Wait for it, spent another day mixing concrete while Breezy put it in the right place and made sure it was level.

The mixer has seen some action in it's time. Nothing like Afghanistan or the Balkans but it has been used over a long period of time. Not that that is to its detriment as it still mixes ballast, cement and water together. It is just a little worn and has a tendancy to lie back a little. I discovered that if one leans it forward during the mix it's performance is greatly enhanced. Before today I never dreamt that the precise angle at which a mixer is poised makes such a difference. The element that is worn is the little foot operated gadget which holds the mixer at the crucial angleto ensure that it mixes to the back of the drum. Once discovered it amazed me how much pleasure I could get from seeing the shiny metal of the back of the drum of a mixer full of concrete.

It is almost a shame to think that we only have 2 more days of mixing and laying floors before it is over.

Celebrated by going for a drive to get more fuel for the generator and called in for a couple of beers in Seix.

We woke up to sun shining through the little window, must be 8.15am. Who needs an alarm clock?

After a quick brekky with Muesli and Clive's rasps we set to.

I zoomed down the road to the Mairie to get the numbers of the cadastres for the sourcier while Al prepped for the cementing day ahead.

By the time I got back he had the pillars in place ready to be levelled before filling the 2m gap between them.

Al mixed, I levelled, we both filled up the water tub and by 2pm we had another 2m strip done. Fairly constant stream of cement being mixed, poured and levelled all morning but looks like we are getting there.

The bats seem to have reappeared and are hovering above us again. Hoping the noise of the cement mixer will make them find a new home again.

A much needed lunch of roast chuck butties under the brolley before afternoon took place.

I caught Dad who was on line so had a good Skype chat with him which was lovely to hear about his trip after his visit here and I also sent off the e mail to the sourcier with the cadastre numbers. All being well he will be here on Wed afternoon and fingers crossed he is our man to find the source….watch this space.

Al had prepped the reinforcement for tomorrow and then it was just a matter of full steam ahead to keep away from the horse flies and to get the ballast up the hill. Quite speedy and hto work but all set for tomorrow.

Forecast due to change so we wanted to get the ballast up the hill while the sun was shining. Mission accomplished.

I zoomed into the river for a dip before the sun disappeared and we then had a bit of chill time before dinner.

Reading, bezique pink fizz and enjoying the view. Thought it was a good excuse to have a glass of fizz to celebrate the arrival of Wee Julie and Ben's little boy who arrived very early this morning.

Another full on day tomorrow but we are prepped and ready so hoping all will go smoothly.

Dinner beckons, bangers and different salads.

An early start and straight on with mixing concrete. Breezy had the inside job of getting it all in the right place and level. I had the outside job of mixing and carrying.

5 hrs later and we have a good strip of concrete laid at the far end of the barn. Just another 4 strips to go and its all over. Used the excess concrete to do a couple of walling jobs about the inside of the tool store.

Late lunch and then recharge stocks of ballast from the other side of the bridge and prep for tomorrows concrete bashing.

Roast chuck dinner, we love it!!!

Went down to Salau first thing and borrowed the ladders from the Auberge as ours have still not turned up. A bit of recycling and called at Patricks place he is doing up.Considering it had three walls and no roof 2 years ago it is almost there now and looks great. He has just been doing it himself at weekends.

Back at the barn we cracked on with insulation and then DPC. Lastly we tied the steel reinforcement together and sorted out some battens and tools for the morrow.

Woke up the the sun streaming in through the window. A quick breakfast with Clives raspberries and off we go. Well, Breezy set to some emails, sorting out enquiries for the chalet this comming winte, while I fettled a draw to make it close properly. Then it was the floor of the main barn. Armed with pick axe, shovels, a rake, crowbar and a 5.5m length of wood we worked through until we had a good level surface at the right depth to start laying insulation.

There were a couple of rocks that would not succumb to removal so we left them in to work around. By the end of the day we had 80% of the insulation down, just leaving all the fiddly bits round the sides (which take 10 times as long to do).

In all a good day with lots of progress. Time for a drink!!!

An early start for us today as we had planned to go down to St Girons for the morning.

A quick brekky before heading off. We were thinking of going via Clive’s on the way to pick his rasps but it had rained overnight and still quite damp so we decided we would hope the sun was out once we were on our way back and do it then.

A good trip to St G, paying a HUGE bill at La Forgue for the 2 deliveries we had received. Thank goodness for credit cards!!!

Lots of little bits and pieces to do. We dropped the strimmer off for a service which they can do tomorrow which is great on to collect the fridge that Dad had given us for our travels which had broken so they had replaced it for us under guarantee.

Collected a large container for water for mixing the cement and then a 10 day food shop.

Trundled back up the road and saw Henri who says we can collect a copy of our cadastre (our land parcels) on Monday which is something the sourcier has asked for.

Up to Clive’s rasps and gooseberries picked, washing done and then back up to the barn with both our van and Clives. Clive has kindly let us borrow his motor bruette whilst he is away which was in his van.

Still no ladders…..

The sun was just coming out when we got back so washing on the line in the hope it will dry and then a bite to eat before attacking the ballast pile.

