It’s hot and it’s summer party time. If you are in the Poitou Charente region Dept 79 near Caunay, then come to the Mad Hatter’s Kitchen. You can have a meal and enjoy some live music by a local band from Bellac.
Playing lots of favourites from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s from artists such as The Kinks, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, T-Rex, Beatles and more…
Live Music Poitou Charente 30 Jul
Keep Music Live!
This year it’s get the garage organised. Since we moved in stuff is everywhere and nothing really has it’s place. If money wasn’t an issue, I would just call in the local handy man and ask him to build me some storage.
As we don’t have that luxury, it’s a case of DIY. I spotted a local advert for someone selling up and moving out so went down to see what was to be had.
Fortunately for me, the house had a workshop which used to be an old forge. Inside was a very rusty grey looking metal frame but perfect for shelving. Only problem was it was 2m x 2m. Not even the old Volkeswagen was big enough for that.
Not to be outdone, we (the current owner and I) went through the process of undoing every nut and bolt holding it all together. Unfortunately, the old forger had done a better job of building the frame than we thought and each side piece was welded together by a piece of sheet metal over the top so we had a very nice 2m x 2m metal frame!
So out with the angle grinder and after lots of persuasion and sparks flying, we broke each of the welds. Into the van went a pile of rusty pieces of metal and as I drove home with all this old metal jangling in the back I could only shudder to think what Steve would think of it when I got it home.
Stage 2 – wire brushing the worst of the rust and good a covering of Hammerite black paint. Took me about a day to do that, but at the end of it I had a number of quite decent looking pieces of metal.
Stage 3 – Putting it together was a bit of a challenge. The whole thing, when bolted together, was not something you could easily lift into place. So I cleared the area where it was going to stand and laid everything on it’s side. Having been ”hand made” meant that not all the shelves fitted into all the slots. After a bit of swapping and positioning the shelves finally got put into the right place. In with the bolts and with the help of Steve, we lifted it into place.
Stage 4 – Making the inserts. I’d been given a few pieces of chipboard and I persuaded Steve to get his hands dirty and get the jigsaw out. After a simple process of cutting 99 x 39 cm pieces, each one slotted very nicely into each section.
There it was, a pile of rusty old metal transformed into a good sturdy set of shelves – very satisfying.
Restored shelves in place
“Every cloud has a silver lining” is the expression that comes to mind in the current recession. The sluggish housing market in the UK impacts heavily in France, but there is an upside.
If you are one of the lucky ones who sold at the top of the market or have the cash in the bank to buy your dream home in France, then the choice is incredible. Being a cash buyer puts you a very strong position as the market is flooded with houses that haven’t sold.
Take for example this three bedroom farmhouse conversion in St Matthieu, Haute Vienne (87), which has been lovingly restored by it’s owners over the last 5 years.
3 Bed Barn Conversion for sale - All Contents + More
It is being sold completely furnished – yes everything – furniture, fittings, white goods, televisions, 2 wood burners the lot. It also has:
Barn for conversion
Bread oven
2 acres Land
1 hectare of river bank
All for offers of €240,00
You can find further pictures and information here
Wood Stove Fans for sale delivered direct to your door in France ….
Our wood stove is the best thing we have bought so far at chez nous. It’s very efficient burning wood and it feels cosy on a really cold night.
Energy Efficient Fan
Our habitable space is all on one level and we find that the far end of the house, furthest away from the fire doesn’t really get warm until we are roasting in the living room.
Wood stoves work on the principle of radiant heat. A solid metal wood stove, for example, is designed to become a radiant heat source. Very little heat energy is lost up the chimney, and if the chimney is exposed to the room, it also becomes a source of heat. However, the difficulty with a radiant heating system, is even distribution of heat. The area closest to the stove is hot, but areas around the rest of the room or house will be much cooler.
After investigating the possibility of installing ducting or a ceiling fan, I came across a fantastic solution originating from Canada. The Stirling Wood Stove Fan. Not only does it circulate the heat from the stove, it’s a completely green and ecologically friendly solution.
A recent innovation, using technology discovered in 1945 called the Stirling Cycle has been adapted to run a wood stove fan. The radiant heat from the stove heats the Stirling engine (the base of the fan), activating the pistons which converts heat energy to mechanical energy used to turn the fan blades. This blows the heat from the stove into the living space.
The “Vulcan” wood stove fan is completely self powered and requires no electric or batteries. It works by simply placing it on the top of a hot* surface. The hotter the surface temperature the faster the blades will turn.
I have been running a fan now for approximately 1 month and the difference it has made to the heat distribution is amazing.
Fortunately, I have been able to find a supplier who manufactures these fans and it is now available by mail order – I call it the Eco Ventilateur. Engineered using the lastest technology to ensure it is completely maintenance free – you will never have to oil it. It comes with a 3 year comprehensive manufacturer warranty and operates on almost all stoves from 150 C (300F) to 450 C (840 F)*.
