Frustrating

St Robert

Just to please daughter 3.

I was going to not blog today as it has been such a frustrating day and I didn't want to share it with you all.

However thanks to Liz.....

We started off with a phone call from the pool company to confirm that we hadn't actually ordered a part we thought we had - they told us the extra cost and we declined.

Talking to the pool company is a little like phoning a solicitor or accountant. Every time you do so it costs you another chunk of money. So this time we didn't spend it.

Instead we went to the shop for another gas bottle top-up and some vegetables. We took Millie Mehari as she hasn't had much use during the winter. When we got back we found two men in the garden. J-J and Martin from the pool company.

They didn't demand money with menaces but had come to check that the heater and pump were running well. They had rolled back the security cover just enough to allow them access to the filtration system and confirmed that the pump was not working properly. We left them to it (having made them a cuppa - J-J takes tea, weak, black, no sugar) and started to attend to other outside matters, tidying up the mess they have left.

Eventually they left the pump and heater running and said 'If the temperature doesn't change between now and 2pm, call the office, we will come back again' (in English, heavy French accents).

Jon began to re-route and bury the water supply they have fitted to the chalet and pool area. I popped in to check the time and start lunch and when I went out again Jon was struggling with the pool cover. A big gust of wind had lifted it and, where it wasn't secured to the pump end, it had shifted off the pool and landed off centre.

The security cover weighs around 130 kg.

We struggled it back as far as we could. Rolled back the other end to give it some weight and went indoors to avoid the huge downpour which had just started.

Jon by now is not a happy bunny. I won't repeat exactly what he said about the, apparently fatherless, weather, but he was extremely fed up.

We had lunch, the sun came out again. I went to check the heater and pump and found that I couldn't read the display - the rain had obviously got in to the system and stopped the LCD from working.

I phoned the pool company. 'We will be zere before alf past zreee' said J-J.

Martin was there before alf past two. (Yes, pronounce alf with the L in it).

He fiddled about a bit. Changed the LCD, fiddled about some more. Called the heater manufacturer and pronounced that the heater is, in fact, working fine.

It is. Lucky for Martin (who said as he was leaving that he hopes he doesn't have to come and see us again - but did say that it was only because he wants our pool to be working now).

Jon continued with the water supply. I started cleaning the pool.

It began to rain. Heavily. We went indoors.

The sun came out. I continued cleaning the pool, Jon started to set up the edging for the parking area.

It began to rain. Heavily. We went indoors.

You get the picture.

Finally, I have almost finished cleaning the pool. It will take another couple of hours tomorrow and maybe Friday too but there is a lot of sand in there from the rainfall the other week. It will be fine by Saturday. Jon did get the edging for the parking area laid down and we have measured up the amount of castines we need for there and the paths.

Tomorrow's weather forecast says no rain. Fat chance. Watch this space.

A garden full of men

St Wilfrid

Oh, what a lucky girl I have been today (apart from the 6 am alarm call, thank you Figaro!).

We started off with two men coming to take down the Horse Chestnut tree - which was pretty spectacular.

Now you see it.......

..... now you don't

Then later, as we were clearing some of the log piles around the garden, another two young and handsome men turned up to sort out the pool start it up and install the cover, an unsightly thing but necessary and compulsory to comply with French law (the options are an alarm which can go off at any time of the day or night should a mouse drop in, or a fence of a particular standard, height, quality and conforming to the law - it's ugly too).

So here we are at last. Treeless and with a pool that works. No excuses now for not tidying up and getting on with planting and laying paths. Dammit.

Love is in the Air

Ste Valérie

"Spring has sprung, the grass is ris
I wonder where the birdies is?"

I know exactly where the birdies is, they is all in our garden. At least that is what it sounds like at 6am. Blackbirds, robins, chaffinches, blackcaps and other assorted noisy beasts all chirruping away to themselves and competing with the cuckoo who seems to insist that it must be fifteen o'clock now. The magpies and jays argue amongst themselves all day long and whoever decided that a nightingale is romantic obviously hasn't been living in southwest France in spring.

I had never heard a nightingale until last year and the one we had then was living way down at the bottom of our field. This year it seems to have moved in with us. It would appear that it likes to sit very, very close to the house and sing happily to itself all night long.

