Clearing, tidying and sorting

St Jean-Lou

It's a public holiday here in France - workers unite.

Not here. We've been busy trying to sort the garden. We thought we'd get a head start before the rain - well, it is a holiday. Unfortunately for us, it didn't rain, so we've had a busy day.

Jon has been busy laying the edging for the parking area and starting work on the garden paths. I began digging my potager as my courgettes are far to big for their pots and I have to get them in the ground as soon as possible. I've dug in some manure, compost and the clods of mud are such hard work I dread that they will ever become proper garden soil. We're going to try anyway.

I had another go at cleaning the pool - another pleasant hour in the sun pretending to be busy - I like this sort of work. I didn't feel I could eke it out much longer than an hour though. There is still a lot of muck and sand to come out but every time I clean it stirs up and I have to leave it another 24 hours to settle ready for the next clean (it's a long brush on a hose that plugs into the filter and sucks up the muck, Lizzie).

We aren't convinced the heater is working. The temperature has only gone up by 2 degrees in 30 hours of heating so I'll be complaining on the phone again tomorrow morning. One day, maybe, we'll be running properly!