Water , water everywhere …

 

Dawn on a new beginning?

Now I really must be risking fate , starting to write this blog  before our deluge comes to pass……

‘ Water , water everywhere, nor a drop to drink ‘   (The Ancient  Mariner ) .That could be us except we are  just ageing , not yet classified as ancient .    So the only water available to us has been the swimming pool , and you would have to be particularly desperate to drink that .  At least we can  shower and flush the loo with it . I only once made a mistake taking a mouthful , in horror spat it out before swallowing . I didn’t make the same mistake twice . 

So reminder to my readers on our water woes ( Summary version! ) . So the borehole ran out of water first week in August . Not catastrophic as we have an old well , but then found its pump was not powerful enough to serve the upstairs .  First new pump was lost by the courier, second only lasted a week before burning out . Supplier needed five weeks before replacement could be considered ( Why ? Perhaps they were trying to “ starve “us into submission . ) . Leak found on pool, now repaired; leak also on pipe from well, pipe replaced . Storage tanks and pump installed to take water from borehole ; to balance out supply and demand and settle sand and silt. Awaiting alteration of electrics and controls for borehole . “ Things can only get better !”

Last week our electrician wired in the new pump in the Storage tank , and replaced my previous horrible wiring for all the other pumps. . Found a company to change the control for borehole , they looked at the house , waited three weeks knowing we were desperate, and then sent a quote for Euro 12,000 ! Do we really look that dumb? ( no need to answer) . So I continued to chase the borehole pump installer to quote . Finally he arrived after two half months of my pestering ; together with his very nice dog,  who welcomes our open spaces .  Things are getting better. 

So good news! ; after a summer resting , the water level in the borehole had returned to 26m down , leaving 70 m usable water underneath . This is almost exciting news ! All ( ? ) that  remains is to change control so that it pumps into the Storage tanks , and from there into the house . Awaiting alternative quotes from  electrician and borehole man . But first need to fill the storage tanks, can’t wait weeks for the borehole to fill them . Straight forward ? No !

Our friendly vineyard has a tractor drawn tanker , but I need to get permission from the town a hall  to take some of their precious water . Suitable form completed , submitted together with proof of ownership of house ; apparently paying rates for twenty years was not good enough ! Form vanishes into Marie , never to be seen again . By chance I had also met the mayor , but he was particularly unimpressed by our plight , with the rejoinder “ I am in the countryside with my own water problems “ . 

But wait! ( we have been) , on Monday a huge tanker is arriving with 16,000 litres, to fill storage tanks , and top up pool ( to protect its structural integrity  …allowable under drought rules ). Our borehole man gave us  his contact ; arrangements took just one phone call . Clearly a private contractor , with his own water supply.   My long suffering wife , she of changing hair colour with washing in chlorine ( I think a nice colour , a view not shared!  ) ..is planning a very long shower Monday night in compensation for the months of chlorinated submersion.   ..and yes ( The excitement is building ) , the pump supplier embarrassed by the long delay is sending a new pump ,  ( for the well)  . We will have two sources of water . I suspect another long shower is in the offing .

Ah , not quite so fast , none of this water is truly potable as it is coming from tanks or the well . Still not a drop to drink ! , although it must be said a considerable improvement on drinking that from the swimming pool !  So we await the return of our plumber to install improved filters,  and UV sterilisation. No problem , we have a hall, full of water in plastic bottles which will need using up. 

As water woes drift off into the sun set , I can relax ; ah except for that necessary to get the wood fire operational before winter sets in . Nothing is straightforward. To be continued ……and it arrived …. 16000 litres … liquid gold!!!!!

Pipes Galore

3372 pipes make up this German made organ in a temple to music and Art Nouveau. Imagine our surprise when we turned a corner of “ a cramped street “ to be met with a truly fantastic example of Barcelona architecture . It was all the more surprising as for us it was completely unexpected , I think we were just looking for a coffee. This  for us was served in the three story glass fronted atrium , which doubled as a protective skin to preserve the original facade. 

You can only visit the building with a guided tour , and we were in luck.  My words cannot hope to describe the buildings seemingly endless incredible features. The tour finished in the main concert hall , where our guide added that they had spent euro 1million plus restoring the original mechanical organ features with the latest electronics. To complete a visual assault,  our  journey concluded with  the German organ; driven by Japanese technology and Silicon Valley programming ; exploding with Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor . No organist required, technology had taken over !  

The emotion for me was completed with memory of the one time I had the opportunity to play our church organ at the age of 12 . The church was empty , and the air provide by electricity ; us sweet choir boys had , with too enthusiastic pumping , had broken the handle of the manual pump; mid service ! An organ is an incredible powerful instrument , and at full volume, I blasted the non existent congregation with my rendition of “ In the Bleak mid Winter “ . A sense of power never to be forgotten . 

The next series of “pipes “ are actually sculptured from  sandstone by water erosion . The Orgues ( organs) d’Ille-sur Tet were one of those tourist features right on our doorstep, which for twenty years we had never visited . Looking to take summer visitors somewhere new , we added this previously  unexplored location to our days itinerary; which was primarily going to be the Agly valley and Carthare castles  . They were on the way! The location itself also featured some sculptured metal work along the path, I will let the pictures describe ! 

The organ pipes themselves are a strange sight , with hard rock forming a rainproof cap to columns of sandstone , in places resembling those pipes . The whole edifice is purely transitory as water erosion will eventually wash all away . Fortunately with the drying climate , their life expectancy is being extended . 

A winding drive across limestone hills , through vineyards,  that miraculously survive in such a harsh environment . Apparently that leads  to better quality wine; which must have some truth, as the Agly valley wines are some of the best in the region . So of course we had to stop at the cave in Maury , to sample both food and wine . We were not disappointed . Ah , but we are supposed to be sight seeing ; which is of course more difficult with the preponderance of wine and food in France . So it was onwards and upwards to the heights of the castle ( strangely called a chateau ) of Queribus . 

It is definitely a castle , high on a promontory in the Corbières ; with magnificent views , especially of the Canigou . However to see the mountain top , its best before the cloud builds up around mid day . So there is the conundrum ; eat lunch or see the top , can’t have both . Sorry Canigou , no contest ! Anyway the view of rest of the countryside made up for it ! Scampering along , we finished up in the adjacent village of Cucugan , famous for its stone ground ancient wheat flour ; milled beneath the windmill . The latter is for show , electric is more reliable.  Fortunately the bakery also turns out   speciality bread . This truly had to be a special treat , targeted at the tourists ; price excludes every day consumption . 

Suitably replete , we set off down the Agly  valley , shocked to the see this once significant river had decayed into a series of stagnant pools . Our sécheresse (drought ) is having devastating consequences . Which of course applies to our abode , where for nearly three months our only source of water has been the swimming pool . But have no fear , additional of numerous pieces of hard ware , including a seemingly never ending array of pipes heralds the arrival of proper  water . 

To be continued ( I hope )