A normal start with internet and emails. Getting more enquiries through for the chalet in Chamonix which is great. Just means that more time is required to sort them out and to keep plugging away at the search engines.

The morning was spent rationalising tools and materials. Metal trunks and stacker boxes full of nails, fixings and tools were all sorted out before being stashed back in the tool store cum workshop. It is amazing; we can now walk in without tripping over fuel cans, power tools and boxes of miscellaneous gubbins.

After lunch we got the muck truck out and fetched the last of the wood from the tree we felled the other week and stashed it in the log pile behind the main barn. Then the first banister went into place.

We had been meaning to try and pop in to see Jean Claude our neighbour and thought it would be good to try again.

We wandered down the piste and he was in. Champers was opened, Pascal and Dominique called to join us and we sat down for aperos. All good for the French. They have invited us to St Girons for lunch at the local college for chefs which sounds excellent value and the food is meant to be great, we will see.

Back for a quick pasta supper and to bed.

Vinnie (the VW) had an appointment at the doctor in St Girons at 0830hrs. We had packed the van with rubbish for the skip and all the recycling so only had to remember the shopping list and the clothes to wash.

After half an our of crawling under the front of the van, the mechanic stated that the claxon (horn) is “mort” and needs replacing. Fortunately he had one in stock. Vinnie now has his voice back. Whatever else is wrong with your vehicle in France, if you do not have a working horn you should not be on the road.

Clothes in the washer, quick dash to Mr Brico, back to get the clean laundry and then off to food shop.

Back at the barn and chilled courgette & cumin soup. We are getting quite creative in the ways of cooking with courgettes.

The floor in the workshop looks great so now it is just a case of building shelving to get everything a bit better organised. Meanwhile Breezy fitted glass to a window in the outhouse and treated the manger bits for wood worm.

Matt departed after a hearty breakfast, not that he is odd at all. It was great to see him and share our little piece of paradise. And we were very appreciative of the wedding pressie & screwfix delivery as well.

A day of odd jobs.

I have been dying to get the floor of the workshop cum tool store painted for ages. Kindly Malc decor in St Gervais gave us a pot of garage floor paint that he had left over. Once we had cleared the floor and brushed it several times all that was left to do was slop some paint about and leave it.

Then lunch. Then more work on the banister/balustrade. One of the delivery items was a belt sander. Short work of the posts. Then back to wire brushes and hand sanding for the old manger bits.

Shopping day tomorrow so need to pick up some anti ver du bois stuff (woodworm treatment) for the manger bits.

A nice light gésiers salad for supper.

Today is the day that Matt Rose comes to visit.

I left Breezy sorting out web stuff and emails for Ski Breezy and went up to the barn to mix up mortar. Having got so close to finishing the end wall yesterday we thought we would use the last of the sand and crack it off this morning. One mix did it and got the area around the main door done too.

Matt was not due until late afternoon so we spent the rest of the morning sorting out the down pipe from the gutter at the rear of the main barn above the decking.

After lunch we went for a forage for mushies and brambles. No Mushrooms but got enough brambles for a tart for dinner. Sorted out food for supps and an early shower before Matt arrived. He came bearing a gift. A wedding present.

A fantastic relief map of the Pyrenees, a bit late but great for the barn.

Had a great night with fizz, wine, charcuterie, smoked duck salad, bramble tart & stewed rhubarb with ginger, cheese board and a game of cards.

I set about a mix while Breezy was still bashing away at a keyboard sorting out Ski Breezy emails for the winter.

I confess that I am almost as good at mixing mortar in a wheel barrow as Breezy is at making cakes in the chalet.

By the end of the day we are but a gnat’s whisker from finishing the end wall downstairs and have run out of sand.

We had got used to the lovely autumnal/summer weather and waking to rain was not amusing especially as we had Hans and Clare due for lunch. Anyway, nothing we could do about it.

We managed to get some work on Ski Breezy done first and then we prepped lunch.

We had the fire going and squeezed us all in to have lunch in our little shack!!!

Lemon chicken with rice and courgettes, cheeses and rhubarb from the garden.

We spoke French for the vast majority of the day which was good and Clare politely corrected us on our French which was great, we need every bit of help about!!!

As they left the sun tried to appear very briefly. Temperatures have dropped dramatically and it is chilly. Brr. Not much needed for food tonight, books, warmth and bed ready for a full on day tomorrow of yes you guessed it POINTING!!!!

It started off being a glorious day but by lunch time it had turned and we could see that rain was on its way.

Never the less we have decided we want to finish one more wall before we leave this time so after the normal Ski Breezy malarkey we set too at full steam ahead and we managed to get nearly half the wall done hoorah. The second half of the wall has some HUGE rocks in it which is great news,  less holes to point.

We had hot courgette and hummus soup, with the continued theme of how many different things can we do with courgettes!!! for lunch ideal as it was a chilly afternoon.

The wall went off quite slowly so Al filled a few holes while we waited and I cleared and prepared the second half of the wall for the final bonanza. Brushed half the wall off before retiring to meet Peter for a drink. Half the village were there so it was very social. We still find it very difficult to understand half of what they say with the really southern twangy French and all the slang they use. Quite a lot of nodding and aaaah oui…..aaaah non!!!!

Back to the barn in the rain. Al did half an hour brush off while I made a Thai meal and a curry for the next night too. Fire on and we were toasty warm very quickly.

Another week goes by when shopping day comes around. Headed off to Seix to get a recorded delivery pick up and then trundled on down to St Girons. We have this shopping day sorted with dropping laundry, doing a 30 minute shop elsewhere, back to collect laundry, into a few more shops and back asap, we hate shopping!!!

Sun shining so washing on the line and lunch outside after we had shifted all the shopping up the hill as well as some reclaimed cupboards that Clive had saved for us. Some home made chilled courgette and mint soup and cheese for lunch which was delicious and a nice change. What to do with lots of courgettes uum plenty more ideas ahead!!!

Afternoon wise we sorted out the cupboards by stripping off anything that was hideous plus old nails etc so we did not injure ourselves.

Load of sand up for the pointing skills to continue for bad weather days which are forecast, moving of wood for wall to be cleaned before pointing.

We then set to with sorting out the last balustrade which went very quickly. We had already found a suitable old manger so just needed some fettling. We are now awaiting for Mat to arrive with our little sander before we can progress any further with that but we think it will look good and do the trick.

I prepped the lower gable wall whilst the storm passed by. It dried up enough so we could get our usual bramble picking session in for brekky and then showers and supper with the fire on.

Today was a great day. Another tick off the list. Phenomenal!

After the normal internet session (you would not believe how much work goes into an internet business like Ski Breezy), we set to pointing. Now I thought that “pointing” would be a taboo word by now but no, Breezy is still keen.

We have finished the front wall!!!

And we managed to cut up the rest of the dead tree after lunch, BONUS.