Roofs and roofers

We knew that Anne's father Andre had carefully ensured that all of the roofs at La Cote were well looked after as an essential piece of building maintenance (even if they were only being used for storage).  Having said that a few slates on the main house roof had slipped and needed sorting out and the roof at Ropion (the old farm house) had problems with animal damage to its Roman tile roof (tige de botte) and was definitely leaking.  So we decided to call in the professionals (the same company as had been used in the past) to ensure the job was done properly before the weather turned and any heavy rain.

Windows

Anne leaving the workshop ready to fix windows!

Windows in the Salon which are a few panes of glass short of a full complement

La Cote has a number of windows which have lost some of their panes of glass, but as it was only used in the summer and there are shutters no-one really worried too much in the past.  As we are now living in the house year-round we are in the process of trying to eliminate as many draughts as possible and it makes sense to replace missing glass and putty.  It is a delicate process as we are attempting to retain as much of the historic fabric as possible which making the house more comfortable to live in.  Some of the panes of glass are original crown glass and there is even one with an enigmatic piece of graffiti etched into it.

Anne starts work replacing the putty and missing panes

Re-looking the colombier

during clearance work

logs resulting from cutting the bushes down to size

the view from the house after clearing the vegetation away

We've recently finished clearing back the overgrown bushes from around the coloumbier (dovecote) which had grown into small trees.  As it is a south-facing aspect it suddenly made the building appear with a warm glow of the sun in the morning.  The only sad thing in terms of appearance is the overhead power cable which runs across the fields to the house and we haven't yet found an economic solution for improving this look by putting the cables underground.

 Yesterday we did lots of fruit and other tree pruning, using a variety of different implements.

One vital implement that Bruce did not include in the photo is a wire brush!! This was used to brush all the lichen and moss off the branches and the trunks. Other "stuff" used included something called "bouillie bordelaise" to disinfect each cut and a very gloopy substence to cap/protect the cut area. First I cut out all the dead wood and then the branches that were crossing over others.  I also cleaned up at the base of the trees and removed all the ivy (and in the case of 1 tree, some mistletoe!!).  The 100s of ladybirds sheletering in the ivy did not like that so I have reproduced at the foot of the trees little shelters of ivy as I am sure that ladybirds are necessary in order to eat the bad bugs!  I have also left the dog roses which grow between the 2 main apple trees as I assume they have been encouraged there to attract bees ..and other insects which facilitate pollination. Lets hope that the trees will survive the onslaught.  I will be happy with just a few apples next year... as they may have had a bit of a chock!  The 2 apple trees done so far are a local species "Reinette de Chatellerault" and have been planted by my grandfather in 1940 (as indicated in the notebook in which he recorded everything connected with La Cote).  It's OK as apparently apple trees can live until they are 100!  According to the books, we should leave the prune and cherry trees alone until they have fruited.  We have found no instructions so far for fig trees... any ideas out there??

Anne pruning the apple trees

Le Monument aux Morts a Vaux sur Vienne

We decided that as it is a public holiday here today that we would see if there was any commemoration at the war memorial in the village of Vaux sur Vienne this morning at 11am and so we duly walked up through the woods behind the house and down into the village centre.  What we discovered was that the war memorial (Monument aux Morts) is not in the centre of the village by the Romanesque church, but is actually in the cemetery down the road and so we didn't find out if there was actually a ceremony of rememberence.  What is also intriguing is that the memorial is only for the 1914-1918 war (Aux enfants de Vaux morts pour La France).

The new bird hide at La Cote

Finally decided to move the bird feeder... and allow us to get good views of the birds from the new bird hide (otherwise known as the Coloumbier or dovecote)

Catrine and Chris visit

We're just getting back to working on the house and gardens after our last visiting friends left.  It's been really great as it helps us not to feel isoloated here at the house and its lovely to see friends from back home and to share with them what we are trying to do.

Anne working hard to clear back the long grass and scrub along the mur du clos and all of the way down to where we are planning to create our vegetable plot at the bottom of the field opposite the house.

