End of an Era

Cousin Joseph raised rabbits for many, many years. Since his death the cages have sat empty a bit of a sad reminder of his absence. Two banks nestled under large shade trees, one with 18 cages and the other with 10 larger compartments. Substantially built, the top panels plus the floor, back and two sides were cement and the doors were heavy steel mesh. 

 Think Tinker-Toys, modular units that interlock. The structures were stable and well covered to protect the animals from any weather. Joseph tended to them faithfully.

A favorite cousin opted to take one set one to her nearby dairy farm. She and her son drove over one afternoon and within an hour they had dismantled and loaded the sections into their small truck.

A few days later an American ex-pat friend arrived with her neighbor ready to take the second bank of cages home.

 

We have decided to reclaim this large shady area for a garden. After several decades of housing rabbits it is certain to be fertile! Stay tuned to see what happens next.

And if you have thanks for reading.

Au revior.

Antin Jardin

Early this spring a cousin and I visited a local garden near Antin. A delightful family from Holland purchased the property many years ago and have painstakingly created a beautiful garden. They open it once a year to the public and needless to say the locals come in droves. The design is completely natural using the slopes and creek and existing trees to define sections. This small vignette has an old plow in the middle and looks surprisingly like a crane, wings spread ready for flight.

Quite different from manicured gardens in California this garden looks like people live here and enjoy it on a daily basis. Found objects are used to delineate spaces, chairs and benches welcome the visitor to relax and contemplate nature.

 I loved the use of old roof tiles to create this edge of a walkway. It is the perfect solution in one of my own gardens. Don't be surprised to see roof tiles in a future post!
There are no poisons used to discourage vegetation in unwanted spots. A hoe a trowel or a hour or two after a good rain and weeds are under control.

Near the above ground pool the tiles were used to stabilize that slope, to maintain it the gardeners incorporated plants with deep roots.

This is a long view of their vegetable garden with companion plants and flowers.

They have transformed a outbuilding into a hot house where they propagate all their plants.

One of my favorite areas was full of roses and other aromatics.

Next is a peek of a living arbor. Amazing! Eucalyptus saplings are being trained into a high arch to support roses.

The roses were propagated from a single cutting. And to bring the story full circle the cutting came from the same cousin with whom I toured the garden!

And if you have thanks for reading.

Au revior

More Clean-Up!

Behind the rough cut planks is a space about 10 feet. The original limestone wall was probably built in the 1800's. At one time those wall planks marched across the width of the space and enclosed a pigeon house. Also called a Pigeonnier, common in this area of France it is a small stand alone building often with a peaked roof. If you Google it you'll see how important the pigeon business was to the local commerce. No longer needed for communication or food the Pigeonniers are no longer in use but charming just the same.

This pigeon house lost it charm at least a century ago.

After the pigeons came the chickens. A ladder was built and the chickens climbed up each night and came down each morning... it must have been quite a chore to collect the eggs.

Here is the opposite end of the space... originally storage for feed and hay for the farm animals. Once there were no longer pigs, cows, horses and sheep it was mostly abandoned... an enormous empty space. In need of a lot of cleaning!

 Piles and stacks of scrap wood... and that plank wall came out. Large sections of the floor were beyond repair. About a third of those floor planks will be replaced... but that's is for another time.

And the wood kept coming out, the length of the barn is easily 70 feet. Nearly all the wood had dry rot or had been damaged by the Bore Beetle, a common enemy of wood in this area. Once all the wood was piled out in the field it was burned.
Next week the face of the barn will get a new coat of plaster, stay tuned!
And if you have thanks for reading...

Au revoir,

Sometimes it's the simple things...

How exciting is the installation of a Septic Fosse?  Well, for us it is pretty darn exciting! We have been planning this for years and happy it is finally finished.

That cement tank is about 4 inches thick with steel reinforcement bars, capacity is about 1000 gallons. It was filled about to the half way point with water. A big storm was forecast and we didn't want the tank to float up out of the hole. And did we ever get a storm!

While the tank was filling with water it was time to dig for the filter/leach field.

And then it rained, and rained some more!

We got a LOT of rain. But the gravel and stone didn't seem to mind at all. The progress was delayed several days while the standing water in the holes was pumped out.

  Once the earth was dry enough to handle the weight of the equipment work proceeded quickly.

Marvelous Marcel covered the area with the top soil he had so carefully removed on day one. He tidied up the area and drove his front loader-back hoe home.

That's one more project finished and crossed off the list. 

But wait, we just now have to add "landscape kitchen garden" to our list... oh dear!

And if you have thanks for reading.

Au revior

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We're in pretty deep now!

Beginning of day 2. The hole that will hold the concrete tank continues to grow deeper and deeper. By the way all the rich topsoil was scooped off and placed in a neat pile to be replaced, now that's one thing I would not of considered.

This photo was taken from an upstairs bedroom a great vantage point, don't you think?  It began to sprinkle but the work continued it would take lots of rain to stop this project.

And if you have thanks for reading.