Specification:
A close up of the mechanism
Overall height: 33.5cm (13.25 inches)
Overall width: 25.4cm (10 inches)
Base dimensions: 15.4cm X 7.7cm (6 x 3 inches)
Fan diameter: 25.4cm (10 inches)
Material: stainless steel, aluminum, brass
Color: Black, stainless, aluminum, brass
*Please note that whatever heating appliance you have, the surface much reach the operating temperature indicated.
This energy efficient solution to heat distribution is also a fascinating conversation piece.
Price including delivery is 160€. Prices can be reduced if purchasing more than 1 fan to the same delivery address. Paypal and cheques accepted. Prices can be paid in sterling if required.
If you wish to buy a fan, please go to the contact us page and leave your email and telephone number.
It’s been a long hot summer, so there has been many a night where we have slept with our windows open – thanks to our fly screens which we fitted last year.
I started to notice that there are so many sounds of the night, some recognisable and others not. There was one in particular that had me really puzzled. Unlike the sound of crickets, which always make a noise, this one came and went and unfortunately wasn’t loud enough to make a recording.
Thinking about it, I thought that it probably wasn’t an insect and could only think it must be a bird. Apart from bats the only other bird I could think of was an Owl.
After doing lots of searches on the internet for owl sounds, I eventually found what I was looking for.
The Tawny Owl “Warble”. Thanks to the Gods Own Clay website which published all the information about tawny owls, I identified the sound.
We have a Tawny Owl who announces himself each night with a shrieking call.
Another mystery of the countryside solved.
Stage 10 of the Tour de France right on our doorstep. We just had to go and see it.
Yep, étape 10 – Limoges to Issoudun 194.5 km. We studied the stage map on letour.fr and decided that the 4th category climb at St Laurent les Eglise would be a good place to go. We weren’t wrong. We arrived some three hours before the race was due, and the town was already packed. We had to park up and walk the last couple of kilometers. Parking in the town was reserved for VIPs and handicapped.
The whole of the climb was lined with people, just like on the tele! Our friends from the ROCC (Rochechouart Cycling Club) were there so we joined them. It wasn’t long before the publicity caravan arrived. Vehicle after vehicle after vehicle of sponsors handing out freebies. Music, dancing, enthusiasm, smiles…..three weeks strapped to the back of a multi-coloured whatever with music blaring while you hand out stuff…takes some doing.
Caravan passed, we waited for the riders to arrive. We picnic’d with the ROCC, naturally they’d bought some wine along. Chilled rosé, lovely.
Team cars started to come by, press cars, police motorcycles. A press van with loudspeakers told us that a group of four riders had gone clear with a gap of three minutes. We could see the Television helicopters, 5 of them! Next we heard the cheers from further down the hill. The four riders came into sight, gliding effortlessly up the hill. They looked fanatastic.
Two or three minutes passed before the peleton arrived. The noise, the colours, the supporters, the atmosphere, just awesome. As the peleton passed, each rider looking pristine on their perfect machine I marveled at how incredibly fit and professional they look, and then they were gone.
We made our way home and watched the end of the stage on France 2. The escape didn’t work. The four got caught within the last two kilometres, though one of the riders Thierry Hupond (SKIL-SHIMANO) got the award for the most ‘Combatif’ rider. The bunch sprint finish was incredible, those guys have nerves of steel. Mark Cavendish aka ‘Cav’ took the win! His third this tour. Allez Cav!!! 
If you’re bringing a dog to the Limousin, or maybe you’re already here and thinking of getting one, then know that dog + Limousin + summer = ticks.
We’ve had the pleasure of looking after Haute Vienne hound Weetabix for a couple of weeks. When I say Haute Vienne hound, she’s actually a Basset Fauve de Bretagne, but she lives in the Haute Vienne. Anyway, while she’s a little charmer, and not a bit of trouble, she don’t half attract ticks! Her record for a one hour early morning walk is 15 ticks!!!
There’s two sizes of tick that she collected. The big brown coloured ones, and the smaller black ones. Weeta only had a few of the bigger ticks all the time she was with us, but she had lots of the smaller ones. Removing the larger ticks is quite easy using the rub it with your finger method, but getting the smaller ticks out is a bit more difficult. We bought some tick pullers from the local pharmacy.
We soon got into a routine of checking Weeta as soon as we got back from her walk. We found that we’d find lots of ticks that hadn’t attached themselves, and we’d remove those before they did. We’d use the tick pullers to get the rest out, very easy to use, they get all of the tick out without causing it any stress, then it can be despatched.
We really enjoyed having Weeta around, and missed her when she left. She’s a little darling. We made a short video of her…….
