Renovations
Since our last blog much has happened. First of all, the installation of the new septic system has been completed. On Tuesday June 17th, early in the morning, some Company arrived with 2 trucks, a digger on a trailer and much more equipment. They were planning on opening up one side of the road, preparing for the installation of the fibre optic line. We knew nothing about this... and we had our own plans. Months ahead, we had planned our artisans to start his work and he needed access to both side of the road. After a nice discussion with the team manager, the installation of the fiber optic was delayed by 2 full days allowing our artisans to start his work. But, things happen for a reason. The workers were nice enough to leave their stoplight! So, for nearly a full week, we enjoyed "slow trafic" rolling in front of our house. This made the work of our artisans much safer.
And this is what we were waiting for: a septic system made out of 2 units; on the right, the tank where all waste water arrives. Sediments drop to the buttom of the tank and the filthy water flows from the top into the left compartiment which is filled with coconut shell shavings. The filtered (clean) water is then evacuated in the municipal rainwater drains.
Once completed, this is what it looks like. All covers have to stay accessible for yearly maintenance and it is important NEVER to drive on top of the system with heavy equipment. On that side of the house, we will make a terras surrounded by a fence creating more privacy from the main road.
The main house has also gone through lots of changes.
We are removing the entire main floor of the house: the dining room, the main hall and the downstairs bedroom. Why, you could ask.
Over the years, this house has accumulated humidity under its main floor. This house does not have a ventilation space under it so moisture is trappes. Starting from scratch is best way to increase the future comfort of the place. And Mike believes anything worth doing is worth doing right!
This is a big job and we cannot do this by ourselves. So we asked around for young people who would like to help out. Jolan (left) has agreed to help for about 20 hours a week. Also, from the Work Away program, we have welcomed so far Jake (from USA) and Benjamin (from Sweden).
Removing the floor means breaking up the existing concrete slab. That concrete gets recycled at the local quarry. Under the concrete, we find gravel, sand and rocks of various sizes. We have to dig down low enough in order to install draining pipes which wil be surrounded with clean dry gravel. Mike will then cover the whole surface with insulation onto which the floor heating system will be laid. That system will run using solar energy, and a wood stove with a back boiler. The floor heating will be coupled to old cast iron radiateurs (good mass storage) to complete the system.
This Picture was taken in our "dungeon", a room at the back of the house where you can see the bedrock
of the hill which the house is built against.
Benjamin (right) has help with various jobs like putting up a new fence to increase the free range area of the chicken. He harvested potatoes and worked with Jolan removing concrete floor, stones and sand. He also helped our neighbour transporting lambs with our trailer to the slaughter house.
Surprise in the ceiling
While removing the whole ceiling of the downstairs bedroom, Mike found this roll of paper.
One day we will show what it really is but for now, lets keep the suspense.
Buying another piece of land
This piece of land (4000 m2) is situated "above" ours. The back road runs uphill and the lands are made into flat plateaus. Great! This acquisition will secure our privacy. It is a nice flat ground, overgrown with trees and bushes. It comes with a run down garage of about 100m2. The garage has a steel structure but the roof is in bad shape. Included in the sale is a newer garage of about 40m2.
Beside privacy this great piece of land will idéal for fruit trees and bee hives.
The garden
In the garden, the harvest has started. First the garlic followed by the yellow and white onions.
At the moment, we have lots of zucchinis, some eggplants and peppers. The various squashes and pumpkins are growing well and will be harvested in the fall. Beets, leeks, potatoes, beans (fresh and dried)... a bit of everything. I just love it!
Our "golden" crop, the tomatoes, are a bit late this year and this has to do with the two massive heat waves we have had. During heat waves, the fruit stops developing and restarts slowly when the weather turns back to seasonal normal temperatures.
I am desparatly waiting for them for salade but also for canning purposes such as plain canned tomates and ratatouille.
New potato patch
I have been experiencing with another growing technic. First I have cut the grass with the lawn mower. I have placed the germinated potatoes on top of the grass and have covered the whole field with hay. I have not "planted" the potatoes. The potatoes are rooting into the grass changing the structure of the ground into more aired soil. I have to be careful to add enough hay/straw to cover the potatoes avoiding the skin to turn green due to sunlight exposure.
A proud rooster
We started the year with one rooster and 7 hens. We have now about 30 chickens, males en females all included . The brooding has been going quite well considering the difficulties we have encountered in the spring. We have a contented flock and this is to be seen by their willingness to breed new chickens.
We do not know how many chickens we will keep this year. We might allow 2 groups but this is not sure at this point. All cockerels will probably end up in the freezer.
But because the number of chickens will increase, we need more space in the coop. Fortunatly, the actual coop is divided into 2 rooms: a coop and a potting room. Mike has installed a side door in our container and it will be divided into 2 compartiments; one side will be for potting and the other side for storage of machinery. This small change allows our chicken to enjoy the space they needed to avoid stress.
Some extra fun
On July 18th, the Tour de France 2019 passed right in front of our house.
It was the first time our village welcomed the cyclists.
People were gathering along the main road and it was a nice time to chat and meet new people.
Thank you Jeroen (from the Netherlands) for this great picture!!!!
Farewell TESLA
Our black cat Tesla was found dead in the ditch near our house. What really happend is a mystery but we think that she was attacked by some wild animal (or dog) and because of her bad hip she was unable to escape rapidly or fight back. Tesla was a "Princess" and she had a hard time accepting strangers in her living space. She also had to put up with all the changes we are making at the moment which was creating extra stress for her.
Despite her little character, I will miss her enormously. She was buried beside Goudou. One Day, a nice tree will be placed there in remembrance of them.
As I am writing those words, another chapter is already being created.
Our Life is filled with surprises, good and bad, but the Journey is well Worth while.
See you again in a couple of weeks!