Things that happen in the rain

I get wet, that's what happens. The forecasted storms did not happen overnight, probably because we had taken the precaution of disconnecting the Live Box, which is our Internet connection, after the disaster which befell Robin in Prechac whose Live Box became blown up and therefore broken forever when a thunderbolt crashed into his hedge and exploded like the biggest of firework displays resulting in him having to get another Live Box which doesn't work properly because they never do for ages after they are purchased because this is France and the way of it here. So Live Box disconnected, storm never happened, so not much rain. "Could have done with a bit more rain" I said to Lester as I headed on out for Boolie's pee and poo trip.

Now for some reason I went the long way. Down past Sara's, turn left, then eventually left again through the maize and corn fields to come back on ourselves. At the furthest point out, and not conveniently at Sara's so I could pop in for a coffee and keep dry, the heavens decided to open the tap and down came the rain. For a while a handy oak tree gave me shelter, but then the rain paused, so I stopped pausing and me and Bools walked on. No shelter for a few yards. The pause in the rain was a tease. We were both soaked by the time we reached the next shelter, this time an ash tree which did not have the thick canopy of the oak, so it was a waste of time to linger any longer because the drips coming down through the leaves were bigger than the raindrops falling from the sky.

My shirt was soaked. I couldn't get any wetter. So I scurried on. And then I began to feel the rain upon my skin, and you know what! It was exhilerating. Rivulets of water began running under my shirt, but I was sort of doing a jog-walk so wasn't cold. Down the rain came. And as it did I had the most curious sensation of well-being.

Now why was that? Am I losing my mental marbles? I will leave the answer to that question in your hands!

And so home again. Rain now stopped. Guess what! Builders were here. With a digger and a lorry and other vehicles, and all was go, go, go!

For a couple of hours.

Then the rain came down, this time accompanied by the thunder storm which wasn't a very vigorous storm in comparison to others we have survived, but nevertheless we thought it prudent to switch off the PC's and Live Box just so we wouldn't get fried by lightning strikes and thunderbolts. Just in case. Better to be safe than sorry.

A roar of a lorry. We looked askance at each other. Now who was that, we thought. Outside we went. And parked up on our grass was a huge lorry which was not the same lorry as was parked up on the back field yesterday but which belonged to men shoring up Claudine of the Chambre d'Hote's river bank which the Adour keeps eating away at and which she is endeavouring to put a stop to because she doesn't want her donkeys, sheep, ducks and chickens floating off down the river someday soon. No, this was a different lorry.

Lester does a sort of yelp. "It's the poutres".

Crikey they look huge. Huge enough to sink the lorry they are sitting on if the rain keeps on raining. Huge and heavy enough to push it into the ground to make new ruts to join the zillions of other ruts that Lester / Head Gardener has to deal with each time he takes his lawn mower out for an outing and which I have been trying to fill with offerings of soil left over from my digging up of the front garden. Huge, heavy and montrous enough to bog down the lorry as what happened in January to one lorry which gouged such a huge hole as it was revved up to get out of the mud that it sank up to its axles and had to be pulled out by a tractor.

Things I have learnt today: That walking in the rain is a fun thing to do, very enervating for the soul. That it is not necessary to eat all of the just-picked cherries, that Angel Jim brought round this morning from his fruit trees, in one hit as the repercussions to one's digestive system will be stunning to say the least an hour or so after the gorge. That one more series of ruts doesn't really matter, because they will all get filled in eventually. That I ought to try to remember that when HG changes the gas bottle for the caravan cooker that the temperature will be fiercer and so to pay attention to the clock and not to get too involved with writing the blog, although the singed bits on top of the cake can always be scraped off or covered with icing sugar if one had any that is, well I haven't so a scrape it is.

And may I introduce you to the poutres. Nine of them. And they are the beams which go into the house to hold it all together and will give us the structure for the downstairs ceilings, and the upstairs flooring.

And here is a photo left over from yesterday, which is the half barn floor with its spaghetti loops of hose which are hopefully going to have the electrical cables threaded through them when we can afford to have the electrics done.

The Pow Wow

No builders for the last three weeks = one irate Hubs. He finally blew his gasket on Monday evening. Et Voila! Dani (our builder) appeared yesterday to book us in for a Pow Wow this morning. Attending Pow Wow: 10. Dani, Jean-Louis (his bruv), Stephan, the electrician, the roofer, sundry other male workers, Hubs and me. The ration was two English to eight Spanish / French. Did not bode well for a smooth Pow Wow meet. But possible probs diverted by Pow Wow member number ten: James. Whose ability to act as a go-between made the Pow Wow meet do-able for its multi-national members.

Decisions made at Pow Wow: Electrical wiring to be put in under floor in half barn before the pouring of the concrete. Good job it hadn't been done already. Last Pow Wow result a few weeks ago decided electrics were to go in a trough round the edge. "Oh no" said the electrician, or rather "Ce n'est pas possible" (because he is French and doesn't do English). Electrics go under floor. So hose pipes have to be laid to carry the cables. Apparently, when the cables are to be connected they are pushed through the hose pipes. As I was saying to Denise over at Much Malarkey Manor today, I see probs ahead with that. Feeding a cable through a pipe for several metres and it not snagging somewhere en route feels like a stressful exercise to me. I have memories of feeding elastic through waistbands, which is theoretically the same process, and most times there were probs. Perhaps the ton of concrete lying on top of the pipes will hold them rigid enough for the cables to be pushed through successfully. Maybe this is something I shouldn't involve my head with.

