Making video’s should be a regular feature…
We decided to do more with our YouTube account to document all the work we’ve been doing. Today we tried out some quick handheld camerawork (a bit wobbly) to show you around the outside and a garden pathway that I’m creating within the veg patch.
(It was a bit rubbish – perhaps I should brush my hair on filming days?)
Here is a link to the channel Notes From Le Chassaing On YouTube
Channel 4 who filmed a test shoot with us last year were very keen to film our progress. This week they got in touch to say that lockdown had seriously impacted their filming schedule and as we are quite a long way out in the deep depths of central France they didn’t want to do the journey for this season. They are keeping in touch….
They opted for people who were closer together geographically to keep travelling and timing to a minimum which is understandable. So we find ourselves thinking about documenting our own journey in film.
We don’t want to miss these early days of footage. We arrived in France last year (July 2019). We had NO smart camper van, NO caravan on-site NO B&B to escape to. We had a first-floor shell of a farmhouse, water and electricity connection point and a relatively basic once lived in, circa 1980’s upstairs bedroom for our accommodation.
I didn’t cry.
We set up a composting toilet and showered outside using a bag of water. We were determined to make the transformation from shell to home. We had a plan for a phase one upgrade which basically included a lot of white paint. We even stuck to the plan, spent as little cash as possible, and got to know the place while sketching one hundred and one variations of how it could be. Getting to know the area and challenging ourselves every day with learning French. We never had time to wonder if we had made the right decision.
I fully expected to want to get back to the UK. Although I miss my family and friends in England, I’m not homesick. I’m awestruck by this place every day. Long may it continue.
A few useful links about what I thought would be my worst nightmares -Composting toilets and Knotweed:
- Composting Toilets – the toilet itself does not do the composting for you it takes a minimum of one year to get your compost into a safe, usable state and you need to know what you are doing. https://humanurehandbook.com/manual.html
- Knotweed doesn’t have to be a dreadful nightmare. You can manage and control it but you will need to do this over a long period of time. You might even kill some of it but probably not all of it. Don’t give up, keep weakening it. You can move more quickly than Knotweed. https://notesfromlechassaing.co.uk/knotweed-battles/
