We wish you a Merry Christmas

It is time to wind down now and have a bit of a break.

I suspect we are not alone and the rest of you are thinking, if not doing the same?

Our time here in France continues to be adventurous and we are on the cusp of another milestone by completing the 'farmhouse' kitchen.

I do not know where the year has gone - it was over a year ago that we started to renovate the barn and initially the target was to be in by June. However, the radical changes to the plan meant that this objective changed somewhat (as regulars will no doubt remember).

Anyway, the second target became, unofficially, Christmas, and we will miss this by a whisker.

The doors are in! Thierry arrived as promised and we spent Friday fitting the frame and the fixed panel (that is the right had one when viewing from outside). We have the glazing ready to go in but there is one last hitch.

I was under the impression that Thierry was bringing the lock mechanisms with him (this system is two sliding rods which run through the lock for the full length of the door. As the rods slide they click four bolts into place making the security much stronger).

I spent yesterday (Saturday) running around to try and find the right one which proved fruitless and it means I will now have to order one next week. Because of the Christmas holidays and this being France it could easily be another ten days which will be irritating to say the least.

I have a little plastering to do around the door (about one days work) which I can do without the doors being in so I can get on with this after Christmas (I have until about the 14th before clocking back into work).

In the meantime, we now have the Hydrochloric acid and the sealant for the terracotta tiles. In the week we will scrub the surface - we have borrowed a sander/polisher from the tile place so that we can do this without too much elbow grease.

In the meantime, we would like to wish all our friends and family who still log onto the site a very very Happy Christmas and restful and prosperous 2008.

Update 2.27pm

We are trying to finish off to a comfortable stage for Christmas and this morning, after I wrote the first half of this post, Donna and I scrubbed the Terracotta tiles with 50/50 Hydrochloric Acid and water to remove the cement residue and any grease and debris.

I must say they really cleaned up well. I took this photo while they were wet to give an idea of how they will look when the wax plish has been added and the surface buffed up.