What a great day for Fi to get here; the weather was lousy. Breezy and I had planned to do a bit of an exploratory walk on the way to pick up Fi from the train station but the cloud was down and it would not have taken long to get a thorough soaking. Instead we lit the stove and settled into a long internet and web session working on Ski Breezy.

We left the barn half an hour earlier that we needed to get a short walk in. We took a dead end road above Oust and set off into the woods with a view to finding some mushrooms. It quickly transpired that the path we had chosen did not in fact go anywhere so doubled back. Great to get a bit of fresh air but no mushrooms and we had discovered a dead end.

Picked up Fi, ate a sandwich each that we had made in the morning and trundled up to the barn. Had a quick chat with Anouk at the Auberge on the way who does a great impression of a donkey.

After a short tour we sat in the main barn and opened a bottle of fizz.

After the storm overnight with lots of rain, it seemed to clear up and was mainly a dry day. We have Fi arriving tomorrow so it was time to get the place in a state where she can sleep Ok we hope.

Al set to with scrubbing the bathroom floor clear of lime at the edges and then getting rid of the dust. We pulled the plastic up off the floor which has been trying to protect it while we pointed and Al set to.

I attacked the front wall downstairs so that it is ready to point. It is a horrible dusty job and donning the not so lovely plastic clear and blue glasses is a little help to protect the eyes. By lunchtime, bathroom floor done and front wall done.

We then put the mossie net up for Fi’s bed to go under, brought back memories of sleeping in the bathroom a few years ago!!!

Had ate butties for lunch outside in the sun and the weather looked like it might change so we opted to go a foraging sooner rather than later. A load of delicious brambles and also 2 large bolets in our favourite field something nice about picking food for free.

Al mended a pair of ladders he had rescued from the skip and then we sorted out the small solar light which we got as a freebie from somewhere. We have put it in the workshop and it works on a sensor so should help us in finding things in there now.

We had been invited to pop in and see our neighbour down the road Jean Claude which we did not manage to do before going to the USA, so we popped down in the hope he was in but to no avail. We left a note and will try again another day.

Garlic mushies for starter which we had picked which were excellent on a little croute and then roast chicken. Al cooked which was great and I could write some letters.

Even had time for a film after dinner The King’s Speech, which we both really enjoyed.

An early start to head down the valley to go shopping. A little rubbish to bin, recycling to do and stuff to go in the skip on the way. Clothes washing went into the laundrette leaving us 1/2 an hour to get to Mr Brico and back.

More white spirit, wire brushes and some paint later and we collected some clean clothes. On to La Forgue to look for some posts to make a banister around the clothes. Found 3 posts about 3″ square and 120cm long and 30€ each. We bought then but I have a sneaking feeling that we shall find an alternative and give them back.

Food shopping for the week and some fresh fish fillets for this evening and back to the barn and unpacked by 1pm.

In the afternoon we set about finishing and installing the steps in the bathroom and then had a massive clear up on the ground floor, including clearing the front wall for pointing. It is a nasty word but it is not over yet.

It is now evening and neither of us can remember seeing the fish at the checkout or putting it in the fridge. Think that fish is off the menu!

Woke to the sound of donkey bells, just this time they were just outside the door. It would appear that a piece of blue string with a few volts running through it is not enough to contain the beasts.

After a quick run around to rope off solar panels I made some coffee and got Breezy a diet coke before sitting down at the laptop and booting up the satellite to work on the internet preparing for the winter in the chalet in Chamonix.

Pointing was at the top of the list; sealing the 1st floor into the wall. Any excess went around the door that faces the river. Gradually we seal those little holes and gaps that the critters use the access the building.

Chicken salad for lunch and then I finished stapling fly mesh into the eaves (more critters foiled) and Breezy phoned the bank to sort out an issue over where she is taxed.

Life at the barn is so much easier with modern communications. Before we would have had to drive down to Salau and stand on the bridge to get a tenuous signal on a mobile. Make an expensive International call, and then probably be in a queue listening to the “Four Seasons” only to discover that the person you need to talk to is back in 30 minutes. Not enough time to go up and down again so you hang about and repeat the process and return to the barn some 2-4hrs later.

Now we boot up a PC & the satellite broadband; don a headset dial a number on the PC and we are there. Using a couple of different VOIP accounts and a piece of software most calls are free and others are very cheap. We do have to be careful of volume of down/upload internet wise so that we do not exceed our quota, but it is so much easier.

The rest of the afternoon we continued with the bathroom steps.

Internet stuff for Ski Breezy first thing until the sun hits us. It was another glorious day so we set too with clearing piles of wood left about the place from previous coppicing sessions.

Our aim is to create a second wood shed with metre length pieces which can dry out and then next year we can chop them into pieces we need depending which stoves are working.

Lots of lugging wood up the hill to the top terrace and chain sawing them into pieces. The new saw horse has been invaluable. It was hot work not so much the sawing but the traipsing up and down the hill in the heat, good training for the winter ski season in Chamonix!!!

We wanted to make a start on the steps to get down into the bathroom. At the moment it is a very big step onto a small box and since Fi is arriving soon we thought it would be nice if she did not have to stretch her legs too much!!! Framework built success.

Hot showers early as we wanted to pop down and see Rene and Anuk as we feel a bit like hermits up here. Adam and Daniella were at the bar so we joined them for a drink. Anuk very busy and Rene busy in the kitchen so we did not get to see him. Olivier passed by and stopped as he was on the way to move the donkeys across, by the time we got back they were installed on one side of our land. We also had a sneak visitor of a mule who belongs to a shepherd higher up the valley.

Delicious roast chuck for sups. While that was cooking we had a few hands of rummy on the terrace. Dinner outside, cheeses inside and then a bit of reading and to sleep. Feels like Autumn is on it’s way with the cooler evenings.

Started the day a little slower than normal after a little trop du vin the previous day. Never the less we still did an hour or 2 at the computers working on Ski Breezy and sorting out emails etc.

Then 1st up was chainsawing wood that was in a pile at the back of the main barn and stowing it under shelter. Time consuming with me holding the wood and Breezy sawing at ground level on a block (or visa versa).

After lunch I fitted a floor safe in upstairs and Breezy got on with some more varnishing. We sealed the lower decking terrace and made a sturdy saw horse.

In the evening we had a visit from a young stag. Beautiful red colour and velvety horns.

Clive, Giselle and the kids are due about midday for lunch so we got up early to start preparing salads and marinating meat for the BBQ. Fortunately the weather was great and we could eat on the decking under a parasol. The kids could run about and play in the river and the adults could sit in the shade and sup wine.

Guests left at 8.30pm giving us enough time to clear up and retire to bed.