Wild boar!

A three hour stroll through the woods after a day at Pont and then signing for the ruin at the Notaires. Close to Bauch I came upon an area of broom and could hear pigs! I waited and it wasn't long before a good sized wild boar poked its head out and eyeballed me. We stared at each other for about 20 seconds...then I clapped my hands and it ran off with about 10 other by the sounds of commotion and panic in the undergrowth. I made for the cover of an abandoned piece of farm machinery - just in case! It was one of those days, earlier I spooked a herd of Roe deer

Animals, garlic and a spoon.

All day at Pont, bedroom 2 is now just waiting for second fix joinery and decorating, bedroom 3 should be in the same state tomorrow.

Home in time to enjoy the evening. The chickens are finally settling down and tonight for the first time the cockerel went into the chicken house by himself (last two nights I've had to catch him!).

My grey hens

The sheep are happy as the grass is growing fast...

There are eight, one is hiding!

...as is the garlic.

I also made my first "find" here during excavations...a french pewter spoon which after some cleaning and polishing looks very fine.

Chickens and Walls

After working to improve security on the chicken run yesterday, this morning I was up early to buy chickens. 4 grey hens and a chestnut rooster. No eggs yet.

As the weather was glorious I decided to work at home (next week it will rain so I'll press on with the inside works at Pont). I sign for the ruin on Tuesday, but decided to make a start on the back wall. It has a bit of a bow where the pressure of soil has pushed the wall inwards so it needed knocking down for a few feet and rebuilding. Also I needed to make holes the new floor joists. The knocking down went quickly...but so did the rebuilding by 4.30 I'd finished. Like most old stone buildings here, the walls are effectively dry stone walls with a little bit of clay soil in the middle of it. The roof and careful pointing should keep it waterproof.

Starting the knocking down - many stones had to be abandoned as they're too heavy to lift

All rebuilt

Ready for a concrete topping

Holes for the beams

Of course it needs small stones wedging in the wall face, a concrete topping and some pointing, but the skills I gained building the barn a few years all came flooding back.

Toasty

Another amazing warm cloudless day today (30 degrees in the sun). Spent most of the day plastering at Pont. 2 bedrooms are now ready for painting. I ran out of plaster before I could start the landing so continued with some more pointing in the last bedroom. At 3.00 I headed for home.

The sun doesn't set until 7.00 so I topped field 6 with the tractor and topper, strimmed the front garden and then pottered about in the garden. Spring is sprung and everything is starting to grow...time to sharpen the scythe!

No Morels Yet

Lungwort

Wood Anenome

A warm sunny day today. So after the usual chores, I weeded the strawberry bed - then after discovering several mushrooms decided to go off in search of Morels. Still too early I think, but there were plenty of flowers.

The sheep are enjoying the sun.

Work resumes at Pont tomorrow.

Devon

Another week with Susie and the kids in Devon. Some fantastic weather, a weekend having a huge tidy-up in the garden, some paid work doing DIY for Dominic and Bridget. Some hunting around the charity shops, a bit of seat re-covering and DIY table building and we have a new dining room!

Spring flowers

I dug over the vegetable garden in the heat of the early evening - more hungry mouths to feed this season! Just 2 spring cabbages left in the fresh food larder.
The lovely weather has brought out the first flowers in the woods around Quelebu.

The barn, the woodshed, the workshop and the house on the horizon, fields 1, 2 and 3 below and the lavoire I excavated a few years ago at the bottom.

Pont progress

The stairs

Bedroom 2

Bedroom 4

After several long days at Pont, the plasterboarding and insulation in the attic is at last (98%) finished. The back of work in the attic is at last broken and in a few weeks it should all be finished and the 4 bed property with barn and double garage on the market. Just in time to start the build at Quelebu!

The good weather continues

Hot

Field 7

Another amazingly warm and sunny day. Good weather is forecast all this week.

In shorts and a vest top I worked all day in the fields, replacing the plastic tread-in fence posts in fields 3 and 6 with timber ones. I then used the plastic ones to fence 7 for the first time. I'll let the sheep at it this week.

