Cap de Bouirex

Weather too good to resist getting out and with a little fresh snow I was able to persuade Andy to get on the skis. We had to carry until out of the woods, but after it was a clear skin to the summit - nice snow on the descent, we just had 20 snowshoers to avoid on the summit slopes. 

A leisurely 3h40 including lunch and 740m ascent.

Our tracks just discernible on the left of the ridge

 

Tiny Tim

It's been a couple of years with lambs, but we ve decided to sell some sheep and try to develop our flock of ouessants to produce the best wool.  We found a young white ouessant ram in Cescau (about 35 minutes from Aleu) and after an initial viewing decided he was suitable. Yesterday I quickly transformed our trailer into a sheep transporter and today we picked him up.

There was a bit of stand off at first but once he smelled the ewes all hell broke loose. William our old ram who was castrated a couple of years ago wasn't too bothered but Oaty who was castrated as a lamb but has retained some hormones (he has big horns, mates with the ewes but has no nuts) wasn't so happy and there's been some head bashing! Tiny Tim has already mated with Chihero and seems intent to stand his ground. It's very late for mating so hopefully things will calm down soon.

 

More from "Laine de Quélébu"

Three out of four handwoven cushions complete...

 ...and some of Susie's homespun handknits.

Scarf complete

 Scarf complete and washed. A few interesting mistakes! I'll write an explanation in the next couple of days of the weave and a draft for any weavers who may stumble across this and be interested.  

Scarf underway

Taking the pattern from cushion 3 and some spare warp, I've embarked on a scarf. As the remnants of the old warp was still on the loom I tied the new warp to the old and wound it onto the back beam which saved threading the heddles. I re-sleyed the reed slightly denser - this time 24 epi (ends per inch) rather than 20 epi. So the fabric is a little bit stiffer.

Pic Estibat

On Tuesday the weather sunny and warm and strolled up Joubac in shirt-sleeves watching some planes land on the airstrip, then in the evening and yesterday the temperatures plummeted and we had snow flurries. 

Today we went up Pic Estibat to check it out. Wow was it cold! A glove off your hand for a couple of seconds and it was numb. On the summit the west wind was biting. We dropped along the ridge heading towards Pic de Journalade and took shelter behind the rock outcrop at 1593m for lunch, before dropping over the edge into the Goute de Roque and looping back to the col de Port.

Deep powder overlaying the iron hard old snow made for some interesting descents!

 

Fabric off the loom

The fabric for the four cushion covers is now off the loom, washed and pressed. The one above is my favourite and in fact it was the back of the last piece I wove and something of a surprise. As I have a narrow piece of identical warp, I think Ill repeat it to make a scarf for my neighbour Alain, who gave me the old loom from his attic for free!

Below are samples of the four weaves, all from an identical warp threaded on 5 shafts in "Bateman boulevard".

 

weave progresses

So having finished the first cushion cover, I decided to change the tie up on one of the treadles (change which threads are raised and lowered on one of the pedals) and then change the treadling (pedalling) sequence and add a new thread (red) into the mix. Voila, variation no. 2

With a much more intuitive treadling sequence, this weave is flying along. 

In case you're wondering, what look to be spacing faults, particularly in the "warp" (the threads running from front to back) are caused by the reed (a comb like device that keeps the warp threads in order as they pass through the beater). I only have one reed so when the density of the warp threads doesn't match your reed, you have to improvise. In this case sometimes two threads and sometimes three threads go between each tooth in the reed. This tends to alter the even spacing of the warps whilst they are under tension and weaving is taken place. Once off the loom and the fabric is washed the threads will find an even spacing. 

Transition between variations one and two

 

Christmas weaving project

Using the Christmas holidays to get the latest weaving project underway. I m finding the wool warp a bit "sticky" and the weave is complex. I'm interrupting the rhythm of the alternating fine-thread tabby shots (regular under/over weave between the Bateman boulevard weave) by occasionally introducing a wool (pattern) weft to complete the tabby, which reverses the direction of the tabby treadling....hard to explain unless you weave! End result is quite a few minor mistakes in the first two pattern repeats in the photo above.

Tuc de la Coume with Claire and Pascal

 A leisurely start at 9.00 from Cominac...the only sound was Clinton crowing from across the valley.

It's the first time I've been out on the skis with Claire. There was little snow on the track to the Col de Viele Mort and we had to carry as far as the left turn which climbs into the forest. From there onwards the snow was frozen hard and ski crampons were obligatory for ascent. We left the skis on the first top and booted along the Ridge to Pic des Lanes.

There were some good sized cornices and large fissures were the north facing snow pack was parting company with the south facing.  The snow was split all the way to the ground about 2m deep.

Our first descent was still on iron hard snow...by the second it was starting to soften a little. Some days I m surprised that with so little skiing over that last 6 years that I can ski off-piste at all...today I felt like a beginner...surviving! I was happy with the ascents by my ski fitness and ability on the descents was sadly lacking, though I didn't fall over.  I just need to ski more to get the practice and regain my technique. As a late starter (35) it's never come easy.

getting there....

Revisions to the weave draft....now a modified Bateman boulevard structure on 5 shafts, about 50/50 wool/cotton. 20 ends per inch. Time to wind the warp!

I think this might be it!

I think the spotted grid will accent pattern. Plan is to alternate tabby shots in 16/2 cotton so the "squares" will be a little taller than shown, use 8/2 cotton for the orange and red, and Susie's homespun 2 ply wool for the cream. I'll try about 24 epi so this sample will be just over 4 inches wide. I'll probably mirror the warp colours for a few repeats to get a width in the reed of  about 16 inches or so plus selvedges.

