Bastard flies

We are slowly getting fly screens for all doors and windows. Each one has it’s own challenges as we need to be able to get in and out doors, open windows etc and each opening is a different shape and size.

Great relief to have one on the door to our main living area again. We were having issues because the velcro was damaging the door frame and also not holding it up very well. We have used some batons of wood to screw it up now. Hurrah for fly free living room!

One is on order to do similar for the bedroom door on to the balcony. The windows are already protected but that bit of extra air will be welcome as it gets warmer

Farm chic

I might have mentioned this before, but the weather has made me think about it again.

Before we moved here I read lots of lifestyle homesteading blogs (mainly in America) where people appeared to spend their whole lives going around in lovely floaty flowery skirts with pretty wellies. Reality turned out to be a bit different with the mud, cold, brambles and flies making this DEEPLY impractical. I tried lots of things, but eventually settled on farming onsies. This is the waterproof winter one, there is also a winter thermal, some spring and autumn not waterproof, not thermal ones and some summer ones (also known as dungarees).

There is no point in pretty wellies as the mud covers the pretty.

There is also a DIY onesie and and evening wear onesie. They are terribly practical...

This wouldn't happen in London!

Iain is visiting us for a bit of skiing.
We set of this morning nice and early to take advantage of the fresh snow that fell overnight.
But we came upon a minor hitch going down the drive.

It rained a lot overnight and I guess it was windy too.
Luckly, although it had landed on the phone line and knocked it down, it had not snapped it. Phew the internet was safe!
We went back to the house and changed out of ski gear in to tree removing gear, and collected the chainsaw, log turner and a chain before returning to contemplate the matter.

 Doug cut as much as possible off

with some help from Iain

then I pulled the remains out of the ground to make cutting it easier. It was the first time we used the low range 4 wheel drive on the car which was exciting (although perhaps not strickly necessary). It was also the first time we used the tow bar. Exciting!

Once it was on the ground it was easier to chop up smaller.
Finally we dragged the remaining stump, that we couldn't really cut up (mud is bad for the chainsaw and it was a bit big for the chainsaw anyway), down the drive and disposed of it in to the woods beside the road.
By now we had missed the first lift (!) so we retired to have lunch before actually managing to go skiing.

We still need to do something about getting the internet (aka the phone line) reattached to it's pole, we are not quite sure who to call about this. We should also consider cutting down some other trees on the drive before they go the same way.

Eating, drinking and a few other things

Basically we have been lazing around doing nothing but drink and eat too much, as is traditional for the Christmas period. We went skiing on Christmas Day, it was windy and sleeting, but we were glad we got out and did some token amount of excersize. We had ham on Christmas Eve and duck on Christmas Day. Both very good (if I say so myself!)

We have spent some time making stock and soup with left overs, and we have managed to do a few useful things like make some more cheddar and beer. For a bit more excersize we picked up the wood piles from the drive. They were there because at the end of the summer Doug spent some time with an exciting new toy chopping down all the branches overhanging the driveway and stacked the resulting logs in neat piles along the drive.

Since then everytime we drive up or down, we say 'we must get round to picking those up'. We finally did and now it is all neatly stacked with the other wood maturing for a year or two.

We also tidied up some old tires and concrete blocks that have been annoying us littering the place up. There are a LOT of tires around, they are useful for things like weighing down the roof on woodpiles - the previous owner used them to stand his beehives on.

Update on Doug's wrist

You will be glad to hear it is on the mend. Still painful and a bit puffy but so much better. Hurrah for efficiency of French A&E and for antibiotics.

Using French healthcare

One of the cats (Pernod) was in the house when he shouldn't have been, he objected to being swooped on for throwing out by biting Doug's hand (he hasn't changed character or anything and turned in to a biter generally it was a one off with the suprise). It was very painful at the time and then became swollen and more painful over a couple of days. I dragged Doug off to A&E in Bagnère de Bigorre on Friday as it seemed to still be getting worse not better. I called the doctor first but we couldn't get an appointment. We did hum and haw for a bit about whether it was bad enough to go and spend 10 hours waiting in A&E to see someone. Then I read the internet a bit, and it seems a lot of cat bites can become infected with nasty results. So we set of with kindles and water and food for the dog (who was going to wait in the car).

