signed, sealed and delivered

On the 26th February I signed my deal and am on the way to being a property owner in France.  

Sealed and delivered, this morning the postman delivered a sealed bundle of papers that I had to sign for in person.  It’s the dossier of paperwork that accompanies the proposed purchase.  All 113 pages of it.  

There are only two possible hurdles to cross that would negate the purchase.  

The first is that the Mayor has the right to cancel planning permission on land as it changes hands, I doubt she will as in such a small village an extra inhabitant increases the population by 2% and the village revenue similarly.  I shall be asking to renew the outline planning permission in due course.

The second is the work of SAFER, a government sponsored agency that is responsible for keeping as much land in agriculture as possible.  It has three months to check that none of the local farmers want to buy the property.  This is only happening because I am purchasing some adjoining land which is agricultural .  Thankfully, any interested party would have to buy the whole lot, not just the fields and with the planning permission it works out rather expensive for a farmer to acquire an additional couple of acres.

Fingers crossed until mid May.....................

I spoke to one of the owners after the signing and he is more than happy if I make a start on clearing the brambles, turning a bit of soil and starting a vegetable garden.  Just as well, as earlier in the week I bought a huge collection of seeds on offer in the local supermarket.  They’ll get to grow this year some way or another.

I can also get on and apply for connection to electricity, water and phone, arranged for after the completion date, and also make provisions to insure the land from when I take possession ( a legal necessity here in France).  I need to ask the mayor too, for permission to put up a temporary cabin until such time as my house is built, apparently is it normal practice and permission is often granted for four years, I don’t imagine using it for that long.  There’s plenty to be getting on with in the mean time.

We, me and my current hosts, celebrated with a lovely meal and a bottle of champagne amidst the chaos of their moving.  Five more days and everything will be moved, the house cleaned and the keys ready to hand over.  That’ll be the end of my time here, onto the next.

chez Vanessa and Lisa

Back at Vanessa and Lisa’s, our projects continued.  Social visits out for pizzas on a Friday evening, mulching the hedging plants with straw to keep the weeds down whilst the plants establish,  off to see Greets new vet practice location and advise on how to decorate it, collect mulch for the vegetable garden then put it to bed for the winter.  The girls were loving the change after working on the house for so long and it was great to make the most of the cold sunny weather at the start of winter, with no idea how long it would last.  Their house was warm and comfortable even there were no finished rooms, the ground floor was missing its final flooring and the loft was missing wall dividers and a door but the wood burning stoves were working well and there was a serviceable bathroom.  Bliss.

Vanessa loading compost 

the view from my bed in the mornings, beautiful roof timbers

a much improved facade without aluminium and glass porch

we stacked wood 

we rolled bales of straw

and stopped them

planting a hedge

The idea was to give planting a little go on Sunday and then go for it on Monday, as the forecast was for better weather.  Sunday turned out to be fine and between the three of us, made short work of planting a good half of the boundary.  I dug the holes, one every metre, Vanessa added a spade of compost and worked out which species went where, there were twelve or so varieties to plant in some sort of random mix with tree at regular intervals down the line, and Lisa followed on afterwards, planting each plant in its allocated hole.  It was cold but the sun shone, the soil was just about dry enough to work and we were doing what we had planned to do.  We continued with help from several friends of the girls who popped by to lend a hand and got the whole boundary done in a couple of days.

bundles of plants awaiting planting

soaking the roots in the bucket and adding compost to the soil

Lisa and Vanessa the Lady Landowners

it's started

a fair way gone

but further to go

proper deep holes for each one

ferme de hameau de pau

I returned to Francoise and Vincent in Pau for an autumnal week.  It was great to see them again and I was welcomed like a good friend.  As we chatted away during the first evening I was surprised and very pleased to hear that Francoise thought that my french was better than it had been in the spring.  Slowly but surely my grey cells are absorbing a new language.

Vincent and I got on with chores around the property, pruning hedges and shredding the resulting branches, picked the last of the raspberries and prepared the fattened rabbits for the freezer.  It was great to learn a new skill, though sombre at the same time.  I can give a graphic account if you want or just say that I now know how to dispatch, skin, clean and prepare a rabbit for the oven or pot.  It wasn’t as difficult or complicated as I had imagined and to see how fast the whole process happened not as onerous a task either.  So, in the future, when rabbits decimate my garden I shall know exactly what to do with them..

percy in front of the gite

the route up to lac bleu

lac bleu

We spent a day trekking in the mountains, took time out to check out the second hand stores in town, cycling out into the country to find a café, which was closed, a great ride anyway. Visited the opening of a community gardens. Helped some friends with their self build eco house.  I could stay with Francoise and Vincent for ages, but as they live in the wettest town in France, I have to move east to find somewhere somewhat drier.  That said, I left with plenty of leads and a gathering of estate agents to visit.

amazing autumn colours

Vincent and Francoise harvesting beans.  Haricot de Bearn to be exact.

interesting landscaping ideas, mixing old with new

cycling out, with the mountains in the distance

the first raised bed for Vincent's new no dig garden

sheep herding

off to find the sheep

herd versus herd

shepherding modern style

checking out the view

feeding time

whirling dancers

Dolly taking a nap

donkey stables

I am less than 24 hours from being out of computer contact for three weeks and have too much to tell you.

