Another glorious day. Autumn feels like it is coming with the cooler mornings. Al set to with doing the strimming of the bracken before it got too hot while I sorted out Ski Breezy work and caught up with a few e mails.

We then had a later brekky when the sun hit the front terrace, boiledy eggs was a lovely change from all the fruit we have been eating!!!

We still had loads of stuff from the shopping day in Vinnie so while Al un loaded the van and brought it all up to the main barn. I set about opening solar kits etc so we could install the new solar panels for the main barn and give the battery a full charge.

Easier said than done. What we though would be an hour job took on the best part of 3 hours. Fiddly cables, badly designed and a total faff. By 2.30pm we decided lunch was needed.

Salmon salad in the sun no need for the parasol as there was quite a cool wind.

After lunch it was back to the problem with the how to get the battery up to the high shelf. Came to the conclusion I am not tall enough or strong enough to get the battery that high so we need to wait for an extra pair of hands or two. We set the battery up on the ground in the main barn and the solar panels seem to be happily charging the battery.

We decided to do a couple of hours of flooring which finished the bathroom side to the other side of the stairs.

We prepped the other side so we can finish it in half a day. Moved the blue door again which is so heavy!!! And lots of wood to create the space so we are all set to go.

It was a lovely evening so after showers I wrote a few PC’s. A delicious roast chicken supper before a hand of Bezique, Al thrashed me with flush after flush!!!

A few more chapters of my fab book The Labyrinth based around Carcassone well worth a read then to bed.

Woke to up to a low cloud level but looked like it may well burn off.

After brekky we headed down to St Girons for the weekly shop.

A quick trip to collect some bits and pieces from La Forgue, chucked a load of washing in while we collected the generator which we now hope is fixed properly and then zoomed to Garcia to get some materials to let us fix the windows in the bathroom.

All seemed to work, collected the clean washing before filling up with petrol and doing a quick food shop for the week.

We stopped by Clive’s on the way back to reclaim some old glass he was going to put in the skip.

The sun was just coming out by the time we got back for a late lunch in the sun. Fresh prawns with a good garlic dip and salad yummy.

We planned an afternoon off hoorah. A wee siesta, reading of books, writing PC’s and just relaxing. WOW first time for everything!!!

After our late lunch we were not that hungry so we just had some terrine, cheese and green salad for supper and an early night.

After a couple of hours bashing away at keyboards first thing this morning sorting emails and Ski Breezy web stuff we set about more floorboards. A short break for a salad lunch and by the end of the day we are over the half way mark.

Before varnishing the floor Breezy scuttled off with a camera to take a picture of the finished platform in the trees.

The weather is great though very HOT. Hence we decided to stay in doors. Even then sawing wood made beads of perspiration appear.

Flooring was on our "nice to get done list" so it is a great tick in a box.Tomorrow off for another walk in the mountains.

It has been miserable weather today so having created some space the 1st floor is going down. Having managed to get hold of slightly wider planks (15cm) it is going down faster than either of the flooring efforts we have made in the past. In the absence of a generator all the cutting is being done by hand (me) and most of the nailing is being done by Breezy. All in all over one fith is complete and varnished and looks fab. All of a sudden the barn is starting to look like somewhere you could actually live???

Lunch was soup which was quite apt given the weather. :ast night we chucked a whole chicken in the pressure cooker with some onion, a can of tomatoes, some chickpeas, stock and harrissa. Lovely Morrocan chicken with cous cous and sweet corn. Breezy commented that she may be becoming a convert to this pressure cooking thing. Miraculous!!!

Anyway the sauce makes an excellent warning soup the next day.

Woke up to a cooler start to the day, slightly overcast but with blue soon to appear again. After a bit of internet for Ski Breezy to get the day going we had a good day doing lots of bits and pieces. Al did a little bit of bush cutting whilst I finished off work stuff.

Then we both did a bit of weeding in the veggie patch where the roquet is going ballistic and the lettuces are in abundant supply. We still have a vast amount of wood at the back which cam mostly out of the barn and is aimed for firewood. It started as quite a reasonable pile but now looks a mess so we set to with making a wood store out the back to house it all well at least some of it. Using off cuts of wood from other things and the old tin, we now have a reasonable shelter out the back for all the wood. A late lunch at 3pm but delicious chicken salad under the parasol since the sun had reappeared and it was very hot again.

Opted for cooler jobs for the last bit of the day. We beaded in one side of the window for the bathroom. We have the glass for it, so all we need to do now is to get it in situe and we are on the way to making the bathroom bat proof!!! We then attacked the pile of wood at the front of the outbuilding. Al was chain sawing and I was splitting the wood so we have enough supplies to keep us going this autumn. It is an on going job but will be good when it is all stacked away. The sun was still on the river and I was hot so went for a lovely dip/scrub down. Al opted for the hot shower instead.

It was a lovely evening so we sat outside with maps and planned a walk for this week before having a glass of rose and a few hands of Bezique. Big cook fest. Whole chickens were buy one get one free so we had another chicken to cook. Al still keen with using the pressure cooker so he cooked a whole chicken Morroccan style in it and it was delicious. I made a large chilli which will do us two nights. One for a spicy shepherd’s pie and the other for a chilli. Dad’s fridge is working a treat, we wood have struggled without it in this heat as anything meat wise would only last a day. Means we don’t have to become veggies which is FAB!!! The Bezique battle continued after dinner but I was thrashed by Al who had a constant stream of flushes and four aces. Could be revenge tomorrow….

I sorted out tools and cut up some lengths of decking ready to fit out the platform we started last year while Breezy painted the half height wall we put up in the outbuilding.

The morning we spent finishing the platform and starting the decking. We finished the whole thing at 7pm. We now have a not so trivial platform in a tree and some ideas as to where we are going next. Need another trip to a builders merchant first though.

Market day in St Girons means that last night was the last one on blow up mattresses. Laundry in the machine and we have 35 minutes to find the man on the market and get a mattress before someone unloads our clean but wet laundry onto the floor to use the machine.

He’s not there!

Collect the laundry and head off to collect the generator. It’s not fixed. “Maybe this week?”

Off to Mr Brico to buy stuff and glass then back to the market incase Mr Mattress was late. On route we bumped into Freddie from the Auberge for a chat. He recommended another shop in town for cheap mattresses. Bingo we now have a mattress.

Last stop Carrefour for food. Home for lunch and a big sort out of the bedding situation. Afternoon was very hot so we planned and did some preparation for a day in the trees on Sunday before heading off for dinner at Lee’s with Ian and Nina.

The morning started cool so we decided to burn the remaining bracken that had been cut. It made sense to cut trees at the same time to feed the fire. We did not anticipate the weather and managed to pick one of the hottest days of summer to light a huge fire. By Lunchtime Breezy had melted and disappeared to cool off in the stream. I think we both had too much heat in the morning and so a chill out for a couple of hours in the afternoon was in order.

Mushroom foraging before dinner and we discovered another couple of sites locally for bollets.