Believe it or not, there’s an “English Ladies’ Lunch Club” in Nogaro! Not my scene at all, I rarely have anything to do with them; but a friend, stained glass maker and fellow Etcelterrist had submitted a few pieces of glass for an exhibition they were staging at the weekend, so I went along to show my support. The standard of the work was remarkable; in addition to Nellie’s stained glass panels, there were cards, jewellery, paintings, sculptures, patchwork and pottery. The exhibition was held in a wine producing chateau, so as well as the aperitifs, provided by the exhibitors, there was the chance to taste the various wines and floc made on the premises. It was mostly attended by the ladies of the lunch club on Friday evening, the first of three days, but a handful of local French turned up as well; all good for the entente cordiale.

Back at the ranch, as they say, things had been going well – too well perhaps. Joel came round this evening to introduce us to the man who’s going to lay the next layer of floor, to cover the electric gains (a housing that the electrician will pull the wires through when the rest is done), before the insulation, the heating pipes and finally, the chape liquide, onto which we’ll put floor tiles. Now whether it’s because Nick thought they weren’t going to insulate the floor upstairs or because Joel didn’t realise we’re having underfloor heating upstairs, I don’t know; but Joel says the French doors from the living room to the balcony are set in too low. We have to remove the plasterboard, the insulation and the doors, cut 6cm off the bottom of the lintel and put the doors back in higher up, to allow space for the extra depth of floor. Joel assures us that the lintel is overly deep and its strength won’t be compromised by this. It has to be done this week, too, as the flooring people are booked for next week. In the grand scheme of things, I don’t suppose it’s that much of a setback, but when he told us, I nearly cried.