Thinking about the next weave

Some initial ideas in Bateman Boulevard possibly using our wool for the cream, which will add some texture to the fabric. Mixing wool in the weft is common (in overshot for instance) but mixing cotton with wool in the warp will be an experiment but it seems to work in the fabrics below which are a kind of wincy (linen wool mix).

First ski

More snow over night and the temptation to get out on the skis was too much. I headed up to Guzet Neige which will be open this weekend. None of the overnight snow had been pisted and the snow canons were working at lower levels. Was only there for about  two and half hours but got a couple of climbs up to Picou on skins and descents via L'Arrech (about 720m ascent). The snow was deep (18 inches) and little heavy, tiring to ski - especially as the first outing of the season. But good to get in it!!
 

Snow, bears, chickens, UK

The chicken run was rapidly built following the attacks - it's 1.6m high, the netting is buried for 30cm to prevent digging and electric fence wires prevent climbing. So the chickens are hopefully safe.

A hunter in the Estours valley (about 4 miles from here) was attacked last weekend by a bear. He was at his post waiting for wild boar when he saw 2 baby bears. The next thing he knew he had been charged from behind by the mother. They both tumbled 30m down the hill then the bear ripped the calf off his leg and severed the artery in his other before he was able to shoot it with his rifle (which miraculously he had held on to). Through a walkie talkie he was able to summon help. A nearby hunter who was a trained paramedic managed to tourniquet his leg to prevent him bleeding to death and summon a helicopter rescue. He is now off the critical list and the hospital has saved his leg. He was 70 years old, so the outlook for a quick recovery is not great.

Friday I left for my first visit to the UK to see family for over 2 years. Great to see my mum and dad and their respective partners, my brother, sister and Jasper. Just in time too as the omicron variant has now tightened controls  on visiting the UK once more. While I was away it snowed and rain and snow are continuing all week - a healthy metre of snow at 2100m and this weekend our local resort Guzet will open, so I may get on the skis!

New spinning wheel and unwanted visitors

It's been two years since I built Susie's spinning wheel, She's now a very proficient spinner and my homemade wheel has started to show wear and tear and squeek and creak! So time for an upgrade. The Schacht ladybird wheel is beautifully designed and manufactured, silent and smooth!

Yesterday a small grey fox came a calling. He tried to take Flocon our white Sussex hen, but i gave chase and he dropped her trying get through the fence. Flocon sought refuge in my office and apart from a few less feathers, she's fine. We'll have to stay vigilant. It's a difficult decision as to whether to build a secure run around the hen house. The chickens are way happier free range but if the fox returns we have no choice. I m hoping he was an itinerant, temporarily displaced by the hunting dogs who came through earlier that morning. 

Then this morning another attack this time by a male martin. Again I ran down to the hen house where he was wrapped around Tiffany our red hen. I managed to pin his rear foot to the floor with my boot and she escaped unharmed. The martin squirmed unable to escape, but I was not going to attempt to pick him up and I couldn't reach a stick to "teach him a lesson", so I had to let him go. 

As if that wasn't enough at lunchtime we heard another squawk...Susie ran outside and this time Tiffany was pinned to floor again having yet more feathers pulled out by a Buzzard - which flew off as soon as it saw Susie.

Chicken run construction is now an urgent project. There was a mouse population boom in spring but it has now crashed - neither cat has caught a mouse in months, so I m guessing the martins and foxes are looking for other food.

I was hunting on Saturday and bagged a huge wild boar of 80kgs...unfortunately it seems it's the predators that causing damage at the moment.

Last week's snow

 

Tractor

I finally got the manuals (in English) and it turns out that the gearbox isn't synchro-shuttle. But I still couldn't get it to stop stalling nearly every time I pressed the clutch?? After much head scratching and trial and error I worked out that the problem was that as I pressed the clutch, my weight on the seat reduced and triggered a safety feature that cut the engine. It's designed to stop the tractor in the event that the driver is knocked out the vehicle or injured...rather annoying as the tractor will stop if you get off it, to open a gate for instance. Anyhow, first of all I thought it might be a faulty sensor but then after adjusting the seat suspension to almost the lowest setting (I weigh 70kg and it had come set to 120kg), the problem stopped. A big relief as it's been snowing heavily on the hills (25cm at 2100m) and we even had a few flurries here today, so getting firewood in was high on the agenda.

Tractor finally arrives

So 5 weeks after I bought it, my tractor finally arrived yesterday! It took about 45 minutes to work out how to start it and and get it to move, the owners manual was missing and it has a synchro-shuttle gearbox which I've never used before. Eventually I got it moving and drove it the 5km from the Castet (where it had been delivered by an enormous articulated lorry) to the house. This morning I got to work changing the wheel hub/rim arrangement so that the tractor is as wide as possible for the steep slopes in the fields. Hopefully I'll get the manuals e-mailed to me shortly. The heavier weight, more powerful engine and generally more modern everything, should make lightwork of the haymaking and allow greater loads of firewood, hay, etc to be moved in a single trip. It's also a much quieter and cleaner engine. The large twin mirrors, adjustable steering and seat suspension should be much kinder on my arthritic neck.

 

Anna

Our friend Anna has been staying with us for the last week en route from Portugal to the UK, with her two dogs Mucks and Sugar. The weather has been mostly good with the last of the autumn colours, so We took Anna and the dogs on a few local walks - Joubac and Cap de Bouirex.

Joubac

Crazy hats found on Bouirex

No significant snow yet but the mountains are starting to look wintery 

The tractor was supposed to be delivered last Wednesday, but the lorry carrying it from Italy broke down somewhere close to the French border and then had to be towed to Volvo HQ in Bergamo to be repaired under warranty. Delivery is now scheduled for tomorrow - fingers crossed!