We have some great Storms here as this pic demonstrates , Thanks Mark.
25 Jul 2010
July 2010 Bethany and a couple of friends pop accross for a visit...
We have some great Storms here as this pic demonstrates , Thanks Mark.
8 Jul 2010
Killer Bees
A stunning 40 degrees today too hot to ride so we lounged around the house, and witnessed the arrival of a swarm of wild bees who were clearly planning on setteling somewhere close by. they settled in the tree nearest the clubroom and patio area where they then send out scouts to find somewhere permenant - lets hope they don't decide to settle in our chimny like last year...
22 May 2010
5 May 2010
11 Apr 2010
The finished Patio and steps...
Here are the pics taken 2day, Left, Right and Centre ;) well left, centre and right really...
15 Mar 2010
I S' Render
Mickey is the new man on the job and what a superb job he is doing getting some rendering done... And on a beautiful day too...
12 Mar 2010
Moving into the present
Well after almost 2.5 years of suffering dial up Internet connection with speeds from as low as 14.4bps to as high as 42.6bps on a good day we did install a satelitte internet solution yesterday.
Reasonably simple thing to do and a doddle if you (Read the manual) RTFM hardest thing was understanding and communicating with the French engineer when it came to activate the link, but once done all we had to do was route the cables through the roof into the loft and then down into the study. We are also all WiFi'd p too so feeling pretty chuffed to be able to do simple tasks on the internet which would normally have taken hours now happen almost instantly.
Reasonably simple thing to do and a doddle if you (Read the manual) RTFM hardest thing was understanding and communicating with the French engineer when it came to activate the link, but once done all we had to do was route the cables through the roof into the loft and then down into the study. We are also all WiFi'd p too so feeling pretty chuffed to be able to do simple tasks on the internet which would normally have taken hours now happen almost instantly.
Downside is of course another Satelitte dish on the front of the house but as long as Mark and Kay don't go and plant a wall of coniferes we will be okay...
the system is from www.viveole.net/ cost 399€ or the dish, LNB, all fixings, Cable/coax, connecters, a Satelite modem and Cisco WiFi router. and took approx 1.5 hours to set up and another 2 hours to tidy up and route the coax correctly. cost is 39.45€ per month, with an 80€ connection charge. but well worth it in the long run. And we did give the landline companies long enough to get their S41t together.
Were Happy ;)
10 Mar 2010
It's Freezin again
It's too cold to be laying concrete or cement so Jimmy and Jamie have been finishing off the guttering today and what a difference it has made to the look of the house, a big improvement .
We did manage to move 9 tonnes of dress stone and place it between the two patios, but it was freezing -5 most of the day though it did warm to 0 by 3PM the stone was frozen n the sacks and again on the ground when we were finished.
The last slab going down
The stone going in
The Patio complete just the ornimental steps leading up to the pool and steps leading up to the patio to finish. Then that leaves us to put stone along the bank and cement it in place.
6 Mar 2010
Almost done now
So Tuesday was agreat day sadly though Wednesday was a wash out and by lunchime we had decided to give up and pack up for the day. Thursday and Friday were again nce days so we cracked on and would have got the patio slabs down if I hadn't come up with a way to use up some of the spare slabs we would have put the last slab down, the idea is to stager the edges of the patio to avoid the big square look. Also this will allow us to work in the huge ground rock which we encountered on the left side when we were digging out te bank, the digger certainly couldn't budge it so we are not going to mae much of a dent in it. At least it will creae a feature and a base for some steps up to the pool area. - so Friday saw us just about done less 17 slabs.
Some tidying up left to do before we start putting down the dress stone to finish the area off build some steps onto the terrace from the front of the house and some rendering of the walls will finish it off enough for Jimmy and Jamie to get the guttering up. That will leave me to collec piere stone fom around and lay it along the bank cementing them in place to create a natural looking stone bank.
Sunday see's our first customers of 2010 arrive for 4 nights, give us a chance to get back nto the right frame of mnd...
Scott has been with us since Thursday and after a longwekend e is homwardbound tomorrow early. donsn't seem lng enough, Wendy has had a nice time catching up with him and has certainly made her weekend.
Some tidying up left to do before we start putting down the dress stone to finish the area off build some steps onto the terrace from the front of the house and some rendering of the walls will finish it off enough for Jimmy and Jamie to get the guttering up. That will leave me to collec piere stone fom around and lay it along the bank cementing them in place to create a natural looking stone bank.
Sunday see's our first customers of 2010 arrive for 4 nights, give us a chance to get back nto the right frame of mnd...
Scott has been with us since Thursday and after a longwekend e is homwardbound tomorrow early. donsn't seem lng enough, Wendy has had a nice time catching up with him and has certainly made her weekend.
2 Mar 2010
Spring has Sprung...
Well after some different weather, gale force winds, mini tornados (fit to take your roof off, torrential rain, hail storms etc we woke to a saturday/Sunday with trees down, debris scattered, and everything repositioned in the garden...
This is a picture of Mark and Kays house (used to be the barn with the rusty tin roof, it is far from that now as you will see, but this is the apex of their roof which was removed by the winds, Mark is most of the way to putting the ridge work and tiles back. you can just see where it is still bare.
This is a picture of Mark and Kays house (used to be the barn with the rusty tin roof, it is far from that now as you will see, but this is the apex of their roof which was removed by the winds, Mark is most of the way to putting the ridge work and tiles back. you can just see where it is still bare.
Monday was wet in the afternoon but I was able to get out and prune the tree out the back near the Patios. A stitch in time...
Tuesday we awoke with glorious sunshine and a base temp of 11 degrees. So we cracked on with the patio...
23 Feb 2010
Progress, well a little...
Well by Sunday the snow had gone and Monday saw a nice drying morning with some sun But the afternnon came with avengence and a lot of torrential rain.
We did manage to get the concrete floor down in the end garage rear area where once dry goods had been stored, It will become our drying room for wet biking gear because it does rain here in the summer.
We also managed to get the rest of the slabs down on the 1st patio area (well Jimmy and Jamie did as Wendy and I went ito Limoges to have the lights changed to LHD on the MX-5 costly at 555€ fitted. But needed if we are to register it here in france.
We did manage to get the concrete floor down in the end garage rear area where once dry goods had been stored, It will become our drying room for wet biking gear because it does rain here in the summer.
We also managed to get the rest of the slabs down on the 1st patio area (well Jimmy and Jamie did as Wendy and I went ito Limoges to have the lights changed to LHD on the MX-5 costly at 555€ fitted. But needed if we are to register it here in france.
Today (Tuesday) we predicted rain so had a day off, we were wrong though as the sun is shining as I type and I was able to get out and prune the tree out front earlier even though it was a little overcast..
20 Feb 2010
Would you believe it! FFS!
I guess a picture tells it all... and 2 pictures make it more believable...
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