I finished up with digging over one of the small vegetable patches where I'll plant some garlic.

Ski

At last a day on the slopes! I missed the day after the big snowfall so today was on the pistes at Guzet. Mostly up and down the blacks on Freychet, before the heat and crowds turned me away at lunchtime.

After my recent bout of flu which required antibiotics (for the first time in about 12 years) I now seem to have another mild infection and my tonsils are the size of golf balls!

Spent the afternoon in the sun mucking out the sheep, fetching hay and straw from the barn in the tractor and moving more rocks from around the ruin.

Enfin une journée sur les pistes! J'ai manqué la journée après la neige est tombé donc aujourd'hui je restais sur les pistes à Guzet. Plusiers fois dans les pistes noires de Freychet, avant le chaleur et toutes le monde m'a rentrée.

J'ai pris l'après dans le soliel nettoyant la grange, ramenant du foin et de la paille avec le tracteur, et portant les cailloux au tour de la ruine.

Mmmm

Clear skies and plenty of snow - time for a ski tour I think!

Éclaircies et beaucoup de la neige - ski de rando?

Better late than never!

Susie, Jasper and Ruby visit - part 1

Picked Susie, Jasper and Ruby up from the airport on Monday. It's the first time Jasper and Ruby had ever been outside of the UK and the first time they had flown so they were suitably excited.

Le mardi, j'ai cherché Susie, Jasper et Ruby de l'aéroport de Blagnac. Pour les enfants c'etait le premier fois dehors Royaume Uni et le premier vol, doncs ils se sont excité.

The weather was a bit crappy for the first few days but it didn't matter too much. We got out and about and also visited the caves at Niaux with their prehistoric paintings.

Nous n'avons pas le beau temps ces premier jours mais dommage. Nous avons promené un peu et nous avons visité les grottes de Niaux avec leurs murals prehistorique.

The happy couple

On Tuesday I proposed to Susie (we'd already chosen and commissioned the ring). We plan on getting married next summer.

Le lundi j'ai fais une demande en mariage à Susie (nous avons deja commandè la bague).

The ring! (blue black sapphire in white gold)

Jasper and Ruby seem to love the environment here and are happy that we're getting married.

Jasper et Ruby aiment le pays ici et ils sont content que nous nous sommes marié.

Ruby

Jasper doing "the apeman"

Jasper and Ruby

Susie, Jasper and Ruby visit - part 2

The weather finally improved on Thursday/Friday and everyone got a taste of the heat here even in February. Friday was Ruby's birthday so we all went skiing. The first time for Susie and the kids, but they all did really well and enjoyed themselves.

Le jeudi/vendredi, le beau temps est arrivé enfin et mes visiteurs ont senti la chaleur de fevrier. Vendredi etait l'anniversaire de Ruby et nous avons fait du ski. Le premier fois pour Susie et les enfants, mais ils ont aimé beaucoup.

During the week we also made some sausages, tapped birch trees for their sap and made some birch syrup (delicious with pancakes).

Pendant le semaine nous avons fais les saucisses, ramassé le sevre de bouleau et avons fais du syrop (délicieuse avec les crêpes)

The girls having a snooze

Jasper had his first attempts at shooting an air rifle and he did really well - hitting a sub-10mm bullseye at 15m from a standing position and achieving excellent grouping.

Jasper a fais son premier essaye à tirer un carabine d'air comprimer.

Jasper shooting

Ruby's birthday

Lichens and fungii

On Sunday afternoon the snow started and by Monday morning there was 20cm. The snowplough was late so we had to set out for the airport regardless. No bother for the car but it was slow going and we only just made the check in. In fact I had to plead with the airline staff to let them board (even though I secretly wished they'd have to stay).

