Signal de Bassia

Spent a night at L'auberge de Beyrede then nipped up Signal de Bassia in the morning for some lovely views of the mountains in Bigorre with Sandra. In the afternoon it rained but we had time to look at some more thatched roofs in in the Vallee de Campan, quite different from those in the Ariege with the thatch over the Pas d'Oiseaux, and for me to discover some more of Bagneres.

Back at Quelebu, I have been relaying all the below ground drains after Al (aka 'Colon the Barbarian' or 'the Bristol bog blocker') came to stay. The blockage was so severe I had to dig everything up to get things flowing and having done so I took the opportunity to remove some of the ridiculously tight (and needless) bends in the drains.

Field No 4

Yesterday, I formed the approximate hole through the wall of house for the chimney. An 8" diameter hole descending at 45 degrees through 2 feet of granite!



While I wait for the chimney to arrive, I've pressed on with clearing field no 4. After a full day of scything I've cleared the upper terrace. The five huge bonfires will have to wait to be lit until the fire ban has been lifted by the Mayor.

Before...

After...

Chaume

Went to see this grange across the valley in Pentussa with Sandra yesterday. Its one of a handful of thatched buildings in the ariege. Although the detail at the junction of the stepped gable and the thatch is a bit odd, I've decided to replace my roof with thatch rather than slate (it was thatched until about 30 years ago). Stage one is to move the Rayburn chimney to outside the roof...work starts soon.

Spent today recommencing the clearing of fields 3 and 4. Back to a regime of 2 hours scything a day until the weather deteriorates.

Talking of weather it was 34 degrees a few days ago.

Firewood

The weather remains very hot during the day here (25-30 in the sun) and the mountains have less snow on them than in May! I've taken advantage of the good weather to move my wood pile into a more favourable position where it can get the sun all day and hence 'season' for burning. Before it was behind the house where it got no sun and if it ever snows would be under all the snow which fell off the roof. Ideally the wood should dry for at least a year before burning. I reckons there's a years worth here (just about) and I have some more elsewhere which should be enough to see me through this year if the crazy weather continues for much longer.

Foie

Meat is cheap here in France and now I have freezer I can take advantage of 'offres' at Champion. I got a whole pigs liver for 80p - enough portions for a least a weeks good eating. Tonight I made a slow cooked liver casserole with tomatoes, onions, chalottes, garlic and lardons all cooked in red wine. The liver was succulent and went down a treat with roast potatoes and carrots. The banana and walnut loaf is cooling on the rack whilst I digest!

Casque du Lhéris

A petit rando a le Casque du Lheris with Sandra. Great views of Pic du Midi de Bigorre and looking east as far as Mauberme. Bagneres de Bigorre is much nicer than I remembered, with lots of timber buildings from the turn of the century with fretwork bargeboards.

Pic Soubirou

Got a call at 9.30, Ian's guests fancied a walk before they left - so after a quick breakfast and pack we rendezvous'd at Seix and headed for the ridge leading to Pic Soubirou. I've been thinking about climbing it for a while and thought it might make a good ski tour (it would when there's more snow). The ridge has a real sense of being wrapped on all sides by high mountains. Two and and a half hours saw us on the summit and the views were fantastic.

Chocolate paint

All my external oak frames are smothered in a horrible chocolate brown paint, so today I decided to start stripping them. Not an easy task as they are deeply weathered from a few hundred years of alpine weather. The weather today was fantastic (I was so hot working with my back to the sun I had to go topless) and after 4 or 5 hours work with stripper, scraper and wire brush, the door surround was finished. It looks so much better.

Here's a close up of some of the beautiful gnarled and weathered grain.

Forest fires

Its getting hotter and hotter here (30 in the sun today) and still not a sniff of snow. In fact there have been several forest fires nearby which are still not under control despite the best efforts of over 200 firefighters - over 600 acres of forest has been destroyed. We could see the huge plumes of smoke from the mountain yesterday and for the past few days there has been a haze in the air from the smoke. Bonfires have been banned in the department.

On a brighter note, here's a curtain I made last week for the front door from a bed throw, some leather bootlaces, a handful of pebbles and an old bit of copper tube.

