Expect the unexpected.

Hello to you all

How was your week? Did you have a look at the Action for Happiness calendar for October? (see post Optimistic in October). We are trying to follow it each day this month – so far so good. Max and I started the week with renewed enthusiasm, restructuring our days, getting some work done and aiming to make inroads into the house projects and garden work. But, of course, those little unexpected things cropped up! What a surprise. None of them are major, more irksome than huge dramas and in the bigger picture totally unimportant, however hopefully a source of amusement. Expect the unexpected should perhaps be our motto. Too often we find ourselves treating ourselves to a delicious cake or two, or reaching for that glass of wine at the end of the day, a sign perhaps that the best laid plans didn’t quite work out, or maybe just that the patisserie and local wine are rather lovely.

Firstly this week the pool is misbehaving. The pressure gauge appears to have packed up causing some stress as we didn’t know that this was the case and thought the pressure was increasing – which is not good. Actually it has just stopped working – something else to replace. Then we realised that the filter appears to be unable to cope with fine sediment so just lets it flow around the system, leaving us with a dirty pool but with perfectly balanced water! The sediment is probably from the garden and fields, dust blowing into the pool as it continues to be so dry, plus the farmer regularly zooms around on his tractor, creating clouds of dust everywhere! Our pool robot is finding it all too much as it is too fine for him to remove too. So we had to fit in a trip to the pool shop to buy some special product that will make the sediment clump a bit so Bernardo the robot can hoover it up. This done, over 2 days, we acquired a rather artistic pool (see photo), a bit reminiscent of the seaside. The product had worked, so now for the robot to do his job. I was eagerly looking forward to my weekend swim, but non! Sadly it didn’t work, all the robot did was scoop it up, filter it and release clouds of green back into the pool. Hooray. After a little research it appears we need a pool vacuum cleaner and tube to deal with it properly. You live and learn. Having a pool is amazing, but also complicated (and expensive) when it doesn’t do what we would like it to do. The ever elusive pool man who eventually got back to us after a few emails with some advice (after Max had looked up what we should do), also promised (finally) that the flowmeter thing we ordered in May might just make it to the pool before we close it this year! This is an ongoing thing with him, it being hard to pin him down to an actual appointment or with complete answers to queries. With the sediment question, we got partial advice as ever. He is always very busy which is great for him, but can lead to long delays. Time for a change now. The new pool shop is incredibly helpful, so it will become our port of call from now on. I will let you know how the cleaning goes next week.

It is flea treatment time for the rescue animals. Bear, our wonderful quirky Romanian mountain dog (think Shetland pony size white furry thing), has had a terrible upset tummy and is now on eye-wateringly expensive gut mending vet food, which of course he loves. He was first in line for treatment, our fingers crossed that it didn’t re-upset his highly sensitive tummy. Luckily his dose of treatment didn’t undo the good the food seems to be doing. Next up, the trio of cats. Even though they have been having flea and worm treatment for 3 years from us, each time they hate it more and become more difficult to administer it to. We have wasted long periods of time trying to get this done, I have two lovely scratches on my stomach administered through clothing from Nina who was having none of the treatment thank you! The worst is we have to do two lots each, about 48 hours apart. Are the vets having a laugh? Do they own animals? Once is just about achievable. Try approaching the cats for number 2 dose. Then to add insult to injury, Louka keeps being sick, after gorging on everyone’s food and Nina seems to have developed something like cystitis so is peeing everywhere! Joy!

On a more positive note our Barn Owls must be out training their young as we have spotted three little Barn owlets peering out of the lucarne ‘window’ (their little opening in the tower roof), or on the nearby chimney. The noise they make is incredible, add in a variety of other owls and night birds and it is like being in the centre of a bird city here at the moment. Wonderful.

So back to the plans. We have finally started on the French doors that lead on to the terrace from each room on the ground floor. We have 6 sets to sand and paint, a long overdue job. My son set to on the first set and they look so lovely now. Max is geared up for sanding the next lot and I am on painting I think. This is a job that we need to do before winter sets in this year. I love the look of the old worn doors but in reality it is not good for the doors when it is raining and cold. They will look so smart. As the weather here continues to be very warm by day (if a little chilly by night – some great dawns!), we should make some progress.

My painting corner has filled up with things to paint, the plant stand has yet to be touched. Sometimes I wish I could wave a magic wand and at least get some of the jobs done so the house looked better. Then I try to remember to take a step back and focus on one job rather than doing my occasional ‘rabbit in the headlights’ thing and looking at the enormity of the renovation project. At least we have a roof, water and electricity. Some spaces are nearing completion and you never know the extractor fan might make it to above the cooker this week. We can then focus on the back wall of the kitchen and some much needed shelves! So many jobs depend on other jobs being done and storage is one of our biggest problems. You would think in a house this big, this wouldn’t be a problem but we have to create the storage with furniture, shelves, cupboards, etc. as there is precious little built in to the house. We are great book lovers, so need loads of book storage. I love cooking and have far too many cookery books, so I need shelves in the kitchen for them. Bedlinen, towels, blankets, etc. all need homes too. Our giant wardrobes didn’t quite work out as the storage we planned, one of them anyway. One is in the utility room, serving as a coat cupboard and a larder, the other has ended up under the covered terrace as a garden storage place (cheaper than a shed and far more original). Both need painting but the storage was more pressing so painting will come later.

The house continues to embrace us some days and object to us others, offering beautiful spaces and views and then revealing some delightful problem, entreating us to cosset her, mend her and enjoy her. This, I am sure, is all part of the adventure we have undertaken, for better or for worse. It can be frustrating and satisfying but overall a journey we try to enjoy as much as we can, even if the unexpected pops along far too often!

We had a little time out from all things DIY on Sunday, visiting a gorgeous lake about an hour from here for a late picnic lunch and a walk. On the way home we got caught up with some sheep moving field. One of the sheepdogs certainly made sure we waited. A beautiful day weather-wise and such a great location, not too busy and very calm – a much needed change of scene!