Update on Doug's wrist

You will be glad to hear it is on the mend. Still painful and a bit puffy but so much better. Hurrah for efficiency of French A&E and for antibiotics.

Using French healthcare

One of the cats (Pernod) was in the house when he shouldn't have been, he objected to being swooped on for throwing out by biting Doug's hand (he hasn't changed character or anything and turned in to a biter generally it was a one off with the suprise). It was very painful at the time and then became swollen and more painful over a couple of days. I dragged Doug off to A&E in Bagnère de Bigorre on Friday as it seemed to still be getting worse not better. I called the doctor first but we couldn't get an appointment. We did hum and haw for a bit about whether it was bad enough to go and spend 10 hours waiting in A&E to see someone. Then I read the internet a bit, and it seems a lot of cat bites can become infected with nasty results. So we set of with kindles and water and food for the dog (who was going to wait in the car).

However, the experience was totally different to expected and we emerged about 30 minutes later with two types of antibiotics and a neatly bandaged arm. They had tested to make sure Doug was ok for tetanus as well. In France you pay for a percentage of treatment and prescription, the total we had to pay came to 18 EUR. Well worth it considering that the pain is now nearly gone although there is still a lot of swelling and Doug's hand looks chubby like a giant babies.

There is talk of them closing the A&E department in Bagnère which would mean we would need to drive to Tarbes for such assistance. We really hope it does not happen as we were very impressed with the efficiency of help.

People protesting about A&E closure

Which wood burning range cooker?

As part of trying to plan the house layout we have been thinking what we would like the room arrangement to be (to help visualise how we will use the 'space'). We will eventually need this also for the plumbing and wiring layouts. Particulary the kitchen is quite difficult. I want to have a wood burning range cooker and there are so many to chose from. Which one does make a difference to possible layouts as the size varies as does the gap you need round it to avoid burning the house down. The location of it in the kitchen is fairly fixed as it needs a chimney.
It makes sense to get something that can take 50cm wood minimum as this is the most common length wood comes in. I haven't seen ones that take longer, this would obviously be convenient though as it would mean less cutting up of wood.
I am not sure what heat output we need, generally more is not better as we will have central heating (under floor) and don't need a huge amount of heat pumped out although some will be nice I am sure. A lot of cookers like these can also heat water. The disadvantage of this for us is that it is in the kitchen so you could not use it in the summer for hot water. We are planning on having a wood boiler dedicated to making hot water which will live in the garage/boiler room so we can run it summer and winter (as long as we make sure insulation between that room and the bedroom is good).

Opinions welcome :)

The ESSE Ironheart (£3,695 - inc UK delivery)
Width - 900mm
Max output - 9.7kW
Efficiency - 81.8 (insert needs to be purchased to achieve that)
Log size - 50cm

This is the one I really want, but it is quite expensive relative to some other options.
It looks gorgeous though and is very solidly built (weighs a ton).

Other possibilites are
The Broseley Savrana (£1,520)
Width - 970mm
Max output - 6.5kW
Efficiency  - 87.7
Log size -

Reviews say it looks and feels much more flimsey than the Ironheart and doesn't maintain oven temperature as well. But it is less than half the price. It still has the visible flames which I like

Wamsler 900 Creative (£2,500)
Width - 848mm
Max output - 7kW
Efficiency-
Log size -

This stove is made in Germany and gets good reviews for efficiency and durability as well as controlability of the heat in the oven. I am less keen on the look of it than the ones with visible flames although it does still look pretty smart.

The Firebelly Raven (£3,395)
Width - 897mm
Max output - 10kW
Efficiency - 72%
Log size - 50cm
Very modern looking. It doesn't have hob covers as far as I can tell which is a bit of a downside. The sleek modern look is an interesting alternative, but on the whole I think a more 'ye olde' would suit the farm house better.

DeManincor Monoblocchi Combination Cooker (£6,685)
Width -
Max output -
Efficiency -
Log size -
This one is interesting because it is woodburning range cooker, electric oven and gas hob combined in to one (v expensive) unit. Looks pretty cool. Don't you think it sounds a bit dangerous having your gas and your fire so close together??? Not sure if the gas hob would run on bottled gas, most can though so probably - price might rule this option out before practicality did...

La Nordica Romantica (£1,185)
Width -
Max output -6kW
Efficiency -
Log size -

This one is a 'budget' option according to the blurb, ideal for holiday homes, cabins and yurts. I read in someones blog (can't find the entry now) about using this in their summer kitchen for wood cooking in the summer when it was to hot to have their inside (Ironheart) running.

