Dust to dust

So, at last, and at the exact date and time agreed several months ago, the work to create our guest acccommodation began at the beginning of last week. Life with our artisans is actually - are you ready for this? - hugely enjoyable: good work, good progress, and good company. We have chosen well. Just as well, as we're all going to be working along side each other for four months or more ...

They've brought one or two things with them ...



Oh, so that's what a work bench is for ...



While they deal with Big Stuff like wiring and ventilation and insulation and knocking walls down and hemp'n'lime plastering and creating a new bathroom and 101 other things, I'm spending half my time welded to my project file, half writing cheques, and the other half (yes, the days really are that long) engaged in demolition. And it's truly amazing what a few swings of the lump hammer reveals: a huge bathroom sink surround made of reinforced concrete; cardboard used to fill a gap between an old shower tray and the inlet pipes; strange plumbing that goes in and out and up and down and then in and out again just to get to the same spot it started from. Hmm. (It's true to say that the French are only now beginning to discover that plumbing looks better if you can't see it. And then only if the plumber is under 30).



So, where there were rooms, now is chaos. Where there were floors, now is dust. Where once was slightly reddish hair (okay, okay, it's henna'd, right?), now is white.

My life in a nutshell:



and



Hey ho.