Friday, February 19, 2010

Back in Charente Maritime

Kent was quite snowy and there were traces of snow on the verges in northern France: the temperature was below zero, so I stayed on the motorway more than usual. With the morning, further south, it became much warmer. I drove through a lot of rain and some sunshine. Finally in Charente Maritime: bright sun and the car thermodisplay reading 13! Garden full of noisy birds, roses and trees in bud.

It's been very cold here, though, and the stone walls had chilled right down. I left the doors open to warm the house a little, until sunset when the clear sky began to let the heat out of the world.

The new pantry shelves look good, and it's amazing how all the heaped clutter is now arranged tidily with plenty of space left for jamjars. The stone walls upstairs are also lovely now that the old cement has gone, and the light-coloured rendering looks so serene.

Downside: stone-dust and sawdust everywhere, which will take days to clean up. I've made a start on clearing a path to the sink and cooker; next will be the job of emptying some ash so I can light the fire. Brendan brought some logs in, which was helpful, but he left all the ash from his fires and the pan is completely full! And then to clean the mould from the fridge: I forgot to put a note on it to say the door needed to be left open. Oops.

Must get the walls warmed before the weekend, because the forecast is cold again.

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