Cloudy

Tuc de l'Adosse (1669m) from the house, piercing the clouds

Low cloud today so no point in looking up couloirs. Instead I finished clearing the upper terrace. A few bonfires to light, some clearing up of the terraced boundary and fencing still to do - but most the 'grunt' work is now finished.

The two terraces of the new field no 1. The green in the distance behind the trees is field no 2 and on the horizon (top right) is the barn.

Rain and Frogs

Managed to get out for a short walk at 8.00 this morning, then an hours scything before the downpour started. It rained heavily until about 4pm when I managed to get another hour or so's work in (logging and scything). The rain was enough to put some water in the pond and let the frogs breed - though I doubt the water will stay long. The weather is brighter now and there's fresh snow above about 2000m. Here's the view from the house across Pentussa (Cominac) to Pics de Montabone and Bonrepos.

As David Yeates is out at the weekend and itching for some climbing, I might go out and check out some couloirs tomorrow.

Gerac

Looking down to Gerac and beyond Pic des Certescans

It's been on and off sunshine and snow showers for the past few days. This morning was forecast to be sunny with snow/rain arriving in the afternoon - so I thought a short tour might be nice. After a couple of runs down the main piste at Guzet (icy as always in the morning and still the only run open there alas), I dropped down to the Col d'Escots and skinned up to Gerac. Then up towards the col between Freychet and Pic de Cerda. The snow was lovely up there and the ski down was a joy - so I skinned back up and did it again. A party of two tourers who ascended Pic de Cerda were the only other people I saw. Then the clouds rolled in and the rain was approaching so it was time to return to Guzet. The snow was warm and sticky and with no glide on the skis it was hard work descending from Gerac - I actually carried them the last few hundred metres to the Col d'Escots. At Guzet it was sleeting and the pistes were now heavy and wet - so I headed for home even though it was just 1.30.

Skiing

Decided to head off for some skiing today with Jason and Justin. We left at the crack of dawn bound for Spain (Baqueira). The weather didn't look too bad despite the forecasts but just across the spanish border at Bossost there was a road block. For the first time I have ever known the Spanish decided to check passports! Amazingly Justin and I had ours but not alas Jason. There was a bit of a debate about free borders within the EEC, how we lived just a few miles across the line on the map and would be spending euros in Spain - it went to a show of arms - the spanish policeman had a machine gun so he won. A quick jaunt over the Col de Portillon and we were back in France heading for the ski resort of Peyragudes and Les Agudes. Not skied there before and although fairly small there was lots of off piste and with all the fresh powder (40-50cm) we couldn't resist. I was having a bad ski day but still managed some runs down in the untracked powder and started gettting the hang of the powder 'bounce'. Weather was bloody cold in the morning but warmed up over lunchtime. By the end of the day every inch of snow was tracked out.

Still Snowing

Weather

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After spending the last 6 weeks in a teeshirt and shorts the snow finally arrived this morning. Yesterday the chainsaw 'died' after 3 years of use and abuse (fortunately just after I'd cut some logs for the house). Spent this morning stripping it and eventually found the problem - a plastic part in the oil pump - now on order but it'll be Friday week before it arrives. More snow tonight and tomorrow then some more skiing - yippee!

Another beautiful clear, sunny and warm day today (although it could snow Tuesday night if the weather forecast is to be believed - weather will deteriorate tomorrow apparently). Spent most of the day working on the upper terrace which is now 3/4 clear, the three biggest acacias are logged, half the field is raked clear and everything has been burnt. Then a slightly more relaxed afternoon in the sun.

Tomorrow I'll probably get logs in for the house then start collecting the logs from Philippe and Sophie's which have been stacked for sometime but now seem to be attracting unwanted attention as they're right next to the road!

Out on the bike

Decided to go out on the bike this morning. I rode to St Girons to the market - 22.5 km and mostly downhill - then after a spot of browsing I rode back - nearly all uphill including the steep 450m climb from Castet d'Aleu. There in 55mins back in 1hr 20mins, not too bad considering its the first time on a bike in very long time.

A spot more field clearing in the afternoon, then the owners of the ruin next to my house and the barn opposite came over to fell a lovely mature walnut tree. Why? I don't know. Shame as its nuts were a delight in the autumn. There's an enormous mess now but I 'd rather that than the huge bonfire he started building is ignited, as it's very close to the house and my thatched roof!

Birch syrup is finished and tasty - quite treacly.

