VADOULOU

Suddenly there is lots more going on.
At the beginning of last week a team started on the stone cladding of the house, which has to be up to the window sills to allow them to be fitted properly by the carpenters.
Another team started on the electrical ducting.
A third team started on the windows & doors. Remember that in France these are all individual contractors & not one huge building company.
This all at the beginning of the week & resulted in Tuesday food truck evening us giving guided tours for some friends.

And then the middle of the week.

And now the end of the week!

The wiring is now pulled through the ducting, the stone is up to most of the window sills, the doors and the full sized opening windows are in & the huge fixed window areas are boarded up until the glass arrives. Hopefully the roof tiling will start this week.
It’s really all systems go & is very exciting.

< It's the old phrase "you wait all day for a bus & then 3 come at once!" But we're not complaining. Lots of hidden but necessary work & then suddenly lots of visible progress. The week started with the roof having one side covered in the waterproof membrane, progressed onto the second side & then the preparation for fixing the tiles. There's also been the first delivery of the facing stones, which have been craned over the roof to the back. The tiles for the roof are expected Monday & then we'll see more progress. In addition the internal walls are starting next week, plus all the electric cables that need running at the same time. It's suddenly all systems go. Today is 14 July, Bastille Day & of course a jour férié! So no work in progress but we are having a rock & roll evening in the village hall tonight, so not too bad. Plus we're approaching August, when France goes on holiday. However, the first week in August is the Fête de Vaour & we really need the house secured by then. The pressure is on! Obviously it's frenetic for us but we too can have a bit of a rest in August except for the vineyard concerts that we want to go to & the choice is huge this year. We've had a strange year weather wise with lots of rain (really needed) & lots of sun. After a really cold winter the fruit trees are laden with fruit, the sunflowers are astonishing & everything is growing & growing & growing. We've included a couple of photos of the vineyard we went to last night & a photo of a lovely tree in the gîte garden.

And it’

It’s been fascinating watching the timbers for the roof going on. The 2 ends of the house were pretty straightforward but the “cathedral ceiling” area over the lounge & dining area was quite complex. Some photos are from Tuesday evening when we had ordered our food from the food truck & walked up with a glass of wine each to have a look. Louise has her glass in her hand but mine’s more difficult to find.

Then the photos progress during the week until Saturday. There has been enhanced team on site all week, so several activities are going on at once.
Once again the weather has been unusual, fine during the day & then either rain or storms during the night. The push is on to get the house water tight so that the electrics can begin.

The team have also started sealing the exterior walls, which will take some time. They then skim them off.

The garage roof is to be sloped so as to not be flat, and we’re fascinated to see it being done. Cement will be like water – self levelling! Then things will really be moving on. We have made the final decisions on on all the electrics so that the cabling can be done in July along with the plasterboard walls, all of which will quickly follow on from the roof membrane.
It’s getting very exciting.

After a week of ‘hidden’ progress when the sills for the opening doors/windows were put in and the slightly sloping garage roof started, Friday saw the delivery of the roof timbers. They arrived on a low loader & trailer with a very courageous driver. I’m not sure what he thought when he saw the width of the access lane.
The crane made easy work of unloading them onto the site & the next challenge for the driver was turning round & getting out. He had to go further on up the lane where there is another lane adjoining & I can only admire his skills at manoeuvering. I certainly didn’t go & watch.

Tomorrow should see the start of the timbers being hoisted & fixed into place, supposedly with an enhanced team on site working on other things at the same time. The timetable has been rejigged a bit to give us the deadline that we need to move in on time.
We’ve had torrential rain over the weekend but the forecast for this coming week is much better. Fingers crossed.

Hi Everyone
Last week the team did not come on site until Friday morning, interestingly enough the day of our site meeting with the architects. They are still saying the end of October for handover to us.
Good job we believe in fairies & UFOs as well!