Outside the barn we have built some wooden terraces which give us outdoor living spaces and also flat surfaces to work on. In 2013 a large retaining wall was added at the front to protect the foundations of the barn. Behind are now a number of raised beds for fruit and vegetable growing.
- Backfill eats into the step at the gable end
- Start the deck
- Geotextile fabric under the deck
- Halfway
- Breezy does 18cm nails
- Framework finished
- Cause of the smoke
- Fizz on the new terrace
- Arrival of the donkeys
- Haircut
- From the back
- From the front
- From the side
- With a donkey or two
- Fire basket
- Supper
- Group shot
- Dining outside
Copicing the woodland is a continual effort to preserve the pasture and supply firewood for the log burners. Plus building the retaining wall at the front of the barn to protect the foundations.
- Slowly!
- Slowly…..
- Slowly….
- Progess of Wall Prep
- Wall foundations
- Setting 1st rocks
- Cooling the feet
- Boots and stream
- Lunchtime progress
- From above at lunchtime
- On up
- And up
- Clive building
- Progress
- Where the fill is coming from
- Big hole to fill
- Filling the gap between wall and barn
- Topped off & pointed up
- Viewed from the piste
- Terrace to be completed
- Lunch with Anne
- Raised bed
- Second section
- Log pile
We spend more time outdoors than we do inside. If the weather is good enough to work outside we do so.
- Before the retaining wall
- Chainsaw action
- Breezy strimming
- Outbuilding frontage
- Terrace frame
- Outbuilding
- Decking starts
- Decked
- Install some garden furniture
- Makeshift table
- Lunch with a view
- Lunch
- Breezy relaxing
- Cascade toward Mont Rouche
- Breakfast on the terrace
- Breezy strimming
- Cascade opposite and avalanche debris
- Morning sun
- Ken does breakfast
- Muck truckin’ Ken
- Chainsaw Ken
- Supper on the end terrace
- Just a nice view
- Table laid BBQ lit
- More BBQ action
- Raised bed in the making
Twice a year the shepherds move the animals up and down to and from the high pastures. Snow lingers on the hill into the summer months. Foraging for food is fun.
- Moving sheep up the valley in spring
- Unloading with the Mucktruck
- Lunch in the sun
- Loaded trailer & van with salvage from Chamonix
- Garden Thermometer
- Snow on the ground
- Parasol mushrooms grow about and are delicious
- The Transhumans
- After copicing we found an oak tree
- Oak tree revealed
- Autumn crocus
- Parasol mushroom and idiot
- Sweaty Charlie
- Waterfall opposite
- Sheep being taken away
- Paella cooking outdoors
- Fruits of the forest
- Outdoor workshop
- Another Paella