Birch Syrup

After collecting about 50 litres of birch sap I've spent the last 3 days reducing it (by evaporation). I'm down to the last 2.5 litres but from the original 50 litres I'll get 500ml of syrup - 1:100 concentration. It's a delicious deep red colour already.

About half the upper terrace of field no 1 has been cleared over the last two days - though there are still some acacias to fell and log. Hopefully the worst half is now cleared.

Being a smallholder

In France starting a business or simply being self employed is notoriously difficult. Boy how the french love bureaucracy. The simplist form of agriculteur who can buy and sell animals and produce is a 'cotisan solidaire' (or cotisan de solidarite). You pay a fixed tax contribution each year, can usually get all your VAT on purchases refunded but get no pension or healthcare entitlement unless you pay extra. But...you must have no less than 2 hectares of agricultural land (woods, scrub, etc don't count) and no more than 9 hectares. Sounds perfect if I want to legally sell pigs or lambs, saucisson, jambon, some vegetables, etc at St Girons market. But I've been adding up my agricultural land and even with the extension to field 1, I only have 1 hectare. I have another parcelle about a kilometer away which I reckon I could clear to bring the total to 1.3 hectares but all the other land is definitely forest - so I'm still 0.7 hectares short...damn and blast. A visit to the Hotel des Impots is in order to see the cadastral maps and look for some extra land, if anyone will sell it!

Fields update and slight re-numbering!

Field 1: The little terrace wall in field one is rebuilt and the land relevelled after the pigs turned it into the Somme. The lower terrace extension is cleared and fenced.

The upper terrace extension is still to clear.

Field 2: Finished the last stretch of Hazel fencing today.

In the afternoon cut the field - amazed at how well the grass has taken and how few brambles there are - of course the bracken onslaught hasn't started yet.

Field 3: The field around the barn - good meadow.

It has a copse of birch trees which I'm tapping for sap at the moment.

Field 4: Down in the woods, the one I swept of leaves. Grass doing well.

Field 5: Not really a field more a steep stoney track in the woods - clear but not much use.

A day in the woods

This morning some general clearance to fields 4 and 5 which were cut yesterday - basically felling some of the trees and big beech boughs which overhang the field. Then I discovered an old route into the field through the beech forest (suitable for a vehicle) which will be useful if I put sheep in it this year as I will need to transport water, etc. After a couple of hours clearing some big trees which had fallen across it, it is now serviceable.

Next some leaf raking - crazy as it sounds I raked most of the leaves off the field. As it's surrounded by beech forest it was a LOT of leaves. But to give the grass the best possible chance of colonising (and it's doing pretty well) I need to give it some warm exposed soil (not foot deep leaf litter).

After lunch I tapped three big birch trees for sap - planning on making some birch syrup. Can't find the book with the instructions but have found some articles on the web. I need 100 litres of sap to make 1 litre of syrup! Trees are gushing sap at the moment but I might need to tap a few more and get some extra buckets.

Finally, I prepared about 40 fence posts, from hazel spars reserved from the hedge laying, to finish the last section of hurdles around field no 2. These were sawn to length then sharpened with the axe. Tomorrow I'll hammer them into place before starting the 'weaving'.

Port d'Urets and Pic Mauberme

Pic Mauberme highest peak in the Couserans

Cabane d'Urets with a foreshortened view of the Port (left) and Mauberme (right)

After failing to drum up anyone to come to Pico Aneto (the Pyrenees highest peak at 3404m) for a ski tour, I decided I would try to the climb the highest peak in the Couserans instead - Pic Mauberme 2880m. Whilst Aneto is 1500m above the nearest road, Mauberme is 1960m so it's a Pyrenees giant alright.

I left late Friday and in about 2hrs 30 had reached the Cabane d'Urets at 1947m. A one room unmanned refuge (though currently being exanded to two rooms - whoopee!). Alas there were no mattresses and though I had taken my sleeping bag I hadn't taken a thermarest, so a very crap nights sleep followed (in fact 'sleep' doesn't belong in that sentence as there wasn't any - possibly the worst night's rest since the infamous bivvy below a dripping rock below Pic Morterasch in the Italian Alps with Andy Matthews).