Early morning landscapes

Some pictures I have been able to capture from our bedroom window overlooking the valley of the River Vienne

English classes at Dangé

The conversation with Claude on the second evening we turned up at our new choir in Chatellerault went as follows:

“So you’ve just moved near Vaux and you want to get involved with the community and get to know people?  I know a good way…. The Foyer Culturel of Dange St Romain are wanting to run English classes for children on a Wednesday… I think you’re just the person…here is the number you need to contact”

Teaching primary school kids??/ not sure I would know how after having done students for so long! But I thought it was worth ringing the contact and having a chat about what would be expected. The next thing I knew... I was signed up.  I’ve done 2 sessions so far, have survived and have actually enjoyed it.  Every Wednesday (apart from school holidays) I go up the steps of what used to be St Romain (the other half of the commune – Dangé- is on the other side of the Vienne) town hall… it is a bijoux mairie… and I play games in English (highly educational ones of course!) with 9 kids between the ages of 6 and 10.  Last week we did fruit and veg!  This week we are on holiday.  I am amazed at how enthusiastic they are.  On my first day I arrived ¼ hour late having been told that the classes were from 10.30 until 11.15…. the parents were told 10.15 – 11.00!! ooops … a good start!  I agreed with the parents that I would make the time. When 11.15 came round I couldn’t make out why none of the parents had turned up… I mean by that that none of the parents had come to the door to claim their child … so I carried on… 11.30 still no parents and I was beginning to run out of ideas.

Me: “je ne sais pas pourquoi vos parents ne sont pas encore là”

Kids: “ Mais si ils sont là, ils attendent dehors”

That’s exactly what they were doing… waiting patiently and respectfully outside the classroom door.  Oh so not English!!

I have discovered a fantastic web site for EFL resources for children … http://www.buzyteacher.com/ !!  Packed with ready made worksheets, games etc… Watch this space!

Surveying La Cote

We have been taking photographs of the house in order to help with some stonework repairs which will be necessary in due course (having of course taken advice from the Maison Paysannes de France first).  This is one of the photos I have been playing around with in Photoshop to accentuate the joints in the masonry and also to make it look prettier...

Autumn

 I have now reached a time of year when I have rarely been at La Cote.  Usually at this time of year I am back at Solent knee deep in course management and getting frantically ready for the new academic year.  This year I am going to have to deal with getting an old house and its grounds as ready as possible for the winter.  Windows will need mending (in some cases panes need to be put in!), potential sources of draughts will need to be identified ... come back sausage-dog draught excluders all is forgiven! .  We plan to get all the chimneys swept  and to install small wood burning stoves in the bedrooms with fireplaces.  The one big issue is trying to reduce the dampness in the sitting room.  We have had all windows and doors opened to air the rooms as much as possible as we reckon that some of the dampness is due to the house not having been lived in on a day to day basis.  Most of the rooms feel quite dry apart from the sitting room.  This will be the problem spot ... more about this on a later post!



Acorns at La Cote

 

The weather is still quite warm and we are still using the pool.  The light is much softer now and the trees are just beginning to turn.  The banks of the Vienne are particularly beautiful.  A regular walk under the walnut tree yields a basket full ... we'll have to bring " les gaules" (long poles) out to reach the recalcitrant walnuts higher up in the tree.  One day I would love to have a go at making my own walnut oil!  We haven't had many apples this year  and there isn't a plum in sight!  Hopefully a bit of TLC will encourage more fruit next year.  We may even get round to planting one or two fruit trees.  Normally the fig tree is loaded with big heavy figs  (and slightly watery) right through July & August.  When we arrived on the 9 of August, all the figs were very small and green ... clearly something happened at the time of flowering !   Is this what also got the plum trees?? Now we are in September, the figs are ripening ..they are still quite small but much nicer than when they are big and ripe earlier.  The grapes are fantastic and we are eating them straight off the vine.  Nights are drawing in but we can still sit out until quite late.  We still can't quite believe that we are living here!

Wallnuts, grapes, apples and figs...all from La Cote!

More on the wood pile!

There are several piles of wood lying around the grounds and the woods that all need cutting into manageable sized chunks.  Some of the trees that have been felled by the wind and have been roughly cut in order to get them out of a path, others have just died and fallen over. Either way they need to be cut up and added to the existing stack.  The clearing of one area by Bruce and Al i(Ali Burnett .. who is with us for a while on the La Cote equivalent of a WWOOF !) uncovered a grand old tree which was brought down by the wind 5 years or so ago.   It was a majestic horse chestnut.  We will clear most of it away but will leave one or two big bits to cater for the insects.

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