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5 Jan - Fit new water filter |
14 Jan - Riverside walk along the Charente river |
view of our house from the river |
I must try this in the summer! |
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16 Jan - An "EXIT Puzzle" containing clues to solve
a puzzle |
27 Jan - Bedroom OPS Completed |
8 Feb - Having painted my way around
the mezzanine walls/ceiling I can now start on the Lounge. |
We had several damaged patches of
ceiling due to the leaky roof. |
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The new roof has been on for two
years now so no excuse for not making good. |
As well as the Lounge ceiling which
is 13 feet at its highest point the wall is also 8 feet high. |
10 Feb - Clean-up on the mezzanine |
The plaster dust goes everywhere |
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and everything needs a really good
clean |
including the carpet. Carpet
washing mode for the VAX |
in the mezzanine and the bedroom |
Jen cleans up my paint droppings on
the stairs |
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A bit of touching up on the Lounge
wall |
which is 40 feet long. |
Quite a bad patch of the ceiling down
this end due to water damage. |
This is the first time this beam has
been dusted since we arrived in 2010 |
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and will probably be the last time as
well. I doubt I'll be climbing up here when I'm in my
seventies. |
Last knockings of touch up painting
before the big clear-up. |
Vax the rugs and change the sofa
coverings |
20 Feb - Really nice to have the
house back to normal again. |
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without worrying
about how the ceiling looks |
Just need to clear up the workshop
now! |
21 Feb - A big day for us. A trip to
the Prefecture in Poitiers to pick up our Cartes de Sejour. |
22 Feb - Followed by me receiving my
French Driving Licence. |
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24 Feb - Back
Gate Repair |
and small window
fly screen replacement |
25 Feb - Bottom
Field Treetop which snapped off in a storm years ago has now finally
fallen to a level I can reach to cut up |
Left over from
Lounge OPS - repaint window catches |
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with Gold Spray
Paint |
26 Feb - Back
Garden Apple Tree which we noticed was being eaten by some sort of
beetle last summer |
and worried there
may not be much wood left inside the trunks to hold it upright |
So we decided,
rather than risking it falling on the house to remove it. |
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I did notice some
birds nesting in this little hole last week |
so decided to
leave the nest area until the end of the summer |
I think we made a
wise decision! |
So this is all
that is left until the end of the summer when the rest will come
down as well. |
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Wood from bottom
field treetop and apple tree drying out on hard standing |
2 March - I know, it's only the oven,
but I've been trying for eight years to get the old blown lamp out
so I could replace it. Today, it just unscrewed!!! |
8 March - One of our neighbours is
encouraging Bees to swarm so we're doing our bit with one of his
swarm traps. |
Time to
repaint the garage doors in between the rain showers. |
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9 March - two
weeks after mine, Jen gets her Driving Licence |
10 March - Garage doors slowly
looking better. |
20 March - Garden Chair repair |
21 March - Garage Doors Finished |
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25 March - RS Temperature & Humidity
Meter finally gave up the good fight. I bought this at work
back in 1978 ish to see if it was any good. Wont be getting
any more though - they don't last! |
4 April - Daisies on the Front Field |
5 April - Auberge de Blanzay for Fish
& Chips Night |
After Fish & Chips we came outside to
this sunset |
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I just had to photograph it -
amazing!! |
9 April - Mikey playing again. New
Ham Radio Satellite active so new dish at the top |
and some software controlled radio to
receive it |
10 April - Blackwood Hall Murder
Puzzle |
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14 April - We call him Sammy the
Squirrel and he plays on our bedroom skylight @ 07:30 every morning. |
16 April - Some improved RF proofing
for Roger's RT Simulator due to Radio changes at the airport. |
20 April - Geranium Planting |
21 April - Garden Seat requires some
TLC |
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and the flail mower is also in need
of the same stuff |
as well as some new bolts to hold the
flails in. |
22 April - Rural Retreat Puzzle |
27 April -
International Marconi Day |
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1 May - A bit late but HOT CROSS BUNS
- yummy!!! |
3 May - Garden Seat completed |
One of the slats broke, just by the
hole showing here. |
Bit of a nuisance and a coincidence I
thought until I had a closer look. |
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We have an insect called a
Carpenter Bee over here and guess what? Yep, they eat wood. |
Start with a small hole and
then eat the wood like it's been drilled out. This hole was 12
inches long. |
13 May - Here we go again but at least we do our bit |
14 May - Jen's been busy again, a sunflower puzzle |
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15 May - This box was "printed" using one of the new 3D printers.