I set off at 8.30 next morning for the Port d'Urets, from where I hoped to cross into Spain traverse behind the summit cone of the mountain and finish up a short couloir to the summit. Although I had taken ice axe, crampons and snow shoes, the latter were of no use today. It was about 1500 ft to the Port and the snow quickly got thicker to the point where it was impossible to discern the summer path. The snow was hugely changeable - one step it was like concrete, the next unconsolidated powder, then with a crust, then windslab and lots of sastrugi - which made the going very difficult. To reach the Port I had to climb short steep steps and traverse increasingly steep slopes (40-45 degrees at the end) on unstable snow above large cliffs. All in all very mentally trying when soloing. The final slope just 20m below the Port and leading to seemingly easy ground was the most exposed of all and composed of windslab seemingly unbonded to the ground below. It creaked and dropped as I trod over it (the latest avalanche notices warn of weak windslab over unconsolidated snow on NE steep facing slopes close to the frontier crests)...enough was enough, I bid a delicate retreat. Frustrating to be so close and yet so far - but better to be alive!

The final rise to the Port, the route traverses the upper part of the highest snow slope before gaining the easier ground of the banked out path leading to the Port

The last section of steep snow leading to the Port. At the bottom of the picture my first aborted attempt to mount the slab, at the top my second successful attempt, but after about 50m I decided enough was enough.

Looking back to the Cabane on the descent

Missing eggs

The chickens have continued to lay eggs throughout the winter, albeit at slightly reduced numbers. During the last week however, numbers have been markedly low. I realised that when I moved their house last week (something I do from time to time) I had left it on a bit of a slope. Now chickens are descended from jungle wildfowl and they still have a strong instinct to nest a little above surrounding ground level - in case of flood. So my nest box is slightly raised above the general floor level of the house. But the lowest corner of the house was now the nest box - a ha! I let the chickens out to rectify the matter and noticed that one of the hens which had been making a "I want to lay an egg" noise, bolted for the barn. I followed and discovered a lovely little nest up in the hay full of 12 eggs!

After levelling the chicken house and refreshing the nest box with fresh hay, the hens seem much happier. In fact they spent all day in and around the hen house making their new nest.

Wiener Schnitzel

I often think that my home produced pork tastes more like veal than pork. It's super succulent and when cooked stays pink (unlike the white cardboard that passes for pork in UK supermarkets). So why not make wiener schnitzel? I took a pork chop, deboned it, beat it out into an escalope with a rolling pin, then a bit of beaten egg and bread crumbs and hey presto! Delicious.

After a short shopping trip in St G this morning, I started fencing the lower terrace of the new field - need to start researching sheep - books on order!

Weather change

Finished clearing the lower terrace of the new field today. Four big fires later and all is clear. The weather here is changing and all day a wall of cloud has been spilling over the frontier from Spain, perhaps tomorrow it will rain for the first time in over a month. This has put pay to a planned re-ascent of the Cheminee de Cornave (a 800m couloir which I soloed about 6 years ago) at least for the time being.

Pic de Lampau

View from just above Col de la Core at dawn.

Up early for a longish day in the mountains. I started from the Col de la Core at sun up (8.00ish), and headed for Col de la Crouzette via the Cabane d'Eychelle. Things got off to a poor start as within 10mins of starting I realised I had an upset stomach and no toilet paper! With increasing cramps I held on until I reached the Cabane and there found salvation in the form of 'Le 09' - the local free admag that someone had left at the hut for starting fires. Somewhat relieved I pressed on to the Col. Then a descent to a second Cabane (des Espugues), before striking up the face of Pic de Lampau. The snow was hard (enough to take a crampon but leave no footprint) and although the slope was only about 35 degrees, perhaps 40 in places, the 450m slope was enough for a bit of adventure (especially when you are soloing). I followed the Pale Long which was corniced, to the summit.

Final section of ridge to the summit - it was steeper than the picture suggests.

Looking over the wafer thin cornice towards the East.

I had hoped to continue along the crest to Pic Pomebrunet but for the third time was unable to because of lack of time.

Pic Pomebrunet and Caries wait for another day...again.

After a careful descent, I returned by the same route, this time wearing snowshoes, as the sun beat down softening the snow. All in all 8 great hours in the mountains in fantastic weather, but with 1600m of ascent the knees are a bit sore.

Snow eroded into amazing fishscales by the sun.

Field clearance again

Another day of tree felling and scything in the unusual heat of February. About three-quarters of the lower terrace are now cleared - I decided to leave a single acacia standing in the middle. Tomorrow a day off, probably a day in the mountains.

