Ketchup Day

Oh, My Gosh!  Tomorrow EVERYONE  is starting to work on the Ruin.  David and his crew will be doing demolition on the ground floor, Justin will be putting in the closet and the walls for the new bathroom, and Jean Luis will be making the repairs on the salon.  Justin will probably be finished with his part in a couple of days.  Jean Luis shouldn’t take more than three or four days and I don’t know how long David and his crew will take….maybe a week for this first part.  We have contacted our electrician to let him know the work is beginning so we can get on his schedule.  He will be able to do the electrics between the first and second part of David’s job.  The reason we are getting so much attention all at once is because we are getting rain and very high gusty winds here!  No one can work outside so they all came to work inside at our Ruin! 

Jerry calls tomorrow a ketchup day…..”Ketchup bottle, Ketchup bottle, First you get a little, then you get a lotta!”  LOL     

We may start making progress!



25 Oct 2011

the pin holding a door to the wall

repaired ceiling

finishing up 





sanding dust

blowing the dust off

Not much happening at the Ruin right now.  Jerry is repairing some cracks with plaster, sanding up a storm and worrying about when the contractor will show up.  I have been painting with the sous couche and putting some white paint on the ceilings.  Jerry and I thought we could cover up the ugly wooden ceilings in the large bathroom and the kitchen with white paint.  We thought the boards would look like beadboard if we painted it white.  Not happening!!  Just looks like ugly board ceilings painted white.  After some discussion about what to do ... can't hang drywall cause there is nothing to hang it too.... can't rip it off cause who knows what can of worms that will open up....what to do?  After thinking on it a minute or so, Jerry said "we can put that fiberglass wallpaper over the ugly boards and paint the wallpaper."  It is a brilliant idea because the wallpaper is lightweight, very durable and it comes in several different designs.  One of the designs is a stucco like finish so when it is painted the walls looks like they are stucco.  Can't wait to try out the idea.....it should work fine.      

Plaster chips

I have also discovered the best way to get old, loose paint off the ceilings is use the air compressor!  I started blowing the dirt away from the plaster and ceiling in the “pink” chamber and low and behold paint started flying off the ceiling along with the dirt and cobwebs!  You are probably thinking “OH NO!  More Work!”  It doesn’t exactly mean more work.  Jerry has been sanding up a West Texas Sand Storm lately trying to get the loose paint off and edges smoothed down.  It makes a terrible mess of very fine dust that is nearly impossible to get up.  Blowing big chips off and then sanding the remaining edges seems to be a cleaner way to get the ceiling ready for paint.  I told Jerry that little compressor is the “Best Blower this side of the N9”!  The big chips are a heck of a lot easier to sweep up and there isn’t so much sanding that needs to be done!  We shall see how that works on the ceiling in the “pink” chamber.  The area for the closet has been painted and is ready for the walls to go up.  The new bathroom is ready for the plumbing to be completed and the tile to be put up.  The plumber is on holiday until the first week of November and I think he will be back to us before he starts his next job…..at least that is the prayer.  We can’t tile until the shower floor is installed.

The Dept of Herault has finished their water main job on the street behind the Ruin.  If all the neighbors are as glad to see that as I am we should have a block party.  Those big machines have a constant loud, low hum that gives me a headache!

Jerry met with another contractor to get a devis on the back salon, and to see how much he would charge to frame out the closet and the wall to the new bath and when he can start.  I think he is getting tired and is willing to pitch a little money at things he is not comfortable doing.  Working in Stone is a lot different than working in wood and drywall.  I am glad he is getting someone to come and do the work.  I am ready for more and faster progress than we are making. 