Yesterday evening we took ourselves over to the chalet after dark to admire the new lighting and enjoy the warmth of the evening. He was sitting beside my right ear - not that I could see him - and shouting sweet nothings right into it. He was still at it when we went to bed at 11 and again when I woke at 3 am. I'm surprised that bird doesn't need a Strepsil this morning!

It's lovely to see nature coming back to life after the long winter we've had. The last few days of warm weather have forced the leaves out on most of the trees and we've seen lizards, birds and butterflies enjoying the sun.

We could do without the midnight serenade though!

Farewell to Humph

Ste Vita



Mornington Crescent!



I win.



Humphrey Lyttelton died yesterday. Sad news.



We once went to see a recording of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue at Wimbledon Theatre. I have only laughed so much that it hurt on one other occasion and that was equally surprising to me. It was at a Ken Dodd evening in Dorking Halls. My father was sitting next to me and I honestly thought he would fall of his chair!



I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (ISIHAC) is a very British phenomenon. I can't see that this sort of humour would have ever travelled across the pond, or even just under the channel tunnel, but we have always enjoyed it's stupid party games and a level of innuendo I never thought I would hear on the BBC before the watershed. How Humph got away with it I will never know, but his suggestions of what 'Samantha' the scorer might get up to were very near the knuckle.



How we will miss such lines as 'Samantha's going out now for an ice cream with her new Italian gentleman friend. She says she's looking forward to licking the nuts off a large Neapolitan'. Will we tell you the truth about Samantha and how she took these comments about her personal life? No.



From Mornington Crescent to 'One Song to the Tune of Another', to letters from Mrs Trellis of North Wales; Monday evenings will never be the same again.



Rest in Peace, Humph.

Silent Saturday

Ste Alida

Spot the cat

Misty hiding from the sun

Copyright Sue Smith April 2008

Busy and reading

St Marc

A couple of busy days stopped me from blogging.

Yesterday was a shopping day then cooking and gardening, followed by book club and book group friends back here for supper.

The good news is that the sun came out - not that we expect it to stay for long - and today we have been taking advantage. Jon has been clearing up more of the aftermath of the deluge and I've potted up some veg and planted some seeds. We are hoping for a better crop than last year but we're not holding our breath.

The book group discussed 'Saturday' by Ian McEwan, a book I thoroughly enjoyed. I hadn't read any of McEwan's work before even though I have a couple in the pile ready to read but I have to say that I really enjoyed his descriptive way of writing and it's the first book in ages that I have put aside, not to avoid reading it, but to put off the time that I finished the book.

The next book choice for that group was elected last night and the selection is Eric Newby's 'The Last Grain Race', that is for the June meeting luckily as I still have another two books to read before the end of May for our other group.

Aubergines, lemons and pistachios

St Georges (Flags out chaps)

We started off with a beautiful clear sky this morning and I was up at 7 again thanks to Figaro. I don't really mind too much on a lovely morning, especially after all the rain, and I had a lunch to prepare for friends, so I managed to get an early start with my food preparation.

I try to keep a diary of what we have fed to our various guests when they come here. It can get quite complicated when we see the same people, in different combinations a few times a year. Today we decided to opt for a North African theme and, although I had made most of the dishes before, I wanted to try some new ones and so prepared them in advance in case they turned out disastrously.

The Baba Ganoush (aubergine and tahini dip), I started yesterday morning by baking the aubergines. Unfortunately we had to go out and I didn't peel the aubergines and mix them with the rest of the ingredients until late afternoon. This turned out to be a big mistake as the soft pulp of the aubergines picked up the bitterness from the skins and the dish was ruined. Jon was a saint and went shopping very early this morning so that I could have another go and today, the dip turned out deliciously (is that a valid word?). I also made a broad bean dip which, yesterday evening was a little bland, so after a night's rest in the fridge, I added some Tabasco sauce and lime juice - the result was perfect. We also had Fattoush, a tomato, cucumber and pepper salad with a spicy dressing, mint and parsley leaves, and a plate of crudites and North African bread completed the first course.