Field clearance again

Spent most of the day clearing a potential extension to field 1. I would like to purchase two parcels to the east of field 1 to make it into something useful. These are owned by my neighbour Patrick at Pinsou and Alain at Quelebu. Whilst negotiations continue over whether they will sell or lease or just let me use it in return for clearance works - I've made a start. Scythe, chainsaw and brushcutter were all brought into action to tackle the 25 years of brambles, acacias and other assorted undergrowth.

In the afternoon I met a guy from Oust, who I met last autumn - a painter and one time architect. He stayed for a drink, then the mayor passed by in his car with his neighbour and insisted we all go to Rogalls (the bar in Castet d'Aleu). It was interesting to hear the old guys talking - the mayor, his neighbour, the guy from Oust and Monsieur Rogall - about when they were young. Evidently the grandfather of the guy from Oust employed Monsieur Rogall as a young man, when he was charged with bringing 46 litres of milk from Aleu to the three fromageries in Oust (in fact back then there was also a fourth fromagerie which made only Camenbert). Today alas the fromageries are no more and there is no milk production in Aleu.

Tuc de Fourmiguet

Ascent to Tuc Fourmiguet
A small herd of Izards (Pyrenean Chamois)

Mont Valier from the ridge

A short walk today from the Col de Pause. Upto the Cabane d'Areau, a rising traverse to Pic de Lacrabere across snowy slopes then following the ridge over Tuc de Fourmiguet (2093m) to Pointe de la Banque before descending the same route I snowshoed on jan 1st. Beautiful weather, great views to Mont Valier and halfway along the ridge I encountered half a dozen Izards at close quarters. Just about enough snow to ski to the Port d'Aula - perhaps the next trip?

Looking back along the ridge to Tuc Fourmiguet

Looking towards Pic des Accenteurs and the Port d'Aula

Much the same as yesterday

I had intended to go for a shortish walk in the mountains today, but this morning the general tiredness in my legs from skiing had gone but there was a familiar pain in my right thigh. About three years ago I tore my sartorius muscle and spent about 3 months limping around whilst undergoing physiotherapy. I've obviously tweaked it a little so I decided to give it a few days rest. Weather was much the same as yesterday and I scythed, burnt bonfires and worked on the terraces in field 1 - much the same as yesterday.

Poulet au boudin

Sounds like an odd mixture - chicken and black pudding - but I thought I'd give it a go as I have quite a bit of black pudding still left. In actual fact it is delicious. As there is only me, I took a chicken breast, stuffed it with black pudding and gently fried it in butter with onions, five minutes before it was ready I added some more black pudding and creme-fraiche to the pan to make a sauce. Served with potatoes and carrots and some red wine (of course) a great main course!

Summer has arrived

The heat of the past few days has brought out the first wild flowers of the year - sweet violet, early dog violet, barren strawberry, hepatica (with 10 sepals?) and lilac ivy leaved speedwell beating the snowdrops which are usually the first to flower.

With the temperature in the sun in the low thirties - I've been working in only my shorts most of the day. I finished building the little stone terrace-wall in field 1, scythed field 2, burnt the branches from the apple tree pruning and the recent storm, and weeded the patio.

Hors Piste Thursday

With only hot weather on the horizon I thought it would be good to consolidate the weekends skiing and at the same time introduce Ian and Jason to each other and Baqueira (my favourite Pyrenean ski resort). So at 7.00 this morning I picked them up and headed for Spain.

Weather today was clear and sunny, Baqueira has about 80% of it's 104kms of pistes open and as both Ian and Jason are good off-piste skiers, I was hoping for some more practice. After warming up on reds and blacks we were straight into the off-piste. Searching out the steepest slopes (mostly 45 degrees) and ploughing through deep snow. I was out of my depth but it's the best way to learn/advance. Sometimes I'd ski well, other times I'd misread the snow or get 'scared' and fall a lot, but either way it was exhilarating and I've advanced. Amazing to ski stuff I wouldn't have dreamed of attempting yet. By the end of the day we were all sun burnt and exhausted.

Hot

After yesterdays blizzards in Andorra, today here was balmy and spring like with the temp in the sun a lovely 29 degrees. Spent the day tidying up wind blown trees (Sundays gales on the piste were even more ferocious here) and starting the terracing of field number 1 (in tee-shirt and shorts). Also managed to get out on the road bike for the first time - only to the village and back but enough to make sure everything worked properly. Tomorrow some logging then probably another day skiing on Thursday as there is no more snow on the horizon. The high pressure system which has been stuck over Spain for the past few months could be there for quite some time - there's talk of it staying for the whole of the summer bringing drought to Spain and Southern France!

