Col de Craberous

A day in the mountains. A bit of a late start from the Col de la Core (I left the car at 9.20) but made rapid progress reaching the cabane subera in 1 hour 10 mins. From here I followed the chemin de la liberte (the route taken by locals who guided 782 allied servicemen and women across the border to Spain during WWII). I was undecided whether to climb Pic de Caries (2506m) or to cross the Col de Craberous (2382m) but decided on the later.

Pic de Caries (left) and Pic de Pomebrunet (middle)

On the way I passed the wreckage of a RAF Halifax bomber which crashed here in 1945 killing all on board (it was on a routine training mission but navigation errors and poor visibility led to the catastrophic crash - they thought they were descending to land in Bordeaux).

A winter route I've been eyeing up for some time

The push to the col was steep and I felt unfit but 3 hours 30 mins after leaving the car I was there and it was time for some lunch. The weather was hot and amazingly clear.

The last few metres to the col

Retrospective from the col

Wild flowers on the col

From here I opted to descend on the Milouga side, steeply at first but on a good path before leaving it to traverse under Tuc de la Messe to reach the Col de Crouzette (2237m). An easy descent past the Cabane d'Eychelle and back to Col de la Core. In all 5 hours 45 mins. Tough enough!

Sheep under Tuc de la Messe

Algae in one pool but not the other

Cabane d'Eychelle

Stairs in!

Bloody heavy but the top flight of stairs are in. Haven't time to make second flight this visit so am pressing on with other jobs. Tomorrow though a day off!

Sound waves

Huge storm last night which raged throughout the night and into the mid-morning. For much of the night it was directly overhead and some of the thunderbolts were so loud I could feel the sound wave hitting the house then compressing my chest and pushing me into the bed!

After 5 hours of wedge making and fine tuning, I glued up the stair. As always it was a frustrating and almost disastrous assembly procedure, but somehow I managed to pull it all together at the last minute.

the top side

underneath

Then it was over to Justin and Emily's for Thea and Myla's third birthday. Good to spend some time with the girls and catch up with Justin and Emily.

Jaya was nursing her pups, under the table.

Stairs

St Girons in the morning for the market and supplies, then back to work.Slow progress but might be ready to glue up the first flight tomorrow evening.

Stairs

To work with the stairs today, starting with the upper flight. When I built the oak staircase for Rupert a couple of years ago I had some some lovely prepared seasoned oak to use, but as I can't afford such a luxury for myself I'm robbing some oak from my barn. The big cill members that sit on top of the walls on the inside were green when they went in 4 or 5 years ago. Now they are beautifully dry - only they aren't at all square in section any more.

Cross section of a tread

They've bowed as they dried and now I must spend 2 hours a tread planing them back into a square section. Times like this a planer thicknesser or even an electric plane would be handy.

One face complete

Amazing how often the plane iron (blade) needs resharpening on this hard oak. Managed to get 5 treads done today. Top tread and all the risers to make, then wedges and blocks before and I can start assembling.

As usual my hands are stained purple with tanin.

'Shrooms

Some to eat.

...and some definitely not to eat.

Otherwise busy with painting the living room and building the stairs....and it's hot!

Back to France

It's easy to forget when you've lived here for 6 years just how good the weather is compared to the UK. But as I stepped off the plane into the wall of heat this afternoon, it was impossible to repress a smile. A storm seemed to be building across the frontier when I arrived but after a few rumbles of thunder nothing seemed to have materialised. But by 10.00pm we had a great display with a lightning strike every 2 seconds.

Lots to do, but the main priority this trip is the staircase.

Barbeque time

At last some of the scaffolding is down in the rear garden and after a day of clearing up in the garden we braved the weather for a barbeque on the chiminea my mum and John bought us as a wedding gift. The shish kebabs and sausages went down well.

Ruby pulling her grumpy face

At the market we found a lovely hand painted tall boy chest of drawers which we purchased with the money dad and Jane gave us. The extra storage space has let us get rid of some the scrappy open shelves I built out of some ikea odds and ends. The bedroom is looking lovely.

Off to France on Wednesday and some much needed warmth and sunshine. Stairs to build and maybe some hay to make.

Books and Bikes

Most this week I have been writing. I'm writing an Architecture text-book, something I've been thinking about doing for some time and now our house in France is nearing completion and the weddings are over, the time to make a start has arrived. 8000 words so far. I'm hoping to have it ready by the end of the summer.

I also finally have my bicycle back in the UK (Paul kindly transported from France on the back of his camper van after the wedding). After some adjustment it's running beautifully - great to be out and keeping my fitness.

Stormy weather

Stormy weather on Saturday, though thank god we now have some sun. With the Dares and Anna, Susie and I headed for East Prawle and took a coastal walk watching the huge waves come in.

Starry Saxifrage

A retreat to the pub for a fish supper afterwards.

Both weddings in 2 minutes!

Click on the image below to watch....thanks Dommy for making this for us.

Movie ci dessous - cliquer de démarrer

A little snow

After the big clear up, a touch of fresh snow on the mountains. Found the time to scythe most the fields, but alas not mend all the fences, that'll have to wait until the next visit in a few weeks time.
A quick visit on Monday night from Rupert, Charlie, Austin and Jason on route to their annual motocross event in Northern Spain.

Pic des Trois Seigneurs

A quick trip up Trois Seigneurs (2199m) with Dom. Still some neve persisting despite the modest altitude. Good to spend some time with my bestman in the hills.

Soubirou

After the wedding and partying, Susie and I sloped off for a some extra fresh air in the mountains today. Following the ridge up to Pic de la Tese and Soubirou (2277m).

Col de Pause and Mont Valier

wedding no 2

Some photo's from our wedding in Aleu on Tuesday...more soon.