Well, well, well what do we have here?

The hunt for liquid gold

One of the reasons this site was so attractive to us is that it has a fresh water spring on it. Having an endless supply of water here will make our life much easier - and cheaper! If any of you have read or seen the film of that French classic Jean de Florette and its sequel Manon des Sources you'll appreciate what a difference a water source can make. Villagers have told us many tales about their mothers washing clothes in the pool created by the source and of bringing cattle and other animals here in times of drought. One told me that when she got home from school each afternoon her grandfather would put her astride the cart horse - her legs well splayed out as it was a mighty beast -  and giving it a tap on the rump sett them off for a little ride. The horse came straight to the cool troughs of water on our property and after drinking its fill walked her slowly home again. You can still see the stones where women rubbed their washing and we are planning to clean it all out and restore it to its former state.

As well as the source our immediate neighbour told us that we have a well.  She remembers it being dug out about 45 years ago and told us that it had been capped off and then turfed over. This is where the water that comes out of the tap on our terrace originates from. Someone else thought the well was higher up on a neighbouring farmer's land so the other day Kevin, with a little help from a man with a digger, went on the search for liquid gold.

Following the lead pipe from the tap on the terrace

No sign of the well yet

Hang on this looks like something

The top is very heavy

Bingo! Ca y est!

The old lead pipe got broken in the process but as it couldn't stay that wasn't the end of the world. We bought new piping and by using a siphon method Kevin got the water running again to a new tap without the need for a pump.  Result!