly ready for the Big Renovation... 

the disgusting deck (and the beehive compost box)

looking for inspiration...

It's hard sometimes to keep a brave face on it - particularly when there's no ceiling in the half-done-kitchen, and dust falls into the food whenever anyone, man or dog, walks across the floor of the half-done-bathroom... There are practically no lights in there now and as it's dark by 6pm, we can't see whatever does fall in. 

protecting the bread, for cassoulet breadcrumbs, from dust and spiders

Worse still though, while looking skywards for decorating inspiration, i realised - dammit - i had toothache - aggggghhhhhh

and that's why todays track is sunscream

sleepy head, gone to bed...

it's very tiring all the building work, but luckily Noel can sleep through anything. He learnt it from his father.... he can sleep a little better though if the bed is the sofa - and he's lying on a cushion and wrapped in a pillow. and doesn't the room look bare - all plasterboard and scanky carpet... 

 sleepyhead noel




and on a positive note to end the day, the shower room is a tiny little bit more finished. 

a little more progress

and todays music, for the Chilean miners again, the prodigy, always outnumbered.... track 9 "PHOENIX"

an amazing day...

work continues, life goes on... 

meanwhile in chile an amazing thing is happening... It makes everything that I could possibly complain about today irrelevant and selfish. Each rescued miner is a miracle and a blessing, it’s such a joy to watch it unfolding.

and in other news - the downpipe for the new loo looks, erm, perfectly practical.

glorious pipework

and with the miners in mind, todays music is from the orb, perpetual dawn...

the orb, perpetual dawn...

winter is coming

winter is coming... and so is the snow and so is the mud... it rained for days only last week - we've had a brief respite "the last days of summer" the papers would have us believe. but dog walking in the dark and the wet is on its' way. we have a lovely torch but no proper boots, so
we've treated ourselves and invested in proper wellies. they were expensive, but worth it - who knows where they'll take us? who knows what mud france will bring 
but right now they're shiny and new and fun to dance in!

dancing wellies in the dark

and today we've been listening to Carl Cox and Grooverider

sunny monday

... and so it is Monday again - but what a day! warm and sunny and perfect. and you wonder why you ever wanted to leave england, but then you remember that only last weekend it rained non-stop for 3 days...

We were brave at the weekend and made the killer journey up through croydon to Ikea - god bless US. Do they have Ikea in France? they must - (but at least it'll be in somewhere like toulouse) We spent a small fortune on blinds and curtains and lights (and about £20 quid on some picture frames) We are determined that the conservatory will become a thing of beauty with a use and not the hideous eyesore  / dumping ground that it tries to be

the dumping ground

the new blinds 2 done, 9 to go!

todays music - a classic mix from the Hacienda 

Little Dog Discs - Viva Hacienda

destruction equals construction

what do they say? in order to make first you have to destroy. i think that's the way it goes. here are the two views of our new shower room - a sort of before and after - though the after is only the beginning if you see what i mean!

one side of our lovely new shower room

and the other - with the shower tray looking tiny! and the first fix of all the new plumbing done. 

so i think that todays listening will be something on Little Dog Discs on the Deconstruction label... 

dreeem teeem - so very fitting huh?

a new day, new rug

so, this is really turning out to be less like us moving to france, and more like Noel's diary... he's struggling to find somewhere comfortable to sit, while maintaining a watchful eye on the gate. In the conservatory, on the car rug, with his rugby ball handy - in case anyone feels like a quick game... the floor is so dusty since it doubles up as Tony's indoor workshop and the concrete so cold, but the view is great. Today has seen a small triumph though - Ikea 10 quid black-out blinds will work a treat for the ridiculous windows. We've put one up and now just have to go and buy 11 more.
where's you head at? france of course... enjoy!

rain rain go away

so, while the building work continues apace, and the rain lashes down - someone needs to guard the house. but not from the perimeter - just from the door - he wouldn't like to get his paws wet. ladies and gentlemen - may i introduce NOEL - our official new security guard... all welcome to come in and play
Carl Cox and Laurent Garnier - what fun

monday, monday

today has been mostly spent watching the Ryder Cup, listening to the mighty Laurent Garnier littledogdiscs / laurent-garnier and watching foam expand... still it's better than paint drying

the christmas break-up part 1

...and so it has passed that the christmas break came early to sussex this year - about 10 weeks early by my reckoning! tony has finished all other work to put all his vast reserves of energy into bleedin' house. the list of really dreadful dirty and dusty jobs is getting smaller - and though the hall look slike the proverbial bomb has hit it, it's a hideaous job done while i'm not there!  and the soundtrack to this mess? pump up the volume... little dog discs - technotronic

cassoulet a la sussex...

the cassoulet turned out lovely - and plenty for 4 people.. (that's us for 2 nights)
it makes me so happy to cook with my own veg  even though my beautiful raised beds are tiny. we're desperate for a proper big veg garden (and some pigs of course) still i made the cassoulet from our own magic beans, thyme, parsley, bay, garlic, a leek, some spring onions and a very sad carrot. the passatta was in a jar as it's a shocking waste of our last tomatoes!

recipe will follow tomorrow, but while i cooked i listened to a little Bjork from way back, thanks to Little Dog Discs
http://www.littledogdiscs.co.uk/bjork---post-918-p.asp

last day of summer...

that's it. the last day of summer has been and gone and the fog has rolled in for autumn. i picked the last of our old big fat french beans (and podded them with a glass of wine) they're a variety called "cherokee trail of tears" - we've never let them get big before but they have been spectacular.
Tonight i'm going to make a cassoulet sussex style - recipe will follow tomorrow!

we podded and sat and listened to laurent garnier playing on french radio - and tried hard to understand!
http://www.littledogdiscs.co.uk/laurent-garnier---live-on-denamaxx-fm-france-1990-1773-p.asp

back to the grind...

after a weekend that included a trip to the egg club in london to relive our dancing days, and an extra day off to recover, it's back to work for boht of us. tony now only has two days left at the deptford site before he'll concentrate on renovating the house full time. i'm back at work in london (until we move)

as the days shorten noel is finding it more and more difficult to find a warm spot on the drive to snooze in... but at least the drive is looking lovely and the grass can get one last cut before the winter really sets in
todays track is
http://www.littledogdiscs.co.uk/fatboy-slim---palookaville-476-p.asp

very tiring...

Our poor little dog Noel - he's very, very tired... of watching Tony finish the Brunel styled stairs. I'm assured that with all the nails it will never fall down. So while I'm at work the boys are listening to dance music from http://www.littledogdiscs.co.uk/danny-rampling---journeys-by-dj-volume-3-1383-p.asp

the start of the beginning...

well, this really is the first day of our new life... tony has finished work work - almost - and he's now concentrating full-time on the house. - we've spent a long time thinking about it and a long time talking about it - and now i really think that come the autumn of next year we'll be living in france...
all we have to do is finish renovating the little cottage in sussex and get it sold, and we can go... so, with me looking down from the battlements of Carcassonne here comes the story of how we get on!

Today the lovely plumbers came. They spent 20 minutes drinking coffee, playing with noel and chatting. And 5 minutes temporarily fixing the waste pipes for the new bathroom sink. Though in fairness they had really worked hard last week