At the end of my last blog, which was written way back on 7th January, I mentioned that there was unlikely to be another for a couple of weeks.
The reason being, as I suspect some may have worked out, we have been away for a short break. Autumn and winter are our quietest times so we take the opportunity to have our time off during these seasons. Last year we went away to ski with friends in the French Alps, this year we returned to Canada for our second time, the previous visit being 2015.
It was a fun couple of weeks but, at least at the start, it was cold. Very, very cold! British Columbia, which is where we were, was experiencing a period of extreme cold weather, so much so that on the first day we were supposed to be skiing, the entire resort was closed for the first time in over 23 years!
Mercifully during the days we were there, the temperature rose from -29o to a more bearable 0o so we actually managed to get some skiing done.
While we were away however, things were continuing to happen at Kergudon and the landscaper returned to progress the pool build. He dug 2 trenches to provide the services required for the pool – water and electricity and backfilled around the pool structure although there seems to be an awful lot of spoil left to ‘lose’!
Our neighbour who is kind enough to pop in every day to look after Mouse, also took a couple of photos of the work which shows that, when done, it was a very professional job leaving a flat surface for the lawn to recover.
By the time we arrived home, the lovely finish left by the terrassier had been spoiled by our resident mole who we were hoped would be scarred off by all the noise and disruption, if not met an untimely end in the digger bucket! Also, the trench for the electrical cable had settled a little – perhaps I have found somewhere to lose some of the remaining soil!
We arrived home late evening last Friday to a dauntingly long list of tasks and things to achieve this year including a number rolled over from last year which arose as a result of the many storms we experienced. One of the first things we need to do is take down all of the Christmas decorations that we weren’t able to do before we left. Thankfully, there doesn’t seem to be the same superstition in France about leaving decorations up after Twelfth Night!
While it does mean that, while we are practically already at the end of January and so 1/12th of the way through the year, we haven’t achieved anything yet!
However, it does look as though we have come back to at least a week of dry weather which should allow us to progress some of our outdoor tasks – which may mean the interior decorations get de-prioritised as I can focus externally in any precious dry periods.
I will update next week and let you know how I get on!
À bientôt.