Projects Underway

Not a whole lot to report since my last update over a week ago. I got a couple of outlets fixed, had the gas line to the kitchen removed, had my annual review with my investment manager (yikes), tried to go to a brocante (flea market), worked on the house, and released a new YouTube video. Sewing costumes for Carnevale continues. I’m starting to crave pumpkin baked-goods, but finding pumpkin is a challenge! So many projects underway, and not many results yet. I like results!

Electrician

Fixing the outlets means I won’t blow fuses. Now I can plug in my iron in my sewing room, which is set up by the window. I bought a steady-temp iron with a separate water tank. I prefer adjustable heat, but honestly, I didn’t notice that in the description. I’ve used professional irons that have a steady high heat, and so far this one has been just fine. I sure love having the water tank. I also have the option of using a small heater in the kitchen now, if I want. The kitchen has doors that can close it off, and I had planned to add small space heater, but I don’t spend much time in there. Maybe I should move my office from the dining room to the kitchen table? The warmth would be nice. Hopefully I’ll be getting the fireplace in the dining room going by the end of next month. Hmm… Maybe relocating is a good idea.

I’m also waiting for an estimate on installing an electrical panel and rewiring the house. Hopefully that will be a project that gets done before the winter and more space heaters get turned on. It’s also the first step before doing the kitchen remodel.

Gas Line

The owner of the heating company came out with his employee to take a look at my request to remove the kitchen gas line. It runs from a room on the street-side, through a hall, and into the kitchen to where the old gas stove was. I’ll be installing a high-efficiency electric range. He offered to have his guy do it right then, and I said, “Yes!” I’ve struggled to get calls back etc from vendors, so of course I wanted to strike while the iron was hot.

Apparently, the boss had been to my house last year to give the previous owner an estimate on installing a heating system. So when he asked me about heat, and I answered that I was looking into geothermal, he had a lot of opinions. He’s coming back tomorrow to talk about gas and wood-pellet boiler systems. His opinion was that I can install either for a fraction of the cost of geothermal and I’ll get way better quality heat. Geothermal is a low-heat system, and with the volume of my house he said it would be insufficient and it wouldn’t make the house actually warm. Wood pellet boilers require a lot of space to store the pellets, and there’s always the chance of running out. I believe either would still qualify for the 0% interest loan for energy efficiency renovations. So we’ll see. More info tomorrow.

Finances

With how the stock market has been doing this last year, I’m really feeling the pressure to get an income started here. Lots of irons in the fire, but it’s going to take some time. I won’t qualify for any grants until I file taxes here next year, and I’ll need the bigger renovation estimates.

I’ll be starting my fabric reproduction company once I get my residency card and can register my business. That’s still in development, but I hope to launch my first fabric for sale by Christmas!

The bed and breakfast is obviously waiting for renovations to be completed enough for guests to have a comfortable stay, and/or have welcoming event spaces. I’m shooting for next spring.

If my YouTube channel gets enough viewing hours and subscribers, then I will get a small income from the ad revenue. I’ve heard that the income can really be significant, but I don’t plan to devote myself to being a content creator at that level.

Some people have asked me about starting a Patreon, which is a platform where people can contribute monthly to my project. If I do that, I’d offer early viewing of my new YouTube videos, hold monthly AMAs (Ask Me Anything) – possibly live, offer discounts for my future B&B, and come up with some kind of physical merchandise. Sound interesting? Please comment.

Oh, and I’m working on translating Victorine de Chastenay’s published memoires. Not that non-fiction books make their authors rich or anything. 😛

Sunday Drive

I tried to go to a brocante on Sunday. I’d found it online, but apparently I didn’t take proper notes, because it was a vide grenier (yard sale). It was about a 50 minute drive from home, and when I got to the town, I saw that everyone had their tables on the sidewalks on each side of the main road through town. Driving slowly, I looked for parking and checked out the tables. No parking to be found, I exited the town, but couldn’t find anywhere to turn around until I was several miles out of town. I pulled over and considered what I’d seen, and since I didn’t see any furniture, the number of tables wasn’t that many, and I hadn’t seen a bank to get cash, I decided to pass. I took a different route home and just enjoyed a lovely Sunday drive through the Bourgogne countryside. The fields, rolling hills, autumn colors, and little towns are all so beautiful! My car gets about 50 miles per gallon, and I otherwise drive very little, so I wasn’t too stressed about the gas shortage here in France. No pictures, because I was driving!

Stone House

I’ve been continuing work on the main entry, chipping away cement facings on the lower portion of exterior stone walls, removing wallpaper and the plaster that falls with it, and starting some paint removal on a door frame. Progress has been slow because the cement comes off so slowly. From my research on stone houses, it will be worth it.

I’ve been in contact with a heritage architect! She is interested in my project, but isn’t available until next summer. I told her that I have lots I can work on until then, so I’m looking forward to that!

It seems the bats may have only been in my attic temporarily. I went up to check my bucket under the leak in the roof and noticed that the bat droppings hadn’t increased since I first found them. To make it easy to monitor this week, I swept thoroughly. I contacted the bat specialist about it, because I was wondering if it meant they were hibernating. He said it sounds like they are gone, but they may return in spring. I’ve contacted the insulation company to see if they can come finish giving me a quote on insulating up there. I’ll also continue contacting roofers to see about fixing my leak and making some repairs. I really really hope the roof is in good enough shape to last at least 5 more years.

YouTube

And lastly, I launched my latest video on my YouTube channel Chateau Living. This time I share a tour of my ground floor rooms. The positive feedback makes me very happy! It’s a lot of work making videos. I’m learning a lot along the way, and was tempted to reshoot the footage from August, but there really is no recreating the experience of walking through the house for the first time. I decided that was worth the problems with the footage, and viewers seem to agree! Here’s my Linktree: ChateauLiving

So that was a whole lot of writing for a short update! Haha! But this is why writing weekly is a better idea than bigger updates less frequently. It’s a useful journal for myself, because it helps me keep perspective on progress with so many projects underway. I hope you enjoy reading as well. Have a great week! 😀