Cap d'Auternac

After a couple of months of being confined to our homes for all but essential journeys, the rules have been relaxed and we can travel within a 100km radius and socialise in groups not exceeding 10 people, whilst maintaining a 2m separation from those not in one's household....ample to allow a trip into the mountains with friends.

After a rendezvous at Col de la Core, we headed up to the Etang d'Eychelle for lunch. Pete, Dee and their kids called it day there, whilst Susie, I, Al and Breezy, Sheri and Michiel and Becks carried on.

 Red kite

After the Cabane d'Eychelle, we followed the vague path upto the SW to reach the broad col opposite Pic de Montgarié.

From there we followed the ridge over 4 or 5 tops to reach Cap d'Auternac 2361m and a second lunch with views to Mont Valier.

 Mont valier

 Tuc de la Messe, Cap d'Auternac and Pic de Lampau

A short steep descent from Cap d'Auternac put us on the Col de Crouzette, from where a snowy descent saw us back at the Cabane. Just over 1000m denivilée and lovely first walk of the season.

Fabulous to see friends and be back in the mountains doing what we love best.

Today the weather remains beautifully hot, we have our first guests in the gite and there's a semblance of normality!

A day of surprises

Surprise number one...it finally stopped raining and the sun came out.

Surprise number two...Chihero had a lamb during the night, a little ewe (we think) but 8 weeks after the rest of the lambing was over! We've called her Lately.

Surprise number three...Susie found some ceps, which we ate for lunch.

Surprise number four...it turns out Lawrie who we always thought was a male is actually a female, a sister to Lately. (I think the register must have got mixed up when we were tagging last year and oddly for a female ouessant she has horns). We also think she might be deaf. 

William our ram...Lately is probably his last offspring.

Some of Susie's photos during confinement

Sheep, chickens and bread

Yesterday was sheep shearing day and for the second year running it was preceded by a week of wet and cold weather. We confined the sheep to the bergerie (which they dislike) the day before to try and dry them out and crammed them together for 8 hours before the shearer arrived to get them to sweat, which makes shearing much more pleasant for both shearer and sheep. The new bergerie made everything much easier to do. We started with the largest sheep and worked down in size. At first things went well even the fleeces were still a bit damp, but after sheep number 9 (just shy of halfway through) it became clear that the smaller sheep just hadn't got warm enough in the cold weather and on so on the shearer's advice we halted proceedings....he'll come back in mid June to complete on a hotter day. As the main reason for our sheep is wool, it's best to get the best possible fleece removed.

Apache before...

and after.

Crow, looking dapper

"Who the hell are you?"...."Who the hell are YOU?"

For the last couple of weeks Susie has been turning her hand to making sourdough bread, and after a few attempts she's really cracked it - such delicious bread. No more shop bought bread for us, which is fantastic news as bread here is expensive and not particularly to my taste.

After the death of Mr Quince, our cockerel, we decided to get some more hens and a another cock. They arrived a couple of weeks ago. The new cockerel is white and like Quincy will be a huge bird once fully grown. We've named him "Clint" (aka Blondie). The hens are freckle, Bianca and Tiff. 

Unfortunately we think one of the hens had a respiratory illness (only spotted later) which she gave to Shelly who was soon very ill. We took her to the vet and then put her in confinement in the hatching/chick pen whilst we treated her with daily anti-viral injections. After 5 days she was much better and able to rejoin the others but meantime Honey was starting to wheeze, so they they changed places in the hatching/chick pen and she too was treated. Thankfully everyone is well again. There is still a bit of hen pecking go on between the established hens and the new arrivals, but finally they seem able to all put themselves to bed without too much aggro.

Clint

New home office

...rendered enormous by the wide angle lens! I should be an estate agent.

Flowers

During the last couple of weeks of the lockdown we've been taking pictures of the flowers in the meadow in front of the house (which seems to be recovering from last years drought pretty well). We missed the hepatica, cowslips and oxlips, primrose and hellebore but we still have 52 species of flowering wild plant so far and there are still quite a lot more to come!

A selection of some of the flowers

Also found this magnificent giant peacock moth

Using up all the old tins of paint...you can get some nice colours mixing them altogether.

Grass snake in the wood pile

More macro

 A grizzled skipper butterfly on a milkwort flower

 One of the 20,000 longhorn beetle species

Meanwhile when not on leisure time a new entrance to the office was conceived , excavated, shuttered and poured!

Spring!

The beech leaves are out and spring is sprung. This song thrush nest was a rather too obvious find and a few days later Mr Weasel had visited, before they'd even hatched.

The outside of the new workshop has been clad with the old larch boards - turned the other way around for a red rather than grey colour.

Lambs are all doing well...

 Puffle

Freddie and Norman

The warm weather has brought out the field crickets which are chirping away.

 All the fields are now recovering from last years drought conditions which devastated the grass;

Cuckoo flowers in abundance!

Staying busy

Staying busy during the lockdown. The symbiotic garden is mulched and starting to be planted.

The sheep are finally happy as the grass is growing faster than they can eat it...

...and the new TQ Architects home office is taking shape.

Rest in Peace Mr Quince

Our splendid cockerel Mr Quince, finally succumbed to Marek's diesease. The last 8 months have been a struggle keeping him healthy but he's slowly lost the use of his legs and the last few days we've had to carry him everywhere. Unable to sit up today, it was sadly time to say goodbye. He was a big character and we loved him, he'll be hugely missed.