Cirque de Cagateille

A great winter walk today with Al and Sandrine. Into the cirque de Cagateille, plenty of ice in condition (just). Then a stiff climb into the upper cirque above the falls and grand traverse between the two frozen lakes in deep powder.

8 hours on the hill and we even managed to get some sun for lunch.

Field 4

Here's the path we cleared a few days ago leading down to the stream....

...and here's Al demonstrating dry stone walling techniques.

Cabane Subra

Today Al and I went for a walk to the Cabane Subra (the same Place I went with Sandrine last week only this time by a different route contouring in from the Col de la Core). Snow conditions were quite different, generally less of it but what remains is developing an icy crust. Conditions otherwise were perfect and in the sun it was positively balmy!

Al saw a spotted eagle (or so he claims), but we both saw an izard.

Yesterday we cleared one of my 'parcelles' which I spent all summer trying to find the exact boundaries of. Now it's winter and the vegetation has died back it was very obvious. After some work with the bowsaw and chainsaw we have also cleared an ancient 'chemin' bordered by earth mounds almost all the way to the stream at the bottom of the valley.

Loires

As it's pretty cold at the moment (-6 centigrade at night) I was able to detect a strong icy draught behind the fireplace and thus discovered a huge loire tunnel to the outside. No wonder during the summer, despite bloking up every route into the house, the loires kept coming!! As the dead loire photo has been my most popular post, here's another dead loire to feast your eyes upon (note the accuracy of the single head shot).

There is a Santa Claus!

Santa came early with my new french car. Number plate will change shortly to a 09 plate indicating I live in the Ariege. Compared to the old one it's incredibly quiet and comfortable!

Mezzanine

The mezzanine bedroom is now nearly finished. The circle on the end wall is a window which lets light and air into the room (it was night time when I took the photo)...and yes I know it doesn't look like its in the middle...it is, but the roof pitches are different on each side of the house.

Another great slow cook recipe

This is a flemish hot pot. Brown plenty of onions and beef cut into 1" cubes (I added some liver too) put in casserole with 1/2 pint dark beer (could use Guinness) a slice of bread spread thickly with mustard and a piece of dark chocolate. Bring to boil then slow cook for 3 hours in oven at 350 ish. Yummy!

Let it snow

Snowing very lightly all day...might be as much as 1cm!!

Vallee d'Estours

Went for a walk with Sandrine today in the Vallee d'Estours. Above 1200m there was quite a lot of snow and it snowed very lightly most of the day. We reached 1700m before it was time to turn around and head back - Sandrine had to meet the kids from school.

On the way back we passed a horse skeleton picked clean by vultures. As one of the legs was separated I couldn't resist the 'jake the fake' routine.



Tonight it is snowing lightly at Quelebu - the first time this year - but probably the last snow until January.

I have a creoste problem with the Rayburn chimney mainly resulting in a creosoty smell when it is first lit . I think its a problem caused by the old uninsulated chimney (can't replace until next year when I do the whole roof) and the wood I'm burning being green (next year my wood pile will be much dryer as most of it was felled this year). I'm using a weekly additive to reduce the problem but there is little I can do until next spring.

Skiing at last

Yesterday I was building hazel hurdles and today as the weather was set fair and the car battery is charged again, I decided to go skiing. Only Baqueira (Spain) and Piau Engaly are open in the Pyrenees - Baqueira is a mere 20 miles away as the crow flies but a 2 hour trip by car and I opted to go there.

Snow is still poor and soft here, but thanks to snow canons Baqueira had 5 pistes open. The snow wasn't to bad, a bit icy and few stones here and there but the weather was great and it was good to find my ski legs. Took a fall on some ice which was good as it tested the binding release and snow brakes (both of which worked) and only my pride was hurt.

No skiing for me today

Last night was very cold and after the drizzle yesterday everything froze solid...including the car! This morning it wouldn't start (flat battery from yesterday) and despite parking it on a slope I couldn't move it. In the end I got an old axle and tried to lever the car forward from behind the back wheels, it was then that I discovered that the rear brakes had also frozen solid. Eventually I managed to freewheel it down the road but with the brakes binding I couldn't get enough speed to bump start it. ) :

Battery now on charge.

Apparently in these parts one leaves the car in gear and releases the hand brake to stop it all freezing together.

