Edited by Cathy Winsor, Sunday, 13 Nov 2011, 11:52
It isn't meant to rain like this in the South of France. In fact when I checked the weather forecast I discovered we are on "vigilance orange" and can expect flooding tomorrow. It hasn't stopped raining since midday. This morning we went out and slotted some pipes into the end of the down pipe from the guttering, to take the water away from the house and the newly built conservatory foundations. It is a bit of a mystery that the guttering takes the rain water to the uphill side of the house and we are trying to think of a way to solve this problem, what to do with the runoff, maybe a second pond, except the children would be forever fishing out croquet balls. I must check to see if they float. I was happy to find there is only about half a centimetre of rainwater in the bucket I carefully positioned in the loft, so it isn't a major leak in the roof, in fact it might be the flashing around the chimney, so we'll have to get up there and check when it stops raining. It is easy to climb out the velux window.
I managed to get to the market in a nearby town before it started to rain. There is an Irish couple that have a stall there selling soda bread, it is so delicious, I was there just in time to buy their last loaf. I met our neighbours, the Dalmatian owning ones; they have friends staying which is badly timed, given the weather forecast for the next few days.
All those British people who have organised bonfires and fireworks must be struggling in the heavy rain, we are happy to be curled up on the sofa with a log fire to keep us and the cats warm. Philip was in the kitchen for hours this evening, it was a labour intensive supper, vegetable samosas, quite delicious with the chilli sauce I made earlier this year. I picked over a kilo of birds eye, scotch bonnet and other chilli varieties from my potagere. We have a window installed again in the sitting room. Just a few empty window frames upstairs, waiting on the filler to dry.
5th November
It isn't meant to rain like this in the South of France. In fact when I checked the weather forecast I discovered we are on "vigilance orange" and can expect flooding tomorrow. It hasn't stopped raining since midday. This morning we went out and slotted some pipes into the end of the down pipe from the guttering, to take the water away from the house and the newly built conservatory foundations. It is a bit of a mystery that the guttering takes the rain water to the uphill side of the house and we are trying to think of a way to solve this problem, what to do with the runoff, maybe a second pond, except the children would be forever fishing out croquet balls. I must check to see if they float. I was happy to find there is only about half a centimetre of rainwater in the bucket I carefully positioned in the loft, so it isn't a major leak in the roof, in fact it might be the flashing around the chimney, so we'll have to get up there and check when it stops raining. It is easy to climb out the velux window.
I managed to get to the market in a nearby town before it started to rain. There is an Irish couple that have a stall there selling soda bread, it is so delicious, I was there just in time to buy their last loaf. I met our neighbours, the Dalmatian owning ones; they have friends staying which is badly timed, given the weather forecast for the next few days.
All those British people who have organised bonfires and fireworks must be struggling in the heavy rain, we are happy to be curled up on the sofa with a log fire to keep us and the cats warm. Philip was in the kitchen for hours this evening, it was a labour intensive supper, vegetable samosas, quite delicious with the chilli sauce I made earlier this year. I picked over a kilo of birds eye, scotch bonnet and other chilli varieties from my potagere. We have a window installed again in the sitting room. Just a few empty window frames upstairs, waiting on the filler to dry.