I forgot to mention that yesterday there were no Colorado Beetles on the potatoes at all. Today there were only three. So it looks like we’re winning the battle, but I don’t think we can organise a Victory parade just yet.
I plastered part of the pantry wall using lime render, and LSS started painting one wall of the kitchen with a white primer coat. It already looks tremendously improved; the previous dingy brown paint makes the kitchen look even smaller than it is.
The adjustable hole saw which I bought from Ebay arrived in the post, so I was able to drill two 82mm diameter holes in two of the water barrels so that the rainwater downpipes can go into the barrels in the right places.
The elderflower champagne still hasn’t started fermenting, so I’ve had to order a brewing belt (again from Ebay). This is a device which plugs into the mains, and you wrap it around the brewing container (either the plastic bucket or a demijohn) to provide the correct temperature for yeast. Obviously our previous house in Reading had central heating, so the temperature was fine for home brewing. La Darnoire, however, has no heating at all, and even though the temperature outside has now risen, it’s still below 20 degrees in the house itself.