Page 92 - Demo

88ted away. I dug out under the floor and built brick pillars on which I rested proper joists before laying down chipboard sheets. We then had it carpeted. The carpet man came with the fitters and counted out the number of nails and screws they needed to complete the job. What superb stock control. It took a while but eventually everything was finished, and we had a nice home. We had no furniture when we moved into Buffavento apart from a bookcase that I had made, and which Gabby started filling with objet d%u2019or. We borrowed a mattress, and we had one chair and an orange box to sit on. Many a week would see us at the local auction house buying bits and pieces. The auctions always started with several bits and pieces on trays. Usually, the next week the tray would be back with perhaps 1 or 2 pieces changed. We managed to buy several pieces of ex RAF furniture as married quarters were being modernised a bit. We still have some of the chests of drawers. I made the double bed out of the Readers Digest book and a Welsh dresser that I was quite proud of. The bed is now in France in Gabby%u2019s brother%u2019s Paul%u2019s house. None of us had much in those days and so home brewing was a popular pastime. We made some gorse wine that finally got drunk 10 years later but also lots of beer. We had one home brew and waffle party that went down well. Waffles were more or less unknown then, but Gabby had had them when she was a student in America and we bought an electric waffle iron somewhere that is still in use. Buffavento was the last of 4 cottages down a little lane that led to sand dunes. Our next-door neighbour was an old man who we seldom saw but who got very angry when we turned his water off while changing our plumbing. The problem was that our water was a spur off his supply and so the only stopcock turned water off for us both. I had not realised that at the time and put a stopcock in our house which resolved the problem. The next house up was a holiday let and the first house was