Hoorah!! An uninterrupted night. So it was the culprit in the solar box. He had not discovered that he could sneak under the ill-fitting door and regain the advantage.

It was cold as soon as we opened the door. Autumn is definitely here.

On a mission to save the battery we fired up the generator for internet only to find that it kept cutting out (the generator). The next half hour was spent fettling that.

Next we set about cutting up some firewood. The chainsaw would not play ball either. So used the generator and the zip saw instead.

Thought we ought to check that the mucktruck was working so shifted all the ballast from outside into the main barn. No problem and it kept the cold at bay. Shifted the tin from under the ballast round the back to tidy the place up and then used the mucktruck to fetch more stones from the river to fill the water capture butt.

The sun reached us about 11am and we set to burn the trees we had cut down up the back and chop up some wood for fuel.

A late lunch after, which Annie came to visit and learn what we had done with solar and lighting. She left with a lighting rig for her place and the know how to set it up.

Back up the back to clear some more trees and burn them.

All in all a good physical day and a few more ticks off the list of things to be done.

Cleared up and went for a forage for mushys in out favourite spot coming back with another two bollettes for the beef stew.

A late start after the interrupted (mouse) kip. Drizzle and low cloud. Not much chance of charging the battery with solar today. It’s getting a bit alarming as we have only a few days left before we leave and the battery is showing 84%. We could do with getting it back up to 100% before we leave so it is in a good state when we get back.

Started the day by taking another forklift pallet apart to generate enough timber to clad the blue bin we are using to gather rainwater off the roof Fitted that and then onto making windows for the toilet area in the main barn. Slowly we will get all the little things prepared before an onslaught of work to get the main barn sorted out.

It was gone 3pm before we had lunch and then finished the windows. We had a little surprise over lunch when I spotted a fat furry mouse sat on a rock in the solar box warming itself. The cheeky little bugger must have used the pipe under the floor to get in. I immediately went to get the spanners to take the box apart. The little tyke shot under the stones but hopefully did not gain the pipe before we emptied the box and applied mesh over the entry. Perhaps that is the end of the mouse problem?

A little sun poked out but not enough to make an impression on the battery. Having cleared away we went on a small forage for mushrooms and came back with another couple of Bolletes to bolster the starter for this evening. Showers and update the blog before roast chuck and baked pots.

Egg Window – Always a winner

More rain which was a bit dull as we were really hoping to get the battery charged up fully before we head back, don’t think that is going to happen so we are minimizing on electricity at the moment.

We decided to light the stove first thing and get rid of any putty residue so we could have a snug night without any funny smells. That seemed to work a treat and it seems to be working really well which is great.

We then decided we needed to attack the water catchment area so we can hopefully come back to full tanks and no more trips to the river for water. That is the plan anyway.

We first had to get the main water buts in place and levelled out which was considerably easier than when full, we have nearly run the cave dry. Once in place and stabilised we then had to find a way of drill holes in them to accept pipes.

We needed one pipe to link the 2 butts together which needed 2 holes drilling and then another hole for the overflow.

One of Al’s grandfather’s tools came in use again as we stretched inside the butts to fasten on washers and make sure the adaptors were water tight.

So we now had water being able to be connected between the 2 butts and an overflow system in place, now the only problem was to get water into the butts in the first place.

Al had recycled some pipe from the skip which was the perfect length and we used an old blue container for the catchment area.

Trenches were dug to accommodate the pipe from the main down pipe into the water butts and hey presto we have a system in place.

A late lunch and the sun had come out which was great and it was actually really quite hot.

In the pm, we made the last adjustments with cleaning out the catchment water butt before attaching everything. Then bringing up a load of rocks from the water to act as a filter system for the water and it will look good, just need to hide the ugly blue container now, but we have ideas how to do that for tomorrow.

Al ended up on the roof again still trying to fix the leak which is beginning to be a pain in the neck and then you guessed it we went a mushrooming again!!!

We went back to our Favourite spot and found 2 really good ones before exploring the area opposite the barn, now that the bull has been removed we felt safe to go. Managed to find a Brown Birch Bolette to go with the other 2 Orange bolettes. Lots of poisonous ones on the way down and Al found some more in a new location, though old and not edible this time they seem to come back to the same locations so the more places we can find the better.

We had prawns for tea as a starter and then it was on to sausages and mash. Plenty of Bezique, Al thrashed me with 2 double Beziques!!!! Bed in a very toasty place but not for a good night’s kip as the mouse has found a way in and who ever made the phrase “quiet as a mouse” was wrong they are really noisy. Al explored middle of the night but to no avail, how to get rid of him…..

The alarm woke us at 7am. The idea being to get down the valley to St Girons, do some chores and actually get to the market before it closed. Brilliant idea but we had not figured it would still be dark. Having dragged ourselves out of bed and picked up all the stuff we needed and the list we trundled off.