Andorra

Got up before dawn on Saturday to drive to Andorra for a weekend of skiing with Justin, Emily, Pat, Kev and some other friends. It was already snowing when I left Quelebu - yippee! The driving conditions were pretty difficult when I reached Pas de la Casa (the Andorran frontier and a high pass) with a blizzard blowing but by the time I reached Arinsal and Pal, a little before 10.00, things were settling down to a bright, sunny, cold day. I skied all morning before meeting up with everyone else at lunchtime and finishing off the last few pistes I hadn't skied at the resort in the afternoon.

On Sunday we headed to Arcalis which is a beautiful resort with a real mountain ambiance, very little development in the way of shops, hotels, cafes, etc and some very nice skiing. The weather was cold and it deteriorated through the day until at about 4.00 a storm hit. We skied as long as we could, but with gusts of wind strong enough to blow you over when you were skiing (which it did twice), we decided enough was enough. We bid a retreat back to the chalet and following a game of scrabble (man we know how to party) J and E cooked an amazing spaghetti carbonara followed by dry run of a quiz that J is planning for his employees next week, which provided an hilarious and slightly drunken evening of entertainment.

More snow fell Sunday night, so this morning I couldn't resist one more ski run at Arcalis. I skinned up to the top of the resort (about 600m of ascent in 1hr 5mins) before descending in about 15 minutes back to the car. The run was unpisted and with wind blown spindift and fresh snow there was about 16" of powder at the steep top of the run and probably 6-9" lower down. Despite my tired legs from the ascent, I was really pleased to be able to ski the snow reasonably well and concentrate on technique (last season it would have defeated me).

Pic Girantes

After drinking a bit too much wine last night and waking late to a misty morning, I nearly didn't go walking today. Eventually I dragged myself out but didn't start walking until 11.15. The mist cleared, the sun shone and Girantes is only a short climb. Despite having to break in my new boots and stopping for lunch on the summit, I was up and back in under 3 hours. There's not a lot of snow about at the moment, though a little more is due tomorrow. From the summit I watched a sea of cloud rolling in from the west and this afternoon the temperature has dropped.

The view to the west from the summit

Back home

Back from a brief visit to the UK. The weather here is very spring like - warm and sunny, which makes me doubly glad to be home. Shortened the stock on my shotgun (after trying Tracey's shortened baretta and liking it), washed and hung the bacon which is now ready for eating, lit a bonfire which has been drying for at least a year and visited the neighbours. Some snow is forecast for Thursday and at the weekend I will be skiing - so perhaps a short walk in the mountains tomorrow? Now the pigs are gone I'm free to go away whenever I like.

Home slaughter

Slide show of the slaughter process (no photo's of shooting or sticking the pig but some fairly gruesome pictures of evisceration - not for the squeamish).

Sausages

Lots of sausage making today - about 3 dozen 'regular' sausages (three different mixes of my own design) and three types of saucisson sec (below) a couseran, a foie and a chorizo. These will hang for about 3 months drying, before they're ready to slice.

Also made 2 litres of pate and salted the belly for streaky bacon.

Two ronnies go to piggy heaven

Corbett was dispatched this afternoon. Things went smoother and quicker this time and we were all done inside three hours. The crane I used for lifting the barn beams came back into action and with the better weather (dry) we were able to do the whole thing outside. Also there were five of us (John and Sandrine came to help). Hannah, Saskia and Natasha came to watch the final skinning and evisceration. I thought they'd go pale and run a mile, but in fact they were all interested (although they all swear they won't eat the meat). As we disembowled the carcass I gave them an anatomy lesson (piece by piece removing the heart, lungs, kidney, liver, gall bladder, pancreas, stomach and intestines, bladder). Photos tomorrow!

After much earned beer and food, Emily and Justin left to go on their skiing holiday, John and Sandrine went home to prepare for butchering tomorrow and after some clearing up, I set to work on making Boudin (black pudding). A long job (I've just finished and its 2.30am). I have 6 black puddings (another 3 burst during cooking) and two 1 litre black pudding loafs (for slicing and frying). Mostly gifts for neighbours.

Tomorrow the bacon, final joints from the loins and saucisson sec.

Butchering

All day long butchering and all the meat is now in the fridge or freezer so I can relax a little though tomorrow we kill the other pig - then hopefully some cooking and eating!

