We are getting there

John is over in France for a couple of months and I am here in Australia. In France/UK its the coldest weather for years with huge snowfalls. In Australia its unseasonably hot - up to 39 some days and its not even Summer. What are we doing for Christmas? I am heading for the beach. John is with family in the UK. But in January 2010 I too go to Europe, and then I will get the chance to test out the insulation in the little house because John says the house- with the new wood heater - is toasty warm!! What a relief. Now we have a little car too so we can zip around easily. The kitchen will be finished, the wardrobes in and windows double glazed and then repointing the outside stonework, a small wall built.... and thats it.

It has taken us a couple of years and we have had our ups and downs.....but we are getting there. Not bad I say

Here is a before and after shot

Did I say that!!!!!!!

That I would finish my project management exam by July. Here I am still struggling on but I am still enthusiastic. We have been over to the UK twice since the last post. One of those times was to see our second newly minted grandson.

It was time to try and finish off the renovations.

However this time I poked myself in the eye with a tree branch and that held me up.

Regardless, John started to finish off the kitchen, and we got our wood heater in and had a couple of parties, started the vegie patch .



John will now go over for a couple of winter months and see how it feels to live there in the cold and I mean COLD.

Mr Moore snoozing in front of the fire. Surprise

When we were over in summer it was beautifully hot. Not the harsh sun of Australia but the softer sun of the Northern Hemisphere.

I found trying to communicate in my poor french rather trying and exhausting. Having the eye patch and having to get up every few hours in the night to put antibiotics in my eye also didn't help with the relaxation. It was good though not to hear dreadful news every day and not watch a thousand murders per night on some American TV show.

Its been a year

I can hardly believe it is almost a year since the last posting. A lot has happened during that time, some of it personal and some work related.

After some time of pretty unprofessional comments being made by the self styled now ex "pm", he finally got the legal flick. Good bye

However as usual there is always a silver lining amongst the clouds. It was thanks to his bizarre behaviour that I decided to do a professional, properly accredited project managers course, complete with international accreditation. Its called PMP and you can look it up on the website. It is based in the USA, but has an internationally recognised reach. I will be taking my final exam before July this year.

It is my aim to properly project manage small houses in France with a good experience for the client, and the staff.So we all have a win win situation.

As we are doing this from Australia, there is also the tyranny of long distance, but now we have some fabulous people working with us and for us. You can contact me for their details if you want.We have a plasterer/general builder, an electrician a plumber and a roofer.

John and I were over in December to try and start and finish the painting, but because of personal circumstances were not able to do that AND it was very very cold.

However he is going back in April to fit a kitchen.

Some of his kids and their partners are going over to help with the painting. I must admit, the plastering is so fine, I just drool over the smooth surface and wonder if we should paint. I think this must be a function of getting older. Firstly it was boys, then food and now plaster work. Sad.

Anyway here is a before and after to keep you going

Always check professional credentials

Its very difficult to ensure that the person who is employed to project manage your project whilst you are many miles away is either competent or is following instruction.

When we arrived in France in November for 10 days, after some hairy nail biting moments of trying to get plans for a staircase out of our project manager, we discovered a number things wrong with the work we were paying to be undertaken on our behalf. Work that if properly managed would be easily done. Some of it was right. I am not sure its THAT difficult to clear out a house, but as the days we were there unfolded it became evident, that all was not well. One of the issues being that the "project manager" who will remain nameless, didn't even come for site meeting till a week after we arrived.

Instead he spent time texting me. I was fed up of that one in the end. You don't do professional project management by text You actually come and see the client particularly if you know their time is limited.

This is a person who was "recommended" by default through association with another agency.

So TIP 1. always check credentials and even if you are given an document with SIRET number on it, dont accept that at face value. Professionals will always show you their licenses or whatever they need to before they take you on as a client. You can insist there and then to see that documentation. But more importantly, it should be offered.

Even so, you can get caught out as we did and when we finally got a copy, it was only by checking the siret number we found out he was not registered as a project manager. If his attitude towards us at the end had not been so odd, I probably would have not become suspicious. I would just have gritted my teeth and got on with it. But his attitude to my asking him for a requote and a reduction on the total cost as so many things were wrong was out of proportion to his response.