Alas today is beautiful - clear blue ski, very cold, ideal for skiing. Tomorrow the forcast is not so good - Oh well winter has only just begun, I'll have to ski another day.

Skiing?

Its been cold (and damp) for the past few days and the extra snow promised by the weather service hasn't arrived at lower altitudes. Transplanted some hedging yesterday from field 2 to field 1 and went to a christmas market in Salau this afternoon (moral support for my neighbour Sandrine who was selling photgraphs, cards and calenders). When I went to leave the market I discovered I'd left my lights on! Managed to bump start it fortunately. Tonight I've left it in a place where it can freewheel downhill just in case the battery isn't fully charged!!

Several ski resorts are partially open and tomorrow I'm going to go skiing at Baqueira in Spain (I hope). Best to find my ski legs before launching out on a ski mountaineering expedition!

Boeuf Bourguignon

Made a delicious beouf bourguignon today. The beef was marinated with garlic and herbs in red wine for 24 hours. I gently fried carrots and onions before browning the meat, adding a little flour, then it all went in the Rayburn with the marinade. 3 hours of slow cooking later I added some mushrooms, bacon and shallots (also gently fried) then gave it another hour. Served with roast potatoes the meat was as succulent and tender as is possible and the rich flavour and aroma of the casserole...a dream.

Oh the joy of slow cooking!

Snow

At last it snowed today!

Pudding Club No 2

This lunchtime was pudding club meeting number two.

On offer were a raspberry and apple fruit cobbler with custard (me), a dessert of apricots in set semoulina served cold (Susanne), plums and apricots from Celine's garden stuffed with homemade marzipan (Celine), a peach and apple tart (John) and finally a lemon tart made with a sugar substitute that went kinda' wrong(!) and didn't taste as it should (John too). All washed down with Gaillac Premier (local equivalent of Beaujolais Nouveau) and a white Bordeaux pudding wine.

Floor update

All the work was worth it! The floor looks great. Last night the smell from the polyurethane was so overpowering I had to leave the house before I passed out - I slept at the neighbours. Only problem is that now I'll have to do the stairs too.

Floor

After two days of mindless noise and dust the floor downstairs is 'partially' finished. At the end of day one after 10 hours of sanding the floor looked worse than when I'd started and I began to wish that I'd never started. Thoughts began running through my head like 'paint it instead'. After the second day of sanding it's not 'the floor of my dreams' - perhaps the varnish will bring it to life? I still have all the perimter to sand before I can start that and as the following photo shows there still another day of sanding yet.

Still not sure what kind of wood it is...perhaps chestnut or sycamore? Whatever it is, it is very hard and that coupled with the useless underpowered and knackered old sander I hired, has made for some hard slog!

Climbing in Iraq

Here are Jon and I climbing in the Iraqi desert aka Fairy quarry (Somerset), I'm in the mujahedeen hat! And here I am again disciplining a young wouldbe suicide bomber, aka Luke Hadfield.

Field number two

Here is field number two. It has too parts, above is the first...

...and this is the second which is lower down. On the left is the large fallen beech tree.

As you can see it's pretty big, though I've cleared a lot of it already. Compared to field number one it's a bit smaller and the vegetation looks a lot easier to clear. It borders some lovely mature forest and has several small stone walls along it's boundries.

John and Sandrine have been clearing a piste to their grange 'project'. A JCB has been in full swing and for the first time you can see it from the road.

Edible garden forests

Although the days are getting shorter and a little colder, the weather is still incredibly mild (today peak temperature in the sun was 28). The mountains have some snow on them but each day it recedes. Skiing at Christmas? Not unless the weather turns soon.

Over the past few days I have been painting the bedroom floor, little by little as the paint gives me a migrane if it's too overpowering. Downstairs, I've sanded back a piece of floor to see if it's worth sanding all of it...I think it is. Not sure if it's oak or elm - probably oak. I'll hire a sander next week but I know from experience just how much dust it will make, plus there 40 years (at least) of varnish to get through first.

Also I've been clearing field no.2 or rather clearing all the dead, damaged and fallen trees and thinning the overstood coppice. A huge beech tree was blown down about 3 years ago and it took about 8 other trees with it and crushed several coppices - clearing up the mess is a long and tricky business. Fortunately the big beech's two main boughs went either side of a maple which has stablised it (it's firmly wedged in fact) so de-limbing it is much safer as I know the tree is unlikely to move.

