Fun and Frolics for my Birthday and Mushrooms Galore with Sauze and Patrick

Mushroom risotto

Great friends from Chamonix Sauze and Patrick had decided to pop in and stay with us in the “naughty corner” for 4 nights and to celebrate my birthday.

27th, Sept – Al and I had a day of getting things sorted at the barn, lots of little jobs needed doing before the evening. Wood box was empty so needed to get that filled up for the chilly mornings, food needed prepping, outbuilding sorting, plants to prune, curtains to put up in the green room etc etc. Beautiful day which helped motivation. They turned up just as we had finished a thirty minute forage for some mushies as an amuse bouche for supper.

Managed to sit outside for supper which was great. The legendary fish paella of Al’s went down very well along with cava and tapas to start with. We got the Swedish flame going which was atmospheric and fun too.

28th Sept woke up to a glorious day. A leisurely start with brekky and then we did some bits and pieces about the barn. Boys started work on the last bit of the back drain and made good progress. Sauze and I did a few trips up and down to the river for rocks to fill the hole up again.

We had a lovely salad lunch on the terrace before going off up to Cirque D’Anglade to mushroom. Sauze knows her mushrooms and we were keen to learn from her. So off piste we went and vertically up we went. Amongst pied de moutons, we found hundreds of trompets! BONUS. We all got quite carried away and excited.

So by the time we got back down it was 630pm ish and Sauze had dropped the dog bleep on our walk but she was pretty sure she knew where it was so they flew back up the hill and found it whilst Al and I got supper ready. Asian trout, patatas bravas and veggies and of course some mushies to start with!

29th Sept…BIRTHDAY DAY! Had a wonderful day full of spoilings. A huge array of cards and some FAB pressies. We had planned a walk which had been on our list for a while and ideal having 2 vehicles so we could do a van drop at the end instead of having to hitch back.
From Col de la Core we had a varied walk mainly traversing across to some cabanes up high, through woodland and meadows so got some lovely views on the way. Met some local bergers who were in the middle of bringing the sheep down plus about 30 black gorgeous horses galloping down the hillside to the meadow, was really amazing.

A stunning valley to walk back down to the van parked at Estours. More mushrooms!!!!!!
Sauze has volunteered to cook wild mushie risotto tomorrow night for us all with what we have found, should be excellent!
We were lucky with the weather and the rain held off until we reached the van.
Collected Billy from Col de la Core and then it was drinks in Seix before birthday bubbles, lamb, cheese, sparkling puddings and more bubbles. FAB way to spend my birthday with Al and 2 very great friends. Thanks for coming to visit and celebrate with us.

30th Sept. – Drain day…..Patrick very keen to get the drain finished with Al. Sauze cleaned up the mushies whilst I waded through e mails and then we did some yoga on the terrace. First time yoga lesson for me twas fun but I am totally useless!!!! Boys cracked on well then it was salad lunch and bangers on the terrace for lunch before the girls helped to finish the drain. 7 trips of rocks from the river to fill in the hole whilst the boys sorted out the pipe work.

Sauze and I walked Toody down to the village and the boys met us down there for a few drinks and a catch up with some locals before back for wild mushie risotto, twas truly delicious Sauze, marinaded pineapple in rum and some last bits of cheese. Chatting by the fire and then to bed.

1st October – Sauze and Patrick packed up the van before brekky and then headed off to Mallorca. They were having a couple of nights in northern Spain before taking the ferry across to meet Cham friends for a week in the sun. Sad to wave them good bye.
An internet day for us and a little bit of catching up. Can hardly believe we only have 2 weeks left down at our barn before returning to the UK, time has flown by far too quickly.

 

Categories: Summer 2015, The Project