David, our contractor, stopped by today and picked up the key to the Ruin.  Next Wednesday is the start day for the work on the ground level.  Everyone cross your fingers and send up a little prayer.  He also is getting a devis together for the soft spot in the bathroom floor.  We have one devis already from someone else but I am not as confident in him as I am with David. 

taking down old electrical wires

Things are looking up.  David starts next week and Jean Louis can start tomorrow on the salon!  Maybe Jake and I can stay home a couple of days ;)

best little blower this side of the N9



Lodeve Market and other Weekend activities

22 Oct 2011

Fast Food market style

all kinds of boots

slicing the cheese 

sweaters are out

I Normally do not post our weekend activities, however this past weekend was very busy.  Saturday we went to Lodeve to the market.  The Lodeve market is a large, traditional French market.  It is much like the Pezenas market but a lot bigger.  We had never been to Lodeve so it was an adventure for us. They had all the fall clothes out and the market was about a mile long on both sides of the street. Jerry always buys olives at the market and Saturday was no different.  Jerry did his usual "sample a few" olives at one vendor before buying some Provence olives. 1.80 euro for three big scoops. He had never purchased Olives from another vendor at Lodeve even though he is one of the regular vendors at the Clermont market.  Jerry told the fella he wanted two scoops of the ali (garlic) stuffed olives.  The vendor scooped them up and the price was 9,80 euros! (usually 2 euro) I was trying so hard not to laugh and Jerry was trying so hard not to faint!  After we walked away (with the olives), Jerry said “I have been had at the market again!”  The last vendor that “got” him was a cheese vendor in Pezenas.  Jerry bought 40 euros worth of cheese!  LOL  Jerry was disappointed that there were few sausage vendors for him to sample on and even fewer fromage samples.

I had a little excitement at the market myself on Saturday.  As Jerry  was waiting to buy croissants, a fella stepped up beside me.  We stood there a couple of minutes and then he turns to me and says "I have met you before.  We have spoken".  "Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" He was a Brit.  I had never seen the fella before in my life.  As I was wondering how to reply to his very firm statement about meeting me before, Jerry wandered up. Before I could get a "good conversation" going with my "new best friend" Jerry butted in and totally took over the conversation.   As Jerry was talking it up to the Brit, I purchased the best croissants we have had in a long while.  They were very buttery and very flaky....just yummy!  Wish that baker was closer to us!  I guess really good buttery croissants beat a "man friend" anyday.  However, I may have to make a solo trip back to the Lodeve market ;)

After the market we stopped for lunch in Beziers at Buffalo Bill’s.  It is a huge restaurant that is very “American”.  They have great hamburgers and fries so we try to get a burger fix a couple of times each time we are here.  If you don't watch them, they will serve you California wine! yuck!  I always have the Arizona Burger and this time Jerry got the Frenchy.  It had a whole round of chevre on it (goat cheese that is VERY rich).   How he gets himself in these little situations is beyond me!

After lunch we headed to Castorama.  It is a huge store that is sort of like Lowe’s but it has more stuff.  You can get building supplies there but on the other hand you can get embroidery floss there too. Jerry bought a miter saw, a compressor, a fancy ladder and other “man toys” for his new tool cabinet. The compressor has really been working hard this week. it is amazing what you can do with air pressure.

Sunday we had dinner with friends who shall remain anonymous.  They invited us to “dinner and a ballgame”.  The game was the Atlanta Falcons and the Detroit Lions.  If I tell you how that was accomplished I will have to kill you!  It was a feed out of Spain, and the commentators looked absolutely bored out of their mind. It was Fox play-by-play but these guys would come on during the USA commercials. I really don't think they understood the game. Dinner was delish…..European style chili.  It is basically the same as American chili except it is served over rice, it has beans in it, you put crème fraîche on it  and it is hot enough to make even a hardened Texan think twice before asking for seconds!   We had a wonderful time!

First fit Plumbing complete

21 Oct 2011

the first fit

This past week has been productive but not very exciting.  Paul, our plumber, finished the “first fit” of the plumbing.  In other words, all the lines are there, they just are not hooked up yet…..except for the new “throne”.  It is a “temporary set” until we can get the floor in the bathroom fixed and retiled. We have a new "cumulus" (hot water heater) and all new pipes. we have stubbed out for three additional bathrooms: one for a toilet and wash basin on the ground floor (which had none), two for the other chambre which will serve the chambre and lounge on that side of the house as well as the terrace when we get around to finishing it. and three, another bath for the attic level which will be another chambre if need be.

an individual warmer?

