So 2 weeks ago it was the Spectacle de Danse for my eldest (5 year olds) dance class in Pezenas:
It was held in the outdoor theatre at our local town park and told the story of French Playwrite Molière, which was wonderful, informative, beautiful and funny all at the same time. Unfortunately at the interval I tripped over a metal chain bordering the path (I followed a group of others and cut across the grass to go to the loo with my little one and didn’t see the chain) and I ended up with a cracked left knee cap. Ignoring the bloody mess I hobbled back to my seat and watched the second half which finished around half past midnight. I then home attempting not to change gear!
Next day it was swollen and bruised and a friend insisted I should see the Doc. I was sent off to Urgences and put in a leg brace for 10 days. Not so helpful when you have to pack up a gite ready to move out for Summer, look after a 5, 3 and 2 year old and sort out various issues to do with the building project and water leaks!
My friends (as in a previous blog) took care of the girls and I and my hubby did all the packing when he was back at the weekends. So Thursday the removal people were supposed to come and didn't. Thankfully this Monday they did come and now the gite is pretty much empty.
The Mairie finally got permission from the Conseil General to fix our water leak and so that was done yesterday and hopefully that is now drying out nicely. The builder arrived yesterday to start preparing to build the internal walls now that the foundations have dried out but had no water so couldn't start work!
I had arranged for the Plumber & Electrician and Menuisier to meet with the builder (frustrating I couldn't be on site!) Anyway we now have a boite de chantier for the electrics and I was asked to increase the Electricity to 9kw from 6kw. The windows chap discussed the method for fitting the windows into the stone window surrounds with the builder and the problems around the creation of the new openings. We had wanted to hide the coffre (box) for the volets (roller shutter blinds) in the lintel but this is quite complex and right now I'm trying to remove complexities and cost from the project so have decided to fit them renovation style with the alu showing. A compromise had to be made.
The engineer told me last week he can't do the plans d'execution for the next floor until he has the details from the menuisier...he contacted the menuisier who came to his office and explained the plans but it turned out the engineer had requested plans from the ex-architect which were dating back to Nov 2013 and so not surprisingly were different to what the menusier and builder were working to.I had previously explained the changes to the engineer already but he had forgotten...
So I arranged a meeting with menuisier to visit the builder, the house and myself to discuss and then he will meet with the engineer once I've confirmed the changes. One of the big changes was that our grand slider which will be 4.2m wide x 2.8m high will need a central post for the volet (and 2 split volets) essential as it's south facing. However if we reduce it to 4mx2.8m then we can have a single volet...no central post. Well that makes sense so that's another change which I am hoping will not only reduce the cost slightly of the sliding door but also the cost of the new lintel which is a massive amount of concrete...again!
Today EDF are supposed to be coming out to increase the electricity supply but no-one has called yet...I've arranged that the builder will go down to meet them (as he's on another job in our village anyway).
It's frustrating that I can't just pop down on site...but the good news is that the attelle (leg brace) is off today and I can walk on my leg and bend the knee with only minor discomfort. I intend to take it easy as I have a 12 hour car journey on Saturday back to UK so can't risk faffing it up again.
Hopefully once EDF have finished their upgrade of the electric supply (32 euro intervention cost in case anyone wonders) then the builder can go on site and start building my new walls...I hope to pop down on Friday...