Another glorious start to the day, blue skies and calm.

Al set to with the strimmer before the heat got too much. Within the hour he had got the bracken cleared and it looks so much better.

I was on clearing out the heat box for the outbuilding, should be a 10 minute job until discovering a big ants nest….GREAT!!!! So the whole thing took some what longer….on and off all day with getting rid of the ants, re meshing the duct and cleaning up the glass.

In between the ants I also was giving the old outbuilding floor a tres bien scrub as twas filthy, looks much better now and putting your bare feet down on the floor ain’t so grim!

A good salad lunch under the parasol before we went ahead with building the steps between the 2 different levels of terraces. Something I really wanted to get done.

The hardest part was cutting the wood, just because of the heat. We opted for very simple steps but we think it works well and they do not wobble.

It managed to get them finished by the end of the day and had just enough time to get rid of the final ants before re assembling the heat box.

We had new dinner on the agenda BBQ spare ribs. Luckily we had a quick gander on the internet re cooking times as I have never cooked them before. I thought it was a quick cook thing but no, no no they like long time cooking.

So we ended up whacking them in the oven for just over an hour marinaded in herbs and spices before cooking them for the final 40 mins on my brothers BBQ they bought us for travelling. Outcome, tasty and great with a salad afterwards. Don’t think we would have them every day but good for a change. It was just lovely sitting outside eating, drinking, playing cards and chatting in warm weather, no bugs and nobody around just the sound of the river. Idyllic.

A quick wash up then I was keen to get into bed and finish my book, great book well worth a read The Sepulchre. Thanks J&S really enjoyed it especially reading it whilst down here as it is all about this area, well close enough anyway. I think Al will really enjoy it too.

An overcast day in the Salau valley. After a normal start of cereals and fruit, coffee for me and of course a diet coke for Breezy, we set about more preparation work before pointing the inside of the main barn begins in earnest.

One window to finish and then fitting battens to the roof joists at the gable ends so that we have a straight edge to use for when the ceilings go in. We channelled in some conduits into the upstairs walls so that we can feed mains cables through later and fit sockets. Another conduit all the way up the wall to take a lighting feed at a later date. The current plan is to have a mains ring and all inside lighting running off a 600w inverter and a couple of auxiliary lights and the fridge running off 12v straight off the battery.

With only the fridge attached to the battery at the moment and 2 x 85w solar panels the system seems to be quite happy. Before the inverter gets attached we have another 85w panel to supplement the power input.

Breezy spread the ash from the stove over the garden and sowed some more rocket just before the rain arrived again.

A frustrating half hour was spent searching for a new diamond glass cutter we brought over from the UK. Even when we did locate it, the first attempt at cutting glass produced a nice crescent shaped break instead of the perfectly straight sharp cut we desired. The glass cutter went in a pot and we reverted to plan B which is to go and buy glass next time we are in St Girons.

Both now showered now with roast chicken to look forward to.

We woke up to a mad wind and torrential rain that lasted about 40mins and then it cleared to blue skies and hot and sunny.

We only had the morning at the barn as Lee needed some help at his place to get some beams into place which was at 3pm.

We decided to measure up for the sky lights before making the last small windows for the main barn. We got 3 made so just need to get some glass in those now and get them in place.

A quick lunch before heading down the valley to Lee’s where he had got 8 mates to come and lift 2 heavy beams into place. With 8 of us it took about 15 minutes so quick but on your own it would have taken all day. His extension is cracking on big time. Should be great when done which he hopes will be end of August.

Irish Ian was there and he and Nina have bought a place just out of Seix so we popped in for a guided tour on the way back. It is big and loads of potential, 3 main barns plus a house and lots of work to be done too!!! Makes our project look quite small.

It was then on up to Clive and Giselle’s for an apero which turned into dinner as well. Kids were on various sleep overs. Giselle had made a good chilli and some local cheeses and salad perfect. The rain began again and it poured!!!

Back to the barn just before dark and then sleep.

We awoke to the sun streaming into the outbuilding, hoorah.

I had a quick brekky with some cereals but no juice for Al’s cereals so he made do with coffee. We did a couple of trips up from Vinnie and then headed off with the trailer to St Girons.

Slight panic on the way, as half way down the road we heard a squealing noise coming from Vinnie, we pulled over straight away fearing a belt had gone. Luckily the guy behind us stopped and said that the mud guard on the trailer had dropped on to the tyre. We quickly got the triangle out and managed to get the mud guard completely off and the tyre was still in one piece, maybe just a little hot and sticky!!!

We collected a load of sand for the pointing and then the cement and lime from Le Forgue.

Filled up with petrol and then a huge shop and since we have a working fridge which is lovely and big and on the whole time we did not have to worry about what would last heat wise etc.

We hoped to catch up with Hans so had a quick trip around the market but missed Hans which was a shame but did pick up some colourful plants to put around the decked terrace area to give it some colour and hopefully start to make it a nice place to sit.

