August 28, 2013
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Jean-Baptiste and Melody 's house is ended
La maison de Jean-Baptiste et Mélody commencée en 2010 est terminée
Jean-Baptiste and Melody's house started in 2010 is ended !English version below the pictures with French text
Au début de 2010:
at the beginning of 2010:
Notre plus jeune fils Jean-Baptiste et sa femme Mélody ont acheté une vieille maison dans la campagne , au fond d'une riante vallée .C 'était à première vue une jolie maison de campagne, à colombages, très ancienne avec une grande pelouse.
Our yougest son Jean- Bapiste and his wife Melody bought an old house in the country-side at the bottom of a welcoming valley .
It was , at first sight , a lovely half-timbered house, out of age with a large lawn .
photo n°4 Vue d 'ensemble de la proprité en 2010. General sight of the property in 2010ils s ' aperçurent, trop tard que les bois soutenant la maison étaient à moitié pourris à la base . C' était tout à fait imprévu . Courageusement ils démontèrent les murs en ruine pour les remplacer par des neufs qui soient capable de tenir debout. .Des étais provisoires maintenaient le toit.
They realized too late the timbers were half rotten at their basis . It was quite unexpected . Courageaously they decided to remove the walls in decay and replace by others able to stand up firmly.Temporary props maintained the roof .A la fin de 2010 :
at the end of 2010:Finalement tout le toit a dû enseuite être démonté pour en installer un neuf . Quel travail!
Finally all of the roof had to be removed and replaced by a new one. What a work!Au printemps 2011:de Janvier à Juin:
At spring 2011 from January to June :
cette photo est à comparer avec la photo n°4 ci-dessus
This photo may be compared to the photo number 4 aboveAu printemps 2011 les choses avaient beaucoup changé puisque les granges aussi avaient été démolies et transformées en maison . Celle ci formée de batiments formant un carré autour d 'une cour intérieure .
At the end of spring 2011 things had much changed since the barns too had beeen removed and were become parts of the house . This last is formed of four buildings surrounding a square yard
.in 2012, travaux intérieurs:
In 2012,works inside :A lot of works : walls for the rooms, tiles of the ground, insulation, electric installation,plumbers ...
Une série de travaux : cloisons , carrelages , isolation , électricité , plomberies etc..
Arrival of a double opening stove . It remained to build the chimney around .
Arrivée d'un fouer à deux ouvertures autour duquel la cheminée a été construite.Et le 25 Août 2013 , jean-Baptiiste et Mélody organisèrent une fête pour pendre la crémailère afin de célébrer la fin des travaux . Ils vivent dans leur nouvelle maison qui est finie (ou presque ).
Dans une immense tente ils régalèrent collègues, amis, membres de la famille et ceux qui aidèrent tel " Maurice " le beau-père , ancien maçon,qui travailla avec tout son coeur. Trois ans et demi de travail intense pour Jean-baptiste (pendant ses temps libre) et pour Maurice et quand nécessaire pour les aides.and last August 25 2013, Jean-Baptiste and Melody organized a party to celebrate the end of the works . They live in the new house that is finished ( or almost). In a huge tent they treated colleagues , friends , family members and helper such "Maurice " the father in law, ancient mason , who worked heartly. Three years and half of intense wok for J.B. (during his spare time )and for Maurice and at times helpers .
The meal in a tent . We ate mutton .
Jean Baptiste et Melody avec les convives( guests)Une des tables . On voit Maurice sur la gauche assis à côté de Madame .
One of the tables.We see Maurice on the left, sit at the side of Mrs.On this day we celebrated also the first birthday of the twins and the 13 rd birthday of Joe a grandson who lives in England . I will relate later . This post is long enough!!
Ce jour -là on a aussi célébré le premier anniversaire des jumeaux et le 13ème anniversaire de Joe un petit-fils qui viten Angleterre. Mais cette entrée est déjà longue .je relaterai une autre fois .
Comments (32)
Congratulations to Jean and Melody. What a beautiful home that will be made more wonderful now that they and their family are in it. Loved all the work in progress photos, Michel. Thank you!
They really built a brand-new house. What a shock to realize that their home was much weaker than expected. What a celebration to complete such a big undertaking !! Congratulations to all
Christy
Formidable! It looks wonderful! What a job they had. Congratulations to them, and to the birthday people too.
Mornin Glorie....an outstanding job on the house and a delightful party to thank all the workers and birthday family. I see Melody has done a good job keeping the lawn mowed too :coolman: My Aunt from Texas lost her battle with brain cancer this morning so my girls and I will be traveling again, Keep us in your prayers. p.s... your post are never too long ! ilym :heartbeat:
Congrats and well done. May they be blessed with the new house.
What a beautiful home!!! They were brave to reconstruct it all. It will be a family joy forever. You share such wonderful stories with us. Thank you, Michel!