Pig slaughter

Yesterday was slaughter day and what a day! In the morning M. Durand came over with a rifle to lend me to stun/kill the pig. In fact he had a choice of 2. A .22 rimfire rifle which I thought would do the job (most books recommend this) and also a 7mm with a magnum cartridge which would probably take its head off! I chose the .22

Then the rest of the morning was spent preparing. Ropes and pulleys, knives, bone saw, gas burner and bottle, hose pipe, meat hooks, plastic boxes, etc had be transported to the barn and set up.

Emily and Justin arrived at 1.30 and after carrying an old steel bath to the barn, filling it with hot water, setting the huge gas burner going beneath it and covering it with a lid, we had a quick lunch. The water has to be heated to 63 degrees to loosen the hairs on the pig and this needs to be done as soon as the pig is bled, we had to wait for the bath water to reach temperature. This took ages - until about 3.00pm. At this point it started to rain.

Next I had to kill one of the pigs - Barker the bigger of the two was easiest to separate and a small pile of food soon had him occupied. I shot him through the head and it was a instant, silent death - followed by the usual 'death throws'. (These are quite disturbing in animal of this size and seem to go on forever - but Emily said she was amazed how quick it was over compared to their previuos home kills). Quickly we had to transfer the pig to an inclined ladder lent against a wall with its head down, so I could stick it and collect the blood for black pudding. From being a moderate sized pig running around, now it was dead it seemed to suddenly grow to some vast hippopotamus. It was enormous and unbelievably heavy (in fact over 120kgs). We gaffer taped each pair of legs together at the trotters, so we could get a lifting pole between them, and some how managed to drag him onto the ladder. I stuck him. The blood ran for about 10 minutes and Emily collected it in a basin, all the while stirring and lifting out the strings. The testicles where also quickly removed to minimise any boar taint.

Next came the task of getting the hair off. To do this we had to lift him into the bath. After managing to winch his rear half off the floor, this suddenly seemed an impossibility (due to the pigs weight, size and sheer immovability). For a while we tried the method of basting him with the hot water poured from a jug and scraping - this might work for a relatively hairless pig but for a gascogne (which is more hairy than a gorilla) it was hopeless. Nothing for it, we had to get him in the bath. Some how we managed - the pig completely filled the bath and more. After about 4 mins the hair was coming off so we hauled him out the bath and began furiously scraping. Everything comes off (hair, mud and the outer layer of pigmented skin) and the pig is left pink(ish).

At this stage I suddenly became overcome by the enormity of the task. The pig is enormous, the scraping is filthy work and dreadfully slow, time stands still and it seems like you will never finish. The pig had to go back in the bath again, before we could get him 85% dehaired. The rain was absolutely torrential outside the barn ( I think the heaviest rain we've had here). The floor of the barn started to flood, outside was a quagmire. We'd been going three hours. It was getting dark, so I rigged up some lights with a chain of extension leads from the house. ( I had visions of the final scenes of Apocolypse Now). The hair on his front legs was stuck firm and there were still some difficult to get to parts to get the hair off. We decided that we should eviscerate (gut) him now and saw him in half, so he was more manageable to finish these areas and redip his front legs in the scalding water.

Off came his head and tail. Then after carefully gutting him, I sawed him into two, whilst Justin pulled the two halves apart. The evisceration would have been easier if we could have hung him upside down, but even without his head, he now stretched from floor to ceiling - so there wasn't enough room for the pulleys. Another hour of scraping, dipping, shaving and general clearing up of each of the two halves and we call it a night - it's past 7.30. Corbett will have to wait for another day. ( I give him a extra large feed and he doesn't seem to stressed, though I'm sure he'll pine for his lost companion).

We are exhausted, covered in mud, blood, hair, guts, etc, soaked from our brief journeys into the monsoon outside and starving. We retreat to the house, wash up and eat. Justin and Emily depart to feed their animals and I start the big clear up.

By 9.30 things are looking better, so I get to work on the offals - heart, lights, pancreas, liver and kidneys are removed, washed and put in the fridge. Then I have to separate the intestines, squeeze out all the contents, wash them thoroughly (running the tap through them), before turning them inside out and repeating the process, then putting them into brine to soak (these will be my sausage skins).

It's 12.30am and definitely time for bed. Tomorrow, I need to dispose of the organs I'm not using (stomach, spleen, bladder, etc) before dealing with the head and starting the butchering of the carcass.