Back to the barn via the fountain to fill up with water and then to see Anuk and catch up as well as collect a bit of post and some valuables we had left with them.

Hot, hot, hot, lovely.

We had a delicious prawn lunch to keep us going before the afternoon list of things to do got done.

Al did a load of trips up with all the materials, while I got all the climbing kit, camping kit sorted and away from little animals who might mange it!

Main job for the afternoon was to get the solar panels exchanged around, putting the main 2 out the back for the fridge and creating a frame and setting up to the 2 new smaller panels for the front. Al sorted the wiring while I made a frame for the new panels.

It all went smoothly and before we new it panels re plumbed in as such and working BIG TICK!!!

The sun had just gone off the little veggie patch so we spent 40 minutes clearing that from weeds and giving the veggies and fruit some much needed water.

We finally had time to get the new plants in and to de nettle the terrace wall. All looking good. Over a cold diet coke we pondered where to put the steps linking the terrace before showers.

Just before we left Al set up a phone for us over the internet. I had been trying to get hold of Dad so thought I would give it a go and see if it worked, perfect better than the VOIP phone in the UK and costs peanuts too. So it was good to have a catch up with Dad.

We had a yummy fresh tuna salad for supper and then had some time to read before bed, both enjoying the books we are on. I have finally got around to reading The Sepulchre which John and Shirley gave me for Christmas and finding it very hard to put down, 400 pages into it and only half way!!!

We arrived back from Corsica last night at about 10pm. On route we bumped into Annie on the road who was desperately trying to keep 2 Malamut dogs apart as one was in season. We failed to find a food store to get supplies on the way which means that we will have to be creative over the evening meal.

Yesterday was a long day with a boat from Bastia at 0800hrs to Nice and then a long drive through to the barn so we did not set an alarm, hence a 9 o’clock start. I started up the strimmer to cut back the grass around the building and the pathways while Breezy gave the outhouse a good clean and unpacked some of the van using the mucktruck to ferry kit up and down the hill. Bedding was spread over the roof to air and solar panels connected to the outhouse power system. The “outhouse power system” sounds a bit grand for a battery, solar controller and an inverter? By lunch all the food had been sorted out and half the van unpacked.

Lunch consisted of a tin of salmon and some tortilla wraps with some mayonnaise.

In the afternoon we set up the washing up area, weeded some of the garden and checked emails before creating a shower area. No longer does one person “stand guard” with a towel to hold up should anyone approach on the 4×4 track to shield the showerer under the tree from view. We now have a simple 3 sided screen with a small shelf for shampoos etc erected under the tree. Simple things make such a difference to daily life.

Lastly we wired up the new fridge to the battery in the main barn. Though we have not yet attached the solar panels to the system in the main barn we thought it would be good to have it running cold for the shopping tomorrow. Needless to say we put a couple of bottles in it to check how effective it was. As an afterthought we assembled the trailer ready to collect building supplies from St Girons.

Showers under the tree (behind the new screen) and a glass of cold prosecco (the fridge works) before noodles with a spicy tomato and lentil sauce. A new “to do list” for tomorrow and bed.

Woke up to the sun coming in through the little window which was a welcome sight as our plan was to get the new fridge up the hill today and if was wet it would be trickier.

Breezy and I trundled down to Salau with a few chores to do first, filling up with water, giving the pointing kit to Clive and calling some clients for the winter.

Anuk and Rene had been storing the fridge for us in their garage so we had coffee and catch up with them before loading Vinnie up with solar panels and the fridge.

Carefully balanced fridge on the muck truck and relief once we removed the packaging we could fit it through the door (didn’t think of that). The thought of lifting it up through the top window was not appealing. Looks good but we will wait to christen it on our return from Corsica.

The sun was shining so we set too in turns strimming. The remainder of the bracken cleared and all the main pathways to the barn, back terrace and around the out building cleared. Hopefully that will make things a bit easier in 3 weeks time when we are back.

Lunch in the sun and then the afternoon was spent trying to locate everything we needed for our camping trip to Corsica and get things in Vinnie before it rains again. We seem to have found most things.

Rain hit us late afternoon so we called it a day and set about a beef casserole for supper, I am sure it will be yummy.

After our great night just outside Mirepoix where I had delicious stuffed quail with foie gras we headed off through pouring rain to St Girons. Main aim to get food and some veggies to plant up. Amazing how quickly you can shop when the weather was that bad!!!

Back to Salau and a quick coffee with Rene, quick chat with Alison and Peter and then up to the barn.

Wow, still standing and bat free at last. The windows we put in last year seem to have done the trick, let’s hope it stays that way. The rain was on and off most of the day so in between showers we brought stuff up from Vinnie who was very relieved to get rid of the heavy load I am sure!!!. Turned the out house around into a place to live pretty quickly and before you knew it, it was like we had never been away!!!

We had a trip back down to Salau for water and aperos with Alison and Peter and caught up with all their news.

Back for a simple supper and an early night. The wood burner had done it’s job and the place was toastie warm. Good to have a mattress rather than the old lilos!!!