When we were house hunting we came across loads of people who’d bought a lovely place out in the sticks and just couldn’t wait to be rid of it. They were desperate to move nearer to town!
For some it was the isolation. No one to chat to. Yes, there might be a French neighbour, and yes they might be very friendly, but unless you’re up to speed on your French it’s hard work, and made harder by the fact that some of the rural French speak with a strong dialect. We came across one couple where she had lost all confidence and had become virtually housebound. They’d spent a small fortune renovating their house, and it was lovely, but they were desperate to leave.
Then there was the gent living alone in a small village. He hated it with a vengance! He’d spent a couple of years doing the place up, he’d done a fantastic job, but with his project finished he’d become bored. There was just nothing to do, no bar, no shop, just the bread van once a day. Nearest town 40 minutes away.
Yep, that lovely drive down those leafy country lanes with the dappled sunlight playing on your eyes can turn into a nightmare in the winter when you’re cut off with trees down, or snow. No joke! Some friends of ours up in the Creuse were cut off for a week last winter. Not for the first time either.
A recent visitor whose never been to the Limousin before asked me where all the people were. I used to wonder that myself when I first came here, but I’ve become used to a lower population density. “Did you see anyone on your bike ride darling?”….
Nah, not me! This is part 2 of “House Hunting in the Limousin”.
There’s a lot of older properties for sale here in the Haute Vienne. But with old houses, you get old house problems. There’s the obvious stuff like dodgy wiring, damp, tiny windows, cold in winter, but there’s so much more…………………..
Quirks and fashions. Remember when polystyrene ceiling tiles were all the rage? Then pine cladding? Then heavy flock wallpaper? You’ll find ‘em all here. Let me give you an example.
The French love wallpaper. They love it so much they stick it on doors as well, and then they stick more over the top! A painter decorater friend of mine was working on a house up in the Creuse. He’d been stripping wallpaper off layer after layer. The old lady client arrived to see how work was progressing. She took one look and burst into tears. My firend asked what was wrong, worried that the work he was carrying out was not to her liking. She explained that it was the sight of the wallpaper she had known as a little girl that had made her cry!
Case of the missing fosse (septic tank). We’ve seen old rural properties where all the household waste water, excluding the toilet go straight into the strom ditch by the side of the road. It’s grey water, it stinks and it’s horrible. We have even seen a house where ‘everything’ went straight into the river. There has been a move in France to get everyone up to a standard, but clearing the backlog (Euuugh!!!) is taking some time. Even when there is a fosse, it’s location may be long forgotten. If you are looking at rural properties try asking the viewing agent where the fosse is. Mostly, they won’t know! It’s only after you’ve bought the place and started living in it and using it that you’ll get the smell that will help you find it. In the case of one of our neighbours the access to the fosse was inside the extension! When I say extension I don’t mean some spanking new thing, no, almost as old as the house. Maybe something added 20 years after the original build.
Then there was the rising damp problem caused by modernisation, or how about the endless layers of flea infested old carpet that were stored in the attic to act as insulation. The horror stories go on and on. It’s not always bad, but there are always surprises with old properties. Not a case of beware, more a case of be aware.
Now while we cannot claim to be experts, and we’ve only been in France full-time for just over two years, there’s some things we’ve noticed about house hunters here in the Haute Vienne and what they buy.
We think these are basic mistakes. Maybe they aren’t, but give them your consideration. There’s only three of them….
1. Too much
2. Too old
3. Too remote
Let’s take them one at a time, this time…
Too much…
The old farm, with the outbuildings and barn to convert into gites, with lots of land, it’s cheap, seems too good to be true. But, the old farm has been run down over the years before it went on the market. The farmhouse itself needs major renovation work. Do you know how cold those stone houses can be in the winter? Here’s an example – Our neighbour who lives in such a house, gets through more than 30 cubic metres of firewood each winter. Compare this with another neighbour living in a modern house. They burn 6 cubic metres!
A derelict croft with 3 adjoining barns on 0.37 acres (1 500m²) of land. Restoration project Village location. 65,000€” – there’s loads like this!
The outbuildings and barn that could be converted into gites. It’s a reasonable idea, but unless they’re going to be something really special it’s a flawed one. Why? Well, even in the height of the season in August we see really nice gites standing empty. You can take your pick, so you’d pick something pretty special.
Lots of land. It sounds great, but things grow fast here in the Limousin. It’s not really green for no reason. In the growing season grass grows at an alarming rate. I’d swear you can almost see it grow. Certainly people cut their grass once a week. Trying to keep a couple of paddocks, or a large garden in check is a full-time occupation. If you are here all the time you’re in with a chance, but if not, you’ll need to hire someone to do it for you. We’ve seen couples who come out for a fortnight to work on their renovation. They spend most of their time trying to get the garden back to square one, even beat a path to the front door. Problem is, next visit it’ll be just as bad.
Number 2 next time.
