Thwarting the four footed fiends

Done. We now have a fenced vegetable garden. And I am so pleased.

In a few months the chestnut stakes will weather to grey and disappear more into the background.

And I have positioned this fence on the east side way back from the action. I never fancied having to open and shut a gate and stare at a fence all day.   So this one is discreet.  The hare might manage to sneak around the side, but I hope not. It will certainly make his attempt on my spinach an uncomfortable journey.  Up until now he could just saunter in.

Note the beautiful blue sky in the shot. It was a gorgeous day.  I had to shed layers like mad as I attacked the edge of the swimming pool. It was hot.

The flood had washed all the soil down onto the pool decking, and burying the river stones on the edge.  So I picked them all out and chucked them in a bucket. And then ran out of buckets and had to chuck them on a tarp instead.   I’ll wash them tomorrw and put them back.

But not until I put down some new weed proof fabric to stop the jungle of weeds sprouting between the stones.

It was 15 metres of toil. But I think once this is done, then we will have reclaimed this part of the garden in its entirety.

My background noise of choice (apart from the woodpecker in the trees below the house) was the sound of the bulldozer repairing our road. Oh joy, the tarmac is close to getting put down on the road up to our house.

It’s a big job as there is such a large surface area to cover.  And in the middle of the work, Michel, the village handyman, decided to fix our drainage problem in the road just beyond our house, in the east garden.

There is an underground spring here which spills over onto our road. Not a big problem in summer, but in winter it can freeze and form black ice which makes it difficult for Jean Daniel to negotiate when he roars down the hill.

And it is unsightly. Right now it still looks unsightly, but once it dries out a bit I can landscape and sow some grass seed on the mud patch on the left.  And Antony the tarmac man will cover up the stones.

There is still a job to do closer to the house. Here is the before shot of the damage from the flood that used to be our road.

It will get ripped out and we can start again.  I had rather hoped it would be done today, but it has now been scheduled for tomorrow. Or Monday. Ardeche time. But at least it’s this month. And not the next. How marvellous to be able to walk up to our house without needing to hang on.