That’s it, we only have a week to go before we head North again. There is a substantial list of chores, and in true Management Consultant style they are ranked in terms of “Must do”, “Nice to” and ease to complete. At the beginning of the summer, well actually the spring, Breezy had a request to build a kitchen island to replace the table. The table has been fine for years and served us well. We have made bred and pasta on it. It has been sturdy even though it is a marriage between legs from a restaurant in Chamonix and a top from a friends office. Top and legs are now divorced and in storage awaiting their next reincarnation.

In it’s place is now a super duper kitchen island.

Ingredients:

• Legs from a salvaged table (Chamonix)
• Two lengths decking (donated by Peter in the village)
• Beech worktop (bought)
• Forklift Pallets (salvage)
• 4 brass hinges (salvage)
• 2 stones with holes in as handles (picked up on a beach)
• 2 leather handles (made from an old belt scout belt)
• Screws (stock items)
• Glue (bought)
• 2 sheets cheep wood (bought)
• Paint (chalk paint from a previous project)
• Varnish (left over from bathroom floor)
• Wine rack (salvage)

Mix all the ingredients together. Jump up and down on it to make sure it is sturdy and hey presto you have a kitchen island.

With any old property there will always be maintenance. You have oly just finished the place and then you have to start maintaining the stuff you started with. The first floor we laid was the bathroom. In fact that is the first place we slept (because it was the only place with a flat, dry floor. A flat dry floor and a composting toilet. Sounds lovely; so romantic. Anyway, it desperately wanted freshening up, more that a wet mop would achieve. The generator was engaged and Breezy sanded the whole floor and applied two coats of varnish. The difference is amazing and makes the other floors about the barn look a little tired. Next up is the floor in the Naughty Corner.

Then there is the fettier (or roof ridge). The roof covering is old slate and the ridge is sheet zinc. This however is in 6 bits because at the time we were told you could not get a single length 12 m long. This may now be possible (but I doubt it). A consequence is that there are 5 joints where the sheets of zinc overlap. Add to that the 6 nail holes per sheet which secure it to the roof and you have quite a lot of potential for leaks. Over the years, when there is a leak in the roof, I get up there with some tools and a mastic gun and try my best to plug any possible leak spot. Now there is a product called “Zinc Fix”. It looks like mastic, comes in a mastic tube and is called “Zinc Fix” not mastic. It may be mastic, but renaming it adds some value in terms of Euros. To stand the best chance of the new stuff working I felt it would be good to clear away all the old mastic (probably 4 generations) so that I could apply it to zinc rather than old mastic. After all, they did’nt rename it “Old Mastic Fix”. This process, including applying the new stuff took half a day and gave me a blister on my index finger.

Neither of the above were photo worthy so ther are none.

What is photo worthy is the planter made from the old trunk of the pine tree we used to shower under and Doris the Deer. The planter is home to a couple of Dianthus grown from seed donated by my Mother. An Doris is made from bits of flotsam wood collected from the side of the river. It was named Doris so as not to cause offense to anyone we know (we don’t know anyone called Doris).

Last week it was Rene’s Birthday down at the Auberge in the village.  Breezy made a cake, well actually two Mars Bar cakes, one in the shape of a 5, and the other in the shape of a 0.  That is two cakes each with 2 Mars Bars in, recipe is here.

We joined Rene and Anouk at the bar and celebrated at lunch time with a few friends.  Apparently the Dutch tradition for a 50th Birthday is to get a blow up doll and tape the person’s face to it.  Strange but true!

Then we had an invite to join other friends at a “pop up restaurant” on a Col on Friday night.  Not having been social during the COVID thing, and not getting invited to things generally we accepted.  It was a beautiful evening on Col de la Port with tables all set out.  Many were in a similar position as it was the first social thing they had attended all summer.  Great people and food and a proper night out.  Thanks to Justin and Emily for the enterprise.  There was some entertainment which the French always refer to as a Spectacular, in this case it was a couple of very random clowns

Most of our time recently has been dropping trees along the terraces beside the meadow. Partly to tidy up the bent and broken wood at the edge of the forest and partly to preserve the pasture. Anything hard wood worth seasoning as firewood is stacked and the rest is burnt. A long standing debate has been over the fir tree outside the outbuilding. It has been diseased for years but had purpose as we used to shower beneath it. Now we have a new barrel shower on the terrace it’s purposeless and still diseased. Decision was made to take it down and burn it, though a section of trunk is now waiting to become a planter.

Yesterday evening a storm came through.  Thunder lightening and hail.  Not just a little bit of hail but for an hour it chucked hail down the size of broad beans (not the same colour but it gives you an idea of the size).  The broad beans in the garden faired pretty well considering.  The courgette plants look like someone has fired a sawn-off shotgun at them.  There is more leaf debris on the ground than on the plants and what is left on the plants has been shredded.  The lettuce has been liquidised.  and the rhubarb has curled up and retreated into the ground leaving remnants of greenery above the soil.

Today we went shopping and had to buy salad which is the first time in weeks.

So, I have learnt to value flowers over the last couple of years. I can’t say that I have learnt the value of flowers as there is so much to learn. Most of our colour appears on plants that have either been given to us, been snaffled from other peoples gardens or we have grown from seed. There are a few exceptions which have been purchased like a couple of Agapanthus and Dianthus for example. Initially our plants came from Clive, our builder friend who was a great gardener and trained as a nurseryman (Day Lillys, Hollyhocks and Phlox). Breezy’s Father gave us all our roses which now flourish each summer. I won’t elaborate on the items snaffled but most were with the owners permission. From Ken’s in Derbyshire we gleaned a couple of Crocosmia Lucifer corms which we are hoping to see flower this year. From Keith in Chamonix cuttings of Forsythia, Dogwood, Bamboo and Willow. These are still tiny but with leaves and buds. Seed has either come from my Parents in Berkshire, been bought, or gathered from the wild or others gardens. Growing from seed definitely gives one huge respect for Nursery folk who may be bringing plants on for years before they look good enough to sell to people who want instant colour.
Then there is all the learning about what flowers when, what height and breadth each plant will attain so that you can get all year round colour and shape in an area. We have not even got to that stage as anything in our garden is plonked until it is moved. It’s fun to learn, just takes a long time and patience.
Yesterday we saw our second family of Great Tits fly the nest from the bird boxes. Each fledgling pokes it’s head out, tentatively. Then there is a couple of wobbles before they takes flight, beating their wings furiously and using far too much energy to stay in the air. I think I would do the same with just an initial briefing from the parents then venturing out of a small dark room into the wide world for the first time. Very soon they start to dip and dive in the air almost playing as their proficiency increases.
Other guests fall into one of two categories, welcome and unwelcome. Deer are welcome as long as they don’t eat from the veg and fruit garden. Though it must be like stumbling across a tuck shop with the door wide open and nobody in attendance. Unwelcome include voles, of which we seem to have an abundance. They burrow everywhere trashing the lawn (which not long ago was a field) and eat the roots of the plants. Having read that they hate daffodils, these have been planted at strategic points to deter them. They also don’t like coffee so we are scattering all the coffee grinds from the local Auberge around the garden. We have also invested in a solar sonar thing which buzzes every few seconds during the day. Then there is Chilli, Alison and Peters dog, which eats at least two each visit by digging up the garden. Chilli, though destructive, is in the welcome category.
Otherwise we have been using up some of our stash of bits of wood salvaged from different places to be more creative. Recycling materials into art of functional items. Food is also a keen interest for us both and so we have been trying out new recipes at least 4 times a week. Somehow this season we have got 5 courgette plants in the garden so I think we may be supplying the Auberge as well as ourselves.