The "problem" is of course, that John and I are very cluey about renovating houses. Johns been doing building work for over 40 years. He has built houses. His Dad taught wood working and so he knows the score and I had just renovated a house in Melbourne.

The "PM" could not believe it when he discovered we had put the floors in. We were accused of using his "staff' to work on our work. Not true at all. John and I are very squeaky clean when it comes to matters like that. but more importantly ...we are COMPETENT. It was clear he could not have done what we had done and therefore could not believe we had done it ourselves.

I was angry, though I had tried to be generous in my approach. When we left in November, after having had what I thought had been a cordial conversation with him ( turns out he did not have the same view ) we went round to the house to turn off the water. We found that the slab under which the water tap sits inside the house, had been cemented in, as his "staff"were putting the cement down on the floor. It took us a bit of time to use the cold chisel and the crowbar to loosen the slab, get it up and turn the water off. We were also by then on a tight deadline to meet someone for a business meeting, and then get our flight. Finally we managed it. But for me it was the final straw.

We got the house....now what!!!!!

Madame would have to fly to France to sign the final documents on the house, as we have a joint mortgage and both parties need to be there. Madame said Non,but would send through properly authenticated documents.

The documents Madame sent through were NOT OK. Madame would now have to fly to Sydney, or Canberra or wherever and get the embassy stamp on the b........g documents. Madame said Non, non, non (suprisingly). Instead Madame (thats me!) went to the Honory French Consul in Melbourne, who is only open a few hours a couple of days a week. and he said "non, non, non nip round the corner and get the Notaire to sign them, that will be OK" . Ok, he didnt say "nip".Poetic licence.

So I nipped and found Professor Peter Zablud - a whiz on Notaire-ism. Well that was the day his secretary was off. As I typed the documents in his office, I admired the opulent surroundings. He said the document was a disaster, hence the retyping and that there was no standard document. Armed later with a couple of documents with big red shiny seals on them, a bill for $150.00, I went to the car to find the parking fine. It seemed to sum up the day. So I said "F...it" and went for a coffee.

Later I sent the documents by international courier to France. Australia Post have the technology to track your documents. Yes they would get there in time (or at least only a day or so late). I have tracked the documents. They did get to France on time, and now they sit, singing quietly to themselves in some post office. I despair!

I scanned the documents and sent them off to the French Notaire in time for the official signing.

John is having a nervy turn by then. The day comes, the visit is had, each line of documentation is examined in minute details. Three mealtimes pass and they are almost there (poetic licence again).

THEN zoot alorrs.....Tres bien etc. WE discover the land, our old vegie patch can actually be BUILT on. The value of the house shoots up another 30,000 euros in our favour. So John makes a decision to increase the size of the fosse to include 2 houses and its on for young and old in discussion with the builders.

Later on he texts me, as I shiver in Melbourne. HE is out picking plums from OUR garden in France. How good is that. Pretty good I can tell you. C'est manifique, et je suis tres heureuse

The "Fosse Septique"

It was the "fosse septique" that did it, that caused the delay. After further talks with our estate agent, it appears there was a problem they did not want to bother us with. So a tip may be, if there are any problems, please let your estate agent be aware that you WANT to know, so that you dont feel like "nothing" is happening. As we are managing this from Australia where the distance both time wise and geographically adds certain other stresses, we like to be in the loop.

There is a new law in France, that any old house now sold must have a septic tank (fosse septique). As I said in my earlier blog, there was no toilet in the house, so presumably everyone 1'd & 2'd outside. A beaurocrat decided we did not have enough land on which the house stands, so we couldnt have a fosse septique, and therefore .... no house. Our argument being... we always knew that, hence put pipes under the pathway, through the barn and onto the land at away from the house, which has AMPLE room for a tank. Isnt that logical ??? Non, non, non, non.

We finally won that battle. We go from the house, under the pathway, through the barn and onto the piece of land which has ample room. We just had to sign a piece of paper that said that we would not sell the house and the land separately ( which we coudnt anyway).We got a good price on the fosse, and work can start once the papers are signed.

There may be many old houses in France now which will be allowed to rot away because of this law.

