And so it continues...
Meanwhile, in the South West of France, the construction of the terrace continues in earnest... in temperatures of around 35 degrees Celsius. And that's in the shade. We have no shade on the nearly-terrace. Moving and laying stones, mixing cement, building fences and all that jazz is extremely hard work in such relentless heat. But we're doing it, nonetheless. I burnt my back yesterday, despite wearing Factor 30 sun cream. I'm having to drink a lot of water to prevent my body drying up like a toasted, sun-shrivelled worm. It's working to some degree, but I do feel like a dried worm.
There are really strict swimming pool rules in France, even for temporary pools like ours. It mustn't be accessible to children, requiring a locked gate and fence or a pool alarm at the very least. We're erecting a little fence and gate, a white picket fence, just like in dystopian movies.
Remember how I explained that we would pave the terrace using salvaged stone from our land? It's happening, but with a modification... Have you ever visited Pompeii? My attempt at laying stones to form a path remind me of it. The stones are of very different sizes and depths, so a lot of jiggery pokery is required to create a level surface. Who knows if I can jig and poke adequately...
Just thought I'd show you the fence again...
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| Gate open |
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| Gate closed |
Unfortunately, the plan involved more digging, when I'd thought that that particular torture was over. I sustained a blistery injury! It's still there!
Yes, two slabs were broken during the fight to lay them... But we can always buy more, right? Not right. Brico Depot is now out of stock. Yes. They'll be in again one day... (insert Gallic shrug).
Yes, there's a lot of Pompeii still to be achieved here. It's a start. But what can we do when our plan to build a 70 square metre terrace came forth from our naughtily colluding creative sides?
And what is Farmer Joel doing while we sweat blood? Making hay on our bottom field, that's what.
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