Amazing, cost me £10 incl delivery to France |
and all within a few days. It's for the Lime SDR transceiver
I'm using for the new satellite link |
18 May - Attempting to burn out the rest of the apple tree stump to
make mowing easier |
19 May - Jen busy again. 3D Earth puzzle in progress |
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22 May - 2.4 GHz Antenna for satellite uplink. Time to get the
file out again :-( |
Also time for the garden spring cleanup pre holiday guests |
Cut the grass, clean off all the winter grime and wait for the
sunshine and the visitors. |
23 May - BBQ1. Thought we'd practice a bit before the guests
arrive - any excuse really! |
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26 May - This antenna is referred to as a PotY (Patch of the Year)
Don't ask!!! So here we have the component parts manufactured as per
the diagram +/- 0.5mm |
18 June - Matt moves into his new flat |
8 July - Dave and Mara enjoy a BBQ with us |
after David tries his hand at cutting grass Bonnifont style. |
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17 May - Had to relocate the new dish because |
the USB3 computer cable would not reach the feed point. |
21 July - Time to solder up the PotY |
2 August - Just solder on the connector |
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3 August - Dinner @ Cafe PorteBleue with Ellie, Matt and Steph. |
4 August - BBQ time again |
6 August - PotY Complete.
PotY bit is 2.4 GHz transmit antenna and back bit is 10 GHz receive
LNB |
15 May - fitted to dish for alignment of dish in new position. |
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20 August 11:50 UTC 1st contact through satellite Es'hail-2 (QO-100)
I transmit on the 2.4 GHz uplink to the satellite and my signal is
retransmitted on the 10 GHz downlink back to Earth. |
28 August - Solar Battery sort out. So, after 9 years 7
of the 9 batteries have failed with 1 duff cell. The oldest
remaining battery has been in service for over 13 years though!!! |
11:00 10 September - It's that time
of year again - Wood Delivery. Three cords this year. So, all
of this needs to move |
into here where it can stay nice and
dry. |
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Pallets keep the wood dry from any
water that runs through the wood shed, and it does from the top
field |
20:30 and all finished just as the
sun goes down. |
All stacked away ready for winter. |
17 Sept - Our old
neighbours Kevin and Sue visit from the UK |
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so we have a BBQ
along with Dave n Mara |
Not bad for one
evening guys!!! |
23 Sept - Spa
break at Hotel Ibis Styles La Rochelle Thalasso Chatelaion |
Only a few days
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but really
enjoyable |
11 Oct - Annual
contest to see how long the geraniums last |
and managed to
get the grass under control this year as well |
Wind generator
removed along with the weather station and mast |
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Weather Station
relocated to here |
and Oscar-100
dish arrangement boxed up |
13 Oct - Last BBQ
of the year |
with onions this
time |
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Very nice. Can't
wait for next year. |
20 Oct - Remote
radio project. The little box is a Raspberry Pi that controls
the radio. |
23 Oct - Christmas Puzzle |
and Halloween Puzzle |
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26 Oct - 26°C
outside, Nice! |
29 Oct - Archie
on FlightSimulator |
Dinner with the
family |
30 Oct - with the
weather being so good we decided |
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our visitors
should earn their keep by doing |
some grass
cutting. |
2 Nov - R&R is
included in the price |
along with any
required training |
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12 Nov - Back to
the UK and a few finishing touches to Matthews flat |
now that he has
his furniture |
and bits and
pieces installed. |
Feeling
very homely. Well done Matt |
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16 Nov - Down to
Cornwall and off to a party with the girls **Absolutely manic** and
great fun |
Definitely
developing a sweet tooth |
17 Nov - Senen
Beach walkies |
We "oldies" had a
job keeping up with the kids. |
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No shortage of
energy |
and no trouble
with November sea water temperature |
24 Nov - Back
home after a lovely trip and time to move the geraniums on |
Not bad though -
24th November |
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30 Nov - Another
Christmas Puzzle |
Dec 10 -
Christmas decorations up and time for |
a few pre
Christmas nibbles and |
drinkies |
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Merry Christmas and a very happy and
prosperous New Year to all of our family and friends in France,
England, New Zealand, Australia and around the world |
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with some of our
friends |
Dec 19 -
Modifying a UB802 mixer for remote radio operation |
25 Dec - and here
we are again. Merry Christmas to all |
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