It’s been a busy few weeks and we’ve been trying to document all the activity while we work on our gutters, drains, and beams. At the moment it feels like most of our time is spent erecting scaffolding and shifting it from one workplace to the next. There are so many stages and steps that have to be completed in order to get on to the main focus. The barn roof has to go on eventually to allow us to get on with the utility room and floor.
“The old barn roof was near collapse when we took the project on so it’s been a careful journey of restoration supporting with new materials and restoring old materials in the barn”
Latest Gutters, Drains and Beams video on YouTube
April has brought some very cold frosts and thankfully some sunshine and much-awaited rainfall. The cows are back out in the fields. It’s lovely to see them grazing with their calves.
The garden is getting into action. We’ve managed to clear more of the knotweed root and set up this year’s vegetable patch. I’ve planted potatoes (first earlies) radish, salad, coriander, and red onions. In the seed trays, we have tomatoes, chilies, courgette, beetroot, and white onion.
Already planted out in the garden from last year we have garlic, strawberries, rhubarb, mint, thyme, rosemary, and chives. Lots more to plant in May as the soil warms up. I’ve covered the raised beds with fleece and added well-rotted compost to give new seedlings a head start.
This Spring I’ve also added three roses to my planting list along with a new clematis and three new geraniums. The lupin foliage is splendid and last year’s clematis and peonies seem to be thriving. We’re hoping to also plant three small trees this year to provide shade and structure in the garden.
April at Le Chassaing
This week we visited our local food market in Auzances. When we last visited in August (all the usual stallholders were on holiday) there were only two stalls! Very quiet for a French market so we ventured out further afield to sample more stalls and a variety of fresh food in Felletin.
When our new neighbours Annemieke and Johan chatted about their experience of the Auzances market which takes place on Tuesday, they described a different scene and we were keen to go back and revisit. This time we were not disappointed.
Plenty of stalls with fresh produce to sample and much closer to home. We filled our traditional French shopping basket with luscious fruit, veg, cheese and also called in at the local butchers to support local trade. What a delicious treat!
Catch up on recent posts:
Good to be Back
restoring our french farmhouse
The Christmas Kitchen
a blissful walk in the snow (3rd winter)
discovering Our home
What’s next? More working on the barn maybe some fine-tuning of our bathroom door. Nothing is finished everything is evolving gradually. In the fullness of time, we will have a beautiful home but we can not just focus on one area everything has to move on at the same time. It’s amazing how one job connects to another and prevents progress so each area has to be planned in terms of electrical, water, heating…
We have made plenty of mistakes along the way specifically in the early stages when many of the modifications were temporary just to get the basics in place. We don’t need perfection we want good quality products and to complete a job safely and with confidence.
We aim to spend our time and money on experiences. There are many beautiful and natural materials to use. Our plan is to be innovative with research, in time we will eventually achieve the results we are looking for.
Please feel free to share your thoughts on innovative design and planning for your latest project we meet so many enthusiastic people through our projects. You can get in touch via the comments below.
