… chez Terry and Liz is quite beautiful and there is always something interesting to see.

They live right on the edge of the Gorges de la Sioule – a cleft in the rocks right in the centre of the Combrailles where the River Sioule has carved a deep, narrow valley.

The valley, being so sheltered as it is, has its own microclimate that is often totally at variance with the rest of the area. Today, even early in the morning, it was hot and sunny throughout the region but of course the valley, out of the shadow of the sun, was cold and damp.

And hence the dampness, trapped in the valley by what is the equivalent of the phenomenon known as “temperature inversion”, had condensed itself into a very low cloud that threaded its way along the valley floor. This happens quite often and it’s most spectacular seen from up in the hills.

Terry and Liz had done well in moving all of the wood that they had, but they weren’t joking when they said that there was just the heavy stuff left. Terry and I lifted what we could onto the saw bench (and believe me – there were some trunks that we couldn’t lift) and while Terry was cutting them with the chainsaw, I was splitting with the log splitter those that he had cut and then throwing them down the cellar where Liz was stacking them.

18:20 when the cutting was finished. There are still about 30 or 40 lumps of wood that need splitting, and about an hour or two’s worth of stacking but that can wait. There was vegan chili and rice and (of course) vegan chocolate cake with soya cream as well as a nice hot shower (we looked like snowmen, so covered were we with sawdust).

And Terry has a cunning plan. They still have a couple of visitors to come for the summer, but as soon as they are gone, why don’t we push on and do the barn roof?

This would mean that I won’t get into the attic to live for a few more weeks
but

1. the roof on the barn is dreadful and the water pours in. There’s tons of stuff in there that’s being ruined in there, even though everything is covered with tarps
2. it won’t take long to do as it’s going to be sheeted in tile-profiled corrugated sheet made-to-measure
3. I have almost everything I need so it won’t cost very much at all
4. I can fix the solar panels and wind turbine properly
5. I’ll be able to rescue the flat-bed trailer
6. the scaffolding will be finished with and that has an income-generating potential of about €500 per month and we can get it out on hire quicker
7. I’ve lived in my cupboard for 2 years – another month won’t hurt
8. It’s quite cosy in here and I survived a bad winter in here with no problems
9. working inside can be done in the rain and snow – doing the barn roof would be done during the “Indian summer” that we have most years (but I bet we don’t have it this year now I want to do the barn)
10. Terry is all fired up to get going

Stand by then for a change of plan.

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