The main course is one that I had prepared before so I was quietly confident that it would turn out well. The chicken with olives and preserved lemons was really popular with our guests and we served it with a rice mixture including dates, dried apricots and toasted almond flakes.

For dessert we had an orange salad and with our coffee a nut and honey cake, which was all gooey and light.

It was the cake that caused Jon and I a bit of pain last night. The recipe called for 115 grams of peeled and ground pistachio nuts. The only pistachios I could buy were in their shells and salted so we duly sat and peeled the lot.

I can now confidently inform you that the average weight of a peeled pistachio nut is point three or four of a gram, and if you like pistachios, you will know how long it took us to shell the damned things. Our fingers were sore and our thumbnails shot to pieces.

So we were very glad that the guests really tucked in to the cake and enjoyed it.

Tomorrow is book club evening and some friends who attend come from a village 45 minutes drive from here. Being the nice, friendly people we are, we have invited them to stay for supper after the meeting, so we start all over again tomorrow with a different menu. But I can assure you that it will not include pistachio cake!

Oh, of course the sun didn't last. We managed an apero out on the veranda before the rain set in again, but it has been mizzling ever since. Roll on summer.

More water, gushing rivers and good news

St Alexandre

We were lucky yesterday evening that Jean-Jacques came around to see us at the time when the water had risen to it's highest around the pool. He and Martin, who is working with him this week, immediately set to and diverted the water from the pump and they and Jon then re-routed the water tumbling out of the upper field, across the road and onto our garden. They created a further three waterfalls which tumbled musically for the rest of the evening. We used bricks, an old paddling pool surround and anything else we could find to create miniature dams around the chalet and pool. The pool guys sealed the pump block and we are waiting for it to dry out completely before they come back to commission the pool.

We had been invited out to lunch today and travelling along the river Lot we stopped to take some photographs. The Lot is usually quite a lazy river but this gushing torrent was taking huge tree trunks with it on its way to the Atlantic Ocean. We read in the local news that the Lot, our very small babbling brook the Céou and several other rivers around here are on yellow alert for fear of bursting their banks.

Super good news tonight. Tree surgeon man came round and says he will take our horse chestnut down next week!!!!!

The morning after

St Anselme

It rained all afternoon and evening. It was still raining when we went to bed at 11.30 having checked the indoor water features in the cellar (they were flowing well, very pretty, we fed them some old towels to soak into).

This morning it was dry and bright and we went out to explore. The spoil from the swimming pool which had been carefully placed to smooth out a steep bank has travelled further into the field.

There has been so much rain over the last two weeks that there really isn't anywhere else for it to go. The culverts are all full, the streams, which are usually dry in the summer, are overflowing dramatically, and down in the lower field (not ours) there is a new lake being fed by water pouring down the valley taking whatever path it can.

The village is one of the lowest sitting in the area and we are so pleased that we live half way up a hill and not down at the bottom.


Monsieur D's cows were huddled together by the gate, yesterday morning I had seen them sitting beside the stream at the lowest point. They had the foresight to move up before the water got too high and cut them off.

While we were out taking photos this morning, guess what?

It started raining. And we're not out of the woods yet.

Not funny

Ste Odette

We have never seen anything like it. We've had this house for 10 years and have been here in all kinds of weather. Super wet, super dry, super cold, super hot but never have we had rivers flowing through the garden in this way.

Jon is very concerned about the bank around the house and especially the land around and under the chalet. We are hoping that this is passing through and doesn't take too much soil with it.

Silent Saturday

Ste Emma

Actually my friend Emma is taking part in a big Thai boxing match today and I wish her loads of luck. Hopefully her saint will be looking down on her and keeping her safe from other Thai boxing bullies! ;-p

Silent Saturday again:

Misty likes to sleep with her cuddly Bagpuss

Copyright Sue Smith November 2007

Next winter

St Parfait

Saint Perfect??? I know a few of those!

We decided to go and try another couple of floor suppliers this morning. We got to the first place and it was such a mess we couldn't find anything that would interest us. It seemed that the warehouse was in the process of being re-vamped so we gave up and went to look at the wood burner shop.

It was a tiny shop considering it supplies lots of huge wood burners but there was a good selection to look at. The nice lady showed us around and, even though we were only looking, we did see the stove we wanted. We'd already see the model on the internet.

