Making something beautiful

Well, Andy has been working like a demon for the past few days. We decided that with mum and my brother arriving tomorrow for a couple of days at Pissou, it was important to have a) a functioning but not necessarily completed kitchen and b) the living area finished. So yesterday, he plaster-skimmed the living area which I then sized and painted today. After a considerable amount of cleaning up and moving around of furniture, we were able to put the bed-settee and the armchairs into their new positions and with the addition of a couple of lamps the new look is taking shape. I still need to find suitable pictures or a mirror for the wall and Andy will be making a couple of occasional tables, but already, it feels like a warm, clean, cosy space in which we will be spending a not inconsiderable amount of time this winter!

The kitchen is also progressing, with the sink now firmly affixed (no more washing up in the bathroom washbasin - hurrah!), the oven in situ, two beech worktops expertly and (almost) seamlessly joined using a masons' mitre joint and masons' mitre bolts to clamp them together. Tomorrow, Andy will be building the final cupboard with drawer unit that will sit next to the washing machine and then the whole of the right hand side of the kitchen will be in place, the doors can be attached and I can start stashing kitchen clobber away and out of sight!

Getting there

The L-shaped unit which will house the sink is now solidly secured in place, the units have been joined together and levelled. The un-cut worktop has taken the first coat of linseed oil well...
and the oak doors likewise

Projet progress

Our deadline of next Thursday is looming (mum and David will be arriving to stay for a couple of nights) by which time we hope to have a useable kitchen in place, the woodburner back in situ (tiling is currently in progress) and the 'living area' plaster-skimmed and painted. It's going to be tight, but Andy is making good progress with the hand-made bespoke kitchen unit frames which he is constructing from quality pine taking shape.......which he is putting together using the traditional mortise and tenon method... to which the solid oak linseed oil treated doors and the solid beechwood worktop will be fitted. My painting and woodwork tidying duties are almost completed and the kitchen is slowly coming together

Potager update

It would appear that, with all of the ongoing house renovation work, I have been sadly neglecting the potager. Fortunately, it is now the end of the main season so no produce has been spoiled by my lack of attention. It feels like an appropriate time for me to reflect on the successes and failures and what I have learnt from my first attempts at growing my own produce.

Overall, the potager has been a massive success -the variety and the quantity of vegetables that I have grown has way exceeded my expectations. My only real 'failure' has been with the turnips, but that is due entirely to the vole community who were 100% successful in their destruction of the crop. The cabbage white caterpillar has also made a pretty good job of munching their way through my cauliflower, savoy cabbage and white cabbage leaves, but fortunately they are robust plants and seem to be recovering well.

What would I do differently next year? The main thing would be to put in tall supports for the tomato plants before they start falling over! I would also give them more space than I did this year. I would also weigh the produce that I have had from the potager as, although I know we have had masses of tomatoes and French beans, it would be nice to have a record of how many kgs has been produced.
What would I grow next year that I haven't grown this year? Some beefsteak and plum tomatoes.
What has been the biggest surprise this year? The mystery gourd that appeared from nowhere and produced 5 good sized fruit that taste like a cross between pumpkin and butternut squash.

I am already prepared for the autumn and winter, with the autumn carrots developing well, the parsnips ready for harvesting as soon as we get a good frost, the leeks are swelling nicely, the autumn spinach is making good progress, the spring greens likewise and the lambs lettuce is now coming through. I will be planting the onion sets, shallots and garlic before the end of the month. It will soon be time to dig in some horse manure and some compost in order to replenish the soil ready for next year's growth. What a satisfying passtime this potager business is proving to be!

No excuses

You will no doubt have heard the expression 'all the gear, no idea'. Thankfully at Pissou we now have all of the equipment but also all of the knowledge to create a bespoke kitchen of quality. Such equipment includes the following;
- table saw
- router table
- mitre saw
- planer-thicknesser
- bandsaw
- pillar drill

I am very much looking forward to seeing the final result which is expected in the course of next week!

In the meantime, I have finished painting the walls, ceiling and window frames and will be tiling at the weekend.

Clean and bright

Whilst Andy was sorting out the upper level of the barn, clearing space for his kitchen 'workshop' I got the walls and ceiling sized, some of the woodwork cleaned up and the kitchen beam sanded down and painted afresh. It is all looking wonderfully clean and bright and we are both now starting to get impatient for the job to be finished so that we can move back downstairs instead of eating and living up on the first floor.

Being sociable

To be honest, we are not known for being the most sociable of people. Indeed, some people may consider that to be an understatement! But yesterday, we were amongst a large group of people invited to help our friends Justin and Emily to celebrate the Christening of their twin daughters, Myla and Thea. It was a lovely afternoon and a great opportunity to catch up with various friends that may have been somewhat neglected in 2009. Justin spit roasted 'Balls', one of his Gascon pigs that he had slaughtered a week ago especially for the occasion and there was some great live music to round off the afternoon. After getting home from the celebrations, Andy cracked on with the plaster skimming in the kitchen, which he continued today while I headed over to Pat's for a VTT outing. I struggled to make it round the 26km black route, largely due to a very poor nights sleep and a complete lack of energy. It didn't help that the majority of the ascent was in the first 7 kms and a great deal of bike-pushing was involved. Pat however was on fire and riding strong! It was good to get out and when I returned home, Andy had completed the skimming around the fireplace and in the kitchen, so I will be sizing the walls and ceiling tomorrow and painting on Wednesday. Woo-hoo!