Next battle. John was going over to the UK and then going to France. The estate agent rang up and said if he was there on the 10th August, he could sign the papers and the house would be ours. Yippeee. France was where he was going to be anyway. Catch: As we have a mortgage in joint names, I would have to be there too for the signing. Non, non, non. FINALLY, the lawyers agreed that if I had a lawyer here witness the form and John brought it with him, he could act on my behalf. With only 2 days to go before his departure, that was a bit touch and go, but he is now on his way to the UK, with said papers in his bag.

The next installment might say something like. WE GOT THE HOUSE .... now what!!

Its a waiting game

We receive little feedback from the estate agent as to where we are at which is dissapointing. We are dependant on others to help us through and I have to say, I am currently not impressed. Though we are a "small" customer, we are A customer. One day we may be a BIG customer.

I am sure there is some easy formula, tick box system for clients to receive and as they tick off, know they are getting closer to their dream.

The contracts are still hovering around in France somewhere and the plans are held up at the Mayor's office. We just did rough plans as there is no major construction. Now I wonder if they should have been more detailed. I check with the estate agent and am told that it is just the way of the world. Six months to close on a small house ??? Sounds strange to me. The plus side is of course we don't have to make any repayments which is good.

Steve, the builder, injured his back and was out of action for a while, but now needs to know where we are at in order to plan his time. My main concern is getting the house watertight and apparently there has been nothing but rain, rain, rain and more rain over there. Steve of course cant do anything till it becomes our house. So I am keeping Steve in the loop. He will try and fit us in once everything is finalised as we now head for Winter, and possibly rain, rain,snow, hail, rain.

John is talking about going to the UK, so he may have time to go and start the renovations. Once we get the house of course.

Suzanne has a man who puts in the septic tanks and I will discuss septic stuff and costings with him.

A complication to add to the mix, - one of the measurements John took when he was over there doesnt make sense. We can't get in to get that measurement and it is a crucial one as it determines where the windows go in the roof. Luckily we can make a quick decision once we get that. It will determine where the bathroom is. Then John and I will fight over how many windows there should be, 5 or 6. I want 6 to make the place as airy as possible.

We could have just the rendering and the hole in the roof fixed, but whilst Steve has the scaffolding up, it makes sense both for efficiency and budget to put in the windows at the same time.

Ho hum. It's a waiting game now.

The Contract

We got the contract(s) to sign. Three slabs of a tree - all to be waded through in French and English. Then after delving into the dictionary, there are the questions.

What asbestos ? What heater? What conversations with the builder? How much asbestos? Where does it go. Who can answer those things?

Then the conversation with the bank which was a little easier. Yes, we can have an interest bearing account, this one is better than that one. We can get 2.5% plus a cheque book. Francoise is SO nice and easy to ge on with. So I dont want to transfer too much over as I can get 6.2% in my online account here in Australia, but I have to make sure we can cover the mortgage payment, pay the builder and dont lose too much interest.

How do I do an international transfer from here. In the past it seems like even a small transfer has been treated by the bank as if I am money laundering for any and all terrorist organisations in the world. But its only $1,000, m'lud- it would hardly buy a hand grenade. All on deaf ears.

I love having the chats on line with people I havent met, people living in a different culture. Sometimes its easier online than meeting people from different cultures face to face here.

Regardless, I find it exciting and interesting. Because this is a building project, I have specific questions. Do you have skips over there? Do you have those very tiny LED lights to put in decking. Then I think...I wonder if they know what decking is? Can I have a composting toilet ( the answer is no). What about solar panels. Don't know the answer to that one. I know I cant have a worm farm self composting toilet.

Small House Society

I was listening to Radio National ( 621 Australia) when I heard about the Small House Society.

Its about how to reduce your footprint on the planet, and how not to be overwhelmed with "clutter". A very necessary lesson for me, I might add. I am Clutter Queen. I felt an empathy with their ideas and what we are trying to achieve with OUR small house in France.

I checked it out and then for $5.00 ....YES..... a whole $5.00...(for a year).... subscribed to it.

I purchased the definitive book called "Little House on a Small Planet" by Shay Salomon, published by The Lyons Press.

