Too hot for one and all

During the heat of this week, even the cats have found it too hot to make it to their food bowl without a lie-down on the way. This is not the sort of temperature for running about in. 

Unveiling ... le jardin

Almost there, but here's what the garden looks like now. After 18 months of being a construction site we're loving it. Most especially not having a concrete mixer there anymore! With temperatures in the high 30s (C) at the moment, the pool is much used. We are able to have meals outside in the shade of the magnolia tree; which, btw, is growing back into a beauty again.

The Boss

On Tuesday night Merv and I went to Montpellier to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Fantastic night, albeit quite warm - it was still 22 C when we came out of the arena at midnight. 


A truly brilliant evening, made even better by being randomly picked out of the crowd and escorted to the front pit. Lots of room to dance, right up close and we could see 'the whites of their eyes' - a must at any gig according to a very good friend of ours.

Barcelona

Recently had an overnight trip to Barcelona with a good friend visiting from NZ. First, we drove to Figueras to see the wonderful Salvador Dali museum, then Merv went off to the Eastern Pyrenees to do some walk & snowshoe trail recce's while J and I took the train to Barcelona. Had a fabulous time watching the crowds in Plaça Reial, drooling over the food in La Boqueria and being awed and amazed in the Segrada Familia. An excellent short break.

Now for some planting

With the garden (almost) finished, the fun bit of planting starts. Along the street edge of the pool we have planted a hedge row of photinia (aka box robin), which, when it thickens out will provide a bit more privacy. Herbs have been moved into their new special herb garden and tomatoes, lettuces etc have been planted. A bit late in the season, but we'll still get some homegrown crops.
If it doesn't seem very sunny in the photos below, that's because they were taken at 9pm. We have to work either first thing in the morning or in the evening as it is just too hot during the day. Sorry, I know friends in the UK don't want to hear that!

Hunter Henry

The cats often catch gecko's in the garden, particularly at this time of year. Which is a bit unfortunate as gecko's are generally quite good at keeping other pests at bay. Yesterday Henry arrived inside with this beauty, the largest I've ever seen. He was understandably very proud of his conquest.

After the gravel - lots of topsoil to move

Five cubic metres of topsoil arrived for the garden. Unfortunately, the enormous truck it arrived in couldn't tip into our cave entrance. So, it had to go across the road onto our neighbours curb side - which they were fine about. However, we did feel the need to move it as quickly as possible, therefore many, many, many wheelbarrow loads have been moved to fill up the vegetable plots etc. Fortunately we still had plenty of wooden planks left from the builders, as trying to move a full wheelbarrow over gravel is a very hard task.

The vegetable plots used about half of the load. Which meant we needed to move the rest into the cave. So another day of shovelling ...

By the way, it wasn't just Merv doing all the work, he just happens to be in the photos we have. Both Jane and her mother (in her 80-somethings) did a great job of shovelling and wheelbarrow moving too!

Woohoo, first swim in the pool

Hot, sunny day so perfect for testing out the pool. The water was wonderful, so it's likely to be the first of many, many more swims to come.

Pool paraphernalia

It's not just the pool, it's all the other things that go with it too. First of all there's the alarm - on the left in the middle; the net to remove extraneous surface bits, the vacuum to clean the bottom and sides and now the cover to keep leaves etc out and to help heat the water. And we haven't yet had our lesson in how to manage the pool!

New look for front doors

Merv did a sterling job painting the front doors recently while Jane was in the UK. Timing was of the essence as there was a very hot spell of weather and they couldn't be painted in the heat. One more job done ...

Le Potager

The vegetable and herb beds in progress. After advice, we ditched the idea to have wooden raised beds as due to the climate here they just wouldn't last very long. We'll have a smaller vegetable plot than we had last year but still sufficient for what we need for growing wonderful vegetables and herbs. 

So, we've gone for concrete surrounds and here's how they're looking. Cool. Now to get some compost and soil and some plants in. We are a bit behind the season for summer planting but should still get a good crop of fantastic tomatoes, aubergines, salad leaves etc.

More stone wall building

We think we're getting better at this, and we have several walls to build so we really hope so! This is just the first layer, another one still to go. We have at least worked out the right consistency for the concrete mix. That's been a big help.

Hard work ...

guarding the front door. Clearly Wellington (on step) and Henry (on doorstep) are taking a fairly relaxed route to security. This wasn't even a particularly hot day, but one does need to rest now and then. Note the colour of the front door as it is about to change soon.