A bit of work on the fireplace. I ditched using the door as shuttering for the wall and just layed the stones as if they were bricks. It's very time-consuming getting the right sized and shaped rocks to fit each gap. Almost finished, and I reckon the result looks pretty smart. I've built in a couple of little alcoves for authenicity in the back wall.
Just the last couple of rows then construct the hearth. Photo's at 11.
A few pictures of the barn due for renovation into two gites. The permis de construire has been applied for and the decision is due on the 27 July 2004. As you can see quite a lot of work, but it won't start until at least October as the local French tradesmen are so busy, and we don't want to disturb any of our existing guests.
The building is split over 2 floors with each gite occupying approximately half each. The left hand gite will have the kitchen in the portion on the side. Currently a slate roof over traditional Breton stone walls.
A shot of the inside showing the oak beams and exposed stonework. Most of these features we hope to retain to add to the character of each gite. The blue tarpaulin is just there to stop the swallows nesting directly over the car and excreting on the roof.
A portion of the architects plans submitted as part of the permis de construire showing the new lucarne windows upstairs and the two doors and three windows downstairs at the front of each gite.
This week our gite guests left quite early which meant we had time to attend the May 29th Memorial service in Les Champs Geraux. On May 29th 1943 a B17 bomber crashed on the outskirts of Les Champs Geraux with the loss of 11 American crewmen. Exactly one year ago the village held a service to dedicate a new memorial for the 60th anniversary of those lost that day. In attendance we had the American Ambassador to France, the local Mayor and various other dignitaries, along with three American families who had relatives or close connections with the crewmen.
The site http://www.b17-29mai.com/ explains in more detail the events of that day and each of the crew members. There are also photos of the event one year ago.
The three American families all stayed in our gites over the weekend and one of them was Ray Kaskey. His father was one of the crew and he is a famous American sculptor. During his stay he said he was working on a series of Bar Reliefs for the National WWII Memorial in Washington D.C. One of those reliefs depicted a B17 bomber and crew. Consequently he had a copy made and shipped to France and that now hangs in the town hall for the village.
Quite a number of people remarked on the similarity of the B17 Captain's surname, Hecox, to our own, Haycox.
According to the website http://www.wwiimemorial.com/ the National WWII Memorial, Washington, DC will dedicated today May 29th 2004 one year on from the Les Champs Geraux memorial and 61 years after the loss of the B17 and crew. Another spooky coincidence.
Not much more progress on the fireplace. I have been doing some more grading so now there is a pile of rocks in the lounge waiting for me to mix up some mortar. BTW using the door as a 'prop' for the wall didn't really work out, as you can see. Fortunately the wood burning stove is going in the middle on top of a hearth and will cover up my two wonky stones. The problem is you can't see what your doing. I'll just stack 'em one row at a time and point it up later with lime mortar.
Spent most of the the day laying stones for the new fireplace, after buying some cement
I'm trying to build my stone wall using sand and cement mortar but not using any towards the front of the stones. Once it's dry I'll point it with traditional lime and sand mortar to match the rest of the house. The trouble with lime & sand is it goes off very very slowly, hence the cement. I watched a stone mason renovate an old house using stone and he made a temporary outer skin of plywood, placed the face of the stones against the plywood then back filled with mortar. I'm trying the same technique but with an old door. All will be revealed tomorrow.
Another day helping out a friend with some electrics. I fitted the last few lights and had to wire in a new circuit in the kitchen cos all the lighting wires and switches left by the previous owner were dead. A helping hand with some sink plumbing and to move a radiator in the middle of the kitchen (don't ask). At least the kitchen is operational and they can now see in the dark. It gives them a little breathing space to find a local tradesman. It's always difficult in a foreign country especially if you don't speak the language very well. I remember the massive list of jobs that needed doing to our place, but I'm very handy so I did most of it myself except we hired an electrician to safety check all the gites.
An emergency electrical job at a friend of a friends today. They recently brought and moved into a very nice house in Dinan, but the previous owners took everything, all the light fittings, even the kitchen sink. With just wires hanging out the walls ansd ceilings it wasn't very homely. The owners had tried to get tradesmen in but they are so busy and again the language barrier was a problem. So here comes the calvery, tools in hand, spending the day in Dinan fitting lights general DIY work.
Didn't get anything done on the fireplace.
Stone grading today for the fireplace. I've been searching out appropriate rocks and pressure washing them in preparation for renovating the fireplace. Currently I've got most of them layed out on the floor in the rough pattern they will end up on the wall.
There is a mixture of granite, slate and mongrel rocks, so hopefully it should look quite pleasing. Because the rocks have come from the grounds around the house they should blend in with the ones used to build the house that are exposed either side of the fireplace.
Lugging rocks about in the heat is hard work so I had a little siesta in the hammock for an hour or so in the orchard. I deserve it, and one of the joys of working for yourself.
Hopefully it should look something like this once I've finished, but with a woodburner instead of ornaments.
This week we have three different nationalities staying in the gites, one Irish, one Austrailan and one Belgium. Quite a mixture.
Today and tomorrow is the «Un siècle de vapeur» on the Rance canal between Evran and Dinan. We went today and saw two old steam pleasure boats flying British ensigns at the lock in Evran. I overheard that they had come from Lake Windermere in the Lake District, UK. How they got here I've no idea. The exhibition hall was full of steam models of various sizes, some of which were radio controlled. Outside there were some stationary steam engines running machines to make 'sabot' and cut very large planks of wood and a pool for the model boats. Hugh liked the traction engine because it whistled. Every weekend there is something on in the area during the summer. Next week the beer festival at Lehon caught my eye :-)
