Time for another pizza oven (seriously)

After my most amazing premier success building a pizza oven, yesterday I started work on mark two. The difference being that this one is for someone else.

As always I will be utilising whatever material I can salvage which, on this occasion, has focused around a large pile of old oak timbers. Soaking wet and covered in mud, it took a while to clean them back after which I whizzed over them with the power plane to reveal the decent wood underneath.

I'm doing a slightly different design this time, firstly because our French friends thought a fairytale spire was a little extravagant and= secondly, the materials available leant themselves to something slightly different. I'm going for a tudor style timber frame with pegged joints that will then be infilled with local stone and topped off with a slate roof. There won't be as much fancy tiling this time but I will throw in a few pretty patterns for good measure.

The kids had there "fete de music" last Friday. It went very well however the photos aren't great so I haven't bothered putting any up. For my contribution I cooked up some samosas and onion bhajis in an attempt to introduce the locals to some slightly spicier foods to normal. They were the first things to go off the table leaving a mass of pizzas and quiches to those further back in the queue.

Only 2 school days left before the kids take 9 weeks off to annoy me but, unlike normal, my mother in law is coming for a couple of weeks to help look after them. Then they're off to the UK with Jane for a week and, when they come back, we'll have other friends here to help look after them for another 2 weeks. I suppose I can't complain really.

Another job jobbed

There's something decidedly satisfying about crossing jobs off the list. This one more so than some because it was started 3 years ago. Not by me I hasten to add however I do have jobs that have been kicking around longer than that.

The job that has been jobbed is the table project that I started a few weeks ago. Today after spending a couple of hours fixing my broken angle grinder, I adjusted the top grate to fit properley then sanded the whole thing down before giving it an all over coat of bees wax. All I need to do now is find it a home amongst the sprawling rooms of Chateau Larcombe.

This week has seen great success on the veggie plot too as I managed to trap my first mole. I think there are still a couple more as there is still movement under the mange tout, box hedges and onions. The traps are all set and waiting so I shall keep my fingers crossed.

The slates have arrived so I can fix the roof at the back of the house. There are a few major timbers to replace before I can get in to the nitty gritty of it all but there relatively easy compared to the ones I have to sort at the front. I just have to go really carefully as too much movement could dislodge the precariously balanced front edge.

Now for something completely different

I've been blogging now for coming on for 5 years. Always the same jovial antics and humour about our great adventures and stresses leading up to the present day. I am rarely one to touch on the more serious aspects of life and, as a whole, everything revolves around me. I love to read other peoples blogs and, for a while, my brothers boat restoration was top of the list. My brother in law started a blog about his dogs but it fizzled out pretty quickly and recently I inspired a young lad who was visiting us to start blogging as well.

Latest on my reading list though is a blog by a fellow softball player who has also decided to make a permanant life for him and his wife this side of the channel however the inspiration for his blog was something that sits in the back of many of our minds day in day out.

Each and every one of us probably know of or are related to someone who has suffered from "the big C". For some the outcome is good and others, well it doesn't get any worse. The first time it became apparent to me was aged 14 when I lost my best friend from school. It was totally unexpected and resulted in me backing away from any close friendships for many years to come. In more recent times Janes colleague from work also had problems but, thankfully, he has just been given the all clear, although they can never say never.

Imagine if you will a blog similar to mine but set solely from the point of diagnosis, all through various appointments and procedures right up to today, post op. It is written with sparkle and humour and gives me the greatest respect for my friend who has more balls than the ball pool at snakes and ladders. His procedure involved surgery starting in the middle of his bottom lip, going down under his chin and then off to the side of his neck. Rather than worry about the telling scar that will remain forever, he was focused on how much more realistic he would look as a pirate now.

Keep up the inspirational writing mate, you are setting a fine example to everyone on how to man up and step up to the plate.

Change is as good as a rest

After what seems like an eternity of hard work, I have literally turned my hand to something a little more theraputic (not sure of the spelling). Our friend Jules kindly bought a whole trailer full of woodworking equipment to France, along with a table that he started making the legs for 3 years ago. As the benefactor to his extremely generous contribution to Chateau Larcombes ongoing renovations, I thought it would only be right to finish off his project for him and display it in all it's splendour somewhere on the estate. If it comes out well, then this will be somewhere prominant either in the house or gite. If the wheels come off and it all goes pear shaped then it may become my new workbench. watch this space.

The veggie plot is still progressing well and, with the frosts now behind us, the liklihood off some good crops was looking good. That was until the onset of an evil underground predator whose sole purpose in life is to make my life a misery. Mr Mole has progressed around all of my raised beds in turn, destroying the sweetcorn, onions, pak choi, bay tree etc. etc. etc. I have now declared war on the little buggers and tomorrows mission is to go and buy some traps. Not the humane variety either.

Time to say goodbye

Slowly but surely the guests have departed from another exceptional party at Chateau Larcombe. Last to leave, later this evening, is my brother as he makes his journey back to the distant isle of Alonnisos where he is soon to come out of retirement and spend some time running a hotel. We wish him all the best for his journey.

Peace and tranquility will return to the valley once more but, fortunately for me, only for 9 weeks as the next softball weekend is just around the corner. I can't guarantee the weather for this event but if it's only half as good as the weather we've had here over the last few weeks it will be great.

We have some lost property from the last week, a couple of black jackets one has an emblem syaing "Petro Canada" the other is a childs black coat aged 9-10.

By some miracle we escaped this year with minimum breakages. The wine glasses all survived which is almost unheard of however the bath taps, that were on the way out anyway, finally gave up the ghost. Even with the numerous guests and stupid activities we got away with just the one hospital trip.

I thought I'd whizz through and thank everyone for their assistance and contributions that all helped to make the weekend run smoothly and without stress. Looking back though it seems that everyone helped in some way or another so I'm going to focus my thanks on just a few people. Obviously my wife sits top of the list for letting us host another amazing weekend of social activities. As one of the few responsible adults on the premises, I consider myself very lucky to have her. Next on my abbriviated list of thanks is my mum and dad who not only got stuck into the physical side of the weekend, but also provided some gratefully recieved financial support. Finally I'd like to thank Steve and Laura for their ongoing support ever since we moved to France. They are actually permanent residents in the gite however they spend a lot of time working abroad in the UK. Hopefully one day the balance will swing the other way and they'll be able to come over and live the French dream too. Don't feel that by not getting a personal mention that your contribution did not matter to us, it's only by the help of everyone that we can actually pull this event off.

You may wonder what's next on the list of works here on the estate. We've ear marked a few jobs that will hopefully get done this year and I'm already contemplating one for next year. First up is to split the boys bedroom into 2 seperate bedrooms, losing the library in the process and creating the corridor in preparation to knock through to our master bedroom. Next up is to replace the tiles on the back of the house where they have been falling off faster than I can take them off. The beginning of next year I plan to reinstate the well, topping it off with another conical slate roof just like the one on the pizza oven.

Time to head back to normality now. Much thanks to Glyn for our picture on todays blog.