Not much happening here....but good news about Beth

A chilly night, our first in the caravan.  We were generally OK.  I had wrapped my feet in plastic bags before putting my socks on - cold feet, cold everything in my opinion - and they stayed warm all night. Thick pajamas completed the look, not one of my sexiest but oh well.........

In the night, we woke up cold as one of the duvets had slipped off but once we found it and snuggled down again, everything was fine.  As long as the weather stays like this, we'll be all right.  If it turns cold again, I am going to have a rethink and buy a couple of sleepng bags or head for home!  We couldn't bring ourselves to get up until after 9, when the caravan had warmed up a bit.

Chris spent the morning back at the gite, in the belief that the plumber would turn up to do some work there.  We are waiting for him to come back and connect one tap in the house, just one tap, so that we can use the hosepipe and then we can get on with planting all the stuff.  He hasn't been answering his phone or returning our messages.  So Chris decided to try and track him down.  Everyone knows the scarcity of the French artisan and his ability to blend into his surroundings when he doesn't want to be found.  The problem for the plumber is that the the temperature here was -17C for a couple of weeks and everyone has got burst pipes etc so he's rushed off his feet.  The problem for us is that we have loads of planting to do and only a short window as the weather will soon be too hot and the ground too hard and we need a water supply.

After a wasted morning, we popped back several times to see if we could catch the plumber but he wasn't there - a major headach for Judith as he was supposed to be installing 2 plunge pools for their guests, the first of which arrive tomorrow.

We, however, had a better afternoon as we visited the bank to talk about an eco loan [interest free for environmental renovations but not sure if we qualify] and the chap offered us new accounts which pay areasonable amount of interest. Yay!

AND THEN, the best thing.  Workmen arrived to plant on top of the citerne.  This is an eyesore by the edge of our land and the reason we managed to buy the house so cheaply. It belongs to the wine co-operative who have been, quite frankly, anything but co-operative regarding covering it up [which they contracted to do].  The plants are supposed to grow down and go some way to making it look less awful.  We, for our part, have dug a trench in the chalk which laughingly passes for soil here and will be planting a laurel hedge as soon as we can use the hose on it.  This depends on the water in the house being connected, which takes us back to the plumber. 

Original citerne



Planting being done

When this whole thing gets sorted out, all we have to do is wait for 3 or 4 years and the citerne will be hidden!

AND THEN, even better.  I saw on Facebook that Beth walked into nursery with her walker.  First time ever.  She really refused to have anything to do with it for quite a while but since deciding that it was actually really good to be able to walk with it, she has come on apace with Kerry's help.

You would think that was enough excitement for one day but then I headed off to my first dance class here - pretty nervous, I can tell you.  And so I should have been! When I got there I found out that Kate had booked me into some floor exercise class - can't think of anything I would rather not do, so I walked around town and wasted an hour until the Jazz class.  I had forgotten that Jazz classes in France are really aerobics lessons and after the first half an hour I thought I had made a massive mistake but it did get better.  Not sure though if I will continue, where are my Dancing Divas when I need them?

On a good note, both the bank clerk and the dance teacher complimented me on my French.

Wrapped up for bed, complete with plastic bags and socks, the weather is getting colder.