Spotted flycatcher

 First bird photo with the OM1. After taking the photo I realised that the bird was stuck. If you look very carefully there is a tiny bit of thread wrapped around one of his legs (probably from nest material) which had got caught on the bramble. When I went rescue him, he finally managed to snap it and escape.

First few shots with the new camera

Goodbye Olympus OMD-E-M5ii, hello OM1. Quite a bit bigger than the old camera but hopefully it'll come into its own with the wildlife photography....lots to learn....more later.

Naughty Mr Fox

 

Cascade d'Ars

There's been a lot of rain and few opportunities to get out into the mountains 5without getting very wet and seeing nothing), but yesterday despite the forecast things seemed bright and dry so after a hurried call, we met up with Sheri and Michiel for an afternoon stomp up to the head of the Cascade d'Ars. Great to stretch the legs and look at the recent snowfall.

 

Sauna phase 2

A couple of days of preparation for the arrival of the flat pack sauna. First collecting and erecting a scaffold tower beside the gable of the house from which a plank could bridge to the bedroom window. The larger panels would have to go through the window as they wouldn't go up the stairs. To make life easier I also built a trolley to run on the plank and installed a pulley above the window through which a rope would provide some assistance in dragging the panels up the incline.  The packed sauna weighing in at 300kg was due to be delivered in an 11m lorry...too big to pass the tight corner in Castet d Aleu, so we would have to transfer it to our little trailer and transporter it the last 5km. The palletised package was 1.6 m long, 60cm wide and 2m high, so some modifications were necessary to the trailer too so it wouldn't topple over on route.

I waited in all day Monday only to discover at 3.00 that the delivery day had been changed to Tuesday and I hadn't noticed. Tuesday the delivery arrived at 10.00 and fortunately it was in a small 6m long van. We quickly abandoned the trailer idea and the delivery van drove to the house and deposited it on the drive. 

Sheri and Michiel had stayed the night on Monday and they agreed to help us. The first few panels were small and passed easily up the stairs. They got progressively larger and the side walls 1.2 m x 1.9 m where the first up the scaffold and through the window. They were realitively light and easy. The front and back panels 1.5 m x 1.9 m were super heavy. One was fully glazed with 8mm toughened glass and the other was clad in stone tiles! It took all four of us to lift them out of the crate and move them to the deck. 

I worked out I could remove the glass (3 pieces) and transport them individually but the stone clad panel was going to have to be lifted through the window. It weighed over 100kg. The lift onto the tower was 2m so we moved the picnic table to create a 80cm stage to reduce the lift so with Michiel and I on the tower and Susie and Sheri on the table we managed to haul it up. The worst was over and finally all the parts were in the house on the first floor and just in time as the rain started tipping down. 

A quick celebratory cup of tea, then it was on with the build, which went pretty straightforwardly. Sheri and Michiel left once the last panel was lifted and by 6.00 we had cleared up, wired everything in and we're enjoying our well earned sauna!