However, the experience was totally different to expected and we emerged about 30 minutes later with two types of antibiotics and a neatly bandaged arm. They had tested to make sure Doug was ok for tetanus as well. In France you pay for a percentage of treatment and prescription, the total we had to pay came to 18 EUR. Well worth it considering that the pain is now nearly gone although there is still a lot of swelling and Doug's hand looks chubby like a giant babies.

There is talk of them closing the A&E department in Bagnère which would mean we would need to drive to Tarbes for such assistance. We really hope it does not happen as we were very impressed with the efficiency of help.

People protesting about A&E closure

Hay!

The hay man popped round while we were in the middle of clearing the drive to allow for the fridge delivery to see if it was convenient to deliver the hay today. Although the drive was strewn in bits we had chopped off but not yet removed we said it would be fine to do it in the afternoon. We thought it would motivate us clean up all the bit, although he did say his tractor would just drive over them fine anyway.
He brought us one extra free so that was 11 bales. He drove them on a big trailer to the bottom of the drive then brought them up one at a time on the forks of the tractor. He was able to position them quite precisely at the entrance to the hay barn so although they are pretty heavy (80kg? 100kg?) we were able to roll them in to place pretty easily. Hot dusty work though.

Turning at the top of the drive

Going down to the hay barn entrance

Getting a bale in through the door

Coming up to the hay barn entrance with the next one

Waiting for the next bale. Nearly done!

 We have no idea how much the sheep will eat but hopefully we have plenty now.

Clearing the drive

Our drive is about 600m long and has trees along it and grass down the middle as well as a drainage ditch down the side. There is therefore quite a lot of work keeping it under control. The tree branches have been encroaching more and more through spring and in to summer as they grow and as the leaves weigh them down more. We have had a task outstanding to cut the branches back from several months now. We finally got round to it because we have ordered a new fridge and we didn't think the Darty delivery lorry would make it up in the current condition.

At some places Doug had to stand on the top step of the later to reach to cut of the right bid. I didn't get photos unfortunately as I was doing something else while he was actually standing on the top (if I had been there I would probably have stopped him so just as well as now the branches are cut!) and I was steadying the ladder in other places.

This is the first of perhaps six barrow loads (yes there is a barrow under there honest) that had to be wheeled all the way up the drive and round behind the barn. Where they were chipped with the Destroi and some put on the compost and a few on to the path in the potager (veg garden) to test whether they will make good path covering to keep weeds down.

Poppy enjoyed the whole thing immensely and 'helped' a lot pulling branches around and going mad trying to catch the ones hanging off the barrow. Aww cute :)

Hay man

The farmer who had his cows on our fields arranged for someone to sell us some hay at a very good price (to keep the sheep through the winter). The arrangement was that we were meeting the guy outside the swimming pool in Bagnère, we through he would have the hay with him, but it turned out that it was so we could go and see the hay. So we went to his barn and knowledgably inspected and smelt the first and second cuttings. We then explained to him that we were city folk and didn't really know what we needed. He said he thought we should get the second cutting. We agreed we would take 10 bales.
He then decided he needed to come and inspect the access to our property so he could decide whether to bring his 5 bale or 10 bale tractor to deliver it.
We are quite exhausted now with so much French listening comprehension as he extensively inspected and commented on pretty much everything including

• We should scythe the weeds around the barn and in the fields
• We should cut down an ash tree outside the barn otherwise it is going to fall on to the spring source in a strong wind
• We should fix the barn up including the lean too
• It is good we have a new roof and it is a lovely one
• We should have bought Pyrenéen sheep not Ouessant
• We have a hazelnut tree growing in the hedge
• The car is super
• The hay won't all fit in the hay barn
• The chickens are très jolie
• The dog is going to kill the sheep when it gets bigger
• Plus various other things we failed to understand but smiled and nodded anyway.

