Train NIGHTMARE

Every week recently the trains have been messed up going to and from Gatwick. This week I am in Blackfriars instead of London Bridge as for the 3rd week in a row the London Bridge ones were cancelled - I had the forethought to check this week!

Blackfriars is a cool station now. Quite recently renovated and the station is on a bridge over the Thames - you can exit to either side.

Eeeugh

We tried some new fly traps this year. They are filled with a smelly liquid which attracts the flies. Unfortunately I don't think they attract the biting flies as they go towards movement rather than smells. But it has reduced the number of house flies - which do get really really annoying. All that black stuff is dead flies! Gross! 

Summer weather

lA bit like in the UK, the weather in France has been very variable and not very like summer. Colder and wetter. For the past few days it has been lovely though.

I think it is ones like this that make the summery chirpping sound.

Hurt my leg

I fell on (not down) some stairs near Waterloo. Gross huh? Sore too.

Then my ankle went all swollen. From the bruising not infected!

Is getting better now. Could have been much worse. For first trilly second after I tripped I could forsee my trajectory taking me to landing head first at the bottom of the stairs. But quick like a cat, I twisted and landed on my knees essentially, but actually on my shins on the edge of a step - not consious reaction, just happened.

I have to wear long dresses to cover it up! I showed it to someone at work, I thought he was going to faint, doesn't like blood apparently. Oops.

Floor is level

The leveling of the beams so that the floor upstairs can be laid is finally finished. It has been a big job. Nice to see the area without all the wood and wood shavings at last! Can you imagine kitchen, living, dining space here??

A walk, and where are we?

We went for a walk up the Pic de Labassère which is in the view from the house.

The hill with the green top without trees in the center of the picture.

This is from part way up our land, looking South, again Pic de Labassère in approx center of view - just to right of center - and all covered in trees except slither at top. Stables in the foreground.

I took some photos back towards the house so you can see where our land and house are. This is looking north towards the house from the mountains and the house is south facing looking towards the mountains.

Blue dot in very South of France is us.

House and barn in center of our land. Barn looking white and house to the right of it.

One man went to mow

I suspect I have used that title before. How unoriginal! But the mowing does need doing again and again... and again, so perhaps it is appropriate.

We, by which I mean almost entirely Doug, are working on getting a new field fenced for the horses and cows. Sheep have been in there with the movable fencing, but as it is by the stables it would be good if particularly the horses can use it too.

Doug strimmed this maybe 6 weeks ago and since then hasn't had a chance to fence and now it needs doing again before fencing will be possible.

The red bit here shows our land (view from hill opposite). The green bit is the bit being fenced.

Nice orange t-shirt! I bought it on the internet and a little brighter than I thought it would be.

The 'tractor' is brilliant, this is the flail mower attachment which has revolutionised mowing like this.