Today was seriously hot. It got to 32° outside and some 27° inside, though we were not taking any care to keep the inside temperature down. At this time of year the French are closing shutters during the day to keep the cool night air inside, but we enjoy looking out too much to do the same.
Monsieur Enriques the plumber arrived as agreed on the dot of 8am, and spent almost all day here. By the end of the day we had a fully finished and functioning shower cubicle, and a fully functioning kitchen sink and dishwasher. What luxury. All we need now is the electrical quotes to come back so we can get a cooktop going (not that we have bothered to get saucepans yet!). The kitchen is great. So good to have the sink, fridge and plates all in the same room after 8 weeks. And the shower is another step forward, though the over-bath version was perfectly good. The shower does take up less space, which makes the bathroom a bit more generous. We do have a big hole to patch below where the bath was, but that can wait.
Got our second builder’s quote today. Either they don’t want the work or they think they can gouge us, as it is nearly double the previous one (versus the plumbing quotes which differed by a factor of almost 3). Still no sign of electrical quotes .
We’ve been hearing about the Feria – a major event in mid-July to be either strictly avoided or something you must come to. It involves a bit of bull-running, some bullfights, but mainly vast amounts of drinking to the accompaniment of many bands. They set up a huge outdoor bar below us in the church square, and a pissoir in the lane to our left. Residents cover their doors in plastic. I think we may miss a little sleep over that weekend!
Karen was back on window renovation duty. She spent much of Tuesday scraping the loose paint off the windows and shutters in the bedroom and today was sanding the whole lot. Not fun in 30+ degree heat and all togged up to avoid the lead-paint dust.
