Alun & Breezy’s Weblog

Woke up to a cooler start to the day, slightly overcast but with blue soon to appear again. After a bit of internet for Ski Breezy to get the day going we had a good day doing lots of bits and pieces. Al did a little bit of bush cutting whilst I finished off work stuff.

Then we both did a bit of weeding in the veggie patch where the roquet is going ballistic and the lettuces are in abundant supply. We still have a vast amount of wood at the back which cam mostly out of the barn and is aimed for firewood. It started as quite a reasonable pile but now looks a mess so we set to with making a wood store out the back to house it all well at least some of it. Using off cuts of wood from other things and the old tin, we now have a reasonable shelter out the back for all the wood. A late lunch at 3pm but delicious chicken salad under the parasol since the sun had reappeared and it was very hot again.

Opted for cooler jobs for the last bit of the day. We beaded in one side of the window for the bathroom. We have the glass for it, so all we need to do now is to get it in situe and we are on the way to making the bathroom bat proof!!! We then attacked the pile of wood at the front of the outbuilding. Al was chain sawing and I was splitting the wood so we have enough supplies to keep us going this autumn. It is an on going job but will be good when it is all stacked away. The sun was still on the river and I was hot so went for a lovely dip/scrub down. Al opted for the hot shower instead.

It was a lovely evening so we sat outside with maps and planned a walk for this week before having a glass of rose and a few hands of Bezique. Big cook fest. Whole chickens were buy one get one free so we had another chicken to cook. Al still keen with using the pressure cooker so he cooked a whole chicken Morroccan style in it and it was delicious. I made a large chilli which will do us two nights. One for a spicy shepherd’s pie and the other for a chilli. Dad’s fridge is working a treat, we wood have struggled without it in this heat as anything meat wise would only last a day. Means we don’t have to become veggies which is FAB!!! The Bezique battle continued after dinner but I was thrashed by Al who had a constant stream of flushes and four aces. Could be revenge tomorrow….

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I sorted out tools and cut up some lengths of decking ready to fit out the platform we started last year while Breezy painted the half height wall we put up in the outbuilding.

The morning we spent finishing the platform and starting the decking. We finished the whole thing at 7pm. We now have a not so trivial platform in a tree and some ideas as to where we are going next. Need another trip to a builders merchant first though.

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Market day in St Girons means that last night was the last one on blow up mattresses. Laundry in the machine and we have 35 minutes to find the man on the market and get a mattress before someone unloads our clean but wet laundry onto the floor to use the machine.

He’s not there!

Collect the laundry and head off to collect the generator. It’s not fixed. “Maybe this week?”

Off to Mr Brico to buy stuff and glass then back to the market incase Mr Mattress was late. On route we bumped into Freddie from the Auberge for a chat. He recommended another shop in town for cheap mattresses. Bingo we now have a mattress.

Last stop Carrefour for food. Home for lunch and a big sort out of the bedding situation. Afternoon was very hot so we planned and did some preparation for a day in the trees on Sunday before heading off for dinner at Lee’s with Ian and Nina.

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The morning started cool so we decided to burn the remaining bracken that had been cut. It made sense to cut trees at the same time to feed the fire. We did not anticipate the weather and managed to pick one of the hottest days of summer to light a huge fire. By Lunchtime Breezy had melted and disappeared to cool off in the stream. I think we both had too much heat in the morning and so a chill out for a couple of hours in the afternoon was in order.

Mushroom foraging before dinner and we discovered another couple of sites locally for bollets.

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I love getting up in time to watch the sun come over the mountains, gradually approaching the back of the barn. The light on the southern side of the valley sets in shafts, akin to the front of an old fretted radio front. As the sun envelopes the slope the grass lets off steams as if the sun is vaporising everything in its path. By 9:20 it hits the small outhouse which is our home streaming in the front window. So we missed it again.

After 11 hrs sleep we got up and set to breakfast and making a packed lunch. Off for a walk. The forecast was for thunderstorms later but we went for it anyway. Drove down through Salau to Couflens without stopping at the skip, turned left and made our way up to Col de la Pause (1563m) where we abandoned the van and set off on foot to Port D’Aula (2260m).

There is a 4×4 track all the way up or, as we did, you can cut off a lot of the bends by following the GR10. It takes in a couple of beautiful lakes and by one of them, Etang Areau, they are building a new refuge. Great views of Mont Valier on the way up.

Just under 2 hrs to the top where we tucked into our sandwiches. Thunder combined with a cold wind made for a short lunch stop before heading back down to the van where Breezy and I picked a few handfuls of bilberries for our desert this evening.

Hot showers under the tree back at the barn. Now I need to do something with lardons and pasta

.

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Due to the random nature of our exploits and numerous cameras kicking about Iam slowly trying to catch up with what has and has not been uploaded.

There are some new photos on Roadtrip Return,  Bracken is cleared, Shower building at Lee's and Return Again.

