Beating back the forest

Mornings have developed a set theme. First one up puts the kettle on so that I can get my fix of coffee. Then one of us gets stuff out of the fridge in the main barn for breakfast. Having the fridge has definitely transformed living in the mountains. Generally I light the wood burner and Breezy does some of the chores like heating some water for washing up and filling the solar shower bag (though at this time of year the sun has little impact on the temperature of the water). Breakfast then the inverter gets switched on to boot up the satellite internet. Check emails and sort out any enquiries for the Chalet in Chamonix, sort out the blog and work on websites to promote Ski Breezy. Occasionally there are odd words that we need to look up in online dictionaries which we are not sure what they mean. They have usually cropped up in crosswords which my parents save from the newspapers and periodically send out to us by post. This morning it was “elucidate”.

Once the sun hits us just before 11am we start ticking things off the “to do” list. This morning it was more coppicing; this time out the front of the main barn. There is a large copse with one large beech and an oak tree in it. Ideally and weather permitting we want to get shot of the copse and just leave the large trees. If we don’t manage it this year we can always continue next year.

A late lunch of salad after which mu leg was quite sore. I got stung by a wasp yesterday on the shin and since then my leg has continued to swell up. By lunch my foot had started to swell as well and I decided to rest it for the afternoon while Breezy got in with weeding, foraging and odd small jobs about the place. I had forgotten what it is like to put your feet up and read a book. It all seems to be go go go when we are here. It is a beautiful place to just sit and read.

By the evening my foot had swollen some more so we trundled off down to the village to consult Anouk who used to be a pharmacist. Sufficiently reassured that swelling is normal we headed back up to the barn for supper and an episode of Spooks before bed.

Categories: Summer 2012, The Project