The summer is gradually drawing to an end. There is one single tree on the other side of the piste and the colours are definitely turning. When the alarm geos off in the morning (not often set) the sun is not already beaming in the windows as it has not yet made it over the ridge of the mountains in the east.

We got up, had breakfast and headed down the valley with the list to go shopping in St Girons. Laundry in the machine; quick trip to the garden place for grass seed and rat poison; back for the laundry then I went into the builders merchant while Breezy started the food shop.

All done and heading back up the valley by 11am.

Quick stop in Salau to fill water containers and check for post at the Auberge then up to the barn to unload. 4 trips up the hill with plasterboard and 1 with the mucktruck.

Ham salad sandwiches for lunch as the prawns did not look very appetising in the supermarket.

Afternoon of painting piss pot components either with varnish or yellow to match the steps, and then making a divider for the cutlery draw in the kitchen.

Supper of spagetti bolognaise as the fish in teh supermarket was not up to much.

After a sandwich lunch I cut some logs

Still overcast and no sign of the sun. Had breakfast after a bout of internet sorting out emails enquiries for the chalet in Chamonix.

When we lived in the little outbuilding we used a “bucket and chuck it” system. So if you needed a wee during the night you descended the ladder and pissed in a pot. In the morning the contents of the pot gets emptied either in the field or on the compost heap.  During the day when one has the calling one goes “En Plein Air” or “Al Fresco”.

This system is fine for us, close friends and immediate family but may present a small hurdle in getting to know the locals or entertaining people we don’t really know that well. Thus the system requires some development. It has been on the “list of things to do” for some time and we have been salvaginging bits and bobs along the way.

We started with one of the big bottles from a water dispenser. Filed the neck down to 50mm and cut the bottom off to make a big funnel. Then made a frame to hold it inverted so that the top is at the same height as the composting toilet and the neck of the bottle goes through the floor. The frame was then “coated” with offcuts of tongue and grouve match board. The seat was made from offcuts of floorboard as was the lid which attached to the seat with an old piano hinge. Now just awaiting a lick of paint and/or varnish as appropriate.

Lunch was taken on the terrace as the sun made a brief appearance and consisted of leftovers as shopping tomorrow. Honey and mustard chicken salad.

Just as we were about to apply the paint/varnish a quadbike appeared at the gate. We recognised Regan immediately as he has never been seen without his cowboy hat. The bike rider was new to us. Regan had heard about the wall building and got his friend from Couflens, Patrick, to take him up to see it. Time for a beer and a chat. They left about 40 minutes later and we had an invite from Patrick for an appero of Tuesday.

Showers and an omlet salad (with polenta).

When we woke up you could not see the van from the barn as we were immersed in a bank of cloud. It was not exactly raining but the air was so laden with moisture you see it getting blown about in waves like pollen in the summer. Very early the decision was made to minimise the amount of time outside and make ourselves as comfortable as possible inside. This entailed lighting the Yotul stove at the kitchen end (primarily to check it for leaks), having a bit of a cookfest and catching up on the internet.

Tomato, chilli, and basil soup. Breezy made a yoghurt cake (as per her dialy routine in the winter) with rhubarb and ginger, absolutely fantastic. And we had a go at making polenta.

I managed to get loads of work type computer stuff done off my list and catch up with the blog while Breezy concentrated on Ski Breezy emails etc.

In the afternoon we did manage to get a bit of DIY done. Making and attaching a skirting in the pantry area from old forklift pallets and planning the internal walls around the second porchway.

Later in the afternoon we lit the second fire in the living area as well.

Cherry smoked duck breast (smoker placed in the doorway as it was still foul outside) with polenta and salad for supper. Followed by an episode of “All creatures great and small” before an early bed.

No alarm.

Breezy is walking down stairs backwards and I have to hold onto the wall to do down the bathroom steps. Maybe we overdid the walking yesterday?

Pottered about the place most of the day avoiding stairs and slopes. Not an easy feat considering our location.

No regrets though.

We have been wanting to climb the ridge between Mt Rouche and Cap Ruhos for over a year. Decision made to go on Wednesday afternon up to the Cabane below the sumit of Mt Rouche. Today is all about prepartion both in terms of kit, and food, but also some of those little jobs to get done before we go.

Started early with sorting out some of the garden and cutting logs for the fires in teh main barn.

Then the normal internet session sorting out Ski Breezy emails and website stuff.

Breezy also had some time slots to talk to her friends and her Father on Skype.

Breezy drove the van up to the old mine above Salau and cycled back so that when we finsh walking on Thursday we don’t have to do the final few kilometers of road back to the barn.

After lunch we gathered overnight kit together and packed rucksacks with ropes and harnesses (just incase). Some more odd jobs and then a bit of a cookfest in the early evening preparing sandwich fillings and also a sausage, rice and vegetable, one pot meal for Wednesday night at the cabane.

It would appear that this is the year for wall building. As the weather was not so good we decided to crack on with the internal walls downstairs. This time it is the wall dividing the pantry and the second bedroom.

Started with cutting down an old kitchen cupboard carcas to fit into the ceiling as wall units then started a frame underneath to accept some of the reclaimed pario doors gleaned from Chamonix.

It was a little fiddly as the floor and the ceiling are not perpendicular but as we progresed more and more salvaged stuff went into it.

The finished effect is a bit like being in an old wooden railway carriage, but it should profit from the light of the window in the pantry and the main door.

An early night!

Started the day preparing food and spent most of the day eating it. Blue skies and sun for a BBQ lunch on the terrace with Clive, Giselle and the kids.

Nachos & salsa, toasted pittas and peanut dip, pork spare ribs in a caremelised BBQ sauce, sweet chilli chicken thighs, chipolatas, green salad from the garden, bean salad, new potatos, local cheeses, chocolate pots, yoghurt and apple cake and a fair amount of wine and water.