And you thought just because you weren’t seeing progress shots, there wasn’t anything going on at Le Coudeau! Au contraire!!! I’ve been up to my ass in alligators rushing around solving problems, making decisions, and oh-yeah-did-I-mention that Theo went to the US for nearly 2-1/2 weeks?
This post is mostly for our documentation and for you nosey ones out there. ? Here’s an overview of what’s been going on the last three weeks:
The foss septic is nearly finished. The yard now looks like tanks of WWIII just moved through in the rain. Oh well, things grow like crazy here, so we will blink our eyes and the grass will be back I’m sure.
Have to keep detailed photos of the septic installation for the city.
The second bathroom in the house is tiled. I’m thrilled with the encaustic floor tiles. Wanted to add some historical element to the house, even though the design is fresher than those used 100 years ago. We had to go a bit higher with the tile on the walls than I wanted, so we ran short and are patiently awaiting the arrival of the reorder.
Guest bathroom.
The Lalinde City Pond swans’ eggs hatched and we now have six new cygnets that everyone is swooning over. We all watched as they built their magnificent nest in the reeds beside the lake and took turns brooding. The sweet babies hatched and mom and dad had them in the water the first day.
The proud cob (dad) keeping a watchful eye, while the pen (mom) takes the babies for a little swim.
Oops, back to Le Coudeau. We rebuilt the stairs from the patio down to the pool on one side of our gargantuan patio in the back and built a ramp for pool access on the opposite side.
Newly rebuilt stairs. Not the character of the original ones, but much safer!
The plaster maestro finishing the side of our new ramp down to the pool.
Here’s what Theo gets for leaving the continent with yours truly in charge. I’ve been on the fence about lightening up the ceiling in the living room. The wood is in amazing condition for its age and I kind of hated to cover it up. On the other hand, this room is pulling me in a bit of a contemporary direction and I wanted to lighten it up and “tame” the woodiness a bit, so made the executive decision to have the guys add drywall between the beams. I like it and am glad I went ahead and did it. You know how it is once you move into a home, you rarely go back and do big messy projects like this.
Our favorite Romanian placo boss. They got this up in a day!
Even though it was raining cats and dogs last week, the guys hung tents off the roof outside the house so that they could re-stucco the outside. Our Portuguese crew are true artisans. They kept the finish slightly mottled so it wouldn’t look too new. The color is integral and it looks absolutely fantastic (and we had some ugly gouges and cracks to fix).
Wow, tarps and scoffolds and stucco and rain! Don’t worry, Stewart, it’s not finished in this photo…
While all this is happening, it is spring and the peonies are breathtaking.
While we wait for materials on the main house, we have attacked the guest house. We decided to convert the attic to a second bedroom. The guys installed two skylights, and it is now electrified, drywalled, and primed, with new pine floors.
New second bedroom in the guest house attic.
The ripped out bathroom awaiting her makeover!
And as if all of this isn’t enough, I was informed to poop out a landscape plan for the front. Since we have the excavator on the premises, the old flagstones are coming out and I need to order whatever I need. Yikes! Stayed up almost all night on Friday and finally came up with a plan that I think will work.
Theo’s such a good sport! Here he is posing as a 2-meter tall fountain, so I can sketch it in.
We need to get out of our rental house and starting living at Le Coudeau in two weeks. Needless to say, we will be in the guest house for a few weeks, but if we can have a bathroom and some sort of kitchen setup, we will be happy to be ‘glamping’ in our new digs. The tiles for the guest house kitchen and bath should arrive tomorrow. The oak flooring for the main house is set for delivery tomorrow. The replacement tiles for the second bathroom should be here early next week. The paint, the custom vanities for the bathrooms, and the tv/bookcase unit for the family room will arrive from Portugal early next week. The stone for the house floors and master bathroom are in production and should arrive in the next two weeks. Whew. And lastly, the kitchen is in production as well and should arrive in less than a month. The retailer has all our appliances and is chomping at the bit to get them out of their back room!
Just had to sneak in one more shot of these guys.