Guttering: To be put all round, apart from the sides and front apex of the roof. For this the roofer received my blessing. Hubs had been on a mission to have the front of the roof overhang the house. I think this would make the house look like it was frowning. There has been much debate in the Coe household about this. But: decision made. Roofer took control. No overhang. But guttering. Good solution. Rain water can be collected, rain splash down the front walls can be avoided, and the house can keep on looking like she is smiling.

Back Wall: Which is non-existant. Much debate with Dani and Hubs about steel tie-in bars to hold the wall together. When it gets re-built. Result: it was going to be done anyway. Breakdown of French / English translation on last Pow Wow.

Small Pow Wow in office. Members present: Dani, Hubs, Me and James. Under discussion: money. Result: Good. All being well, it looks like the roof is not going to cost a huge amount more than the original price quoted by Dani, despite some add-ons by Hubs. Half barn is paid for.

Pow Wow concluded. All on good terms. Cup of tea all round. Lots of bon hommie. Estimate for conclusion for roof: two months. Concrete to go down on floor tomorrow. This is providing the weather does not stuff up the project.

Meteo weather forecast for our area: Storms tonight, rain tomorrow, and then next day, and the next, then some sun, then some more rain, etc.

Things I have learnt today: That a female person can lend calmness to male unrest and argument. That a cup of tea at the right time can divert all manner of possible negative outcomes to Pow Wow's. That one has to have a nap in the afternoon after the busy-ness of a Pow Wow. That one must not mind if one's Hubs is out of sorts with the World because he is trying to get a roof on his house and he hasn't got enough language skills to make himself understood with the men who are going to get it done. That it is alright to hope that things will be cracking on a pace now. But that it is alright if there is a break in the pace while the heavens open and soak the ground. After all, it means I can dig, plant more seeds, and not have to water.

Head Gardener Hubs taking his lawn mower for a walk after having just sharpened the blades of the machine. Bless.

Hola! Water!

The sun has beat down upon us. For days it has done its best to cook us. Drooping their backs despondently, the plants out front have let it be known that they are feeling unloved. As Under Gardener, I have done my best to service their needs. Honestly I have. But my feet dislike the fearsome task of carrying the weight of me + 2 loaded watering cans out to the front. Once, maybe. But several times treking to and fro from the water tap in the courtyard to those desperate, gasping plants out front.....well, no, my feet don't like it one bit.

And so it came to be this morning. Out came the sun, bright and early. Lovely. The dew was heavy. The plants had had a drink overnight. But had they? On closer examination they were definitely starting to look sorry for themselves. On inspection, Head Gardener Lester said, "They need more water." To which moi, aka Under Gardener, replied, "But we have to pay for the water by the water meter" which was a good answer I thought. I didn't feel it relevant to mention the moans of my feet.
"Right, get in the car, we're going to get a pump for the well. The water's free. May as well use it."

So off we sped. Into the BricoMarche shop. Pump got. Long length of hose got. Extension lead got. Grinding machine got.?. (that was for another project = the sharpening of the lawn mower blades which were pitted and chipped by being made to cut the field which is rough ground and meant to be gone over by a tractor. HG doesn't have a tractor, so he has to use the petrol lawnmower. Not quite the same thing, I grant you, but needs must.) Two black dustbins got.?. (they were for yet another project = the making of the nettle soup fertiliser to help the plants along.)

Home. HG now had several projects in hand. The well first.

With much huff and puff he manfully sorted out the black lead which was tangled round the pump, the yellow hose which was coiled up like a snake and refused to uncoil itself gracefully and the red extension lead which was alright its packet but once removed became a tangled mess.

Et voila! HG in readiness for the plunge-in. How manfully he stands. With pump in hand, he is ready to attempt the second step of the project.





"Wait" I shout, "not yet. I'm doing a photo-shoot and you are fidgeting about too much".
"Hurry up" he yells just as loudly back at me, "This **** is heavy". Bless. HG can get irritated when I give photo-shoot instructions!

The pump descends into the well. Down it goes. Plop! Into the water.

Lester whoops his way round into the courtyard with the extension lead dangling along behind him, intent on finding an empty plug socket somewhere to insert the plug he has firmly in his grip.





A moment of silence. HG calls out "Is it working?"

And yes it is. Bright and clear water, twinkling in the sunshine. Brought up from the depths of the ground into the fresh air. "Hooray" I hear the plants call, "We might get a drink today if she can stop messing about with that yellow thing and that furry thing." Well it was hot, and Bools was thirsty so I was playing the game 'let's see if we can get the water into your mouth' with him.

Things I have learnt today: That getting your own water out of the ground is mind blowingly great. That it was not a good thing to get miffed with HG because he took the top job of watering the plants with the hosepipe while I had to use the watering cans. That it was a good idea to get a spare plastic dustbin and use it as a temporary water container from which I could fill the watering cans. That it is better to stay positive and hope that tomorrow it will be my turn to use the hosepipe. That sometimes one has pleasures to look forward to tomorrow, which come out of the adventures of the present day.