A gorgeous day with quite a wind blowing when we woke up. Brekky in the outbuilding, then Laney and I got our kit together for a trip up to Port de Salau on the Spanish border. Al had decided to have a knee rest day from walking so he can join us for the rest of the week.

So we trundled up, Al stopped after 10 minutes where we left him for a forage with sadly no luck and we continued up. it is a lovely walk, not too steep and a gradual 1000m ascent up to the border. We saw nobody always a bonus, plenty of cows and sheep, hundreds of gorgeous butterflies and a few folk at the col. Managed our picnic lunch at the top looking into Spain and a bit of a relax before descending back down with it gradually getting hotter the lower we got down. Fab day out Laney’s knee and foot held out well and she is now just sitting in the river as an alternative ice treatment!!!! before having a hot outdoor shower.

Al had pottered on and got lots of little jobs done at the barn, security bars on the shutter, strimming the bracken, wood chopped, parts of the floor cleaned etc etc and probably loved some peace and quiet……

We are now marinading some trout for the BBQ to make an Asian trout salad for supper should be good.

Laney is due in on the 2.30pm bus at St Girons. It is also shopping day so a delayed trip down the valley gives Breezy and I a chance to catch up on internet stuff and emails.

We set off just before noon with a packed lunch and a cunning plan. Food shop first at Carrefour, then building materials, then laundry in and Breezy walks across town to look at cookers while I drive to Mr Bricolage to get some more materials. Back to the laundrette just in time to pick up Breezy and Laney to head back up the valley. Small detour to drop off some supplies to Alison and Peter in Salau before exposing Laney to the new found comforts of the barn.

Drinks and nibbles on the terrace before Paella and salad super.

Woke up to rain in the morning so we cracked on with a bit of internet first before the huge clean up started. Lifting the plastic off the floor, moving furniture around, wood and anything we don’t want in the near future downstairs and then sweep and sweep and sweep and mop and mop and mop!!!!

Al hard wired in the invertor so we have lights working upstairs in the main barn and they look GREAT!

So this actually resmebles somewhere we could live!

Al went off to help Clive with the start of building a website for him. I did a final tidy up for Laney’s arrival and prepped some food for dinner. I was just about to start to read some books when Henri The Mayor turned up so gave him a progress tour and he seems to like what we have done. He left just as Al was coming back so time for celebrations.

First drinks and dinner up in the main barn. Some blanquette and nibbles before chicken and a  few hands of Bezique with lights!

We had a lot of just sitting and looking at what we have done and we are really pleased with the outcome and very relieved the plasterboarding and the ceiling is now over!!!

Happy Days.

Another hot start to the day. Al did a lovely naughty brekky fried eggs and fried bread to start the day. He was going to do his speciality egg window but the bread was too small to make the window!!! We had brekky outside and came up with a plan and as always a list!!!

Al set to with sorting out a couple more of the light sockets 2 more down, 7 more to go whilst I varnished the shutters and the window ledge.

We then came up with a plan on how to hide the few holes near the ridge beam where we had slightly mis judged our measurements but it was one of those things which would irritate us in the end. So we ended up putting up some wood along the ridge beam to hide the issues….seems to be good and was pretty easy with the scaffolding here.

A quick lunch and then Al cracked on with the rest of the lights whilst I sanded the shutters and window ledge before giving it a second coat. Al was on a mission so I weeded the raised bed which has a whole load of new salad stuff and herbs in there going well.

Hey presto Al connected the mains to the generator and lo and behold we have lights on the first floor of tha barn and they ALL work, not one dodgy connection. My husband is a total STAR! Now we, that will be the royal we!!! have just got to hard wire it to the battery and invertor and we have lights on command from the solar panels. All the lights look good and give great lighting we think. The whole of upstairs is lighted with 130 watts. Al was keen to have the whole place both upstairs and downstairs for under 300 watts so looking feasible.

Some what later finish than planned as we still have loads of internet stuff to sort so we both managed a few hours tapping away before supper.

