Assembled and up in a day

And that included a shop this morning at Intermarché in le Bugue. I tried working outside in the beginning but the day turned into another stonker and what with the heat and being constantly attacked by biting horse flies of which there’s a plague this year, presumably on account of the weather, I soon moved inside to do the assembly work. It was more or less the same as the previous smaller version but a couple of little things caught me out and delayed things a bit, like a change in positioning of the strut fixings on the front bar.

By the time I was ready to mount the awning on the wall the sun had moved round and it was cooler but then the wind got up and some hefty gusts started to come through which I didn’t really need while I was in the process of lifting the awning up onto the shutters. I had to think a bit about positioning. It was obviously essential for the winding mechanism to be to the left of the living room door shutters and this dictated where it had to be mounted. I wanted it to be a little bit further down towards the kitchen window but it won’t matter in the long run because the current shape of the terrace and the positioning of the table and chairs will not be for the long term.

The pictures show the steps involved in getting the awning up onto the wall. I am less happy with the fixings this time around because they are not as secure as for the other smaller awning and I am concerned about that as this awning is heavier and more exposed to buffeting wind. No only is the wall constructed from hollow blockwork but I am worried that I might inadvertently have hit joints between blocks when I drilled for the anchors. Only time will tell if my fears are justified… I hope not.

All that’s left is for me to fit the roller front curtains and that’s a job for tomorrow. This working 7 days a week is beginning to take its toll on me and I’m feeling pretty knackered this evening. After fitting the front curtains I’ll take it easy for the rest of the day tomorrow.