Is it not a puzzle, some men work hard to make a beautiful and comfortable home, while others sit and let their homes fall apart around them. You must be proud that Jean-Baptiste is hard working.
All their work paid off with a beautiful home that will last a long time! They must love it! It's too bad that the old place was so rotted, but we just can't save everything.
What a lovely home! Can they come build me one next?
It is incredible that they have built this beautiful home from shambles. They should be very proud of themselves. It looks like a lot of people helped them, and were rewarded with a grand meal.
Congrats to Melody and Jean-Baptiste! What hard work that is now such a beautiful house! I pray it is a love-filled home for years to come!
What a wonderful celebration you all had, Michel!!! 

Happy Birthday to the twins and to Joe! Hope it is a very sweet, fun day for each of them!
HUGS!!!
From ruins to a monument! It is hard to believe that the house is the same one that was falling apart! I'm sure they are happy to have completed the work.
FANTASTIC!
Michel, this is a testimony to dedication and perseverance. This home will remain for generations to come, and will be enjoyed by so many people by God's grace.
Heartiest congratulations to Jean-Baptiste and Melody, to Maurice and to you and every one else who helped in building this magnificent palace.
Love,
Zakiah.
Happy birthday to the twins and to your grandson, Joe, in England. Thank you for sharing the "journey" of the house to completion. It's a grand reason for a celebration. Thank you again for your visit and comment. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great, courageous man. He understood that God wants us to live together in peace and not to discriminate because of differences. ~~Blessings 'n Cheers
Answer to whyzat above ; from the old house they kept only the weathercock!
How wonderful! That is a lot of work and I don't recall you speaking of where they lived while all of that was going on. And then to have a party. :goodjob:
How wonderful! That is a lot of work and I don't recall you speaking of where they lived while all of that was going on. And then to have a party. :goodjob:
I remember the photos of the roof propped up with poles and wondered how it could ever survive. It looks like it was a good decision to demolish the old house and start over, although I'm sure it was very expensive. The final house looks very big.
Those are very intricate and elegant roof beams in the sixth picture!
Is any of the original buildings left, or were they all demolished?
This is such a big project! I am glad it went well and that they are (almost) finished. They can look on their work with pride.
:fun:That was almost a miracle. I can't believe they were able to restore such an old house. Congratulations. It looks lovely.
What a change;from a old charming house with problems, to a new great house full of charme.
congratulations. They did a great job and must be very proud and happy to have it finish.
Perhaps later they will use some of the land to put veggies and perhaps chickens and.... rabbits for the grass.
Nice reportage of the evolution of the house.
Amitié
Carlo
Wow! That is quite an accomplishment. I would call that a job well done!
About your comment, I like the way you put it, walking on our head these days.
Everything is upside down and every one is dizzy! 
Hope you have a wonderful day.
It brings tears of joy to see this...and the fact that they have twins born during this means that in some way special :yes: it brought them together in a wonderful way! Bon apetit and what a joy to celebrate their incredible home.
I hope they can recoup their loss of the old house. The former owner should pay at least a portion of their new one. To sell a rotting place is against the law in the US.
Hugs of blessing!
I am so amazed at all the work that went into it....Old made into new....A wonderful testimony of devotion and love pouring out into the work of their home.....Beautiful!!
Congratulations to them! I know you feel joy for their accomplishment.
It doesn't seem to be a whole year since the twins! Happy Birthday to them and Joe!
:sunny:
Michel, I don't use Xanga much any more, as I find pictures hard to upload. I don't have many friends left here. I love your site, though, it is the best. I'll have to think about posting again. Thanks for caring.
Après tout ce travail, Jean-Baptiste, Melody et les enfants doivent être heureux de finalement habiter leur nouveau "chez nous".
Xanga 1.0 ferme ses portes dans moins de 3 heures (il est passé 21h ici, jeudi 29). À moins d'une surprise imprévue, ceci constitue fort probablement mon dernier commentaire à vie sur Xanga sous le nom de Banyuls. Je continuerai mes palabres sur WordPress (usager: Yulberto).
Ryc: Thanks for the nice. Comment and info.
I think the butterfly was following me all the way from Wenduine. (protect me?)
The reason of the modern sky line of Rotterdam is that the city was flattened by Germans bombs the first week of World War 2.
Answer to Carlo above : the butterfly went with you to Rotterdam .But I believe remembering the life of butterfly is brief , so its presence was more precious yet.
I admire a culture that values old things. Well done.
Children's birthdays are so much fun the first is always a cool one..looks like you did have a work out for sure roofs are not the easiest
The twins are a year older!!Wow! Times flies!!
I am trying to subscribe to your site and cannot find how to do thatcould you comment on my site and let me know?
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