First port of call was the Agri Co-op, which was still closed at 8-30 so we set off to the Bricolage. That was closed too but the motor factor was open so Vinnie got some new wipers. Wood from Mr Bricolage; plumbing bits from Agri Co-op; laundry in the laundrette and off to the market. A quick tour and pickup some cheese then collect the laundry before it started to spit with rain. A very sociable shop in the supermarket bumping into three folk from the village and back to the barn for lunch. Called in with Lee in Pont de La Taule to drop off his cag. His place there is definitely taking shape though motivation was waning. Suggested that we were available this week if it would inject some momentum to support.

The afternoon was spent fettling the wood burner in the outhouse then a short forage for mushrooms. We’re hooked on the mushy hunting wanting to learn as much as possible before we leave. We found another couple of Birch Bolets where we found some yesterday so they must just pop up daily. We also found an old bolet at another site which gives us another possible site to search. Still no trumpet de mort (horn of plenty) though.

An indoor shower and chillout for a while before we head down for dinner with Annie.

We had a lovely night with Annie. Excellent curry and homemade Indian Breads, cheese and choocy, before we knew it, it was midnight. Thanks Annie for a lovely night.

Woke up to lovely blue skies after a bit of a lie in. The blue skies did not last for long and we had sunshine and showers on and off all day.

We decided to make a start on the ceiling in the bathroom, so first step was to make it bug proof. We found the mesh and staple gun again and got all the areas between the beams protected.

A quick measure up and we realised we did not quite have enough insulation left over from the outbuilding to complete the ceiling so we thought we would leave that until we can do it all in one go as such.

Al made a start on clearing the ballast from the front of the barn and I cleared all the tin from the back of the barn so the place is beginning to look a bit neater.

Run out of bread so we had omelette for lunch and as it was drizzling we sat inside, had very few lunches inside this time which has been lovely.

Determined to find some cepes we set off again into the woods for an explore and towards the end of our little wander we came across them…and they were in reasonable condition too. Did find quite a few Death Caps on the way which we left behind!!!

On our way back we bumped into 4 oldies who had been walking and wanted to have a looking at what we had in our bag and they were great and proceeded to tell us all the names and which stems to eat and which stems not to eat etc etc. We would not have had a clue before our outing with Lee so we have found our first little place to look for them hoping for many more.

A little mushroom starter tonight I think.

Donkeys still here and determined to get into the outbuilding for fodder..so we took them to the other side of the river hoping they will take a while before heading across again. Hope to see Olivier the donkey man at the market tomorrow and see if he would like to move them!!!!

Seems to have dried up so blogging outside before pasta surprise for tea, down to the last of our food. Hope the sun shines for a good trip to the market tomorrow.

Another stormy night and we woke up to rain but this soon cleared up and the donkeys reappeared, so not sure whether Olivier has got the message about them escaping yet.

We looked at options for water catchment and what pipes etc we would need for what we wanted to do and Al also came up with a brainwave re storing the gas bottles out the back with the water containers to give us a little bit more space, all the space we can save is very important.

We then spent a good hour upstairs in the barn thinking of openings etc. for next year. We have quite a few small windows which at the moment are blocked up for security and we are hoping to open up a couple of old doors, need to discuss with Henri first I think.

Lunch in the sun and then we decided to go exploring and find some mushrooms, we achieved the first and failed miserably on the latter!!! Hey ho, we will continue. Found another old barn tucked away opposite us which we had not seen before.

Back for some internet and blogging surrounded by the donkeys who seemed fascinated with computers see piccys!!!!

After a stormy night, we woke up to mixed weather sunshine and showers.

We decided to tackle making a holder for the container which catches any excess liquid from the composting toilet. Al had recycled some old crates yesterday so we continued to use them up. A nice simple frame and Al attached it to the wall so it should not blow away in the wind.

In the middle of doing this we had some visitors, the runaway donkeys had got out from down the road. We decided to put the fence back up so that could not get away further.

Pascal a local who we had not met before popped in to see how the internet worked. A really nice guy and he was going to go and get in contact with Henri about the escaped donkeys, until then they are with us so locked the doors and removed the solar panel just for safety.

We made lunch and ate it in Vinnie on the way to Lee’s for an afternoon of mushroom hunting. Within 2 seconds of leaving Lee’s house we met Paul one of Lee’s neighbours who had a basket of HUGE cepes, WOW they really are about.

We were suddenly really quiet excited and off we trundled with Lee.

We had a FAB afternoon and found loads which was all very novel for us. With guidance from Lee we learnt to identify a range of bolettes including cepes, chanterelles and gypsy mushrooms. After a couple of hours we had a full basket and had to go out again.

