Day off YIPPEE!!!

After a restless night with deflating lilo which needed constantly pumping up….moving back to the old ones which manage to stay up for the whole night!!!

Absoloutely gorgeous day so we headed off to Trein D’Oustou just about 20 mins away and headed off on a walk recommended by Lee who knows the area really well and is a fund of information on where to go and what to do when it comes to the outdoors. A great bit of advice.

We did have a fairly necky start in Vinnie as we followed a very narrow and steep rough road till no further and then poor Al had to reverse back down, and over the tight bridge, rather him than me. Done in style without a dint.

We trundled up an excellent 4X4 track until we got stopped by a sign which we should have ignored will know next time and started walking from there up the track which climbed on and on for yonks, we finally appeared at the top and 5 mins from the Col de le Serre du Cot to get an excellent view back down into the Salal Valley, could now quite see the barn but saw lots of other familiar areas and have a plan to do a circular loop following the whole ridge ending back in Salau.

It was so lovely to get out and have a break from the old DIY for a day.

Back home for a delicious spicy goulash, good to see the deer again just in front of  us by the river.

Woke up to blue sky which stayed for most of the day which was great not to be in the drizzle to work.

I shifted the sand up to the barn while Al got a mix going on the ongoing chore of getting the outbuilding pointed and bug proof, will we ever get there????

Henri popped by and said that he would come by at 1:30pm ish to help us with getting the water butts up full of water to behind the outhouse.

So began the challenge Henri arrived with his motor bruette (wheelbarrow) which can carry 600kg so half filled one of the butts and then spent the next few hours trying to heave and ho with it up the hill balancing acts and all sorts of problems, would have been much easier to empty it and then do a load of trips to fill it once in situ, anyway, it was a good way to get to know Henri a bit more!!! He has been very kind to us and says if we need anything to just ask, which is a plus.

The afternoon we spent strimming with the new gadget which was fab so we have a clear terrace out the back and shifting slate to the front.

Decided to have a BBQ so used Ken’s brasserie dual purpose until we get his wedding gift, the real BBQ out here when we will be BBQ’ing all the time I guess. Steaks with jackets and BBQ veggies was lovely. We have been so lucky to be able to sit out most evenings until it gets dark and hitting the sack at about 10pm.

Bit of a shock to wake to the alarm but we knew we had a busy day ahead in the bright lights of St Girons. Good day to go to town as it was heavy drizzle all day.

We collected some more cement from La Forgue before heading to the Tourist Office to find out about public transport to Carcassone which is a bit of a mare to say the least no direct route so thinking of other options to get back for our flight. The chap in the Tourist Office used to be a guide in Chamonix so wanted to chat about weather, snow, places etc. Managed to get to the lawn Mower shop before 12 so we got a new head for the strimmer which has been excellent. A quick trip to collect sand before a monster session at Maccy D’s for the old internet stuff.

Found the laundrette, chucked in a load of washing before heading off to see if we could find a table at the bric a brac shop but no luck there, back to collect the washing, food shop and then trundled back by 5pm.

Managed to get hold of Nigel from the solar shop and order our few bits and pieces to provide light for us, so excited about that, not sure when it will arrive and how effective it is but time will tell.

Breezy Blogging

Had some prawns with aioli as a starter and then some cod with potato casserole and veg which all seemed to disappear.

It was a much colder night and the extra layers were appreciated!

A glorious lie in until 9 thirty; muggy weather but dry.

Felt like we had to break the back of the pointing up walls in the outhouse so got straight onto it (after my morning coffee).

Henri (le mayor) arrived as we were just mixing our second batch of goo. He saw the water containers and said that if the weather held he would bring his tractor up and help us part fill them from the river and transport then up the hill and install them with us.

Later Annie and Dominic visited for a cuppa so we caught up with then and the latest batch of puppies.

In preparation for installing water containers we had to shift a load of sawn up wood and slate. As we were shifting the slate we graded it all in piles and dragged a load more down from behind the main barn. In the end Henri did not show up so we had potato casserole and home smoked duck breast in the smoker Breezy bought me for Christmas (delicious).

Arrival and cleaning of Water Storage Containers

No wind to disturb us overnight and sunshine to bring in the new day. We started with sawing up some wood near the bridge and then dug out a load of saplings which were threatening to turn the meadow into forest. All of a sudden you start to think about the amount of work required just to maintain the land and get scared.

The day deteriorated into intermittent rain / drizzle. During wet bits I tidied up the tool store and Breezy typed up notes for the blog. We labelled up a load of tins for nails, springs, bolts etc

Finished the chilli for lunch with jacket potatoes (that cooker is great).

In the afternoon we dug compost into the veggie patch and then set about stuffing more mortar into joints in the outhouse. Ekke arrived part way through and offered to sell us a couple of 1000 litre water cubes. Great!! Ekke went to see the waterfalls as we finished off the mix and then we all went down to the village to sort out the water containers.

Another cheeky drink in the bar and then back to the barn for a Spanish omelette to finish stuff up.

A very windy night and disturbed sleep as doors blew open, sheets of iron flew about and cardboard flew about the inside of the building. Scrambled egg on toast is such a great way to start the day.

