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
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.
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…….
En France, le 1er janvier c’est le jour de l’an. Oui mais pas pour tout le monde car le jour de l’An est un jour différent selon les calendriers qui diffèrent selon les pays. Nous, notre calendrier, c’est celui du calendrier grégorien. Le calendrier grégorien est utilisé par la majorité des pays dans le monde. Il se base sur la révolution de la Terre autour du Soleil sur une période de 365,2422 jours. Chaque jour durant 24 heures, 60 minutes et 60 secondes. Le tout groupé en quatre trimestres et divisé en douze mois. Ce qui nous donne un temps de 365,2425 jours exactement. Il y a donc un décalage qui s’opère selon l’année bissextile qui se définit par un mois plus court tous les 4 ans. Le calendrier grégorien se tient sur une période de 400 ans au total. Avec 3 siècles de 24 cycles juliens comportant 3 années de 365 jours et 1 année de 366 jours puis 4 autres années de 365 jours et 1 siècle de 25 cycles juliens.
Chaque calendrier dépend de la renaissance cyclique de l’année en fonction du climat entre l’équinoxe de printemps et le solstice d’hiver. Par exemple, le calendrier égyptien antique avec pour date de nouvel an le 19 juillet. Ce qui correspondait au même moment a la crue du Nil. Il existe donc un lien entre la nature et la date de fin d’année. Le nouvel an chinois aura lieu le 7 février en 2008 alors que les années précédentes la fête du printemps tombait le 18 février pour 2007, le 29 janvier pour 2006 et si on remonte jusqu’en 2004 le 22 janvier ! Imaginez vous fêter le nouvel an français le 14 février cela ferait de l’ombre aux amoureux. En France le nouvel an s’appelle le Réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre ou réveillon du Jour de l’an. Saint Sylvestre était un pape du nom de Sylvestre 1er qui a permit au christianisme de se développer pendant l’Empire romain. Sylvestre 1er aurait réussi plusieurs miracles comme le domptage d’un dragon. Il fit un martyre de l’époque et sa fête tombe donc le jour du 31 décembre.
Happy new year! 
Our little village now has an ‘assainissement collective’ (village drains system), and it’s up to us to get connected to it within a two year timescale. This is good news, as our ageing fosse septique has been suffering from indigestion of late.
After much measuring, planning, and investigation we sussed that a 25 metre trench was needed that would skirt the old fosse with a couple of gentle bends before making a beeline for our connection point in the road outside. Can you believe I dug the first 5 metres by hand? Steve would have helped, but he has bad shoulders, no really, he does! Anyway, the first bit was easy as the ground around the old fosse has been out before. However, when it came to the stretch onwards toward the road, no chance, the ground was like rock. A digger was needed.
We called Phil Bentley, and the following week Phil came along with one of his mini-diggers, and in the space of half a day the trench was dug. We could have hired a digger from Phil to drive ourselves, but for the extra euros it costs to have Phil drive we reckoned it would be quicker and safer. Not only that, but Phil comes armed with years of experience of groundwork, and an array of ancillary tools to make the job easier and more accurate.
By the end of the day we were connected, and looking forward to a first flush, and a free flowing shower. If you’d like more info’ on Phil’s services contact me. I’d be happy to put you in touch.
Since Steve’s random dismount at the Mandragore, I’ve had to take over doing all the jobs he would normally do. This includes, doing the oil change on the van. It was long overdue and with Steve strapped up and unable to do anything, I had to take up the spanners and get dirty.
The oil filter on the van is right at the back of the engine and the only way to get at it is from underneath. There isn’t enough room to get underneath so we borrowed some ramps from our good friend George.
Steve moved the van into place and then proceded to talk me through the procedure. First removal of the belly pan underneath the engine. A bit of a fiddle and some comedy moments but I finally manage to drop the cover off – onto me at first as I was lying right underneath it!
Next challenge was to see if I could find the oil filter. I can see it, but blimey how the hell do I undo it? Steve hands me a strap specially for the job. I’ve got about an inch of space to play with and after about 20 minutes of fiddling and swearing I managed to losen it.
Next, can I undo the sump plug? OK where’s the sump plug? “It’s under that big metal thing called the engine block” Steve said helpfully! OK, sump plug identified. Steve hands me a variety of different size spanners to try. Got the right size, now get my weight behind it and … Well I’m obviously not heavy enough …. OK, foot on the inside of the wheel for leverage and get my weight behind it – voila, it gives.
OK, so I know I can get the filter off and the oil out. Steve runs the engine to get the oil nice and warm. A big plastic bowl and here we go.
