Friday

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











Tuesday

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.

Monday

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!

Wednesday

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!