La neige a commencé de tomber dimanche l'apres-midi et lundi il y avais 20cm. La chasse neige etait tardif mais néanmoins nous sommes parti à l'aéroport. Nous avons progessé lentement et ils ont manqué presque l'avion.

ill

I have been suffering from a bout of man-flu and a dry hacking cough last few days (probably aggravated by building dust at Pont). Snow is slowly arriving on the mountains now and at Guzet they now have a reasonable number of pistes open (though none of the black runs). Is the ski season about to start?

Susie, Jasper and Ruby arrive on Monday alas they seem to have missed the amazing weather as the coming week is forecast to be wet and changeable...never mind, it's the first of many trips.

Today before the drizzle arrived at 4.00pm I've been a tree-surgeon, a laundry boy, a puncture repair man, a woodsman, a farmer, a blogger and in a minute I hope to be asleep...I didn't get much rest last night.

J'ai souffert d'une atteinte grippale et de toux sèche ces derniers jours (probrablement aggravée par la poussière à Pont). La neige arrive lentement sur les montagnes et à Guzet ils ont à présent un nombre raisonnable de pistes ouvertes (mais aucune des pistes noires). La saison de ski serait-elle sur le point de démarrer ?
Susie, Jasper et Ruby arrivent lundi, hélas, ils ont vraisemblablement manqué le temps exceptionnel vu que la semaine prochaine est annoncée humide et variable... pas grave, c'est le premier parmi de nombreux séjours.
Aujourd'hui, avant la tombée de la bruine vers 16h, j'ai fait office d' arboriculteur, blanchisseur, réparateur de crevaison, forestier, fermier, blogger et dans une minute j'espère dormir... ce qui n'a pas été beaucoup le cas la nuit dernière.....traduction par Dani (Merci)

Cosy

A big tidy up today at Quélébu, as my back is a bit sore from hurling rocks and hauling plasterboard. The upstairs is now spotless and has lots more space, and the cosy little attic is ready for Jasper and Ruby. Hopefully they'll have their own bedrooms by the autumn.

Aujourd'hui une grande nettoyage à Quélébu, au cause de mon doleur au dos de jetant les pierres et tirant les placoplâtres. L'etage est nickel et il y a plus d'espace et le sympa grenier est pret pour Jasper et Ruby. J'espère que ils vont avoir leurs mêmes chambres en automne.

Moving rocks

After working at Pont for most of last week and Saturday being probably the last day of the amazing weather, I decided to stay at home today. I got to work clearing the land beside the ruin and then starting to move and sort the tonnes of stone which were lying close to the building.

Pont

Works progressing nicely at Pont - the walls to bedroom 2 and 3 are insulated and plasterboarded as is the roof. Only the sloping soffits still have to be boarded. The lighting and sockets are wired and working.
Of course there's bedroom 4 to do and all the second fix joinery, decorating, and board jointing to do yet!

Hot

Another beautiful day...alas I'm busy working inside at Pont for the next couple of weeks.

Pic de la Calabasse

A lovely day in the mountains today with Ian, Ben and Sandrine. A fairly relaxed start at 10.15 from the ancient slate mine (1000m) above Ruech. It was freezing in the deep sunless valley but we followed the Besset stream and soon emerged into glorious sun and summer temperatures.

After the little cabane we skipped the Col de l'Herbe Soulette and climbed the snowy ridge to the summit of Pic de la Calabasse (2210m). Crampons were necessary for much of the ascent.

The ridge to the summit

The views from the summit are immense and we lay in the sun eating lunch for an hour.

Panorama to the east

Panorama to the west

The onward route took us down to the Col de la Calabasse.

Pic de la Calabasse from the Col de la Calabasse, Sandrine in the distance

Then along the snowy ridge over Roche des Gours, Pic de Paumaude, Tuc des Pans and finally the Col de Lourech from where we cut across to the Col de Quimes. Here we quit the ridge to descend steeply past numerous barns to eventually reach the forest track and then the car. 7hrs and 1200m height gain.

We returned to news that a mini bus had crashed off the road at the Col du Pause and 3 people are dead, 2 seriously injured and another 4 also injured.