We were pleased with what we had seen and we were then impressed to see that the stove was on offer. The saleslady, who we were beginning to like more and more, said that it was the last one they had in stock and that she would like to make us an even better offer on the price. She proceeded to reduce it further and we ended up with a discount of a little over 33%.

You aren't surprised to learn that we bought it. A man will come and check the chimney and site and they will install it in early June.

It's one of those things that we think we should have done before last winter, you know, the one that is still going on (sitting here with the kitchen heater on full blast again), but to be honest we hadn't quite decided how we were going to rearrange the upper floors of the house.

And anyway, if we have a chilly evening in July, we can make the house nice and toasty.

Listen to Sis

St Anicet

Rain, rain, rain. I know it's sunny in the UK but here in the Lot we are drowning! We have, in the past, discovered various new rainwater runs through our land but we are surprised every time we get heavy rain to find different ways though. The current favourite is off the road, down the bank behind the chalet and collecting just there in a huge puddle. Why it can't all go on the other side of the road and top up the communal well, I just don't know. I know that it will all gather behind the cellar wall overnight ready to create another little stream through there tomorrow morning.

Our neighbour Monsieur D did warn us that the rain was on its way yesterday when I stopped to ask him to recommend a tree surgeon. He always talks about the weather, maybe he has heard that that is what English people like to talk about, I'm not sure. We made the most of yesterday late afternoon and sat in the sunshine until the temperature dropped as the sun disappeared behind the house.

Today we have been having another clear out. I know we've only been here a year but there is still a lot of, well, junk really, that we have accumulated. All those things that you know will just come in handy one day. Jon doesn't understand why we need to have two video recorder/players when we never watch videos - but we do have a collection of videos and lots of them haven't been released on DVD so I don't want to part with them. I still find it hard to throw perfectly servicable things away - including that old musical we taped when it was on Channel 4 about 18 years ago. We loved it and still watch it every couple of years even though the tape is severely worn and will probably snap on the next viewing. What about all the scraps of wool and fabric I have been collecting for years - no, I'm not parting with it, I might want to make some toys for the grandchildren's next visit.

Oh yes I will.

Probably. Perhaps. Oh, dammit, let's just throw half of it away then.

We discovered that we have two single and four double spare duvets. Considering we only have a two bedroomed house (not even that just at the moment) one would wonder why on earth we need so many. Well, we threw one out and as Jon was complaining how much room they take up, I drove down to the local 'tat' shop, and purchased several big plastic boxes and a collection of vacuum bags.

Now, my sister has suggested several times that I get some of those, and I've never taken her advice, so I want to make it clear right now. Anne, you were right. They are brilliant, the duvets take up a fraction of the space they used to.

Well they did until the cat stuck his claws in them and broke the vacuum.

Back to square one.

A day like this

St Benoît-Joseph

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JON XXXXXX

It's Jon's birthday today and I'm not going to tell you how old!

We have had a lovely sunny day here - no rain, no clouds and we had a super lunch out in Domme-en-Dordogneshire. It was our first lunch on a restaurant terrace here this year - we don't count the China Bear Pub in Hong Kong, it wasn't quite the same.

It's amazing how a sunny day during the school holidays can cheer everyone up and put a smile on their faces. The restaurant terrace was full of relaxed people enjoying the day, just like us.

When we returned there was a lovely answerphone message from our German friends, wishing Jon a good day. We phoned them back and caught up on four months news.

There have been e-mail messages and we're expecting phone calls this evening too. Daughter number 1 called first thing this morning.

J-J was found in our garden tidying up the rest of the pool and the chalet terrace. He'll be back on Monday and says that we will certainly be swimming by the end of next week (if the weather is warm enough).

It's days like this that mean so much to us.

Think of a number, double it.

St Paterne

So. The window/door/stairs man came today with his quote for the new front door and the stairs to the attic.

Ouch.

I drew in a sharp intake of breath and looked at Jon.

'Of course', said Monsieur D, 'I could do you a staircase for 700 Euros but it would be of a very poor quality and it wouldn't last very long.'

I translated, paused and Jon said .....

'Seems OK to me'.

