Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[ManueB]

but are you inspired by their chimneys to have fun with your new one? Hampton court is worth a visit by the way if you do ever come back to the UK.

My partner unfortunately doesn't take aesthetic into account at all when building things ... I think for this chimney thing, even doing the simpler thing is going to be sufficiently complicated! We still haven't rendered the walls that have been rebuilt on the old houses...that's my priority so it doesn't look anymore as if we live on a construction site .

Was the job in one of the libraries?

It was in a small french institute, no manuscripts. A digitizing and online publishing project of specialized collections, mostly maps..lots of old crazy maps ! I never heard how it went though!

Sounds like Blanche was less upset by the netting than you were, if she ate and drank straight after.

I hope you're right. She's a glutton so she tends to react to shock and fright with hunger. I'm with her on this .

 

[Perris]

My partner unfortunately doesn't take aesthetic into account at all when building things

We still haven't rendered the walls that have been rebuilt on the old houses...that's my priority so it doesn't look anymore as if we live on a construction site .

then you need to sell rendering to him on functional grounds , e.g. to improve the weather-resistance of the whole structure, protect the mortar, reduce drafts round doors and windows etc.

The institute map collection looks interesting - over 400 thumbnails online already

 

[Solanacae]

I know almost nothing about chimneys, but what we were told is that it's not simply about height. It needs to be one meter (3.3 feet) above the roof's ridge so it obviously depends on where the chimney is located on the roof, and on the roof's slope.
I found a lot of information online because we initially had no clue about it. I think it also depends if it's an open fire place or with an insert (not sure if my direct translation will work). My brother didn't have sufficient air draw and the solution at his place was to put in an insert.

Insert does translate directly, at least to me. That’s good to know about it clearing the roofline, I’ll have to poke around on the internet and see if I can’t figure out what’s going on. It would be nice to use it again. The fireplace is open right now, my grandfather bought an iron hook so that one could put a pot of beans with a little ham (his favorite dish) to cook over the fire. I don’t think it was ever used because of the problems with it, but I think it would be fun to try.

 

[RoyalChick]

Insert does translate directly, at least to me. That’s good to know about it clearing the roofline, I’ll have to poke around on the internet and see if I can’t figure out what’s going on. It would be nice to use it again. The fireplace is open right now, my grandfather bought an iron hook so that one could put a pot of beans with a little ham (his favorite dish) to cook over the fire. I don’t think it was ever used because of the problems with it, but I think it would be fun to try.

Yes. I had to put inserts in one of my chimneys. It was less of a palaver than I expected!
And yes, the usual cause of poor draw from a chimney is that it is not tall enough. I forget the math now but it has to clear the highest point of the roof by a certain amount.

 

[ManueB]

then you need to sell rendering to him on functional grounds , e.g. to improve the weather-resistance of the whole structure, protect the mortar, reduce drafts round doors and windows etc.

The builders told us that. Unfortunately they expressly said we should also render the olds walls that don't have any sealant to protect them from water . I would have love to keep them like they are.
**************
When I opened the coop Blanche and Cannelle had already both laid in the same nest. Blanche looked not well, she was lying down all morning so I gave her some metacam again. In the afternoon she came out a bit but she had a weird stance with her butt down. She's still eating very well and talking a lot with us, even when she's lying down, and I can see she's got the will to get better.
My partner had to rush to his mother this morning so we began cutting the fir tree in the afternoon. He cut down about a third of the branches, what took the most time was cleaning and grinding them. Hopefully tomorrow we can finish with the fir tree then we will have to take down the ash tree and lower the linden.
The chickens were very curious but also scared- the grinder makes a lot of noise. I think on the whole they enjoyed watching us. The day was grey but warm enough to have lunch outside.
Dust and sunbathing

Tree cutting

Chickens business

 

[ManueB]

This morning Léa, Merle and Nougat were all waiting at the door to go out to lay.
In the morning we started cutting the fir tree and this time we had to lock the chickens up as there were branches falling everywhere. We locked Théo's team in the coop and Gastounet's team in the run. They were very unhappy about it especially when my partner cut the trunk and some huge pieces fell not so far from them.
We let them out at noon and they enjoyed being outside! Even Blanche went out and nibbled at some grass. Gastounet's team was very excited to rumble through the branches and wood chips.
We found out that Blanche and Cannelle had also laid, and Piou-piou went cautiously to lay while my partner was cutting the tree, so that was six eggs today.
My dreaded partner's father had come to help, so I could bring down by and by all the branches to where the grinder was and he prepared them for grinding by cutting all the smaller twigs. We haven't quite finished grinding, but the tree is down and everything is cleaned up.
It looks very empty especially as it was the only evergreen in front of the house. We had no choice because it was dangerous but we feel sad. We are probably going to replace it with something much smaller that won't risk falling on the house.

Before

 

[Perris]

your partner was really high up there! he must have a good head for heights.
It's so easy to plant a tree too close, and let it grow too big, until you just have to bring it down for everyone's safety.
Will it burn well or is it unsuitable?

 

[ManueB]

your partner was really high up there! he must have a good head for heights.
It's so easy to plant a tree too close, and let it grow too big, until you just have to bring it down for everyone's safety.

That's exactly what must have happened. It was planted sixty years ago.

Will it burn well or is it unsuitable?

We're not too selective. The joke here is that as long as it's tree wood, we burn it . We are even burning the old houses rafters now.
It's slightly better than pine but still it's not very good for burning, it burns quickly and heats a lot, and it tends to clogs the chimney quickly.

 

[Solanacae]

I know you don’t care for your partner’s father, but it was really nice of him to come help - that’s a massive job to take on! I’m really glad you’re getting it done though, it’s definitely not a good idea having it so close to the house.

I had to look up rendering walls (not a term I’m familiar with) and now I’m curious if the inside of the walls are rendered or not. Considering how much the ground shifts, how is rendering a good idea? It seems like you’d be constantly patching cracks.

 

[ManueB]

I know you don’t care for your partner’s father, but it was really nice of him to come help - that’s a massive job to take on!

He actually isn't a bad person when he is not talking about politics, environmental issues or money, but unfortunately those are his favorite subjects. He loves to work with mechanical tools - if we're using an excavator, chain saws, the track barrows he'll always gladly help! And let's not forget that it is his house that is threatened by those nearby trees .

I had to look up rendering walls (not a term I’m familiar with) and now I’m curious if the inside of the walls are rendered or not. Considering how much the ground shifts, how is rendering a good idea? It seems like you’d be constantly patching cracks.

I'm not sure it's the right term, and I was wondering about this too. There is only one old house around that has been rendered, that of our elderly neighbor and curiously it has held up really well. I think there are different kinds of mixes and that we probably would need to apply different layers. And anyway we can't leave bare cinder blocks !
The walls inside are traditionally white washed with lime. We have tried painting the kitchen / living room and it was rather a failure .