 Enjoy

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Blue skies again and as Al said as we were having brekky this am. isn't it great to be up early and seeing the sunrise over the barn….well it was 9.15am but lovely nonetheless!!!

My back was on the mend but still not keen to be swinging from trees or doing heavy work so we had a pottery day with a few more ticks off the list.

An hour on the old internet first thing sorting out a few work e mails and photos for the Blog.

We had a problem a few weeks back when we had really heavy driving rain with a small leak in the outbuilding which we think was just from the rain driving between the slates. We had been meaning to do something about this for a while but today was the day. Not too much hassle just putting some wood over the existing chevrons to protect the joint so hope that does the trick once and for all, fingers crossed. Seems a lot easier than the problem we have with the main roof, which we still have to sort….

A yummy chicken salad in the sun, we still have an abundance of lovely lettuces and roquet from the garden which is a lovely change from our usual butties.

Motivation was bit low, we seem to have been here and going at it without much else happening, so I think we are probably a bit tired and in need of some variety, a bit of climbing or walking is on the cards when knees and backs permit!!!

We had wanted to get the out building door a bit more secure. Al had rescued more wood from the skip in Chamonix and we used this to reinforce the front door to the out building, may look a bit bright from the other side of the river for a while but should make the door last a bit longer.

A few spits of rain whilst we had the old outdoor showers but then it seemed to clear again which was good.

Remains of beef cuzza for supps with a game of scrabble on the agenda too.

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Gone are the days of scaling a ladder to get to the toilet. We now have a barn, with a concrete floor , joists for the first floor and slap bang in the middle is a staircase.

Started the day by finishing off nailing the joists around the stair opening and then with the aid of the chain hoist lifted the stairs into position. Currently secured with a couple of roof rack straps but they fit perfectly. Once we have the floors down they will need adjusting and fixing slightly more securely.

We then set about making a frame for a glass partition for the bathroom using wood we bought over the weekend. That done we can now order the security glass we need for it before it goes in place.

After lunch Breezy and I started the internal stud wall in the outhouse at the back to come up to half height. The plan being to make the space more usable as the wall is underground.

Beef curry for sups as I am getting the hang of the pressure cooker.

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Hoorah at last the sun has decided to return, fingers crossed it is here to stay, makes all the difference.

After a quick brekky we decided to set to and finish off clearing the bracken. In just over an hour the rest of the bracken was cut and now just drying ready to be burnt in a few days time, should open up some more of the meadow. It will probably need another cut later on but should not be so bad if we keep on top of it.

We had also decided that we wanted to make some indentation into the wood pile just by the outbuilding, so we attacked that making it into logs to fit the log burner, all stacked ready for use. We do seem to be getting through a lot of wood with this bad weather we have been having recently as it is so lovely to have the fire on at night keeps us snug.

Salad lunch outside difficult to get going again….

Anyway, the plan is for good weather tomorrow so we ideally are hoping to get to work on the tree house. To make life easier we decided to clear the path to the platform to make it easier for getting the muck truck to it. This then turned into a little foraging session and we managed to find some bollets to go with the beef. Lots of other mushies around but not too sure they are edible so left them out of the cooking.

A cuppa before making the hole for the stairs. All quite stress free so far. Al balanced with the chain saw and cut the 3 floor joists out which we had marked up. Then it was a matter of cutting a couple of chevrons to support the joists we had just cut. Plenty of whacking of nails and we are nearly there a bit more to do tomorrow but showers, food and other bits and pieces beckoned.

Roast chuck for supper and beef cuzza slowly cooking for tomorrow too. Oh we do like our food!!!

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We had arranged for Alison and Peter to come and have a bite to eat with us for lunch.

We had a lie in which was great and then set to preparing lunch, hoping the rain would hold of etc.

Just before they arrived we managed to sort out the last bit of the stairs a bit of glue and hammer and nail action to get the treads secure and in place. Hoorah now just to get them up and attached to the floor joists so we can use them!!!!

Alison and Peter arrived and we managed to have drinks outside before cold took over and we opted for a cosy lunch inside…. Al made a wonderful paella on the outdoor paella burner which went down really well, green salad and choccy with manay a glass of wine. Good chat and very relaxing.

They left around 3.30pm ish and we were having a laze on the mezzanine pondering next POA when there was a knock on the door, it was Hans (The Dutch guy who helped us with the roof) really great to catch up with him again and he may well be able t help us with the dreaded pointing job ahead of us for next year. Heard all his news etc over a cup of coffee.

We spent an hour after that just up in the barn planning where to put the stair opening, we think we now have a plan and tomorrow will be make or break time.

Managed to get hold of Dad on Skype which was FAB, seems like his trip to Scotland was lots of fun.

A very leisurely evening, we watch a DVD, ate crisps and had a glass of prosecco…really felt like a Sunday. 

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