We're out of the cottage and back in the house. Forced out by small wood-boring insects and the need to have professionals come in and sort them out.
I tried to treat the cottage beams myself, last year, but the woodworm march onwards has been inexorable and so it's time to get the job done properly.
Otherwise, we'd still be snug in the cottage at the bottom of the garden, with its underfloor heating, double glazing and good insulation. But it's back to the hot-water bottles, bed-socks (very important before putting one's feet down onto cold floors first thing in the morning), extra layers and calor gas heaters to stand between us and the draughts.
Who would have thought May would be this cold? Or maybe, with cottage living, we've just gone soft.
Cold everywhere just now - even in Southern Spain. I am shivering as I type and will have to go and put socks on. How ridiculous!
ReplyDeleteHope you get rid of your unwelcome munchers. Could you hear them or just see the signs?
Axxx
Hello Annie - crazy isn't it! Oh yes, we can see them - holes all over the place and whole edges of the beams chewed away! I think we've got what are called powderpost beetles.
ReplyDeleteHi Sue,
ReplyDeleteStill reading and enjoying your blog, and still (very slowly) doing up our old place. We need doors and windows next. Can I ask who supplied yours?? We also need a plasterer, preferably one who can speak some English as our French is still pretty basic, so if you have a recommendation.....
Thanks, Lynne
Hi Lynne, glad you're still enjoying the blog - thanks for letting me know.
ReplyDeleteBetween the cottage and the house we've used various suppliers. Some of our windows and doors were bespoke, but in fact we then bought oak doors from Castorama in Agen and have been very pleased with them.
Our plasterer was local, only French speaking. We found buying a French/English dictionary of building terms very helpful. :)
Thanks for the prompt reply. We've had a couple of quotes for windows and shutters, but both guys obviously do the measuring and installation but get the windows made by bigger firms. We're thinking maybe we could do that ourselves, as money is very tight. We had a look for windows in Castorama but couldn't find any, didn't like the cheap appearance of the pine ones at Leroy Merlin and have yet to try Lapeyre! It's very frustrating trying to do things from the UK.
ReplyDeleteHi Lynne, you have my heartfelt sympathy! We have found it hard enough living in France! Very frustrating doing it at a distance, not least because the retailers don't show all their goods on their websites. You really have to be in the store looking at what's on offer and the quality (or lack of!) We have found some of the smaller local Brico places can sometimes be cheaper, but they have little or no web presence - sorry, not very encouraging.
ReplyDelete