ON THE TERRACE AND IN THE GARDEN
Outside there is a large table on the patio near the house with a basic barbecue set and several garden games. There is also an ornate Italian marble table with four chairs, presented to my father in 1990 for twenty years' service as an MP.
When you eat outside use the storm lamp or candles, not the interior gas-lamp, which is only for the interior. These are lit by 'pétrole desaromatisé', available from drugstores and supermarkets.
The swimming pool lights and garden wall-lights can be turned on from the swimming pool machinery room next to the kitchen door outside the house. The garden wall and room lights are just inside the door; the pool lights are located by a switch called "Projecteurs" inside the aquamarine box on the wall to the left.
If it looks like rain please bring in the chair cushions from around the pool and anything else that might get damaged by rain. Storms in this area can be very sudden and spectacular. If a storm is brewing, please also bring into the house anything from around the pool that might get blown away, such as lilos, beach balls etc.
Please be very careful when coming in from the pool to the kitchen. The tiles on the kitchen floor are very slippery indeed and dangerous when wet. Your attention is also drawn to the danger of running near the swimming pool or by the sharp-edged stone stairs leading to the kitchen. Please also observe the common-sense rule that those who cannot swim should never be unattended near the swimming pool.
Sprinklers are used early each morning for the grass around the swimming pool and to the front of the house - these are normally on between 5 am and 6am in the summer months.
SWIMMING POOL
The swimming pool will normally be cleaned two or three times a week; the house itself once a week. Any particular difficulties can normally be solved by Jacques CAZAUBON who will clean the swimming pool and visit every now and again and who can be reached on tel: 05 63 39 76 99. He lives in St. Loup, a nearby village.
Although swimming pool maintenance and upkeep are normally assured, if this is not the case, or you wish to practise your pool technician skills, instructions for using the swimming pool machinery are as follows.
The swimming pool pump, filter and mechanism are in the tower room on the left of the kitchen door facing the house on the pool side. Inside you will find the pump and filter machinery, as well as a long rod and attachments for the sweeper, the top-skimmer net and the fishing net. An aquamarine box on the wall to the left as you enter contains the switches for the motor, and there are levers on the three main pipes. The normal position for these levers should be: Left lever (Bande de fond) OFF (or half-on), central lever (Balai / Sweeper) OFF and right lever (Skimmer) ON. The switch positions, which are A (Automatic), O (Off) and M (Manual) should be switched to A (Automatic).
To vacuum-sweep the pool, turn switch to O, close the skimmer lever and open the sweeper lever. Attach the sweeper attachment to the rod and feed it slowly into the pool until the whole pipe is under water. When the water within the pipe comes to the top of the pipe submerge it into the pool. Taking care to eliminate any air pockets, attach the end of the pipe to the hole in the side of the pool under the water level on the house side.
Turn the switch to M, and wait until you see water gushing in the optic. Vacuum the swimming pool slowly and carefully, pressing down firmly on the floor and sides of the pool with the vacuum-sweep. When you have finished, detach the vacuum from the hole in the side of the pool and turn the switch back to A. Turn the levers back by closing the sweeper and re-opening the skimmer.
Every week or 10 days with regular use of the pool there are three maintenance jobs to be done: "Lavage", "Rince" and "Filtre", which are necessary to keep the filters clean. Turn the circular lever to position Lavage for three minutes, then to position Rince for one minute, then to position Filtre until the water that comes out from beneath the stone outside the machinery room is clean.
Keep a swimming pool tablet in each of the two skim filters at the top of the pool, which should be checked regularly. These may sometimes contain unfortunate small frogs, beetles or even field-mice.