After the plumber left I cleaned up the debris he left and straightened up the garage.  I swept, and swept and swept and ….. you get the picture.  If I swept that garage everyday for the next 50 years I don’t think all the dirt would be out.  I did find a few more treasures.  I am not sure what some of them are but as soon as I have time I will try to find out!

A small press for what?

Guess workers are the same everywhere

Da Boss

 We have enough stuff for a trip to the déchetterie but we can’t pull a vehicle into the garage.  The Dept of Herault is putting in a new water line for the village and the line runs in the street behind our Ruin.  The street has been closed for a week.  In watching the workers on and off all week Jerry and I have determined they are like a lot of workers in the States.  There is a Boss that stands around, a couple of guys who work really hard and a couple of guys who drive the equipment.  The only difference between the States and here is at lunch time the workers sit on the edge of the ditch and drink Rose wine with their lunch!  We are hopeful the water line will be finished sometime next week.

New Water pipe for the Village

Jerry is still puzzling how to use the metal rails (2 X 4s) for the closet build out.  He returned from Bricoman and said he had bought the wrong kind of drywall.  Apparently you can buy “wall board with insulation” and the boards fit together…..well, we haven’t figured that out yet!  The closet is still in the drawing board stage while we try to sort out the different building mediums here.  He did buy a new cabinet for his meager tool supply and a prefab shower bottom.  Since bringing the shower receiver home we now know where the shower and toilet will go in the new bathroom.

Jerry putting on the putty 

Sanding the walls smooth

Jerry puttied and sanded the closet and bathroom and I painted the sous couche on.  It is now ready for painting, tiling and building out. 

floor tile selection for existing bath

One afternoon we quit early to check out a couple of Tile showrooms.  After visiting three we finally found tile that we both like and that will look "period" to the house.  Everything else we have found has been very modern looking.  The other problem was finding something that would look ok with the tile in the bedroom ... it is red terra cotta looking tile.  We are replacing those awful white "hospital" tiles.  They are not original to the house.

Jake---DA BOSS!

One of the things I did this week was try out the beauty salon in the Village.  I dropped by and tried to get a rendezvous for Wednesday but that didn’t work out.  I asked if she had an opening for “tomorrow”.  She turned the page and said “Oui, onze”.  I said ok and left thinking I had an appointment for 11:00 am Thursday.  On Thursday I showed up on time and my name wasn’t in the book.  I must have looked very disappointed because she sat me down at the shampoo bowl and I waited while she cut two heads of hair and the other stylist finished up with her customer.  She asked me (in French) basically did I just want a haircut, I said Oui.  I tried to tell her how I wanted it and she said Ok and we began.  She tried to talk to me and I tried to respond in French.  We agreed French was difficult.  As we talked she cut my hair…….and it is perfect!  I am so happy that little shop is just down the street from us.  I made it back to the ruin and told Jerry my tale of woe about not being in the book and he asked me what day she wrote my name down on.  I said Vendredi.  He said “no wonder she couldn’t find your name…Vendredi is Friday and today is Jeudi, Thursday!”  I was so embarrassed but I went back to tell her my mistake so she could free up that appointment time.  She was so very nice…told me “No problem”.     Now, if I can just learn French faster all will be well. 

 

I don't think I have posted here the photos of the new "hooptie" So far it is working really for a 10 year old car. Lots of space, we can lay the seats down and haul a submarine back there.

 We did find our first problems however. The first time I turned on the wipers, the one on the drivers side just seemed to disintegrate before my eyes with a strip of rubber flopping around. And about 6 days after we got it, the hydraulic pistons that help open and keep the rear hatch open failed. In two days, you had to have one of us hold it up while the other loaded/unloaded.

views of Alignan

Jake and I strolled thru the village this morning and I took some photos of the village.  Hope you like them.