It appears his mental ball park figure was a lot higher than mine.

We ordered the stairs and the new door.

How much for delivery?

St Maxime

We've just had a lovely morning out. Mostly we managed to avoid the showers and enjoy the sunshine and the countryside waking up for the year. We shouldn't be surprised that gardens and plants further south are budding forth much quicker but we are always jealous. Hedges of lilac, walls of wisteria and bright green lime trees brighten this long and cool spring.

We were remembering this time last year, we suddenly had a few sunny days and enjoyed the heat of the sun, then suddenly (as it did in the UK), the temperature soared and we had summer in April - which was lucky since we didn't have summer in August, as you will remember.

We were out looking at flooring and walling for the loft conversion. Having looked at a few DIY/builders merchants locally, we couldn't quite find what we wanted so we had to go further afield - a two hour drive to another well known French chain which did have what we want and we made a note of the order codes so that we could take a look on line once we had driven the two hours back again.

The drive really was amazing, through Quercy Blanc, past gallons and gallons of Cahors black wine in the making and on into fruit and prune country. Stunning views, no traffic and a very relaxed 4 hour round trip.

We then went on line to see what we could arrange.

We have a problem in the fact that we can't carry much in either car. The Mehari will carry more but doesn't travel very fast or very far, the 106 isn't much use for more than shopping. We hoped that we would be able to get all the wood delivered but the cost of delivery is silly money, adding around 500 Euros to the cost of the materials.

Think again.

We're now in the market for a trailer - it may cost as much as the delivery of these goods but at least we will have it forever. We considered it once before but dismissed it as not really worth the expense.

Which means I will spend next spring back and forth from the local amenity tip loading up with the free compost they supply. For this year we've bought bags of compost and 'horse smoke' (fumeur de cheval) to dig in.

If it ever dries out round here I will be digging like mad later this week.

Silent Sunday

Ste Ida

Rainbow over Frayssinet, 31 March 2008

Copyright Sue Smith 2008

Poor cat

St Jules

I was planning a silent Saturday but I've just spend a most frustrating afternoon in the chalet.

We agreed that J-J and Stephane could keep their tools in there and we knew they were also using it to shelter from the rain on and off.

As it was throwing down heavy rain when they left on Thursday evening J-J told me not to even look in the chalet as it was very dirty and they would return to clean it next week.

I was inclined to agree since I have plenty more chores to get on with without thinking about clearing up their mud.

However, I remembered this afternoon that they hadn't brought back their dirty coffee cups from the last cuppa I made them on Thursday afternoon, so I went to retrieve them, knowing that the chalet was full of mud and tools. What I hadn't expected to find was next-door's poor cat who had obviously been shut in there for 48 hours with no food or water. The poor thing shot out of the door and straight to drink from the swimming pool.

Jon was ahead of me, took one look in the chalet and walked away looking rather pale. I told him to get on with putting up my new shelves in the cellar and leave the clearing up to me.

Poor cat. We don't encourage it around as we have our own two to think of, but I wouldn't have wished to shut her in a chalet on her own for 2 days. The men had left some jars of pate, luckily still unopened, and some bread which she had tried to eat and which had obviously (not wanting to dwell on it) disagreed with her.

The poor thing must have been terrified but after a long drink she took herself off home leaving me to clean up after not only her but the pool guys as well.

I had planned a big cooking session this afternoon as we have friends over to lunch again tomorrow. I hope they like beans on toast!

Bunfight at the OK Leclerc

St Stanislas

There we were, standing in the checkout queue, minding our own business and checking that everything had a bar code - it's always us, by the way, the people who have just one item, usually the last one left in the shop that doesn't have a bar code on it - when there was a scuffle at the next aisle.

We looked up to see two ladies (I use the term loosely) glaring at each other across a trolley. Suddenly one grabbed a packet of cakes and hit the other around the head with them.

The packet burst and cakes scattered through the air and landed all over the checkout.

I remember thinking to myself what a good thing it was that the cakes were individually wrapped.

The checkout hostess looked on bemused and stood ready to make a run for it should things get any dirtier - after all, who knows it might have been that bag of mussels from the fish counter next!

The women shouted at each other and then one left.

