The Big Hole is No More

Suddenly 6 weeks has gone and I realise that an update on what has been going on in Limoux and in our lives is well overdue.

However we have not been slacking and have been up to our eyeballs with mud, earth, sand, water and the constant digging and cementing of holes.

Basically the last 2 months have rather obsessively centered around the pool. We knew that we were getting ultra boring when the kids started to say "Can we not have just one day when we don't mention the word - POOL?!"

Well triumphantly I can now say that the 'big hole' that we created in June is now a shimmering oasis in our garden.

Yes our pool is finished......well sort of as there is still a lot to do.

But hey we can swim when the stifling heat of the South of France gets too much for us and that is what we wanted to achieve.

In 2 months we went from this.......


To this......

We only filled the pool a week ago and already the water is 28.5C (yes we are a bit obsessive). Wonderful!


So what else has been going on?

Well the kids finished school what seems like an eternity ago. Lessons officially finished at the end of the first week of July but there is a strange system here whereby once you have been given the go ahead to move up to the next school year in September, it means you can stop going to school for the rest of the term.

So our kids have been at home since the last week of June.

Being conscientious parents (and mean according to our kids) we did try and send them but the teachers huffed and puffed as it meant they had to supervise so homeward bound our kids came.

It has been nice having them all at home though as it has meant we have had helpers to build the pool and most importantly we haven't had to get up at 6am for the school bus. I am not looking forward to 'La Rentree' - beginning of term - but let's not talk about that now.

With the pool (well the swimmable bit) now ticked off the list, we have also been trying to tidy the garden (a never ending and thankless task right now), painting walls and doors, putting up light fittings, tidying the garage (another never ending and thankless task) and just feeling we are busy day in, day out.

We have also found time to browse in the weekly Limoux night markets (a fantastic and fascinating lurking opportunity), get immersed in the various music and theatrical events which take place in Limoux square and just enjoy the balmy hot evenings on our terrace listening to all the crickets and insects who seem to have taken shelter in our garden. Bliss!

We have also had a great time with Bill's brothers and families visiting and other friends popping in for overnight stays. We have just loved showing them around and introducing them to our new life here in Limoux. It is a strange but very proud feeling to be living in our own home after renting for the past 17 years.

Much as we would have liked to have hoards of visitors to stay we are not really set up at the moment for welcoming the masses. I think that is a way off unless we sell the kids to make bed space.

Bill's bijoux office has a sofa bed (for small people) so that has been getting some use and as for our idea of putting tents in the garden well that quickly evaporated when we saw how we get buffeted by the wind which is pretty fierce. Plus our garden, big as it may be, is rather a jungle right now with wild rabbits and snakes ready to welcome any newcomers.

So for now we are just enjoying the summer.

Bill has finished his stint in Nigeria and managing a bit of a holiday before his next assignment which he hopes will be desk based and the kids are making the most of their last few weeks before 'La Rentree'......

Next Time: La Rentree (Back to school).

Building with Lego

We've been in our house 5 and half months now and as summer is approaching we decided "Hey let's build a pool".

Actually it wasn't a decision taken lightly but the salesman (who like any salesman knew how to convince us) persuaded us it was just like building with Lego.

Having brought our kids up on Lego, we are pretty expert by now so naturally we thought it would be a breeze.

So we signed on the bottom line.

Before we knew it, there were what seemed like a million bits of Lego piled high in our garage and we were wondering where to start.

Well after a lot of dithering and dissecting of the Lego manual, we are now at the stage when we have destroyed the garden and filled it with a huge 8x6 meter hole. Well a nice man called Mr Fernandez did it for us.

Guess what? The hole immediately filled up with water. Instant swimming pool, yeah! Job done.

Actually not so yeah when it wouldn't go away and the only solution was to dig further and to put in a so called 'French drain'.

So using our kids as child labour yet again (well they are happy as it helps them earn their summer pocket money) we dug and shoveled and sweated and swore (quietly) until we had what we hope is the drain of all drains.

So far so good.

Next job was slotting together the panels, which look like the sides of a tin can. That is where the similarity ends though as they weigh a ton. The manual writer who said they needed 2 people to slot them together, had obviously not built a pool like this before.

Anyway suffice to say, the tin can is taking shape nicely. The steps are in (precariously balanced on bricks for now), everything is measured and double measured (and triple) to make sure it is all horizontal and vertical down to the last millimeter and we are feeling pretty chuffed with ourselves.

By my calculations, it has taken us 10 days of labour to get to this point. We had a break recently as Bill was in Nigeria (not on holiday!).

We also had a few workers strikes and slackers.....but who can blame them.

More to Follow.......when the workers strike is over.....