Shady business

3 May 2019

As Autumn curls up on the sofa and reaches for a book, a cup of tea and a fluffly blanket here in Sydney, our thoughts turn inexorably and deliciously towards La Fromagerie, and Summer in France.

The things we didn't get around to and the ideas that were popping in our heads and dominating our return-flight conversations at the end of last Summer have started to percolate through the whirl of daily life on the other side of the planet.

Brexit be damned; distance - where be thy sting? We think, therefore we plan.

It's the Year of the Pergola. Much more appealing to the ear (OK, mine), than Year of the Pig.

We have long wanted a pergola over the gable end of the barn, to somehow welcome that special little space into the fold, and also to combat the fierce excesses of the Summer sun. (Need I remind you that, with the extended daylight, the heat of the day is still making its presence felt at 7pm?)  Last year, the heat was so intense in the afternoon that we resorted to closing the gable-end shutters and retreating indoors out of the furnace.

Our favourite pastime - sitting on the terrace with a cool drink at the end of the day's activities, the valley spread before us like a feast - was simply hors de question. Not negotiable. Non.

Finally, and, let me say, in desperation, since we didn't like the very domestic look against the agricultural barn, we went out and bought the largest umbrella money could buy. Well, it was big, OK? We also bought a few Turkish towels and cunningly hung them vertically from the western edge of the umbrella sail. It looked OK, not great, but it did give us some relief and we were able to open the shutters too.

Dinner on the terrace, unimaginable before the Bedouin tent

...and tea, there's always time for tea.

Not pretty, but practical 

Pinterest, Google images, SketchUp, good ol' pencil and paper - and OK, yes, raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens - are a few of my favourite things, all pressed into service in trying to design the pergola. We'd decided early on that it should not attempt to match or compete visually with the existing porch; that it should be made of steel, and that the posts and beams would be relatively fine. The idea was to train climbers  - vines, clematis, rose and wisteria all contenders - up the posts so as to soften the metal and blur the hard edges.

Took me ages...

...not to scale, or anything...

...quand même, I'm rather pleased with my efforts...

Of course, it would take years for the growth of said climbers to provide any serious shade, so, in the meantime (to quote G), a canopy of shade cloth will have to suffice.

So, the last few weeks have seen a to and fro between Tom and G and me, as we try to define and refine our pergola. Three posts, or four; horizontal beam across the gable wall, or not; how many cross braces; how to secure the outer posts in the the ground; which direction to lay the stainless steel cross wires...G has finessed it with shadow studies, and we are signed off on colour (anthracite grey, or RAL 7016, to be precise).

...albeit totally eclipsed by G's diagram, complete with end-of-July shadow study ;)

It promises to look good! No apologetic add-on such as one can pick up at any large hardware store and erect in a weekend, this. It promises to be visually striking, yet restrained, assertive, yet not dominant. Let's hope it doesn't detract from the barn, or reduce the valley view.

Now we await Tom's final devis, and we can get the ball rolling. We've agreed that Tom will prioritise the pergola (hopefully meaning it will be up before we arrive), and will defer the pointing of the last remaining outside wall until his schedule allows, later in the year. The last wall to point is the one nearest the boundary, which we've left until last as it has been the most protected from the weather by the close proximity of J-M's cabane.

Bring on the end of June, when we arrive at La Fromagerie for our Summer break.