The lady in front of us turned to explain what had been happening. Had we not been so engrossed in the bar codes, we would have seen it all for ourselves. One had left her trolley momentarily, just back from the line, to slip off to the cheese counter for a packet of something exceptionally smelly. Meanwhile, the other, wanting to join the queue and not seeing the owner of the abandoned trolley, joined the line. The other 'this young one', the raconteur continued, came back to the trolley and tried to ram her way in front of the older shopper. Obviously things didn't finish there and as the first finished her shopping, the second rammed her trolley again and accused the first of queue jumping.

The gentleman in the queue behind them nodded and an amused smile twitched the corners of his mouth as the checkout hostesses discussed what had happened.

'You wouldn't see a couple of men behaving like that' our checkout lady said, laughing.

She's obviously never shopped in Asda then.

Pool Build - Day 8

St Fulbert

It's been a lovely warm day, unfortunately though, it's also been raining on and off and while I was out shopping for plants this afternoon there was a tremendous thunderstorm which left two soggy men under a brolly trying to get the heater to work on the pool. I just wish I had been here with my camera to record it for this blog.

They left at just after 5pm today looking very soggy, muddy and sorry for themselves. They did get the heater working and the filtration system which incorporates a swim jet and massage bubble thingumy (technical name) is also working well. However, they couldn't finish cleaning up, grouting the border tiles in and putting in the chemicals because of the weather.

J-J tells me he will be back next week 'When we 'ave a sunny day' to make sure it is all up and running properly and we can have our 'training'.

He parted with a wry grin

'Anyway, eet is only sirteen degrees, I don' sink you will want to swim today'.

Quite true, Jean-Jacques, quite true.

And anyway, I can't get any where near the pool at the moment because of the 6 inch deep mud pit that surrounds it.

Pool Build - Day 7

St Gautier



After yesterday's inactivity, the chaps were very busy today, completing the back fill between the pool and the soil, fitting the filtration block and working on the base for the margelles which are in place but not fixed.



At last it is beginning to look more like something you would like to go swimming in rather than what the cats think it is, a large cat water bowl! They will have a bit of a shock when it is chlorinated as they have been seen scooping water with their paws to drink. We'll keep a close eye on them to make sure they aren't drinking it or swimming in it.



This morning we were measured for a new staircase to go to the loft. Monsieur D came last year and gave us a quote for our replacement windows so we were pleased to invite him back to quote again. He'll be in touch to let us know the price for the stairs and a new front door. We'll make sure we are sitting down when he tells us - this could be expensive.



There is occasionally a bit of confusion over whether or not we need permission not to have planning permission to put windows in the loft. Most French people around here just put them in and ignore the rules but as we are putting in three we feel we should check with the mayor. Monsieur D shrugged when we asked him what he thought and said he didn't understand why we would want to, especially as no-one will see the windows (they will face the barren hillside) but since it is the law and we are outsiders, we think its best to keep within the law.

Inactivity

Ste Julie

We were expecting the pool guys back today. J-J should have returned from his day trip to the west coast and Stephane's last words last night were that he would see us 'demain'.

It was a bit drizzly this morning and we knew they were starting another new pool nearby, but lunch time came and they still hadn't arrived. We thought they would probably turn up later but there has been no sign of them all day.

However, the pool finally filled up and the sun came out, so I've had the washing machine on all afternoon, it is still churning out load after load, it's nearly a week since I last did a wash! I dug out the strimmer and attacked the new growth of nettles on the lower path and Jon made himself a log 'horse' - gadget for putting logs on to cut them to size - so the day hasn't been entirely wasted.

Our poor garden is looking the worse for wear now and I think it's going to take us a long time to get it looking neat again.

Pool Build - Day 6

St Clotaire

The pool is STILL filling up. The tap has been on for days which means that the water pressure indoors is quite low and it takes ages to run water for the washing up. It's tempting to leave it until after dark when we turn the tap off for the night but we have had two evenings of visitors for supper and therefore two late nights with piles of washing up - Jon has yet to admit defeat and agree to our getting a dishwasher - he says that he is our dishwasher, although in truth we share the chore.