In the evening, I'm reading 'Edible Garden Forests' a practical permaculture guide (a weighty tome). So far it's very interesting, though I haven't got to the practical bit yet. Up until now, whenever I've looked at permaculture, there's been lots of theory but little actual practical advice, so this book promises much! I've certainly got the perfect opportunity to try it.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

At last we have had some rain in the last couple of days (falling as snow on the mountains). This morning I laid some more hedge before 'rain stopped play'. On the way back I found some small parasol mushrooms which made an omelette for tea.

I lit the Rayburn for the first time in over a week - which was a good excuse to bake a fruit cake.

Paul has lent me his DVD's of 'Back to river cottage' so after so many people have drawn parallels, I can at last see the series for myself. I've only watched episode 1 and there are definite similarities though they seem to have edited out all the hard graft (or perhaps Hugh had a team of helpers to speed the filming along?)

Hedge Laying

The amazing weather continues, last night it was 4 degrees (slight ground frost) and today in the sun it was 34 degrees! I spent the day laying hedges around the field. I've never done this before but actually it's quite enjoyable and after all the scything its much less effort. I don't think my hedges will win any prizes - in places there's not much to play with - but I'm pleased with my efforts. I tried to take some pictures but they're difficult things to photograph - so here are some more autumn colours with a bit of hedge in the foreground.

I have also made a start clearing the second field - starting with the perimeter - as there are a lot of fallen trees and overstood coppice to be cleared with the chainsaw. Unfortunately, it's impossible to get the Suzuki there, so there is little I can do with all the wood - except carry a couple of logs back under my arm each time I visit.

The new bookcase

The picture speaks for itself!

Pudding club

The first pudding club has just finished and I think it was a success, though perhaps there was too much pudding! Still it was good to have all the inhabitants of Quelebu and Pinsou together (except for Patrick and Michelle who had to return to Toulouse).

From left to right: John, Saskia, Philippe, Sandrine, Natasha, Hannah, Claude, Yves, Celine and Susanne.

Pudding Club

Disappointed with french puddings (or the lack them) I have decided to start the Quelebu pudding club. The first meeting is tomorrow evening and I've cooked up something on the Rayburn (plus it gave me the chance to start getting to grips with the Rayburn oven).

We have Lemon Meringue Pie, Apple Pie and Squidgy Chocolate Roulade (unfortunately made with French cream which is a bit on the sour side, but the chocolate sponge is quite bitter so I hope it'll be OK).

Cap de Ruhos

Another walk today. I was late setting off because the car wouldn't start. It was my first visit to the village of Salau since Ollie and I were walking the Pyrenean Haut Route, as then I ascended the Col de Crusous - only this time in fantastically clear conditions. When Ollie and I climbed here it was zero visibilty and raining ( I remember a long slog in knee length wet grass). In fact it's a spectacular ascent. From the col I turned right and ascended the steep ridge to Cap de Ruhos. It's a great peak with stunning views but because of it's more famous neighbours (Certescan and Mont Roig) it's often overlooked. The views were even more far reaching than from Pic de l'Har a few days ago. Aneto, Maladetta and Posets are all unobscured and even Vignemale was clearly visible to the west (80 miles away as the crow flies).



From here I continued to the nearby Pic Montagnole then took to the narrow arete, scrambling west as far as a crazy quartz pinnacle just after the Passage de Montareino - mostly on the Spanish side where it was warm in the sun, or balancing along the crest...the french side was icy as it was still in the shade. I wanted to try and descend from here directly into the Cirque d'Anglade to make a circuit but I couldn't see if there were steep cliffs barring the way (the map said yes, but it looked OK as far as I could see). With lots of frozen streams and verglas on the rocks in the cirque I decided to retrace my steps. It'a amazing that there's so much ice here as the daytime temperature in the sun is still in the twenties! At Quelebu it was 30 in the sun yesterday with a nightime temperature of 3!

The views into Spain were fantastic too. Especially looking down onto Lac Mariola.



I got back to find work underway on the house/grange opposite, like most french construction this seems to involve spraying vast quanities of concrete on everything...in this case beautiful stonework...such a shame.