He then took a pee behind the woodshed/outdoor kitchen (perhaps that is more polite than asking to use the toilet) and said he will deliver during the week - not sure whether he decided on the 5 or 10 bale trailer.

We know what it is!

Everyone will be delighted that this huge mistery is solved!
We have finally worked out what this is for
It is a sweetcorn/maize sheller. See a new one at the top of this page

Hurrah we can stop worrying about it day and night.

We have done a little bit of work cleaning out the upstairs as well as investigating various holes in our rodent/snake investigations. During the course of this we found a LOT of very old looking sweetcorn husks. We are not sure if they were just left up there after the corn was removed or if they were being used as insulation (the electrician suggested this when he found them in the floor cavity during the temporary wiring work).

Cool huh?

Look what Doug found when he was out walking the dog (the antler not the tikiman and doll)
It was in the middle of one of the fields. It seems a funny time of year to find one as they are shed in the spring and you would think one from the spring would be more damaged by now (eaten by foxes etc).

Heat Wave

We had a lot of rain in June and July (tail end of the same weather systems as the UK had). There was still more rain in August but we have also had a number of sunny days. We seem to be in a bit of a heatwave now with some forecasts saying it is going to be 36C on Saturday (but most being more reasonable and saying 30 in the shade). Things still look very green though as it seems that when the sun shines for a few days we get a thunderstorm to wet things off again. It was very noticable driving away from the mountains to get the sheep that it gets much dryer as you go further away.

The house is still staying relatively cool downstairs - the benefit of 65cm thick walls. Upstairs is roasting through as there is no insulation inside the tiles yet (that is planned for the current phase of work).

With the sun the sunflowers have come out - tiny bit of planting that is not aimed at eating - although maybe we will get some seeds. Pretty and useful.

Slugs - yuck

There are loads of huge gross orange slugs around and the odd one that is much bigger (15 cm) and kind of mottled.
The other evening it rained around dusk and they came out in even greater numbers than usual on to the lawn. We put out a beer trap to see if we could catch them. They could obviously sense it and flocked towards it enthusiastically. Disappointing in the morning there were only 3 actually trapped.

Market day

On Saturdays we have been going to the market in 'the city (Bagnère de Bigorre - population 8000). Partially because it is a nice French thing to do and partially because we need to get Poppy used to lots of people, dogs, cars etc and it is a good place to do it. Food is quite expensive at the market so we don't buy much. Marinated (pickled?) garlic are nice and so are olives.

Wearing our nice town clothes

Secret parking (busy on market day)

The Halle ( indoor bit with fruit/veg/meat)

Outdoors market

Edge of the market

Nice café for lunch (we only go with visitors though)

View over Bagnère

Walk after the market to calm down

Make hay while the sun shines

It is a bit late to make hay, most people round here did it in June and some in July. However we needed to shorten the grass in the sheeps field before they move in, so we decided that as it has finally stopped raining, we could make hay as we did it. We will use it for chicken bedding mostly so the quality does not matter too much.

It is hard work scything

Poppy eating the grass

Spreading the grass after cutting

Taking away the bracken we separated from the cut grass

Drying in the sun

The view

We have HUNDREDS of pictures of the view from the house so I need to post some of them occasionally. Will get boring I am sure but it is lovely to look out and see it in all different conditions.