First empty the oil. I manage to complete this without covering myself and everything else in hot oil. Second that filter. “Keep it as upright as you can, it will be full of oil”. Easier said than done, whilst lying on your back with the filter at full reach but who am I to argue? Here it comes, oil spilling everywhere – lucky I put thost marigolds on. Operation complete so on with the new filter – hand tight as instructed and sump plug back in.
Now for the easy bit. Tip 5 litres of oil down into the engine and take a reading from the stick. Looks about right, now to start the engine and see if I’ve put that filter and oil plug in tight enough. A few nervous moments later, it looks like everything is “oil tight”.
Feeling rather pleased with myself, I forgot just one last thing – I’ve got to get that cover plate back on. Lying on my back with front end balanced on my knees, I wrest the hinges into place first and manage to get a nut on. A quick scew to my left and re-screw the side bolts one by one and then tighten them.
That’s it, my first oil change. It wasn’t that difficult really, well specially with an expert on hand 
We celebrated our first anniversary of living in France on 1st April and it’s official, we’re staying for good. Our lives have definitely changed for the better!
It’s a nice time of year for an anniversary, Spring has arrived in earnest. Suddenly, new growth on trees, shrubs and of course the grass. Spring flowers appear overnight and our bike rides are now filled with sightings of cowslips, lungwort and the promise of bluebells.
The birds in the garden are busy fighting out territory limits, building nests and crashing into our windows. Fortunately, we’ve had no fatalities yet – just a lot of feathers and sore beaks.
Last night we heard the first frog chorus and there is an abundance of frog spawn in the pond. It will soon be time for the Carp rolling season as the weather warms up.
There’s lots more to look forward to as the year moves on including I hope some great home grown veggies from the new patch.
The Frog Spawn in the Pond 
Well it’s finally happened, I’m now officially 40 years old and it didn’t hurt a bit! I spent the evening with my beloved, had a nice meal and drank far too much Champagne. We also had a meal with some friends the Sunday before and then on Friday after my birthday, a french couple who we have met through Steve’s cycling club – Rochechouart – came round for the evening. They bought me a beautiful potted Azealea for my birthday.
When it comes to eating and drinking, the French have slightly different customs to us. In general, they have their big meals at lunchtime so you don’t normally have dinner invites. It is normally for an “aperitif” which consists of a drink and some nibbles not unlike a small buffet. Wine is something they drink with a meal, so in the evening its whisky and beer for the boys and something quite sweet like port or muscadet for the girls.
I was keen to “do it right” so I asked around a few people for recommendations on food and put together a mixture of cold meats and fish. We wanted to serve up something very English, so Steve knocked up some marmite on toast. Jeanette loved it but Eric was a little bit more unsure about it – but he didn’t spit it out!
We gabbled on all evening (in French of course) and Steve gave them a guitar demonstrastion as Eric likes to play “Spanish guitar”. It wasn’t a late night but we had a lovely evening and it’s great that we can now spend an evening with French friends.
So life begins now, so they say. Well I think it started somewhere in 1992 when I met Steve
Learning to speak the french language is a lot easier than understanding the spoken word. Our problem here is that we only hear the spoken language when we are shopping or see the neighbours occasionally. Although we don’t watch a lot of television, we decided to pack the sky box away and only watch whats on offer on the French channels. Unfortunately, the standard french channels don’t have an awful lot to offer and it’s difficult to sit and watch something if it isn’t very entertaining.
Just lately though, we have discovered a TV series which originates from Austria – REX.
Rex is a highly intelligent German Shepherd Police Dog who is employed by the Austrian Police Force in the Murder Squad in Vienna, Austria. Rex lives with his handler, Inspector Richard Moser. Moser and Rex have many adventures, each one using the natural canine skills which Rex has, as he is an extraordinarily intelligent dog.
The program has been dubbed into French and we have discovered that when the language is dubbed, it is easier to understand. Also, like most TV cop shows, the dialogues are more standard and it is quite easy to follow whats going on. REX is very entertaining to watch, even if you don’t understand what they are saying. He likes to steal the meat out of the sandwiches, answer the phone and always rides in the front seat of the car – great fun.
If you’ve never seen REX, then here is the titles to the show on YouTube
Also, here are some great images of the dog himself.
Birthday: 01-06 1991 in Ingolstadt
weight: 38 kilos
Rex knows 30 commands such as bark, kiss, throw down people, hide shoes, yawn, retrieve everything they want. He can walk over a train and play with a basketball. He can also jump through a window.
His favourite food: Chicken breast, cow’s and duck’s liver, sausage rolls, carrots, oatmeal porridge and apple