Stephane has had a not quite so busy day. Without J-J here he has taken advantage a little and disappeared from time to time, he was late, had a long lunch with his friends next door, and vanished at 5pm. We were then surprised when a small truck with a mini digger on board appeared at 6pm and drove across the field, unloaded the digger and ended up in our garden.

I went out to see what was going on and a very nice chap came and explained that Stephane had called him to come and move the soil back into the trench across the garden. Stephane, he said, was on his way back to supervise. Sure enough, he drove his little blue van up through the field and took over.

We have been slightly miffed with Stephane today as he hasn't told us what he is doing, where he is going or anything so we're looking forward to the return of J-J tomorrow morning to find out where they are up to. J-J has had a day by the sea over in the Vendée supervising the start of another pool - a drive of about 5 - 6 hours for one day. Tomorrow morning he is supervising the start of another pool but closer by this time. The company put in around 70 - 80 pools per year, and depending on the installer they can take up to 4 weeks. J-J has installed around 300 and is now very speedy so ours is only taking 2 weeks.

The water level is finally just 5 cm below full so hopefully we can turn the tap off tomorrow and put the washing machine on at last. I think it will be running for a couple of days as I haven't managed to get a load in since last Tuesday and have all the bedding and towels to do as well.

As it has been a lovely day, although very cold, Jon took advantage of the dry and sun to make some inroads into clearing up after the tree felling session on Saturday. We have too many piles of wood in the garden, the logs for cutting into log size for the woodburner (that we haven't got yet but will have by next winter), the kindling sized pieces which we will have to find another home for - heaven knows where as we can't keep it in the garage (I'll explain in a minute) and the rubbish which is for shredding or bonfires.

In France, and particularly in more southern regions, you never store wood indoors, logs for the burner are brought into the house only when they need to go straight into the fire - the reason? Termites. If termites get into the house they are a serious problem. They can eat through your beams, rafters and floors in a matter of days and the house would fall down. It's definitely worth remembering this as we recently heard a tale of a friend of a friend who stored their kindling in the house and didn't realise that there were termites in there - oops. We would rather not spend our money on a new roof (whatever money will be left after we've done the pool, the loft and suffered from the appalling pound/euro exchange rate prevailing) so as soon as we have cleaned up the loft we will be treating all the rafters and framework to prevent woodworm, termites and the other threat to our wood - capricorn beetle.

Good news today, youngest daughter has booked her flights to come over with her husband and three boys Jack, Leo and new baby boy (he hasn't been born yet so doesn't have a name) in August for just over a week. As we are already expecting number one daughter (sadly not her husband) and grand-daughter for a week in May, and number two daughter (by 20 minutes)* and her husband in September we are really happy that we can see them all over here this summer.

We are, of course, quite confident that unlike last year there will be a summer. It seems to have been the longest winter ever but surely the sun will come out and warm us all up before long.

* For those who aren't already aware number one daughter and number two daughter are twins

Hugging trees

St Marcellin

The pool is slowly filling up. J-J said he thought 2 cm per hour but I think it's more like one. We can't have the water on all night as our bedroom is right over the tap and it is very noisy water running through the pipes. We will have to ask Stephane to connect the water directly to the inlet again tomorrow and hopefully it will be full by tomorrow night.

Meanwhile, down on the ranch, we had friends over yesterday to help us clear some trees. They worked really hard but sadly couldn't take down my pet hate, the horse chestnut - it is too big, too close to the house and the pool and has to go. We will have to find a man with a proper tree harness to come and take it down slowly and carefully. First find your man!!

We did, however, manage to lose the remains of 8 pine trees that were next to the gate, all the old fruit trees which were only really suckers from some long defunct plums, the elderflower which was well over 6 metres high, and various other oaks and sycamores which had seeded themselves here and there. There is more work to do, especially coppicing clumps that have been grown for firewood and which are too high, but now that Jon has got confidence with the chainsaw we will be able to manage the rest ourselves.

All that remains is a hell of a lot of clearing up!

After the tree work we had a lovley relaxed evening meal here. All very convivial, now I wonder how they are feeling this morning with the aches and pains they no doubt gained from yesterday's work.

