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Everything shuts down in August, which is the story everywhere. It is much too hot to function apart from on the beach. Brain atrophy develops and the professionals i.e. lawyers, accountants are away from their desks for a month. This is not uncommon even in England when it is difficult to make any business progress in that month. France has always had the tradition of the August shut down and now it seems that the rest of Europe is catching up. So if you need to make progress in August – what can you do?

Lucy and Robert are watching a house emerge out of the chaos of rubble, cement mixers, plaster and dirt. The finish date was set for the end of July because the builders shut down for August. Well the house is beginning to look like it might one day be a comfortable family house but not yet as it’s only slightly better than a building site, particularly on the ground floor. The builders have family holidays and other August tasks planned so what is going to happen? The Electrician and Plumber need to get in and finish their work too but they need the August break... A couple of despondent days when realisation set in that this deadline was going to come and go and no matter how they wished things were different it just wasn’t going to happen.

When the going gets tough the tough go shopping so said a car sticker I once saw in America. The women in our family agree with that so Lucy and I went shopping for a cooker, washing machine and dryer ready for the day when the family house was a reality. Robert and Lucy also spent their time at Ikea and ordered the new kitchen that he is going to install. Those tasks at least helped them to believe that there was an end in sight. As Soller shuts down for August Robert is up early and into the square on the tram heading for the house and the work that he can do in it. The shells of the kitchen units were soon built and painting started in the rooms that were clear enough to paint round. Interior design here includes a lot of white paint so the builders were rather surprised to see the kitchen a bright sunny yellow. Robert is working hard every day doing what he can, not for him the shut down instead a total focus on what can be achieved in August.

The school holiday for Kate has reached its peak; she broke up on June 16th and has been enjoying the beach and having fun in the sun since then. She seems to have reached the point of holiday overload after six weeks with another five to go. She has taken to doing maths and English homework on most days and makes beautiful collages and paintings. She has been used to going back to school in England after a six week holiday so this is too much of a good thing. The locals send their children to Summer School for this long stretch as this is when most of the people are involved working in the tourism industry and can’t holiday with their children. So maybe this will be the route for Kate next year but for this summer more swimming, fun and homework!

The nursery on the beach that Emma attends for a couple of hours a day stays open for fifty weeks a year. Emma goes off to see her friends every day leaving Kate to her homework. She plays with the water in the garden and has a lovely time. Her speech is developing a hybrid accent with some definite Spanish intonations. She will definitely be our Spanish senorita despite the white blond hair. The multicultural class is a great place for the children and Lucy has made some good friends amongst the other mums. The nursery closes for its staff to have their holiday for two weeks at the beginning of September so the roles will be reversed then with Kate off to school and Emma staying home, she probably won’t be doing too much home work – she is only two after all.

Robert is trying to make his living teaching and coaching tennis and has a loyal clientele made up of mainly English residents. They are not as hardened to the heat as the Spanish people and find playing tennis in August too much to contemplate and so in August he will not make much money. Robert is learning to roll with the punches in this line and already has ideas for a business to run in tandem. More of that another day as kitchen fitting, decorating and moving furniture is what’s occupying his brains and brawn for the hottest of months...



As the temperature rises even higher and forty degrees replaces thirty five as the norm, more and more people we know and Robert in particular succumbed to a raging throat infection. He felt very unwell, aching, tired and ill enough to be willing to go to the Doctor. At that point he had no sore throat and was surprised when the Doctor told him he had a serious throat infection and needed strong antibiotics. Sure enough the very next day the sore throat started and got worse and worse. He was a very sick man for a week and had to return to the Doctor for more treatment before eventually feeling better. Then we heard of others including our local shopkeeper with the same thing. As the temperature rises so do the infections but fortunately for us the Doctor was not amongst the people who close down for August.

Nest Week: Relaxation and ‘the art of the tart’

 

 

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