| Changes at Le Vivier Panoramic view of the garden | ||
| Spring/summer 2003 | ||
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The Cottage - about to undergo changes.
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The old roof comes off.
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New "chevrons" -
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- felt and laths-
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| - tiles- | - the first window. | |
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| The back of the house completed. | The front of the house, finishing the second "Chien Assis" | |
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| Working on the last "Chien Assis" | The new roof completed. | |
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| Waiting for the staircase. | Campers in the attic! | |
| January 2004 | ||
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The floor and electrics done and some of the partition
walls in place. To the left, the shower room/toilet, through the door,
a small bedroom and to the right, part of a large landing.
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Looking form the landing in the opposite direction, a large bedroom. Is not a large TV aerial, but a devise for holding up sheets of plaster board. |
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March 2004
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The large bedroom is ready for its first coat of paint.
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The door is varnished, the switches and power points
installed.
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The landing still serves as a storage area.
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The Velux window over the stair well lets lots of
light into the sejour.
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The window in the small bedroom, The walls are not
yet complete, but switches and power points installed.
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The attic over the kitchen to be insulated, then left
as it is.
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The door (Gothic?) from the small bedroom into the
attic.
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The shower room, WC, wash basin and
shower all working.
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The staircase, treated with teak oil,
all ready for installing when the dirty work is finished.
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| May 2004 | ||
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The stairs installed
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The large bedroom is almost finished, it still requires
skirting board and then decorating.
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NOVEMBER 2005 Finished at last! all the floor covering down and heaters connected. |
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| Large bedroom, door and heater | Large bedroom, window | |
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| Small bedroom, window and heater. | The landing, one of two wall cupboards. | |
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Well, not quite finished, the chimney breast and "Gothic doorway" need plastering and painting, but must always leave something to do for next visit! | |
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DECEMBER 2005 The hedges have been neglected while the house alterations have been in progress, so now, some "Wooding". |
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The thorn has been cut down and layered, the hazel
and beech trees "coppiced" The house can now be seen from
the field.
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A bonfire was burning for five day,.but most of the wood was cut up for the stove and stored for use in a year or two's time. There is still more to do. |
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February/March 2006 |
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One of the hedges at the side of the "hill" is cleared and layered, just one to go (next year!) | |
| The row of sycamores between the house and the village is drastically thinned. |  |
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Several years wood for the stove from the sycamores | |
| The "Gothic Door" finished, doorway plastered and the steps ready for lino. |  |
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September 2007 Shutters added to the Dorma windows, to go with the bilind on the Velux fitted earlier in the year.
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| May 2008, after a very warm, wet few weeks. | ||
| The leaking chimney repaired at last. | 
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The sejour is redecorated at last | |
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The grass was a problem this time, too long and
wet for the tractor, so it had to be strimmed and raked up. this is
one of the heaps!
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Summer 2008
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The Marquise is repaired at last. | |
| At great expense and difficulty. |  |
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| Spring 2009 | ||
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We thought it was all over, but Veolea, the water
company had other ideas. The septic tank did not "conform",
and a new tank and filter system was required. Since it is a "maison
secondaire", no subsidy available!
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First of all, the digger arrives ----- | |
| ---- after being bogged down in the swamp. |  |
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Then the new tank arrives on the back of M.Gago's lorry. | |
| The digger starts work. |  |
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The hole for the tank is dug, it only took a few minutes. | |
| The resulting heap will hopefully be used to provide a level lawn in the garden. |  |
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The tank is lifted off the lorry and lowered into the hole. | |
| The old tank had already been emptied, broken into and the pipework done so that we only had one day of "bucket and chuck-it" |  |
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| It was too wet to install the filtration system, to follow--- | ||
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Later in spring, the sand filter is installed, and the terrain roughly terraced | |
| July 2009 | ||
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| The start of the levelling process | ||
| Stones are removed, a tilth created and levelled, then the grass seed sown. (All with the help of a willing worker) |  |
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| October 2009 | ||
| The result of all the work, now there will be somewhere for the pool! |  |
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