When we moved to Lavenant, we were awestruck by the beauty that surrounded us….
All of the hand craftsmanship and attention to detail that has gone into renovating this place makes it magic. So this spring, when we were faced with the challenge of creating a new outdoor kitchen, it was important to us to continue the spirit of working with love.
Below are some photos of the journey (our first real renovation project as a collective) !
The beginning …
This building has gone from stable, to yogurt/cheese transformation workshop, to tool shed, to sheep shelter and today, it serves a new purpose as a shared kitchen for the Grain&Sens community !
Step 1 : A good scrub and some paint
Thanks to the smell, there was no hiding that the last inhabitants of this shelter were our friends, the sheep… But luckily we had David, returning woofer Juliette and woofer Marie on site to take on the challenge of cleaning and adding a first coat of paint to brighten the place up!
Step 2 : Leveling and straightening the back wall
Jonah and Raph fill in the holes in the floor with cement and create a support for a brick wall along the back of the future kitchen.
Step 3 : Coating the walls and sanding the rafters
All hands were on deck for this big collaborative work day!
It was a great day to be together and many hands made the work a pleasure. We split into teams to take on the missions of coating the walls with a mix of plaster, hay and yellow sand, preparing the shelves and sanding the unpainted rafters.
Secret step:
Take breaks to enjoy the view with your friends
Step 4 : The wood walls
It’s hard to pass by Lavenant without getting roped into some kind of project!
Luckely, our friend Anne was a good sport and with the help of her incredible math calculating skills, we were able to get up the two wooden walls!
Step 5 : The mosaic begins !
And how would we have pulled off this crazy mosaic idea without the help of our two fabulous detail oriented woofers, Axel and David, who showed up ready to take on the challenge!
Step 6 : Leveling the floor and laying tiles
Just as we approached the step of redoing the floor, our friend and neighbor, Florian, came for a visit. After hearing the hesitation in Victoria’s voice on how she planned to tackle this part of the project, he decided to come and give us a helping hand. Two days later, he was on site with materials in hand ready to pass the day leveling the floor (we had a slope of 15 cm!) and laying the tile. We are so thankful for the time he spent helping us and for having shared his skills!
And we can’t forget to mention Tom, a traveling cyclist who stopped by to learn about the project here at Lavenant and who ended up spending his day helping Florian and staying for dinner!
(Tom was doing a tour by bike, visiting places to learn about their food autonomy. We can’t remember the exact name of his association, but it was along the lines of LGA; Le Grenier d’abondance. )
Step 7 : The mosaic continues !
Step 8 : The super woman team brings in the fridge!
Step 9 : Finishing touches and details
A heart and the year to remember all of love and energy that went into creating this new space!
Step 10 : Get to cooking!
No better way to conclude this renovation project than with some delicious vegan crepes ;)
With both of the Grain&Sens buildings rented for the summer (1 as a guest house and the other as B&B) our community was out of a shared kitchen. This was problematic… For many, the kitchen is the heart a community. Meals are cooked, conversations are had, cultures collide, upbringings are shared and that is just the beginning. So with a sense of urgence, the community came together and we successfully completed our first construction project together! It was not always easy… we are still learning how to communicate needs, share decision making and respect each others rythmes…but we definitely learned a lot more than how to renovate a sheep shelter into an outdoor kitchen!
The completion of this project took about a month and a half and the help of over 16 adults and a handful of kids.
Almost all of the materials were recuperated/ up-cycled (mosaic and floor tiles, wood and paint).
To conclude…
A BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED CREATE THIS BEAUTIFUL NEW OUTDOOR KITCHEN FILLED WITH LOVE !
WE HOPE TO SHARE A MEAL WITH YOU ALL SOON :)
With gratitude,
The Grain&Sens Collective