'kin hell.

Westy is on the list (cheaper )

quad will be available, trails very close by but not so close they'll disturb the peace


booked I have routes for hoons already planned, I'm often out testing for good routes but I'm more bumbling these days for some reason

sounds fantastic, keep up the work your flying along!

when will it be ready for guests?

Looks amazing! Good luck with it all

that's encouraging Louie should be ready for june if not to much

in fact, thanks to all of you for your comments, it does help when there's only two of you

Just for you Laurel Green

Gills updated her blog....

http://deepindordogne.blogspot.com/

Blinkin' eck.

That's going to be seriously impressive when it's finished.

May have to pop down that way at some time.

can you bring one of your huge trailers with you our 500kg Ifor is feeling the strain


ok then

as mentioned in last post, we're now onto phase 2, the restoration of building 'F' (little house) hopefully it'll be ready around March, hope so, as we'll need to move into it so we can start restoring 'D'

16th century & on the old 'Cassini maps'  these 180 ancient maps apparently took four generations of the Cassini family to finish in the 1700s, they travelled on foot from village to village plotting the buildings and topography (& we think we have determination & tenacity )

so 400 years of crud to tidy up then as its nickname suggests its not very big outside 6.5m x 14m & with walls a meter thick its going to be easy to heat

good size building to start with as any mistakes made will be relatively small & progress should be swift, even with a steep learning curve this means we should have her ready for the start of the next tourist season which will help us move closer to our 'self sufficiency ' goal (I did only say closer )

so, stepping through the front door you can see right to the other side of the house & onto the back door, simplicity stairs to the left, a wall to left & one to the right making two downstairs rooms, thats all they would have lived in as upstairs has never been inhabited. plan is to remove all downstairs walls to make completely open plan


_MG_8928 by pvapour, on Flickr


room to left - this will be the lounge end of the open living area.


_MG_8934 by pvapour, on Flickr

complete with HUGE fireplace (in relation to room size)
for its last years of use we assume this room was used as a kiln for drying the plums as it is thick with black soot, on the walls, the ceiling, beams, everywhere! very much like the inside of our more modern prune ovens in building 'B', we will need to sand blast to remove but I'm suspecting everything will be pretty well preserved underneath.

cooking hooks still hanging & a bit eery tbo



_MG_8935 by pvapour, on Flickr


DSC01292 by pvapour, on Flickr



proper front door security


DSC01295 by pvapour, on Flickr

another lovely feature of the this house is the oversize Oak beams, 12" square


DSC01291 by pvapour, on Flickr


for a 6m wide house! its no wonder it's still standing after 400 years.
even the boards in the attic are oak & are 1.5" thick unfortunately they are to shot to reuse as flooring but they can be re-sited to the garden & used to make our raised potager beds

original stone sink, waste goes staright through wall ending with a beautifully crafted stone spout half way up the outside wall


DSC01293 by pvapour, on Flickr

the floor downstairs (like 'D') are hand made clay tiles set directly onto the soil, they are original & unbelievably 50% of them are uncracked and can be used again, this is a VERY important part of the wjhole project for us, to reuse, retain or relocate features & materials.

room to right - the kitchen


_MG_8959 by pvapour, on Flickr
much better condition than other room




walls removed & tiles cherry picked for future project


_MG_8931 by pvapour, on Flickr

400 years old?
I look at the pile of tiles & find it difficult to comprehend, I stand there trying to imagine what the guys must have looked like who moulded & laid these, apparently they would have built an oven on site to make these rather than transport them, makes sense our duty is to make good use of them


_MG_8956 by pvapour, on Flickr

onto Attic
no before shots I'm afraid
after we'd tidied & I'd inspected the beams it seems only 4 of the main rafters need replacing but with our intentions of 2 dormer & 2 velux windows to be cut in (where we'll cut 4 rafters in half) I think a little musical chairs with them will result in no new rafters necessary
the light at the far end is where we have started removing tiles


_MG_8945 by pvapour, on Flickr


_MG_8942 by pvapour, on Flickr
the ceiling will be vaulted upstairs to expose all of these beams, being mainly a chippy, i'm sooo looking forward to creating the upstairs...

the complexity of some of the woodwork is breathtaking


_MG_8938 by pvapour, on Flickr

thanks, like the website, think I remember seeing your branch at amersham when we lived there.

you should like some of the images to come of the timber work


roof started...

50% of the 8000 tiles are shot as are the chestnut battens, its difficult to say for certain but it looks like the battens are original ie 400 years old they used chestnut as it helped repel spiders apparently?? we will be using them as our winter fuel this year on our open fires for heating, seems a poor end for them but our toes will appreciate it, plus chestnut smells lovely on an open fire, maybe we'll roast some chestnuts

tiles are hand made our of clay & specific to the perigord region, we'll save as many as possible & buy reclaimed to blend in, very difficult to find here though they are laid so as to be 3 tiles thick, they are 3/4" thick & 1.5kg per tile, thats 12 ton of tiles, necessary to keep swapping sides for weight distribution (I think).

hole

_MG_8938 by pvapour, on Flickr


bigger hole


_MG_9012 by pvapour, on Flickr

bowed battens


_MG_9012_2 by pvapour, on Flickr

our new neighbour using in the meantime


_MG_9151 by pvapour, on Flickr

waste tiles are carried over to the Chemin to create a new winter entry (non mud) path to the property


_MG_9196 by pvapour, on Flickr

fully exposed, the first sunlight these rafters have seen for a very long time


_MG_9206 by pvapour, on Flickr

Termites are a huge problem in our area & one we have to deal with as we go through the buils, all these timbers will be painstakingly treated by brush with 2 coats of:

ALL new timber work used within the house has to be treated with this also, luckily allot of bought timber comes treated with one coat so only one additional coats is needed, still, ALL the new battens will have to be treated

couldn't resist some arty shots as it was so beautiful with all the weight lifted from its shoulders (to me anyway )


_MG_9226 by pvapour, on Flickr


_MG_9254 by pvapour, on Flickr


_MG_9234 by pvapour, on Flickr

chimney will need raising apparently, another job before we can get the roof back on hope the sun keeps shinning!


_MG_9296 by pvapour, on Flickr

as well as extending the chimney, Velux & dormers are needed next, first of two


_MG_9294 by pvapour, on Flickr

A nice start, if I may say so and, may the sun continue to shine on your endeavours.

Re the termite chemical; do you also have to inject it around the perimeter of the building? Only I seem to remember an American programme where they did so.

wow what an exciting project will definately be keeping an eye on this and it sounds like my perfect holiday when finished could even cycle down and hire a caterham where else could you do that?? keep up the good work and best of luck