Thursday, February 27, 2014

Spring watch!

The daffodils are nearly all in bloom now in front of the house which is one reason for the pic above but it also shows my first ever attempt at pointing stone work where all the previous filling had been completely eroded by the wind, it took me ages just to do the small area behind these flowers but it's turned out very well and at least there's no holes in that piece of wall now!
Also, at last, after being gifted a mini cctv camera from my youngest daughter and soon to be son-in-law for christmas, we've managed to set up the camera in the bird box next to the Roque Terrace gite. One of the suggestions was to cut a small window in the side of the box to allow more light on the subjects and as you can see below it's certainly worked as after only a few days blue tits have been visiting regularly and all is very clear to see, won't be long now until the building of nests start.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

As one door closes....


....another opens!
As some of you may have already seen on Facebook, our new front door was installed yesterday. Unfortunately the original door was beyond repair as both the door and surround were very rotten in parts. A local carpenter did the work, made entirely of chestnut wood, copying the original door style plus using the original iron work which we cleaned and re painted. The main difference, apart from the black paint, is the panel underneath the windows which is now a traditional perigordine design consisting of uneven pieces of studded wood.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Window seat.

An interesting picture I took on the return flight from London Stansted to Bergerac last Tuesday after a quick visit to England for my Mums birthday, shows a very clear view of Jersey, one of the Channel  Islands, from 35,000 ft.
Back in France, winter projects now under way, a new terrace for the Roque gite and a new front door and renovation of the hallway of the main house are just 2 of the major jobs in progress....pictures to follow asap!