Au revoir

Fosse Septic

Certainly not the most exciting part of the renovation but necessary. We knew from the beginning we must upgrade the septic system including relocation. There were several opinions in fact every contractor had a different idea of the scope of the work; method, location, time and/or cost. One major problem was we wanted to be in Montegut during the process. We found a local contractor who suggested the garden just outside the kitchen. He showed us the plan - Simple straightforward.  He was experienced, had all the equipment and the best part... he could begin ANYTIME!

8 rose bushes were relocated from the kitchen garden to a sunny spot near the shade garden.

And one large Hibiscus tree found a new home.

Now to get to the task at hand.

By the end of the first day there were major changes in this garden and more to come. More digging a LOT more digging!

And if you have thanks for reading.
Au revoir

Things get really dirty.

When we purchased Montegut a new Fosse Septic was required. Fast forward a few years and finally this spring it is finished! Through another American ex-pat couple we met a local contractor who not only had the expertise but the equipment and time to do the work. I was fascinated by the work, he handled that monster machine like it was a teaspoon, such precision.

First is a BEFORE of the small garden off the kitchen. It was full of rose bushes (8) and hibiscus (too many to count).

It all happened so fast!

 
Identify what we want to transplant.

Dig a trench then fill with soil enriched with compost and stand ready to replant!

I

He scooped them out gently and  we planted them quickly.

In their new home... plenty of sun for encouragement a lots of water to ease the transition. Within two weeks they all had new leaves - the surgery was a success doctor, I think the patients will survive!

Lots more to come as the project fosse continues.

And if you have thanks for reading.

Au revoir

Welcome to Montegut!

 The roses put on their best.

 The Lilac bushes were barely able to hold up their branches.

And the Wisteria directing us into the courtyard made us feel very welcome indeed!

One evening we enjoyed a beautiful sunset from the kitchen window. After so many days of depressing weather the gray sky erupted into this glorious palette... perhaps as a reminder to keep going and things will improve.

It's finished! Pt III

Come in and take a look at the finished bedroom.

A few finishing touches, we applied a clear sealer to the hardwood planks. It was one of the most dramatic changes to the room... well that and patching the deep holes!

We found a large mirror at a local Brocante, a perfect fit over the mantel. We know the mantel is Cherrywood and the mirror frame appears to be a match. 

We also found a cast-iron plaque to fit in the fireplace. We are discussing adding a layer of tile to the inside and bottom of the fireplace, we are still searching for the right tile.

Barry found this chandelier at the local Brocante,  this may or may not be it's final home. In the lower left corner of this photo you can catch a glimpse of a beautiful armoire we purchased from a neighbor. Michel was selling his late mothers home and invited us over to see if there were any pieces of furniture we wanted to purchase... it took two trips to bring everything home!

I fell in love with this elegant chair and matching ottoman at a Brocante in Vic en Fresenac. I removed the linen upholstery sections to use as a pattern. I'll re-draft the pattern to recover both the chair and ottoman when we return. I was told it is in the style of Napoleon III? 

The exterior shutters are closed so are visible in this photo the color is as stunning inside as it is outside.

We moved the beds to the east wall to have a little sitting area in front of the fireplace. The beds are 120cm and 140cm, respectively. The smaller of the two beds got a new box spring and mattress before we left. 

The room is really a "Blank Slate" at this point, although I have upholstery  fabric chosen for these chairs and other furniture in the Loft. I will make quilts for these beds as well as take some of my smaller quilts to display on the walls.

As usual the work was more than we planned, but the outcome more than compensated. We are already looking forward to the next project!

There are still 3 additional bedrooms, bathroom, utility room and wine cave, dining room, enormous foyer and kitchen to renovate, oh and then there is the exterior....

Thanks for following our progress. I love reading your comments, so please leave a note when you stop by.

And if you have, thanks for reading...

...Are we there yet? Pt III

It looks pretty bad. But really, it's nothing compared to...

THIS!

On a sunny day the new plaster doesn't take long to dry. 

On each wall the problem areas were identified and repaired before adding the finish coat to all the walls.

It is finally time to plaster! Because the room is so large it will take a couple of days to dry before the sanding can begin.

The ceiling is divided into three sections. The largest beams run the width of the room and hold the joists which in turn hold the tongue & groove oak boards. Each section took nearly a full day to prepare.

The ceiling was scraped, wire-brushed and hand sanded. We used a small hand broom to dust the surfaces before the plaster was applied to the walls. Plaster was used filled lots of the crevices and cracks where the ceiling meets the wall, but we weren't striving for a perfectly flat surface, well finished would suffice.

In some areas the paint held tight but in other areas it seemed to only be held up by spider webs! There were several sections of the tongue & groove that had been damaged and needed repair. 

The doors into the bedroom had been painted a few decades ago, luckily only one side. We attempted to strip the paint but had no luck. Two coats of paint later and those doors looked stunning. 

Little by little the primer coat covered the walls and then the ceiling.

We could finally see that light at the end of the tunnel! We laugh now when we think about the angst of choosing " the perfect color". We had paint chips, color books, pages from magazines, fabric swatches and yet, when it came down to the final decision we chose... White!

Yep, it sure is White. Can you believe we paid to have it "mixed"? 

The intersection of ceiling and wall got a little extra dab of paint here and there.

And if you have, thanks for reading...