
Rainbows and Renovations
Welcome to February, where did January go?
On the other hand one more step towards warmer temperatures in the house!
I love seeing the evenings gradually getting longer, knowing Spring is on its way. It is so nice to look out of the kitchen doors and see it is still light after 6pm now. The weather has felt a little more like Spring for some of this week, although we have also jumped from one extreme to another. On Sunday we got caught out in very heavy rain showers, whilst walking Bear – we got soaked and he was not that impressed. He is not a big fan of the rain. However, the silver lining was that we saw a spectacular complete rainbow over the village. The photo doesn’t do it justice as I couldn’t get far enough away, but it gives you an idea. It then became a double rainbow – stunning.
The rain continued on Monday, so much so that the river below Cordes sur Ciel burst its banks – not a frequent occurrence.

There was also water pouring down the hills around us and the ground was completely saturated. The lake below the house overflowed quite dramatically – it is lucky it is downhill from us. The water feature that I was planning – a rill down the side of our driveway – has created itself and the cellar has been under water. Some of this has soaked through to the bottom of the tower staircase, so it is all very damp there at the moment. The wooden footings of the staircase are in the cellar and not protected. Damp-proofing is a job we urgently need to deal with but seem to remember only when we see the damp! It will now have to wait until everything dries out.
On Wednesday, by contrast, the sun shone, the temperature reached 17°C, thermals were sent packing and we went for an amazing long walk in the local countryside. We found a new view of the house up a hill behind the village – some distance away though. You can just about see it to the left of the village.

It was fabulous to be out in the sunshine. Even more fabulous to see my first crocuses and hellebores coming along well in the garden.
Max has continued to block up chimneys to prevent kittens appearing on roof tops! He has also tidied up the fireplace in the Billiard room – it is gorgeous – but in need of some tlc. The back of the hearth is beautifully rounded. We are now thinking how best to decorate this room. The Billiard room is having a feature wallpaper wall and white walls as it is quite a dark room. The mouldings in this room are very pretty so we will leave them painted white, but use a pale grey on the chimney breast to set them off – a change from the lemon/lime colour currently there. But what to do with the fireplace? Maybe tile the hearth? We plan to stencil the concrete floor as it would be far too complicated to dig it up and start again!


As the temperatures have risen, painting can resume. Plans have been checked, materials sourced and so it is back to work. Max has been busy clearing up more mess in the tower attic so he can use it as a workroom for the moment. He has also been having a good look at some of the bits and pieces we have found up there – more projects to come.

We started the entrance hall last year, but work halted due to the cold and also occupancy by Sid the spider (see Electric Bees and Autumn Leaves).

We have a small water issue in the hall. When the rain is really heavy, as it was on Monday, water comes under the front door, as it needs a bit of repair and the step is very worn down. However when there is a lot of rain, it also appears to seep up through the tiles on the floor – not a huge amount but nevertheless… It has obviously done this for many, many years judging by the state of the tiles. We are now working out what we need to do about this, as we love the aged worn tiles, along with some of the other features of the hall.
In the meantime, the ceiling is done, the walls above the dado rail are painted white and areas where plaster had blown have been fixed. As you can see this was a little more than a bit of blown plaster in one place! The lower part of the walls are being painted green – Annie Sloan’s Firle Green to be precise – quite a bright colour but we want the hall to be striking, fresh and light. We were thinking of painting the doors half white and half green to line up with the dado rail. However each door is different from the next so that may not look right. The other idea is to paint the lintels and surrounds green and the doors white. What do you think? Let me know before I finish the walls.….





On Tuesday it was la Fête de la Chandeleur – Candlemas, a religious festival that takes place 40 days after Christmas. Traditionally the French eat crêpes on this day, originally in honour of the seasons. The crêpes were thought to be symbolic, due to their shape and colour, of the return to light after the winter. So a new tradition was born in our house… I made vegan and regular pancakes which we ate with a tomato sauce with roasted courgette and pepper and spinach. Max and I also had some feta cheese – delicious. We finished with crêpes stuffed with mincemeat laced with the Patron XO coffee liqueur I have mentioned before. A perfect ending!

Kitten update: they have been released into the tower end of the house – it’s a bit like a kitten amusement park. We barely see them during the day, just the odd sighting of a cobweb covered kitten having a huge amount of fun. They were so tired after the first day that they all slept for the whole night. Bliss for us, although it didn’t last! The sweetest thing is to see all four faces poking out of various spots on the tower staircase. They run up and down the stairs, popping their faces through the spindles every now and again – so funny. It is a bit like Helter Skelter for kittens.
Today Raoul took time out from tower play and came and sat next to me at the piano, paws on keys – ready to help me practise my scales, he even joined in. He is so big now and only 5 months old – he is already the size of our last cat. What size will he be when he is fully grown? Time will tell.
I will be back next week with more on the house renovation, if I survive my 2 days of training in all things tax and accounting requirements for small business owners in France!
I hope you have a lovely week and thank you for reading this.
A bientôt
Ali xx


10 Comments
Fiona
Just a thought, maybe there are springs under the hall floor?
Fiona
Meant to also say that it’s probably an earth floor too!
Ali
No springs but the whole house is built on the earth – very little in the way of foundation space! I meant to mention that. The cold seeps up from the floor everywhere.
Verena
So glad it’s warming up despite the rain
sally walden
I love the paint colour. It is my absolute favourite shade of green
Ali
Thank you Sally. I absolutely love it too. Just hoping it will work with the light, or lack of it, in the hall!
Bex Burn
Hurrah for little glimmers of Spring but not such good news about the river bursting it banks. We too have gone from one extreme to another – lulled into a false sense of security with heavenly sunshine yesterday and a biting north wind today! Amazing renovations Ali – my goodness you have your work cut out. Can’t believe the plaster damage – well done for repairing it. I like the idea of the lintel and surround in green and doors in white. Crepes looks totally delicious – love a new tradition, especially one that involves food! The kittens are looking so big now, I hope they are behaving themselves! Lots of love, Bxx
Ali
Thank you for the lovely comments. Hopefully you will get here to visit one day. xx
Brigitte
Green lintels /surrounds with white doors sounds fab. As to water coming through floors, we had that some years ago and found there is a sumphole under the house, front, and if there is lot of rain, we have a pump to drain the water.
Ali
Thank you for your comment. It is lovely to hear from people reading these posts. The house is halfway down a hill, built on the earth with little in the way of foundation. We think the water is just a feature of that! Joys!