We had another hour up above Lee’s house this time and found a few more cepes but no Trumpets de Mort. We learnt loads and thanks hugely to Lee for his handy tips and what to eat and what not to eat.

We sat outside Lee’s house with a beer in the sun and what a brilliant view he has from there with all the evening sun too.

We thought we had to eat some of the mushrooms for dinner so we had a starter of garlic mushrooms which were delicious and then roast chuck with veggies from the garden….yummy.

Before we knew it, it was 11.15pm so Al and I headed back to the barn.

Thanks again Lee for a fun afternoon and evening. Hopefully get a walk in before we go.

A windy night but still very warm. Nice to be able to have brekky outside, still having lots of brambles with cereals to get us going in the morning.

I spent the morning sorting out work stuff while Al pottered around in the main barn identifying wood to finish the platform off. After a coffee break we headed up to the trees again and managed to get the other supports in place quite easily and cut off the last few pieces of metal studding. That is it in the trees this time, we are looking at getting the deck in place as soon as we get back and cracking open a bottle up in the trees might even managed dinner up there sometime we will see.

Lunch in the sun again and then had a lovely afternoon doing bits and pieces.

Firstly, we sussed out what pipes we will need to sort out the rain water catchment so we can hopefully get that sorted before we leave. Coming back to full water tanks would be great.

Then we set to with a bit of coppicing out the back and water divining….still need to find that source but we have sort of got used to living with water from the Salau source and washing up water from the tanks, mind you a tap with running water would be great.

We went a wandering for mushrooms and found a few different species so decided to take them down to Adam in town and see what he thought, one was edible the rest uum not sure!!! Apparently we need a day of rain and then 2 days later is the time to look. We caught up with Adam over an apero and then it was back to the barn for a fire outside as still warm enough to sit outside at night and chilli for supper.

After an excellent sleep, not even the howling wind woke me…Al had to get up in the middle of the night to put the window back in. I heard nothing.

The weather had obviously changed, it was really warm with a very warm wind blowing, but clear, clear blue skies.

Brekky and washing up from the night before and then it was commencing the platform for the treehouse.

Al, spent the first couple of hours prepping the upper platform into a state that we could both work on it and hope to get things stabilized.

We worked through until nearly 3pm and by this stage we had got the main struts vaguely level and the leg supports ready to attach.

Lots of swinging from ropes in uncomfortable harnesses made actions more speedy.

Attaching the main legs was quite tricky, getting the legs in place, supported and then drilling the holes to accept bolts, wellying the bolts through with lump hammers and then tightening them up all in precarious postions!!!!

Being suspended from ropes, balanced on an unstable platform which was hanging from pulleys did not feel quite as secure as I would have wished…..but as time wore on like anything, by the end of the day it felt positively safe!!!

After lunch in the sun we attacked getting the second leg in place and this like normal was considerably quicker than the first as we knew what we were aiming to achieve.

Some very large nails to secure these in place were in order.

We had 2 other large lengths of wood to finish the platform which all went quite smoothly, lifting them up and then nailing them into postion.

Anyway, you can see from the piccys the end result.

It is a start…we think we will leave it like this for the winter and then put a deck up there in the spring time just in case it is a large snow year and the thing collapses before we get a chance to have dinner up there!!!!

Hot showers, hair wash, much needed and then off to Clive’s for a drink and to get some info on buying ladders from someone he recommends. Still £450 for a pair of ladders seems a lot of money so think we will continue to swing from ropes until we really need them…Yorkshireness maybe showing through.

Back from Chicken Curry al al Al, think it will be good.

 

Had a lie in which was lovely. Woke up eventually to a lovely morning, clear blue skies and not quite as chilly as yesterday.

After brekky and sorting e mails we cleared the route to where we are hopin to start the tree house. Not too much in the way. We have purposefully chosen a spot for the first tree house which is quite accessible.

Chain saw was being a bit temperamental might need a bit of TLC….got slightly waylaid with finding mushrooms and tryin to identify them…not sure if we will ever get the hang of it as they all look so similar!!! Problem being some are tasty and some are rather nasty uum we need to o and see Adam to find out which are which.

Anyway, Lee if you can help with telling from the piccys attached if they are edible Great….

Then started planning the layout of the main platform for the tree house with the wood we already have. Lots of ideas and options, so had a late lunch in the sun to come up with a final plan.

Spent a couple of hours in the pm forming the basis of the platform, drilling a few pieces of wood and bolting them in place before we lift them up to the tree.

Al managed to shimmy up the tree with various pieces of kit and secure the top platform. We got the 3 main pieces of wood in place ready to lift up tomorrow, sunshine permitting.

Made the bed sleeping arrangements a bit more secure before dinner.