Sadie, flowers and old stuff

The pressure is on. I have now booked a ferry for next Friday afternoon back to the UK for a long overdue visit to catch up with family and friends. Sadie is almost finished. Almost. The kitchen just needs drawer fronts to be made and then the drawers can be put in and the overhead storage box also needs doors making, but isn't she looking posh?!

The structure of the cabinet that will house the entertainment controls (TV/Audio/Satellite) and the fridge plus electrical controls and leisure batteries is now also in and awaiting the addition of a routed front panel and doors. By Wednesday, she needs to be ready for full testing of all electrical appliances and the water system and then we can load her up and be ready to head off first thing on Thursday! Excited? You bet! And I know of one person in particular who will be especially relieved to have finally completed this challenging project and to finally be able to enjoy the fruits of his labours.

Despite the old legs feeling pretty fantastic following last weekend's race, I admit to not having felt particularly inclined to head out for a run at all this past week. Extreme exertion and effort tends to do that to me! I did however have a bit of a pootle up around the Mont d'Olmes 'ski' resort with the pooch on Wednesday which was a nice little stretch of the legs. It's always strange seeing ski resorts devoid of snow - but it's still a very pretty corner of the Ariege.

I took Taff out for a bit of a walk above Belesta this afternoon and I spotted this pretty vetch

... and also an orchid along the way 

The wild flowers in the Ariege are just beautiful at this time of year! Just by way of contrast, I spotted this old piece of abandoned agricultural machinery during the walk. My mind can't help but wander back to the day when it was used, probably pulled by horses, breaking up the soil ready for cultivation by some wirey and wrinkled Ariege farmer who knew nothing but toil and sweat in his life, in the days before the introduction of mechanisation into the farmer's life. But I can't for the life of me remember what such a tool is called. Can somebody remind me?