Today was what David has termed a ‘big clean’ day.  It is the mandatory preparation for the next visitors.  Washing and ironing is the least of it, because that has been done throughout my stay.

I work my way down from the top.  First the sweeping and hoovering, including the removal of any of last year’s lingering cobwebs.  Then the dusting, although there is very little of that.  Beds must be prepared, and the porcelain attended to.  The final task is swabbing down tiles and staircases.

When I have the luxury of more than one day I can be more thorough.  I first deal with those rooms I either have not used or will not be using again before I leave.

No-one this time has used the attic or bedroom 2 on the first floor.  They therefore didn’t need much attention.  Attic rooms 2 and 3 each lead off room 1.  What this room loses in privacy it gains in the presence of two spacious walk-in locked cupboards.  I think it was Elizabeth who pointed out that it would be possible to get two more bedrooms out of them.  The exposed original stone wall is interlaced with huge wooden beams from the dismantled barges that could only navigate one way up the Dordogne.  Just two entrance beams are a danger to heads.  These, as in the doorway of room 2, have warning flags pinned to them.  Otherwise a stepladder is required to reach the roof.  The chest of drawers in room 3 occupies a niche which  terminates below head height.

When Michael and Heidi  and their family first came here it took Oliver about thirty seconds to get up to the top and bag the bed in room 1.  The girls were quite happy with his choice, although Alice soon rigged up a truckle bed beside her brother.  The cupboard in room 3 had reminded her of a scary story.

After the attic came first floor bedroom 2 which, although large, needs a minimal amount of furniture as it has a built-in wardrobe.

I descended to the downstairs WC and shower-room and gave it a good once-over.

Finally, I swept and swabbed down the upper staircase and the utility corridor leading to the shower room.  The only hazard in this area is the front wheel of Oliver’s outgrown mountain bike that hangs from the ceiling.

This was all done by 2.45 when I microwaved the rest of last week’s sausage casserole which I had removed from the freezer yesterday.  It was so delicious I finished the sauce with a spoon.  Does anyone else with a beard have trouble keeping soup out of it?