The alarm went at 7am today as shopping down the valley was on the agenda. The big surprise was that it was snowing outside. Not settling outside the door but all the trees only 100m above us had a fresh dusting of the white stuff.

Undeterred we set off after breakfast with list in hand. First stop, La Forgue for floorboards, battens, screws and some waste pipe brackets. Then Mr Brico for some glass and gardening gloves. Next Gamme Vert for lettuce plugs and garden twine. The laundrette had a machine idle so that was filled and commissioned while we walked across town with a brolly to checkout gas cookers. No luck on that score so we had a coffee while the laundry finished.

Final stop was the supermarket for food supplies. The only bonus about shopping day is that we get fresh prawns and fish for either sups or lunch. This time it is supper.

On route to the barn we caught Clive in Couflens and got invited to eat with them tomorrow. Also saw Akouk & Renne at the Auberge in Salau to get our smart clothes hung up in their wardrobe. We have a couple of weddings to go to over the summer so smart clothes came out. As we are deficient in the wardrobe department they said they would look after them for us.

After a snack lunch we set about finishing the terrace. Fortunately it was dry enough with an occasional glimpse of blue sky.

Not that we have had the weather to use it but the terrace immediately outside the outbuilding is somewhat lacking in grass. In wet weather it turns to mud. The moles continually dig it up leaving piles of soil on it and the legs of chairs and tables frequently disappear into the unseen tunnels spilling the occupants and food onto the ground.

The time has come to create a decked area so after attaching yesterdays table top to its legs we set about creating the framework for a deck.

All done and concreted into the front wall all it needs to finish it off is the boards. That is for tomorrow after shopping down the valley for food and supplies.

Supper tonight is a hot sausage and potato salad with some greenary to boot.

As we are awaiting a weather window to go on a road trip to Spain we have not got our teeth into any large projects. Partly out of lack of materials but also the large projects are on the ground floor and to start them would mean clearing the space (moving everything) until the job was complete (long time).

In the meantime we are planning materials required for the summer to get a delivery in and tackling smaller jobs, which are still important but not as satisfying. Some of the jobs are from the “must do” list and some are from the “nice to” list.

A job from the “must do” list is plumbing the sink upstairs in so that the waste goes outside the building. At first we started by scoping what materials we needed in order to put them on the shopping list, but we found that we had enough in stock from last year.

That completed we, started making a desk area upstairs using an old worktop and the base of an old table, both salvage from Chamonix. In between varnish coats drying we wired in some lighting downstairs.

The weather was wet all day… no change there.

Sun shone through the front window of the outhouse this morning and we were optimistic enough to fill the solar shower bag with water. Breakfast included stewed rhubarb from the garden; our first home grown produce of the year (if you exclude the mint in yesterdays soup).

Outdoor chores while the weather permits included chainsawing wood to restock the log store by the outhouse followed by Breezy strimming while I repaired the outbuilding roof where we had lost a couple of slates over the winter.

By lunchtime the sky was once again obscured by low cloud so our chicken salad was taken indoors.

After lunch we strolled down the piste to drop off a bag of rubbish in the bin by the car park. On the way back we stopped off to look at the avalanche debris where Olivier kept the donkeys. The slide got within a metre or so of the piste which is slightly alarming and there is still plenty of snow there.

The mizzle then started so we made a frame for the mange tout peas to climb up. Currently they are a mere inch tall but it is another tick off the list. Finished off raking up some of the grass out the back before sitting down with a cuppa and planning walls terraces and decking.

Outdoor shower in the drizzle.

Last nights Asian supper was fantastic though the plan for a BBQ tonight is going to change to bangers and mash indoors me thinks.

So, another damp overcast day in the mountains. The healthy streak continues with a fruit breakfast.

Definitely indoor work for the day so we started by emptying more boxes of books, fabrics and table cloths. Then onto cutting down some roofing slats for the indoor dryer. Charlie and Becks bought us the cast iron ends for one of those dryers that hoists up into the ceiling with space for 4 bars, then kindly brought them out skiing in Chamonix with them (along with all manner of other stuff).

Once cut down to size, planed off and routered the woodwork was then given a couple of coats of floor varnish before being hoisted into place.

Lunch was courgette and mint soup.

The afternoon was spent fettling odd jobs and cutting down an aluminium picture (salvaged from a skip at the builder’s merchant) frame to fit a relief map of the Chamonix valley. A bit of planning for the ground floor layout before hot showers and internet bashing.

Supper is going to be an Asian Trout dish with whatever Breezy can find.

It was dry first thing we finished the final bit of weeding in the veggie patch just in time before the mizzle arrived. Picked some rhubarb and got that cooking on the wood burning stove which is on all day.  Plenty of indoor jobs to do though so not too fussed.

Scotty had very kindly given us some curtains she had replaced so very luckily they fitted perfectly to the large main window and by chance the colour matches the sofa!!! We made a quick curtain rail before hanging the curtains. They look great, thanks Scotty.

