Dear friends, this is a block-buster of a story!
This is the terrace on the middle floor of the house. It’s usually full of flowers and bags of rubble heading to the tip (aka. filling for Carol and Jeanot’s road). The terrace also provides the roof of the bathroom on the ground floor below, and until this week was also providing rain water for the bathroom floor! Too many leaky holes to repair so drastic measures were taken. Hence the block-bustering image below!
More than 100 barrow loads of concrete rubble later…and Carol will never need the gym ever again…But just admire the results for a moment. As the new concrete beams and blocks are fitted neatly into the terrace, it’s strong enough to handle a few extra croissants and water tight for the next 400 years.
And then just like a beautiful grey cake, she is iced to perfection. Check out that smooth skim work everyone. Ready to welcome you.
But what’s that beautiful surprise embedded in the wall you ask?
This tile was brought all the way from Launceston, Tasmania. Made by Margaret’s father Terry in the 1950’s and until now lived in her mother, Nan’s garden for over 50 years. Terry was a great francophile and artist and as Nan left the family home we made a promise to relocate Terry’s duck tile to our french home. As ever Jeanot skillfully handles the work with the utmost care.
Worker and courier admire the artwork.
And here’s a close up.
And the biggest surprise of all was Nan’s visit to Le Barry last year (more of these adventures coming soon). She is delighted to see Terry’s soul in France again. As are we.
ciao friends, with love, Margaret, Justy, Carol, Jeanot, Nan (and Terry).
Next week…Nan living it up at Ben and Lorena’s wedding!
Hi Justy and Marge and workers one and all, just a quick note to say what a great job you are all doing on your French dream house and how lovely to have the Terrytiling in its new home- I had a dream about ducks two nights ago so it simply MUST be connected! We still have the two fabulous prints of Terry’s in our hallway in Sydney – one of the holiday house on the north coast of Tas where we had a great new year with you Marge, many moons ago (1988/9?), and the other of a pot of petunias. Both are very special to me. Take care, Happy Australia Day and hope all is going well. When are u back in Oz? Luv Dug (and Frankie, Oon and Evie and Jedda the dawg)
Hi Doug, I would say your dream is a premonition of future apéritif sur la terrasse, you simply must come and visit, after your long standing blog following and commenting (notice I restrained myself from editing your post for surplus e’s). Lovely to hear you still enjoy Terry’s prints they are beauties. We are back in WW now, and are living a vicarious French life through the blog. Love to all M and J.
“Block-buster”? Could have done better with the puns this time… (I was hoping you’d put ductile -“duck-tile” – somewhere in there, but I forgot what that word means) Great to see Nan making an appearance on the blog! Xx
Hi Caitlin, sorry mate, Fin has pipped you to the ‘post’ this week with blog-buster! Thanks for reading and commenting, xxx J
Hi M and J. This is a beautiful post. A blog-buster of one. It’s a tribute to Terence alright, and not a small one to you and your team as well. On you all. Fin
Fin is this week’s punster with blog-buster! hoorah! Thanks FIn, will pass on your kind words to the team (who are actually doing the work!!! Carol and Jeanot!) J