It’s fair to say our renovation got off to a rough start this year. The weather was relentless, the setbacks kept stacking up, and somewhere along the way we lost a bit of our spark. Since the new year we’ve been up in the attic wrestling twisted beams and worrying about mould, and the progress up there has been hard won. So when spring started to make itself known, we made the call to split our efforts and get our hands in the soil before the season fully takes hold.

The Windows We Refused To Throw Away

When we worked on the front of the house we sadly couldn’t save the original interior windows. But we couldn’t bring ourselves to bin them either, so they’ve been leaning against a wall ever since, waiting for a purpose. The dream was always a little greenhouse, and with a rare break in the rain it felt like the moment to finally get started.

The plan was modest: a small lean-to against the garden wall, built around the old frames, used for nothing fancier than starting seeds. The frames needed some attention first. The old paint and weathered edges had to come off before they could be trusted outside for good.

Building Between Downpours

The break in the rain did not last long. I got somewhere on the first dry day, though it took longer than expected, as usual. The next morning the weather was horrible again, so the build turned into a game of dodging showers. I managed to finish the roof and the general structure, which made it more or less watertight, and by that point it was probably the driest spot in the whole garden. I got so soaked doing it that I couldn’t tell you if the greenhouse was keeping the rain off or I was.

Once the rain made cutting outside impossible, I moved to the inside instead and put up boarding to hide the rough wall behind. It also meant I could keep working while staying a little bit dry, which after that week felt like a luxury.

Romy’s Woven Border

While I fought the weather, Romy started a project of her own. She’d spotted an idea on Pinterest: a raised border circling the big tree, built from woven sticks. The roots of our trees sit very close to the surface, which has made planting anything around them nearly impossible. Her plan is two woven rings, one inside the other, with the gap between filled with soil so new plants have somewhere to put their roots down.

She had loads of sticks left over from trimming the trees, so it was meant to be a free project. The sticks had other ideas. Most were too brittle and kept snapping mid-weave, and the shops didn’t sell anything suitable. Salvation came from over the wall. Our neighbour happened to be trimming their own trees and kindly let Romy take as many branches as she wanted.

The ring around the main tree is now finished, and she’s thrilled with it. The soil will have to wait until late spring though, because the bulbs underneath are still coming up. She’d love to build more of them, taller ones, maybe some plant supports, but stripping the leaves off every branch takes ages and makes a tremendous mess. The real lesson is that you need far more branches than a city garden will ever give you.

Good News From The Attic

Meanwhile, the attic slog continues. We’re still fitting the supports into those twisted, stubbornly unstraight beams, and the progress is slow but decent. I’ve spared you more footage of it in this episode, and next time we should be on to the insulation.

The bigger news is the mould. When we removed the old insulation a few videos back, we found a water-damaged patch at the north end of the attic, and it worried us badly. There’s a wood-eating fungus, Serpula lacrymans, that is a serious problem in this part of France, and if it turns up in your beams you essentially have to replace everything. For a while we were bracing ourselves for a whole new roof.

We got an expert in, he ran his tests, and the verdict is that it’s old, inactive water damage and nothing more. The beams are structurally sound, we might add a few small reinforcements to be safe, and nothing needs replacing. After weeks of quietly panicking, that news landed very well indeed.

Slipper Satin, In Full Sun

Back in the garden, the greenhouse is nearly finished. Romy loves it, which is the review that counts. The shelves lift out, so in winter she might move some lemon trees in to keep them warm, and the whole thing is about the size of a wardrobe, which suits our small garden perfectly. Best of all, the old windows from the front of the house are back in use instead of rotting in a corner.

There are a couple of jobs left, a pane to repair on the far side and the handle to paint, but there’s also a dilemma. We painted it in Slipper Satin by Farrow & Ball, expecting something creamy and soft, and in the pure south-facing light it reads far brighter and harsher than we hoped. We genuinely can’t decide if we like it. If you have opinions on the colour, we’d love to hear them.

In the meantime it’s completely usable, and Romy is itching to start her seeds and fill the garden with new plants. The whole build is in the video at the top of this post, rain and all. Next episode returns to the attic for the insulation. And if you’ve ever built something from windows you couldn’t bear to throw away, tell us about it in the comments.