This is what Vivien, Julien and I managed to build in two weeks, on helpX hours, with a little guidance from Jean Francoise.  His advice changed like the wind as he adapted the design as he went, adding or altering specifications and requirements as the project evolved.  An interesting way of working and with a well equipped woodworking workshop at our disposal, little alterations didn’t need to take for ever to complete.  Our competence with hand tools and big machines increased dramatically during this project and the result was satisfying for everyone. 

as close as I got to a before photo

not sure of the correct technical term in english but the french call 

them "jambes de force" (legs of strength)  which works for me.

not tongue and groove but good enough to be a weather proof stable

roof detail

waiting patiently

beauregard

During the last few years I have discussed countless projects and possibilities with people, all of whom have done a few of these things.  Whether it be pizza and bread making, cultivating fruit, keeping bees, building with local materials, renovating old buildings, making a bread oven, drying fruit and vegetables, keeping poultry and sheep, working wood, mending mechanical things such as rotavators, bicycles, food processors and motorbikes, recycling and re-utilising discarded objects, conserving fruit and vegetables, making juices, having solar heated water, dry toilets, composting, living in yurts and caravans, storing rain water, gardening organically on a large scale with traction animals, there have been many discussions, I have gleaned many ideas for the future and made countless notes on what to and not to do in many situations.

Now I find myself at a location that has or does all of these things, it is truly amazing. The amount of time and effort that has gone into these projects over the last twenty or so years has been incredible and the fruits of this labour are a joy to behold.

Up on a hill above the ancient town of Montbrun Bocage with a view that stretches as far as the Black Mountains in one direction and the high peaks of the pyrenees in the other, there is an ancient farmhouse called “Beauregard’ and it is there that I am staying and discovering all these things.

It is the last location on our list for the summer that was decided back in June when Julian Vivien and I decided our summer route.  It hadn’t been one of my favourite choices but it  would allow us to spend some time in a new area to see if it would be a suitable place to look for land.  Jean-Francoise had written back saying that he had decided on a project that would keep us busy for a couple of weeks if we were interested and we would be welcome.  He proposed that we build a shelter for his donkeys and that was about it. So we added it to the list and arrived a week or so ago.

The family of four plus another four grown up children who come and go from time to time, plus another WWOOFer, Cecile are all really lovely people, welcoming, kind and of generous spirit in time, energy and soul.  Day to day life is full of tasks, planned or otherwise and things move along at speed.  With ten or so folk to feed there is always something needing harvested or chopped or peeled.  Hens, ducks, sheep and donkeys to be fed and watered.  Gardens to be tended to, crops to be harvested either for immediate consomation  or to be preserved for future enjoyment. Bread to be made and of course our predetermined tasks in hand.  

As a team we are progressing well with the framework for the stables, there isn’t a fully worked out plan so we consult every morning and discuss what the next steps are to be.  So far we have made more mistakes that I care to mention, although, happily recoverable from and we haven’t had to waste any wood just yet.  The errors come from miscommunication of ideas, changes of mind and further reflections that result in modifications for the future.  All are taken in good humour and with an attitude of learning, discovery and the fact that we are only, in fact, building a shelter for some beasts, not a work of art.  That said, we are paying attention to detail, trying to perfect techniques and do things to the best of our abilities, fully aware that in the not to distant future it may well be our houses that we are working on. (Well, I am anyway).

We work in the mornings, starting early, and then have the afternoons free to do whatever we wish to do.  Explore the area, read or write, go for a walk, do nothing or else participate in whatever else is going on at the time.  Cecile has different tasks and often works the afternoons, Jean-Francoise always has several additional tasks on the go, so there is always something new to get involved with and learn.  For the evening meal there is a voluntary helping out with tasks which means that meals get prepared fast, eaten at a leisurely pace, often on the terrace overlooking the valley and tidied away without fuss or bother.  It all works wonderfully and I am quietly content that I can now follow the gist of a good number of the conversations that go on during mealtimes.

the caravan where I sleep at night

solar food drier

the smartest duck shelter I have ever seen, we're going to

waterproof the roof next week with old hessian sacks and chalk render.

the dreaded asian hornet.  the sting is intensely painful ( I know)

home constructed bread oven.  made bread, pizzas for 20 people, cooked

meringues and dried figs and tomatoes from the garden

bakers tools

preparing to press apples on a grand scale

almost industrial

the big press in front of the honey and juice workshop!!

vines protected from the hornets and birds

another composting toilet

patiently waiting for their new quarters to be finished

the Sunday market at Montbrun Brocage

ferme du moulin - photos

excited hens chasing their breakfast delivery

trying to feed 200 hungry hens is a feat of patience as they crowd round, leaving no

room to walk, move your feet or even see their feed containers.

Farmer Bea with Adrien and Tim at the night market in Esparros, feeding

customers stir fry chicken or duck with rice and vegetables.  Delicious.

the goats were supposed to be clearing brambles and scrub, but used to jump the fence

and feast on the duck food almost every day.  They're not stupid.

lovely old ramshackle farmhouse, complete with obligatory breeze block repairs

and additions.  very french.

poultry yurts, not like the ones I enjoyed at my previous hosts.

very smart pallet garden shed, veg cleaning station and bar