Semaine Neuf

Yep another week over and another job nearly done! (well technically we have the whole ground floor to do but we aren't doing that until we have got the floor in so won't be for a while thankfully!) We did 6 days straight on the second floor and were only a bucket or so of mix off finishing yesterday.  Paul was going to do another mix today and finish it and all the little bits we have missed or need to be retouched but I demanded we got out and did something else.  My hand is extremely sore now - I have trouble straightening my little finger and can barely make a fist.  This is a problem as Paul keeps telling me to harden up princess and I can no longer punch him with my right haha!  Anyway here is a couple of pics of the walls.

This is the after shot of the wall from last weeks blog that was washed down ready to go.

We have decided that we are probably about the 4th lot of people to renovate this particular house.  Would love to know the date the original building went up but it was most likely several centuries ago.  You can see in the next photo of the last wall we did - there is two distinct marks from where the roof lines have been changed and added too.  Most likely it was a tiny single story house then went to a double before someone decided to add the attic.
You can also see the wall on the far left has been plastered but not 'rubbed back' yet.

Before doing the last wall on the second floor - note the roofline marks on the left.

Sunday evening - so close to finishing - only small piece next to the chimney to do.

So yes another week of long days of slog.  We did have a lovely evening at our friends house on Friday night.  A very Aussie barbie on the deck with them and some other neighbors and their guests at the B&B.  A guitar was even produced so we had entertainment too!  We also had a small win on Thursday when we went to town and managed to buy more mortar mix,  book an appointment for Pauls vans rego check,  and bought two tyres for the van and all in French - amazing!
Today we decided to go to the Brocante fair that we had been told was on in Cazals - unfortunately though it's not on until next week which we discovered once we had driven there. Never mind it's only about 15min drive away.  We did have a wander around a 'vide grenier' in Salviac - this is basically a trash and treasure french style.  I have a shot of one of the streets - we didn't buy anything other than some books from some English people but was interesting.

After that we decided to have a bit of a "Sunday" drive - it is Monday here today but is a public holiday - not sure why and doesn't make much difference to us other than most of the shops including the hardware are shut.  Anyway we went down towards Fumel - through Puy-l'eveque where we had a bit of a wander through the really pretty little town.

Puy-l'Eveque

Fumel, where we thought we would have some lunch, ended up being a bit dodgy or we couldn't find the nice part anyway so we headed for home.  Saw a sign for a 'chateau' or castle on the way so went and had a look.  It can be a bit like seen one castle seen them all but we spent a good hour or so exploring this one and it was pretty interesting.  Had an awesome natural cave that it had been built on top of.  We also had a reasonably nice lunch there which is of particular importance to us ha.

Well tonight we might walk down to Degagnac.  It is the weekend of their 'fete' - so far they have been going for two nights - and there is two more with a fireworks display tonight although it is at 11.30 so might be past our oldies bedtime.  Not really sure what else will be there but I think it is the normal 'fair' type stuff along with some music.  The last two nights have had a dj - we woke up about 2.30am last night and could hear the music - it did stop at 3 - eek - can only imagine what it would be like to live right in the village at this time of the year although I did hear that some of them go away for the weekend and am not surprised ha.
This week we hope to get some flooring sorted for the attic - have finally made contact with the plasterer but he is on holidays at the moment so that will have to wait.  We also have been searching for some old oak beams to replace some of the dodgier ones in the house.  I have found some being advertised but I am not confident at all on the phone - so Aileen is going to help us ring them and see if we can go and have a look.  We also have been having some discussions about windows and shutters and colours etc - I love the French style of pale shutters whereas Paul likes how a lot of the English and Dutch have them - all varnished wood.  Anyway we have come to a sort of compromise - I can have the grey/bluey colour for the shutters and he can have the timber look on the windows and doors.  Here is a photo I took today to compare the colors with painted windows or wood to give you an idea of what I am talking about..

OK think that is about it.  Looking forward to a warm week this week - we have still been getting days here and there of rain - it is so lush and green and the road sides look like English gardens with flowers everywhere.  Will be nice when we have a garden and not a building site at the front door - oh well one day!

One for the 'before' album