Pool Build - Day 5

St Isidore



I think I'll make this a silent Friday, well, sort of. J-J and Stephane cursed and swore as they tried to make the trim fit around the Roman End, but everything now fits and we have just to leave the water running all weekend to fill the pool, so that they can back fill and lay the edging tiles next week.






They have to fit the heater and the filtration system but say that this time next week they will be finished.

I should mention that J-J has another two builds to start next week so he can't be here full time.

Pool Build - Day 4

St Richard

[Edited 4 April to add photos ]

By midday today the steel framework was complete.


By 3pm the liner was put in place.

By 3.15 the tap was turned on and the pool started filling with water. Two vacuum cleaners suck out the air between the liner and the framework.

By 5pm the deep end 'well' of the pool is full of water but it will take around 3 days in total to fill the pool entirely.

Meanwhile, rather than stand round watching a hose spouting water, Jean-Jacques and Stephane are laying electricity cables for the pool, heater and the chalet. Tomorrow they will lay a water supply to a garden tap.

When the pool is 30cm deep, Jean-Jacques will cut the liner and neaten it around the Roman End (steps to you and me).

These guys don't hang around.

This means that Jon and I have to start thinking seriously about the pool paving and indeed the design of the rest of the garden.

Memo to self: Sharpen pencils and get the gardening books out.

PS: Jim's been quiet recently. HEY JIM @ FARNHAM, where are you?

Pool Build - Day 3

Ste Sandrine

Well, we're amazed at how quickly these two guys are working. Day 3 and already the pool's concrete base is setting, half of the steel frame is in place and so are the steps.

Figgy thinks that there must surely be some mice down there that need 'liberating' from their safe holes.



Meanwhile up in the attic, Jon has moved some of the old flooring and it looks as though it won't be going back down again. He's also moved a heap of rubble, concrete and other rubbish and found one beam with no centre. It seems there must have been a leak in the roof at some point, probably at least 25 years ago. A repair was made but the water rotted the centre of the beam in one place. The rest of the beam, including the outside seems very sound and it is still holding up the hanging ceiling so we will see if we can treat it and fill it before we re-lay the floor at that point.

We were out at friends for supper last night. It was a lovely evening, lots of chatter and banter and we left at 11.30pm. The drive home took an hour and during that time we saw:

• one hedgehog


• one mouse


• three ducks crossing the road in the middle of a village


• one toad


• several deer

and

• five vehicles

It's a mad, busy area we live in y'know!

Beginnings - Part 2

St Hugues

It was no April Fool's joke, that's for sure. We started the day bright and - no, wait a minute, forget the bright, but it was early. J-J and his helper Stephane arrived at 8.30 and off-loaded 34 bags of cement. They set to immediately down in the pool and worked hard all day to produce the base of the smaller circle.

Meanwhile, indoors, Jon was ready to make the hole in the lounge ceiling. We've been putting it off for so long waiting for the weather to improve, or at least warm up a bit and today was the designated day for the start of the work.

The ceilings are made of red bricks, cemented together and hung from the rafters by wire. A sort of hung ceiling. Lovely red dust filled the house and it will probably take a while to settle and be disposed of finally.

Jon carefully took the ceiling down in sections, with me underneath in hard hat, goggles and face mask to catch the sections as they fell. The first one came down easily, although it was a little heavier than I had expected. The second was just as simple, which is lucky since my hard hat fell off. The third fell just as I was taking it and landed with a thump on the floor having bounced off the wall, leaving its mark. The fourth was OK. The fifth hadn't been cut through properly but suddenly cracked and landed at my feet - luckily not on them and the sixth was another easy one. Unfortunately the floor was damaged on the fifth section dropping but the intended stairs will cover that bit of the floor.

Later, we 'rescued' a very old ladder that has obviously resided in the loft for many, many a year. It is very sturdy, no signs of woodworm or other damage and will serve as a temporary staircase until such time as we decide what staircase we want up there.

Next job? Cleaning the attic out. It has obviously not been cleaned, well, probably ever and there is all sorts of dust and debris up there to clear up before we even consider treating all the wood and repointing the end walls.

On hearing the first

... cuckoo of spring - today 1st April. Earlier than last year but it has taken two days to get over the hill from friends who heard it on Saturday!