Nectre Bakers Oven (can't find price in UK but guy we got the pigs from bought one somewhere)
Width -550mm
Max output -6kW
Efficiency -
Log size -

This is a much smaller stove. Some reviews mention problems with them sooting up but others are nothing but positive.

Staub (3500EUR)
I have heard of Staub because they make iron pots similar to Le Creuset (they are French too), apparently they also make range cookers.
I really love the look of this one. As pretty as the Ironheart. Similar price I guess.

and they do one with a visible flame too (the Vulcano Elegance) but I don't like this nearly as much.

Perhaps these would be easier to source in France :)

There are thousands more for example more traditional looking Aga's and Raeburns, or some really old ones available on 'leboncoin' (online buy/sell anything in France) Perhaps they don't have the exact same efficiency as modern ones...

Yoga in French

A friend took us along to a yoga class in Gerde (which is just on the edge of Bagnère de Bigorre), it was in a little hall, maybe part of the school judging by the noise of children having break time. We had yoga and French lesson in one, as there was lots of talking about different parts of the body and breathing etc.
I haven't got a photo of it, but here is Doug looking very relaxed afterwards enjoying our new hedgeless view in the lovely sunshine. It has been cold at night, but lovely weather during the day for a few days now.

Layout of the house

We have been struggling (and still are) to settle on a layout for the house that meets our requirements and seems doable, practically and budget wise.

The main stumbling points have been fitting in a mud room (given how close the door is to the existing stairs) and working out where the bathrooms/toilets/sinks can be to allow the waste to flow in to the septic tank. This second point complicated by the fact that we actually have two septic tanks at the moment, one is not really a proper official one. The guy we bought it from added it just before the sale completed after the survey which covers septic tanks had been done. I think he was trying to be helpful as the sink was just emptying outside, but it is a worry to us as it drains away under the house. It only has the kitchen sink water going into it so it could be worse.
It is also difficult to get the flow between rooms on one side of the house and the other to work well, I think this is because the house is quite long and thin.

We are still not sure if we can have a solution where the kitchen sink drains out the back of the house as it does now, but we have worked out some plans where this and whether there is enough clearance under the stairs for a corridor are the main questions we can see at the moment. They involve getting rid of the old stairs and replacing them with new, this is a bit of a shame as the stairs are original. But they are also rather woodworm eaten and would need a lot of work anyway.
Something else we are thinking about is whether to have underfloor heating upstairs - we plan on having it downstairs but would like wood floors upstairs and are not sure if under floor heating is a good solution or not.

We are thinking of getting a local architect to draw them up properly as plans so we can make sure we haven't missed anything as well as getting the plumbing and electrics included on them. I haven't found any magic program on the internet allowing us to do this ourselves yet, plus they have experience spotting things that would not work.

The idea of the bed that seems to be splatted on top of the stairs on the first floor view is that it is on a raised platform above the stairs... just an idea...

First floor

Hedge no more

Having demolished the ceiling Sarah and Rob were keen to help MORE, so Rob and Doug disappeared into the forest to cut up some fallen wood while Sarah and I started on the hedge with loppers and a handsaw.
We cleared some good access and then the boys turned up with the chainsaw(s) and we really started making some progress. We were just going to cut down a little bit so we could have a bit of a view from the outdoors kitchen.

 But we kept going

 and kept going

 until it was all gone

 It made a big pile but not that big considering

 We all sat down and admired the view from outside and in!!

View out the window

Admiring the view from the sofa

We are planning on planting some herbs (thyme, sage, rosmary etc) and some flowers (lavender, bulbs, sunflowers) on the bank until the tree stumps have rotted (some years) and then consider whether we want anything different. It is quite steep so perhaps that is the best thing for it long term anyway.

Ceiling no more

Rob and I popped upstairs to take a look at the ceiling in the bee room (our bedroom to be)  to decide what tools we needed to buy as he and Sarah kindly offered to help us take it down. He started 'investigating' a few bits with a hammer.

 An hour later with no more tools purchased, the whole lot was on the floor

 It took rather more time to clear it all up. You can see there was just a bit of dust as well as all the rubble (and snakeskins)

 Now the floor is all clean

 At the moment there are some beams left that were holding up the ceiling. We believe it will be fine to remove them and have the room full height but we are going to check with our roof guy first.

 What a lovely bedroom it will be!