Kick-ass kitchen

10 August 2016

The kitchen just gets better and better. The kick board was always going to be a challenge - uneven floor, mismatched cupboards - but M brought his own brand of obsessive perfectionism to the task, and the results are amazing. There's something unsettling about stepping over and around one's guest  lying stretched out on the kitchen floor. But we managed to suppress the discomfort long enough to let him finish the job, and he seemed to revive quite quickly after a hot shower and a cold beer.

Here's a man who can turn his hand(s) - and feet - to anything

Slip slop...

...slap! It's important to keep the sun off indoors

Guests lying about, getting in the way of the kettle

Happy camper. Britain's best DIYer

Today, we spent a while trundling around the local Troc, looking in vain for a likely cupboard to disguise the Chas-manifold-mess in the corner. I think we will have to custom manufacture something. Then we went for a walk around the medieval town of Donzenac, and finished with a cup of tea/coffee just off the square - at least M will now be able to say he's done something other than DIY and renovation work during his week in France ;)

Oh, and we did document M indulging in a spot of reading and hammock-lounging. Just saying.

Tea and a book in Spanish - what else could one ask of a holiday?

Sloth in the hammock

Then it was back to work at La Fromagerie. G went off to the déchetterie and M and I began to move rocks from B to C (he and G having moved them from A to B last year). It's amazing M came back this year, when you come to think of it.

We spent the hottest part of the day building rock edging for the new terrace, to stop the travertine casting (gravel) from sliding down into the Objat valley. G brought wheelbarrow loads of large stones, M tackled the edge of the terrace facing the valley, and I, the other edge, facing the apple trees. The rocks now form a robust edge, drawing together and connecting the new gravelled terrace and the stone terrace. Tom assures us that the travertine will bed in with the help of some moisture, and should set hard.

Well-earned dinner al fresco 

There's none like us...

M. Delbos away at the bottom of the field in his little green van; gone to feed the cattle

Aah, France, je t'aime beaucoup.

Tomorrow, M leaves us - he needs to recover somehow - and daughter C arrives. There's plenty to do: stain the fence, plant lavender... On Saturday we hope to collect our new abri, in which we plan to store our garden/DIY tools etc. It will be nice not to have to share the lounge with toolkits and paint tins, off-cut bits of wood and tiling paraphernalia.

I know, what a princess.