Birthday Observation

I had a wonderful birthday! Surrounded by beloved friends all day, both physically and with warm wishes coming from distant shores via all means of communication. Thank you everyone for thinking of me today. What a very lucky girl I am! Today's photos are of our celebration this evening and the picture Henny chose to make into my birthday card. They say dogs and their people begin to look alike. When did Lily and I start sporting the same grizzly blue hair?

Our Pack

A month or so ago, the Boys adopted a young chocolate Lab from the S.P.A. where we found Lily. They worried about mixing a boisterous not-quite-one year old with the 11 year old stately grande dame of the household, Biba. It's all going really well though, and our new friend Noosa is a welcome addition to their pack -- and to ours! We love to walk with the Boys and Les Chocolats. Lily and Noosa frolic while Biba brings up the rear.

It's fun and beneficial for all. Today Sam asked Noosa to sit. She didn't get it right away, but Lily heard the command and sat, so Noosa did too. Biba seems to have more spring in her step even though she rightly thinks the young'uns are a pain, and Lily, who's terrified of the hunters' guns, is more relaxed with the gang. Humans get to chat while the girls do their thing. We meet other dogs along the way, those we like, and those we could frankly do without! The dogs are socialised and they exercise each other.

                         

Lily awaiting her friends this morning.

The New Supremes: Biba, Noosa and Lily Blue

Un petit bisou à demain. Thanks for another great walk Sam and the girls.

Big Tree Day

Today the local paysagiste and his team came for the annual pruning of trees and shrubs in the garden.  Strong men with chain saws on ladders. It's one of our favourite days of the whole year. The garden looks tidy and the view is restored. Ah, that's better.

Bathroom

Apologies for taking so long to show the results of our renovation, but in most areas we're still waiting for a thing or two to be completed. The new bathroom is up and running. Still to come, a mirror and some towel rails, though it's ready to make its debut to our patient followers. The finishing always takes its time, but it was worth the wait.

The TopTop Café

August was very busy. Electricians, tilers and decorators continued to work right through the traditional holiday month, and it kept us on our toes too. We're desperately awaiting the reappearance of the plumbers who are needed everywhere before others can crack on. The house and terrace are now tiled; it looks fantastic. Light fittings have arrived. Paint colours have been chosen. We're a month or so away from being finished, so I'm going to wait with photos. There's a lot of builders crud about and I'd prefer to show it when we've re-claimed the space.

Meanwhile, we've been enjoying some lovely evenings with friends on the terrace, aka The TopTop Café. The boys called to ask if the café was open so they could escape their busy guest house for some down time. Fantastic. Our own laid-back hideaway. It's still a little spartan, but it'll only get better.

We're thrilled with our outdoor sofas. They're long enough to take tall girls stretched out. We star-gazed during the meteor showers. We regularly read outside till late on our iPads. I've been known to fall asleep. When I wake up even Lily's gone inside to bed. The couches are light and easy to move around, so you can follow the shade or sun as you like. Pou lazes on them with a big fat cat smile on his face. All's very chilled at the café, and its been a real haven during the summer of builders.

Old Blues

Could these be Lily's ancestors?

Crépis!

The facadiers have been on the job for the last week, producing some stunning results.

The Studio

Kitchen and living room for the first time rendered in the same material.

The door to the buanderie.

Bedroom and workshop

Terrace tiles come and go

The big push before the August holidays is in full swing. Everything was moved out of the way and stacked on our wooden deck to make way for Phil to tile the new terrace.

The first day we were allowed to set foot on the new tiles, along came the facadiers to cover them up again.

Our kitchen has taken on a distinctly orange glow while all the windows and doors are covered in plastic in preparation for the rendering.

Pondering Piglet

Lily in the shade

This didn't last long. She came inside to lie on the cool tiles. What a beauty, our Lily Blue.

Crawling along

Since my previous posting, it's been baking hot every day. Our summer took its time to get here, but now temperatures are well into the 30's. More what we expect in mid-July, but it's not easy on the fellows who are working. Things are moving along slowly, usually the case at this juncture in a build. The tiler's waiting for the electrician, who can't get on until the plumber's been, and so on.

Still, we see progress. The underfloor heating's in place, not that we need it at the moment.

Now our tiler Phil, a Harley Davidson enthusiast, can do his thing. He had eleven tonnes of sand delivered. Here's about a third of it. Pou hides during the day to keep cool. In the evening, he stuck his head out on the terrace and looked visibly surprised by what had arrived, "Really, for me? You shouldn't have!"

In the buanderie, the substrate is in place and will soon be ready to receive tiles.

Outside, the little extension that links the new bedroom to the terrace has been poured.

There are barely two weeks left before the great August hiatus, though some of the boys may work for part of it. We know we won't finish beforehand, but Henny and I are hoping a few things on our wish list get accomplished before the break. Stay tuned.

Le Tour 2013

The 100th Tour de France passed right through the centre of the village on the 5th of July. Allegedly only the second time in the last 55 years (see the 2008 Tour here). The street is lined in anticipation.

Henny managed to capture both the polka dot jersey (the best climber) and the yellow jersey (the leader).

Here's Daryl Impey proudly wearing the coveted maillot jaune. He made history the day before, becoming the first South African to lead the Tour de France.

After watching all that serious effort flash past in 7 seconds, we had to get back to our Tour day celebrations at Le Chat Noir. Applause for a stray cycling enthusiast.

Alex's pole shot of the Tour gang.

We followed the excitement with a long float in the Couvent pool. An utterly glorious day!

In the Land of the Giants

Lily met her Saluki cousins for the first time yesterday at Helga and Bernard's. They live in a beautiful house in the hills above the next village. With three resident dogs, their huge, lush garden is completely fenced in, a safe playground for canine cavorting. H&B's Salukis are all males. When (by comparison) Lilliputian Lil jumped out of the car, they were very interested. It was daunting for Lily at first. Three long noses from on high performing simultaneous full-body sweeps is a bit much for a girl to take. But Lily loves other dogs. Soon they were racing around and playing like there was no tomorrow.

Lily Blue, a little dog with so much heart, she wears one on her side.

A protective minder lurks nearby just in case. It was interesting to watch Lily's behaviour. Salukis are sight hounds, Bleus are scent hounds. Lily hid behind trees, then dashed out to taunt the boys. Everyone ran around, then Lily hid again. If you can't see me, you can't find me. Surely a coincidence. In any case, a good time had by all. Lily came home and flopped on her bed for a nice nap. Tired dog, happy dog.

All credit to Helga for these photos, thank you!