Here is the link to the Small House Society for you to check out. www.resourcesforlife.com/groups/smallhousesociety

In February 2007, John went and saw it too

On his way to the UK for business, John went via Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, caught a train down to La Souterraine, and was picked up at the station by Duncan of Maison Numero Neuf, a Chambre D'Hôte at 9 Rue Serpente, 23300 La Souterraine, Limousin, France.

Duncan and Lisa are an English couple who have a small hotel,which is where most of Andrew's (estate agent) clients stay, prior to catching up with Andrew. A vegetarian three course gourmet meal awaited John!! That coupled with the hot water bottle in his bed, made his stay really special.

The next day, he caught up with Andrew, the builder and the electrician. Measurements were taken, building work discussed. The first priority is to fix the left hand corner of the roof where some tiles are missing and water has got in. I completely missed that bit when I was there. The other thing to do is to render the end wall where we think the chimney had caught on fire and again make that waterproof. We think the fire is the reason that the chimney had fallen in from the inside.

This work is going to happen in May I think. At this moment in time though, the final documents have not been signed, so I am not sure if we can even go ahead with those plans.

In France, you have to agree with the vendor whether you want the house cleared out, which means everything goes, or things left in. There is a rather beautiful wrought iron bed and a lovely free standing wardrobe. However there is also a rather large pile of bricks, rubbish and up in the loft strange "bags" hanging off the rafters, plus one shoe under a box. We decided that we would prefer everything to be cleared out so that we just have the stone box look.

Later on, John met with Francoise from the bank, and arranged a mortgage. We felt this was good option as the rates are so low and means we dont have to be stretched financially. I think that took about 1/2 hour. I arranged a bank account when I was over there at the beginning and that took 25 minutes. I was IMPRESSED.

As I was in Australia when John was looking at the small house, we communicated by text a lot of the time. That night I got a text saying he was too excited to sleep ....thinking about the little house. How sweet is that.

John took loads of pictures .This is one

You do have to be creative and see beyond whats there

Basically the house is a box with bits in it. It has two and a bit rooms downstairs and a staircase and a large attic space. So when you go in the front door, this is what you see. A sitting room with a fallen in chimney. But hey thats OK because at least it has fallen in from the inside, so all the walls are still intact.

Kitchen? There isnt one. Toilet? There isnt one. Bathroom? You guessed. Dont ask me where people did their bits and bobs. I shudder to think, oh and no septic tank either. So in effect we have a box which is quite dry inside with loads of room for doing things.

Did I mention the vaulted cellar underneath and the barn immediately across from the front door. All juicy things to think about.

And then I went to see it

We were in the UK for Christmas 2006, and after Christmas I , Stephanie had some time to fly over to Limoges from Liverpool to see the house. It was almost a done deal. I had been chatting with the estate agent and it got better and better. A house, a vaulted cellar underneath the house, a barn and a piece of land. but still.....I hadnt seen it. I only had the photos and the words of Suzanne "See the potential". We had just finished renovating a house here in Melbourne. I vowed I would never ever do it again. Whilst I hated aspects of renovating, ( finalising the detail mostly) at the same time I loved the big picture stuff. How it would look, how we might shape it, how on a tight budget we make something really lovely.....so with all this in mind...I went to "SEE the potential".

Here is Andrews web site - www.ieafrance.com/

A house in France ?.......It was the last thing on my mind

Our friend Suzanne decided to retire to France from the UK. I jokingly said "If you see anything you think we might like, let me know". Well she did. In early December 2006, she texted me in Australia and said "I have seen a house that is such good value and I think you should get it".

"I have no money, but send me a picture anyway" I replied. So she did. As she said "Dont look at it as it now, SEE the potential" And I did. I liked it. but would my husband like it .......? That started a chain of events, emailing the english estate agent, finding out where it was. Its in the middle of France, 55kms from Limoges airport, 12 kms from mediaeval walled town called La Souterraine,
in La Creuse. This picture is of the mediaeval church of La Souterraine, not OUR village!








OUR village, or rather hamlet is smack bang in the middle of France. It's called Le Moulletier. You might find it on the google map - it's in a tiny tiny hamlet. The nearest village is Le Grand-Bourg