Last time I wrote things were a little uncertain. We weren't sure if the facadiers were going to be able to finish the walls and we were in doubt that the lettings would be able to go ahead for the holiday season due to Covid-19. The villas were both almost fully booked for the summer but by May we started to get a lot of cancellations. Thankfully in early June when the borders opened we got an influx of new bookings and now we have just 1 week in Villa Picholine in late August to sell. ( big sigh of relief....)
We have been continually working since we arrived back from Australia in January. The Pizza oven has been finished & tested, a new pathway to the front door has been laid. Bryan has also been busy in our garden - getting rid of the piles of sand, ballast and gravel. He has also started on a rockery at the front of our house. Moving the stones with the tractor was a bigger job than we thought (poor tractor). We need to dig out under the stones to place them properly but the ground is now like concrete so that will be a job for our JCB man in October. For now work has stopped. Both villas and their gardens are all spick and span, the first guests arrived last Saturday and all is well.
The veg garden has been suppling us with a good amount of spinach, beans, onions, lettuce and oh did I mention courgettes - we have eaten them in everything and the freezer is stocked with copious amounts of courgette soup and lots of green beans. ( note to self:- only plant 1 courgette plant next year !) We picked the first tomatoes of the season at the weekend. There are a few more ready today so it's looking like lunch will be a tomato, mozzarella and basil salad. Bryan's favourite.
The stone merchants opened at the end of May and they rang to say our stair treads would be ready at the end of June. We then had an updated time of first week in July. So all being well we are off to Narbonne tomorrow to collect them..... Guess what Bryan will be doing for the next few weeks.
The pool area is looking really good now. The garden has matured really well and it is lovely and colourful. It is a really calm place to sit after a swim and contemplate what the next job is going to be.
We are trying to slow life down a little now the heat has kicked in and guests are here but it is a little difficult for us to implement. Sitting around is not our idea of fun. We will just have to keep on trying.....