We used some of the wood we had to make window frames in the outbuilding thinking that we would use mortar to fit them in place. Then did a mortar mix to finish the back wall above the mezzanine.

A late lunch of chuck butties before Cecile arrived to survey our handy work on the joints. She imparted some useful tips for us.

Breezy set to strimming out the back of the main barn until she ran out of strimming cord. Then we set to digging the new veggie patch.

In the evening we showered and went to the bar in Salau for a rose and a beer before a chilli and rice dinner.

As we were due to be in Salau to go to the picnic by noon we had a constructive couple of hours digging out weeds and digging in compost at the rear of the main barn. Planted the red current bush and the chives we bought on the route down south. We feel like we need to fence the area off so that the donkeys don’t eat the stuff, don’t think a fence will stop the wild boar.

The picnic was chez Max and Regina. Also there were Francis, Raymond, Flavia, Alison & Peter and the girls. The “picnic” was a partage at the top of the hill above Max and Reginas. Wine and nibbles followed by donkey sausage and pork with baked potatoes and pasta salad, salad platta, all accompanied by lots of wine, then coffee and spirits. Managed to get away just after 6pm having started at noon. Must make a note to right off a day when invited to a picnic. Heaven only knows what an invite to lunch would entail. We were invited to eat at Raymond’s in the evening but declined until next time.

On the way back we saw Annie (blue shutters) and caught up with her. Finally getting back to the barn at 7-30pm to have a fire and a slice of cheese before bed.

The Pique Nique Crowd 

The day started overcast so Breezy and I set to filling the last of the large gaps in the walls of the outhouse with stones. The theory being that we have loads of stones and we have to pay for lime, cement and sand. True Yorkshire!

Then to playing with lime mortar, slow to start with until we got the hang of it; a mixture of pointing trowels, fingers and throwing blobs into awkward gaps and joints. Once in the joints you leave until starting to go hard, trowel off anything you don’t want and smooth with a wet brush (stiff brush with a handle). This smoothes the mortar and fills any small holes. The whole lot drys white. The later you leave the mortar before brushing the coarser the finish. Be warned it wears out brushes quickly.

Lee showed up just before lunch as we were finishing a mix of lime. Great to catch up and arranged to go for a walk in the next week or so. Lee is a mine of information about the area as he gets out and has explored loads. Looking forward to chatting when I don’t have lime everywhere.

In the afternoon the sky cleared and it was really hot; we made a bench from some of the wood the AFP cut down when massacring the hedge by the piste, and installed it in front of the out house. We cleared a route along the terrace to get to where we started playing with a tree platform just as Alison and Peter dropped in with their two girls. Tea and beer and an invite to a picnic tomorrow.

Finished off the day concreting around the pipes we put through the walls of the out building ready to do the joints (pointing).

Roast chicken dinner, mmm.

The Start of The Pointing…..

It took most of the morning for me to get all the supplies up to the barn while Al sorted the pipe-work for the outbuilding. John and Shirley we think of you each time we use the Muck truck it is invaluable and gets so much use, life without it would be much harder.

Al carried on filling walls with rocks whilst I collected ladders from Freddy to fix the vent and chimneys.

A very productive afternoon we made 2 stools to sit on with some of the larger pieces of wood, made a kitchen drainer out of old manger rungs which is FAB!!!, mended the vent for the toilet, put slates back on the chimney pots to stop the rain getting in.

We got Ken’s fire going at night which again is getting loads of use and we think of you lots Ken as we are sitting by it with a glass of wine or two at night!!! Will get it going when you visit in September.

We had an easy pasta supper before walking it off up to the nearest Cascade Leziou, which is at the moment incredible with the harsh winter they have had and the warm weather we are now getting it is in full force and really impressive.

Don’t think I would ever say this but it was far too hot to sleep, pulling the layers off the bed, unlike October when we could not get enough layers to keep warm!!!

On a “Me note” I am really loving being up at the Bergerie, the weather has helped being so warm and mainly sunny but the peace aprt from the roar of the river is just wonderful and makes nus both realise how lucky we were to find such an amazing place to be. Call it rough camping or roughing it but for me it is just brilliant. Will leave Al to add his comments later!!!!!

First Piece of Furniture  Happy to Have something to Sit on… I have seen this pose before

Another glorious day weather wise, so we set to with the door we had reclaimed from the skip to make it fit the outbuilding, a lot easier than building a door from scratch. We now have quite a reasonable door just a bit of tweaking to do to get it to fit 100%.

We also constructed a tripod shower stand for the back terrace so we can shower a bit more privately, which I think the passers by will thank us for!!! Started on the wood pile getting some smaller logs cut to fit in the wood burner before heading to St Girons which is always quite hard work trying to get as much done as possible.

A trip to the usual DIY shop and got cement, lime, and flus for the chimney for the wood burning stove. On to the sabliere to collect a load of sand and then on to Intermarche and Bricolage to get a food stock for at least a week and finally a trip to Maccy D’s for the free internet access!!!

Just got back to the barn about 8pm and Annie turned up for a glass of wine, good to see her before her trip to Basque and then we had fresh trout and cous cous and veggies for dinner as it was nice and quick and easy.