Jerry and the Hooptie

14 Oct 2011

The last two days have been rather productive.  Wednesday, however, was totally shot.  The Hooptie started but because the brakes weren’t fixed Tuesday, Jerry took Wednesday ……all day Wednesday….to put new brakes on her.  So, no work was done at the Ruin cause “Baby needed new shoes”.

Yesterday, Jerry dropped me and Jake at the Ruin and took off in the Hooptie to buy us a car.  I finally painted that bedroom and Jake was supervising as usual.  When 3:00 rolled around and we had not heard from nor seen Jerry since about 9:30 I started to worry.  “Was he broke down somewhere again, did the brakes fail, did he have a wreck or maybe, just maybe he found us a car!”  Think positive!!  Jerry showed up about 4:00, clean as a whistle and with a new haircut.  He was also wearing a great big grin.  If we hadn’t been married so long and I wasn’t so tired I would have been suspicious.  We now have a car of our very own.  A 2000 Renault Scenic.  I haven’t seen it yet because it has to go thru Controle Technique (emissions, etc.) and we will probably pick it up tomorrow.  Jerry had to get spiffed up to go to the bank to get our car insurance and while he was spiffed up he decided to get a haircut.  An aside to all my insurance family and friends….we have all ALL RISK coverage…we are covered for EVERYTHING per the agent at the bank.  LOL

Paul the Plumber arrives

We celebrated with a pizza!

Primed walls

Today the plumber came right when he said he would at 9:00AM this morning.  Paul is a Brit and we have as much difficulty understanding him as we do some of the French. He and his colleague, Wayne, dithered on in plomberie lingo and we were without a clue as to what they had in mind.  Paul looks like he is from the Haight-Asbury district of San Fran but appears to know his stuff.  He gave us a great tip on Faugeres wine: while you are buying your pieces at Point Mat in Pezenas, ask the owner for some of his own domaine ‘s wine, privately bottled on the domaine (not at the cooperative) and a bargain at about 23€ per case of six boutielles.  Hand picked and vinified by the proprietaire.

New Hot Water Heater

Paul was busy til about 5:30 this afternoon and said he will be back Monday about 9:00 to “finish up”.  I now have new water pipes from the main water connection to the house, a new Cumulus chauffee de eau (water heater), a new toilet, and stub outs for three other toilets, plus the stub out for the kitchen.  On Monday he will put the stub outs for the sinks, lavatories, bathtub and showers.  It is wonderful to finally see construction instead of just destruction.

Drilling hole for Kitchen plumbing

New Manifold

I painted the bathroom and did some “touch up” on the infamous bedroom.  I guess I should explain about painting.  What I actually did was roll on a product called sous couche.  It looks like a fluffy vanilla shake and if you get it on your hands it feels like talc powder and when it dries it is hard like plaster.  It is a sealer (undercoat) for plaster walls.  This stuff will apparently make the paint go on smoother and will not let the plaster suck up the paint.  Soooo, technically, I still have to paint the bedroom!

Wayne and Paul

Out with the old

Jerry sanded what will become a closet and the second bathroom.  Monday he will start building out the closet and the entry wall for the bathroom.  I will sand the second bedroom in preparation for sous couche.  Hopefully, the contractor will be coming this next week and the construction will begin on the ground level.  Everyone keep your fingers crossed!  

Supervisor Jake



Kitchen Floor

11 Oct 2011

Jake enjoying Village life

Yesterday and today were uneventful at the Ruin.  Yesterday we moved wallboard from ground level to level 1, picked up tools and generally swept up.  Jerry thinks the contractor, David, and the plumber, Paul, will be here this week.  I am a not so optimistic but we shall see.  Anyway, we had to get things cleaned up, cleared up and picked up so in case someone does show up they will be able to work.  Jerry sanded again in the bedroom and I tried to remove rust from metal.  (I was playing and Jerry was working).  Jerry and Jake also made several trips to the dechetterie.  We cleaned off the top of the caves in the garage.  The electrician will need to run some wires across the top and we wanted to make sure he had space.  Nothing exciting was found up there except the wooden tops to the caves and one small, old lantern style fixture.  I brought it down and was very excited none of the glass panels were broken.  When it is cleaned up it will probably be used for tea candles.  As Jerry made the last trip to the dechetterie I started closing up the house so we could head back to Pezenas when he got back to the Ruin.  I had just closed the last shutter when one of the villagers stuck her head in to chat (yes, in French) and have a look see at the goings on in the ruin.  I opened everything back up and took her on a tour complete with very poor French commentary.  She somehow got what I was saying and was very happy to get the tour.  As she was leaving she welcomed me to the village and “bon chance” with all the “travaux”. 