Life isn't like fiction

There are endless films and books where people make a drastic lifestyle change, often a city dweller ends up living in the country(sometimes deliberately and sometimes for reasons out of their control). There is always some kind of bleak period where they hate the change, can't settle in and don't know how they are going to earn money. Then through some amazing good luck they manage to make their millions (and often meet the partner of their dreams)
The film that always comes to my mind is Baby Boom - with Diane Keeton, she inherits a baby which makes her lose her job, then for some reason I can't remember she moves to the country and has a nightmare, then makes baby food from the excess apples in her garden and becomes a millionaire (plus meets the man of her dreams of course). There are LOADS of others but I can't remember the names as they are too annoying as it is not like that in real life.
A lot of people have suggested that I need to write a book to make our fortunes. Probably they are inspired by there being quite a few funny books published with people moving to France and having a hilarious time with the locals, French red tape etc. I started to blog to try a bit of writing (as well as to let family and friends know what we are up to) but how does one take the next step? Books are very long with a lot of words, how does anyone manage to write that much (in such a way that people don't give up in boredom reading it)? Quite a few of the stories I am complaining about above feature people we are writing books and magically they manage to write masterpieces despite never having put pen to paper before in their lives. I just don't see that happening in real life. Although perhaps it happened for the Eat Pray Love woman - but a.) she cheated by being a professional writer and b.) I can't understand why her book was so popular anyway, I found it very annoying. With an extra twist to the annoyingness because she must have made so much money from it (bah humbug etc)

According to the Sunday Times, this blog (whatkatiewore) was/is massively popular and she has now gone on to do a blog about decorating their house (whatkatiewallpapered), apparently DIY and home renovation blogs are very 'now', 'hip', 'happening', 'zeitgeist-y' etc . How one wonders, does one get the Sunday Times to mention ones blog? Presumably it has to be popular already as well as 'now', 'hip', 'happening', 'zeitgeist-y' etc? Chicken and egg, how does it get popular without mention? If I was a character in a book there would be no problems as it would happen by amusing stroke of luck, I would write a related book and be a multi millionaire.

Who did it? Come on own up

Something keeps eating my basil plants. They all look like this.

Not sure what but there are some freakish giant orange slugs around, they are my number one suspect. I think we need a beer trap near the basil pot to find out.

What a load of crap!

Somehow when we were having the dream about living in the countryside with animals, cleaning up their crap didn't feature. At the moment I feel like I spend half my time clearing up crap created by various animals. The pigs are fine as it is just left in their field to fertilise the veg that will grow there later. But the cats, dog and chickens poop (as the americans say) all needs something doing with it and they all seem to create SUCH a LOT.
The cats will be better (hopefully if they don't use the sunflowers pot or something) when they can be allowed outside and can take themselves off somewhere else to do it, their litter tray is grotesque and I would not sign up for an indoors cat and dealing with that full time.
Poppy gets loads of praise when she does a big jobbie - and we have to stand there saying 'toilet' 'toilet' while she does it, so that alledgedly in the future she can do it on command. We were origionally going to say 'jobbie' 'jobbie' for this training word but we realised we might have to say it in public at some point and even through maybe French people wouldn't understand it us cracking up every time we had to say it might not help. It then has to be disposed of somehow as we don't want the garden littered with dog shit. At the moment it gets picked up in a poly bag and shucked out, but we might get a spade (jobby wheeker) and shuck it in the bushes/the cows field instead.
At the moment there is a big bag of cat and dog poo in the car waiting to go to the bins at the end of the drive. In Camden they occasionally went through the rubbish (to find something with an address on it) and then sent you rude letters if you were putting it out of the wrong day or other rubbish crimes. I hope noone here has that job as they would get some nasty suprises.
The chickens also seem to create a giant amount of droppings for small animals, but at least we can put that on the compost and eventually it will do the veg good.

I decided no photo on this post...

Outdoor dining

We ate outside the other night in the wood shed area by the house that we cleared to be our 'outdoor kitchen'. It obviously isn't in it's final state at the moment, it needs a better floor and the walls sorting out and some kind of facilities but it worked well when we set off to have a bbq and a storm blew in and should be equally good for shade when it is sunny.
Doug looks a bit tired because of the hell puppy needing to go to the toilet every 3 hours or so during the night.

We have a quote on the way from the roofer for a new roof in slate to match the main house - it has rather a lot of holes at the moment and the wood supporting it is rotten. If we go ahead with that we won't need the giant pillar in the middle (doesn't look intrusive in the photo above but it actually is rather in the way)

You can see from this picture why the hedge needs trimming *slightly* (ie a lot). There is a lovely view behind the hedge...

Aidan trimmed another part of the hedge - this is the look we want here also (ie chopped completely down so just stumps remain)