We filled the water tub up and then shifted about ¼ of the ballast up to the barn which is about 3 ton…not bad labouring skills!!!

We had a visit from Pascal the photographer and his wife plus 3 dogs who we met yesterday at the party. Gave them a quick guided tour before doing a few more loads of ballast.

Hot and sweaty so I opted for the river bath while Al had a hot shower.

Feels like we are progressing well with plans for the floor and all being well it will be down before out trip to Italy in 2.5 weeks time.

Delicious supper ahead of us prawns to start and then dorade and salad and maybe even some goosegogs to finish we will see!!!

14th July, Breezy and I committed to attend the celebrations in Couflens. The Fete started at noon so we had a bit of time to potter about before hand getting emails sorted and planning for the winter and Ski Breezy. A quick shower and off down the valley. Passed loads of folk on the piste walking up, but then it is a National Holiday.

Called at the Auberge but still no ladders have arrived for us. A little recycling, chuck some stuff in the skip (makes a change) and off to the bash. A 5 course meal for 65 people on tressle tables and benches under canvas. Thunder storms threatened but held off for the 3 hours.

Bastille Day 

Met a few more people and enjoyed the ambiance, company foood and wine. Conversation started on mushrooms; discussing types and volumes, aspect, shade and comparing previous hauls. Then the merits of foie gras before moving onto whether shell fish is fish or not? More gastronomic conversation ensued before getting on to concrete.

Who has a bigger mixer, what about getting more people, should be able to get it done in a day, have we thought about using…

In the end, having established the logistics of a 2m wide bridge and a single 65cm wide door it was agreed that little by little with two of us was not a bad way forward.

At the end of the meal we headed back to the bar in Salau with Adam, Patrick & Daniella for a couple of drinks before retiring to the barn.

The conversation of mushrooms and a surfeit of food spured us on to go for a forage but to no avail.

Don't need supper, maybe scrabble and bed.

Woke up to another blue sky day, really enjoying this weather and great that we were both feeling almost 100% again.

We decided to do an hour and a half before brekky to try and get the terrace finished. This seemed to go by far too smoothly and we have now created an almost level area. Initially this will be for an area for the ballast, cement and for mixing. Afterwards we hope to make it into a small terrace and veggie patch …..well those are the ideas at the moment.

Breakfast under the brolley before finishing off clearing the ground floor. Lots of thanks to Stevie for his chain hoist which has been invaluable in lifting up stoves, heavy pieces of wood, veluxes, doors etc etc.

We were wilting by 1.45pm so decided to have lunch before tackling the last of the ballast which was leftover in the barn.

A quick catch up with Rodders on Skype which was good, fingers crossed all his house sale goes through.

Then it was back on to shifting the ballast and a few sheets of tin and we were there, the ground floor of the barn is clear and we are ready to level.

It was another scorcher of a day so actually the thought of working inside was very appealing!!!!

We have made a good start and Al made huge headway with some rather large boulders which needed shifting.

By 5.30pm we had had enough for the day and the river was beckoning. Found a good little pool to wallow in, even persuaded Al that is was not too cold…don't think he thought the same as he was dipping his feet in!!!He retreated to the hot shower!!!

Clive swung round with cement mixer and buckets for us and left us with their house keys whilst they are away for a few weeks.

We had an e mail from the sourcier yesterday so I replied to that and alll being well he will come and visit us next week and give us some idea if we are in or out of luck with having a source behind us?

Sun shine keeps coming. So we attacked the terrace outside the barn door before brekky.

We had decided that since we are planning on laying the concrete floor on our own that we need an easy area to work from, to make life easier. The easier way we could see was to level out the area outside our main door into the barn so that we can get the ballast there, cement mixer on level ground and a flat area to hold water.

Once we had decided on a plan it all seemed quite easy.

We had some huge pieces of wood in the barn so we used those to create a barrier into which we could back fill.

Plenty of compost from when we originally dug out the barn was stakced aginst the side wall so all accesible for digging out and filling in. It was all beginning to take shape when I did not feel well, think the same that Al had the last few days so decided to retire to bed where I stayed for the rest of the day.

Al pottered on and made huge progress and then set too in tidying the workshop so we can get in etc.

A quiet evening with some cards, an episode of Spooks and an early night for a change 9pm!!!

Clive & Giselle fed us really well last night and we came away with about 30 lettuce plants. We also sorted out borrowing a cement mixer and wheel barrow while they are on holiday in exchange for picking their fruit and freezing it for them.

I started the day strimming while Breezy cleared out the hot air vent box at the front of the outbuilding. In the heat of the day we set about making a box to cover a gas bottle on the outside of the building. Having got it in place and reconnected the stove it gives us a little more room inside. Every little helps.

Gas Bottle Box  Gas Bottle Box

Storms threatened early afternoon so we planted out the lettuce in the garden just as the heavens opened.Lunch of beef casserole and rice. Enough left over for dumplings tommorrow.

As we were heading down the valley for dinner with Peter & Alison before the footy we showered and planned where we needed pipes placing through the concrete floor as part of the preparation.

Fab food and company with Peter & Alison before going to watch the footy final in the bar at the Auberge. Not a great match so we left before extra time to go to bed. Still don't know who won.