Dining room Floor

Living room floor

Today, Jerry decided the Hooptie needs new brakes and he is the fella to take care of the problem.  He and Jake left me at the house sanding and preparing to paint the bedroom that has been waiting for paint for weeks it seems like.  I finally got the entire room sanded, and was sweeping up so I could paint when Jerry arrived and said “we have to leave now.  Robert is waiting in his car (not his Hooptie) to take us home”.  I asked “where is the Hooptie”?  Jerry said “it is at home but it had died.”  I thought “Rest in Peace”.   To make a long story short, Jerry and Jake were stranded at the gas station for two hours before Jerry finally called Robert for help.  Robert stayed to help resuscitate the Hooptie and they got it going again.  Tomorrow morning Jerry will put the new brakes on.  Stay tuned………  Will the Hooptie start?  Will the brakes work correctly?  Will that damn bedroom ever get painted?     

Poor sick Hooptie

7 Oct 2011

The soft spot

I got out of bed this morning thinking I would be painting all day…..my least favorite job…behind cleaning bathrooms…but that is beside the point.  Instead we met with the plumber, a very nice guy named Paul.  He headed off with Jerry talking about where this pipe should be and that pipe should be and the position of toilets, showers, vanities and tubs.  I started sweeping up the debris so we could paint without falling over something.  When Jerry and Paul reached the bathroom we had demolished, Jerry pointed out the soft spot in the floor where the shower used to be and asked for pointers on how to fix it.   Paul said ”Well, you have to take all that soft stuff out and replace it.  Cut the beams back as far as you can to the undamaged area then” ……at that point I lost control of my senses.  I was thinking we don’t know which way the beams run nor do we know how far across the house the beams run…are they short beams or extra long beams?  Do we have to tear up just the floor in the bathroom or do we have to tear up all the way across the bedroom?   When I finally came back to my senses and the conversation, Jerry was thanking him, shaking his hand and telling him we would see him next week.  As soon as Paul left I started peppering Jerry with my questions.  He told me we were going to clean out the hole and talk to David, our contractor,  and for me not to worry.    I laughed and told him “Too Late!”  We cleaned out the soft stuff in the hole where the shower was and I muttered “it is amazing some poor soul didn’t land in the kitchen when the entire thing fell thru the ceiling!”  Jerry told me “Don’t worry”.  I thought to myself “too late”.  We shall see what David says when he comes next week.

 the old ceiling from the kitchen below

Soft beams

After cleaning up the mess in the bathroom again,   I asked Jerry “where do I start painting?”  I didn’t start painting….I started sanding.  I sanded all day and was not finished when we quit for the day.  I will probably start painting Tuesday.  Something wonderful to look forward too!

The other “surprise” we had Friday was a 5 inch plastic cylinder.  This little plastic cylinder has been sitting on the stairwell wainscoting ledge since the first day we saw the house.  I had never touched it.  Friday I touched it.  It slipped out of my hand, hit the floor and the top flew off.  I was immediately engulfed with the smell of very strong…..perfume!  I started laughing when Jake took off running…that is how “good” it smelled!  My Dad would have said “Sis, that smells like a wh%#e in church!”  LOL  Anyway, I put the cylinder above the interior door in the garage.  I decided I would prefer the “wh%#e in church” scent to “auto repair shop” smell. 

As we left that afternoon I chuckled to myself….I thought today was going to be totally boring with no surprises…Boy, was I wrong!