Weather all change

This morning dawned clear and fine then at about 11.45 a storm blew in, in usual dramatic fashion: a wall of cloud with its base at about 1000m (enough to cut off most of the view) approached from the west at great speed (perhaps 50-60 mph) slowly cutting off the view from right to left and in the space of about 2 minutes visibilty was a few hundred metres and the air was full of hail driven by a strong gale. It's rained, sleeted and hailed all afternoon - most of which I spent at Justin and Emily's helping them out with some architectural and construction problems (in return for help with the pig slaughtering which will probably take place tomorrow).

Waiting

Spent the day making and installing oak bars and a chicken wire screen to the barn window to keep out cats, dogs, foxes, badgers, martins, weasels, etc., when the pig carcases are hanging in the barn. Tomorrow I'll probably make the door. I also installed a water butt to collect the rain water from the bathroom roof.

Sunny and warm in the morning and then clouds rolled in at about 1500m and it's been raining/snowing over the mountains all afternoon (probably the former). There's a strange feeling of expectancy at the moment...waiting to kill the pigs, waiting for snow, waiting for cold weather.

The burn on the roof of my mouth is just about healed, my cold is drying up nicely, but I hit my index finger with the hammer whilst fixing the chicken wire with some tiny staples, it's still throbbing and the nail is a nice blue colour. Why bother making staples the width of a finger? To hold them in place to be able to knock them in with the hammer, means you'll have to hit your thumb and finger as well as the staple. But then perhaps the fault lies with the idiot who buys them!

Mostly Weather

By Saturday morning there was a few centimeters of snow here, but it was wet and despite snow showers throughout the morning, by afternoon it was all melted. The mountains have a fresh covering of about 6" (15cm) of snow but its been warm today and I don't know how long it'll last. Decided not to rush out on my skis today (fresh snow + warm weather = avalanche risk level 3) plus I have a mild cold. Justin and Emily did venture out but had a poor time of it.
Spent the day in the sun moving logs from various piles in the fields/woods to the wood shed - slow laborious work as I had to carry it all in my arms. In the afternoon some R & R watching the mountains through binoculars. Weather is looking warm for the next few days, which is frustrating as I need a couple of days of cold weather to kill and butcher the pigs.

Hey-hey...it's snowing!

Moon

Today has been beautiful and with bright hot sunshine, tomorrow there'll be gales and then snow! Here's the new(ish) moon rising over Mont Valier.

Log splitting

Before the drizzle began in the mid-afternoon I had time to wander down to Philippe and Sophie's ruin, axe in hand (or rather maul) and split most of the beech logs. I'm sure I've talked about this before, but splitting big logs in the chill of a winter's morning is one of my favourite activities here. It might not be as 'fun' as skiing or climbing, but it's very satisfying just the same.

Also pruned the old apple trees which were more mistletoe than anything else - a few bits remain as I can't reach them.

Burnt

On New Years Eve at Justin and Emily's, I managed to badly burn the inside of my mouth on a hot potato (I was too polite/stupid to spit it out). A white, well cooked piece of the roof of my mouth about the size of a 10 pence piece rolled up and fell off after about a minute. The pain wasn't too bad for the first couple of days, but then started to increase and for the last couple of days I've been dosed up on paracetemol and sipping luke warm soup through a straw (OK the last bits an exaggeration). At last, today the pain is subsiding and the burn visibly healing. It certainly isn't polite to eat with your mouth open - but I reckon spitting out a mouthful of food from time to time (however tasty it is) is OK.

Busy, busy.

A warm day today so I spent it outside. As the pigs will be slaughtered in the next few weeks I've put them to work digging the last bit of next years vegetable patch (which meant moving some fence). I cleared some of the smaller trees crowding around my second ancient apple tree (in field No.2) which only seems to fruit every other year. Hopefully a bit more space and light will help it. Both the old apple trees need some hard pruning this winter.

Then over to Philippe and Sophie's ruin where I felled 2 large beech trees a few days ago. I de-limbed them and cut them to short lengths ready for splitting.

Finally, I did some clearing below the wood shed. It's an area I keep having a go at but like most of the land here its full of junk just under the surface - chainlink, chicken wire, general rubbish and the inevitable bits of old renault 4. Managed to clear it but only after putting a spade through a buried car windscreen (which shattered) and cutting some of the chainlink with wire cutters which I was unable to dig out .