Next thing to do before lunch was to try and make the coffee table we had snaffled from Chamonix look presentable so we can use it. It just need a sand and a varnish from me and Al made 2 more slats to go beneath the main table to house magazines, books, games etc.

Looking like a home

It really is spring weather at the moment, all seasons in one day and the sun was kind enough to show it’s head again for us to have lunch in the sun, which was a bonus.

Something had decided to eat the mesh in the window frame in the outbuilding which we needed to replace before the bugs arrive with the warm weather!!! We managed just to get this done in time before the rain began again and back to indoor jobs.

One thing we have been putting off was a good clean of the outbuilding but we now have a hoover which works with the generator so while the generator was working we attacked it for a complete spring clean, not much fun but much cleaner and better to live in.

Final jobs for the day were to blacken the stove again as the water had come through the chimney opening over the winter. A messy job but well worth doing. Al made some hanging space downstairs for baskets and veg etc since the thing we were using before is now our curtain pole!!!!

Not a bad day. Al and I are both on a big detox after the winter and 2 weeks in the UK with lots of lovely food too much drink and the usual over indulging so healthy food and no booze till we head to Spain is the challenge. We had a lovely roast chicken, veggies and marmite spuds before watching an episode of Silent Witness which we are reallty enjoying.

We were not in a major rush to get up as both quite tired. After very healthy brekkys of lots of fruit and yoghurt we came up with a plan of attack to get everything up and running by lunchtime.

Long list, in short  toilet compost shifted to flower beds so toilet is now ready for use again! weeding of veggie beds and planting of lots of good salad stuff and veggies for the summer ahead, outside furniture out, outdoor shower and washing up area sorted,  satelite dish up and running, solar panels plugged in, water butts sorted without leaking taps and then even time for lunch in the sun on the top terrace.

After lunch we did a bit more weeding, Al did some strimming around the path areas and back terrace and before we knew it it was time for a very chilly outdoor shower as the wind was really blowing and it was not a warm wind!!!

We headed off down to the village for supper as there were 40 Harley Bikers staying in the village for the week end and the village had laid on a paella night for villagers and them in the tent next to the church. We were all wrapped up warm as it was far from warm!!!

Food wise we had an interesting starter, a 3 layer fish crepe (cold) with tuna, salmon and crab sticks, followed by paella which was excellent and then apple tart. The sing song began as they had an 80 year old chap on his squeeze box, dressed in clogs playing the music. He was good and got  everyone going. So much so that the bikers started swinging on the benches and got carried away. 4 of them literally did unintentional back flips into the tent. It was very amusing until we realised they were all 70 odd, anyway no injuries and recovered quickly with a few more glasses of the local plonk.

We left them to it at around midnight. Good to catch upmwith Alison and Peter again and also to see Daniella and Patrick too.

An early start from the hotel for our flights and spent all the time until we got on the plane in queues, Al did not even get a chance for a coffee.

Arrived to sunshine in Toulouse and jumped a taxi to Alison and Peter’s where Vinnie was. We then planned to try and find a cooker for the main barn, we did a lot of looking but undecided as very difficult to find a 5 ring gas hob with both gas oven and grill, so still looking.

Luck seemed to be on our side again as we got to the barn and it stayed dry for us to unload Vinnie which made a huge difference.

Fire on in the out building and essentail unpacking and preparing somewhere to lay our heads and have some food! The outbuilding luckily takes very little to get warm and we made a very quick and easy spag bolg for supper with a bottle of prosecco and a few hands of cards before crashing. Good to be back,  the mountains look very pretty with all the snow on them, seems like it could be a while before we can walk up the summits.

4am was a very rude awakening but it was a beautiful starry night when we headed back to Cham both of us very sad to be going, just seems a tad too soon this year…..but I guess best that way rather than having had enough!

The 3 months this time seems to have gone faster than ever and we are thrilled to have got upstairs into a habitable state, shame about the wood burners not being in but not the end of the world. The days of heaving plaster board up the hill, endless filling and sanding now seem ages ago and we have a wonderful, bright space upstairs now to fill with furniture and make into a homely place to be. Next year we hope to be in from the word go upstairs leaving our little 3m square abode as a warm, snug guest room. We will miss it I think but looking forward to having space and lots of light!!!!

We have got most of our ticks off the list as such. The coppicing is an endless task that we are seriously thinking of either getting Charlie out here full time (not sure our livers would survive!) or getting some Help Ex people in next year to break the back of it. We will see.  It is very important to us to keep the meadowland we already have and to create some more too.

We have had some lovely explores as always never enough but what with dodgy knees and backs we have made the most of our time on the hills and really enjoyed exploring some of the skyline close to us on our own and with friends too.

So thoughts for next year move to downstairs, making the inside doors to make the place mouse proof, getting partioned walls up, sorting out the back wall,  getting the flooring down downstairs, sorting out water into the building, re building a terrace wall outside, building a terrace out the back, re building the back terrace wall and maybe even getting an indoor shower in place but that would be very optimistic…..lots to ponder for now as we head into winter and focus on Ski Breezy and getting the chalet full in Chamonix. Bring on lots of snow, lots of fun guests and many a good day on the hill.