The mizzle came from nowhere but we were determinded to eat outside as it was still really warm. So the parasol acted as a mizzle shade this evening as we sat on the top terrace with marinaded balsamic peppered pork on the BBQ, a delicious new bulgar salad with lots of home grown herbs amongst other goodies and a green salad with lettuce and broccoli from the garden and an avo from the supermarket thrown in too!!!! Bed!!!!

Woke up to another glorious day and we knew it was going to be hot. On a must do list was to get the shutters made for the back window to make it secure when we are not here.

We were aiming to get them looking like the other old ones in keeping with the old look of the barn. We had some old poplar left over which we had ear marked for the outside and old left over floor boards were ideal for the inside of the shutters.

We got cracking before the sun hit the terrace and when it did hit the terrace the parasol went up and so we could continue. Mainly cutting everything to size, then srewing the 2 sides together and offering it all up before lunchtime.

After lunch Al set too with the hinges whilst I gave thesecond half of the ceiling  it’s last coat. the paint literally just made it, the pot is now empty and the ceiling is painted. Looking bright and good well we think so.

Then went to help Al who was giving the shutters a weathered look by lightly burning the wood with a blow torch and then I was wire brushing off the soot as such so the wood comes out looking it is old. We got the effect we were looking for. Only thing left was to hang them in place et voila all is good.

Just need to fit some security bars and that is another big tick.

It was then quick showers and headed off to Lee’s for a BBQ. A lovely evenign with his new family all there, so great to meet them properly, and to catch upw with Justin and Emily and family and John and his daughter too.

Great food, good company and amazing views from his place. We got a tour of all his hard work on his extended house, which has tripled in size and it really is a cracking spot. Headed home and to bed. Had forgotten the torch so getting up the hill in pitch black was amusing!!!

Wow it’s hot!!

After the usual fruit breakfast and internet bashing session Breezy and I started making the frame and lintels for the 2nd window opening which is to go in the ground floor over the decking terrace. It will give loads of light in to the ground floor which is comparatively gloomy at the moment. Hopefully Clive is going to help us create the opening at the end of the month as there are no lintels in place at the moment. With random limestone walls just under a metre thick held together with dry mud it would be a shame to bring the whole gable end down.

Having just got that finished before lunch we retired indoors for the afternoon to escape the heat. First coat of paint on the other side of the ceiling. Bright Yellow!

Managed to get a couple of the light fittings in under the skylights before shower and eats.

This is or 400th web post on the blog. I know there are some random recipes and data stuff but it does mean that we have had at least a year of daily postings of activity on the barn and adventures on foot in the Pyrenees. When I reflect on that we have accomplished quite a lot from when we bought the place. And for the first year all we did was shore up the roof and try and gain permission to replace it.

Anyway, today is shopping day. List in hand we head down the valley. Vinnie has started making some concerning noises. Or I should say they are getting louder and demanding more attention. So one item on the list is a visit to the van doctor.

All ticks on the list, we get to the doctor and, low, all symptoms miraculously disappear.

Back at the barn for fresh prawns. A second coat of paint is applied and a bit of weeding in the afternoon and then Seared trout salad in the evening.

Torrential rain overnight.  Don’t think we shall have a problem with running out of rainwater capture this summer.

No alarm this morning as we have been working hard every day for a while and fatigue is setting in. Leisurely breakfast with fruit, boiled egg and bread. Feels more like a Sunday than a Monday.

Having set our minds on a leisurely day we are both desperate to get some paint on the ceiling. Started brushing down walls and beams of dust then armed with roller and brush we open the tin. Well, actually a screwdriver and stirring stick but we had the roller and brush ready.

As we started each bay we also fitted a blackout blind for each skylight. These we bought in the UK over the winter from Vale Blinds and got clients at the chalet to bring them out to Chamonix. It proved about half the cost of using Velux own blinds.

As we had a late breakfast we only needed a mug of tea and yoghurt cake for lunch then a trip down to the village for some chores and to see Anouk at the Auberge.

BBQ duck breast and salad for sups before an early night.