Skiing again

Over the past couple of days, the fine weather has held and the low temperatures mean the snow has remained. Following a visit to Telemark Pyrenees to sort out some new thermal liners for my ski de rando boots on Wednesday I was keen to get out and give them a try. John arrived down with us yesterday and hired some ski de rando kit from Tarascon, so we reckoned a trip back up to the Guzet ski station for a bit of a play was in order. We met a friend, Lee, there and skinned up to the top in wonderfully warm sunshine. Ski de rando is a new experience for John, as he is really a boarder so it was quite a surprise when he launched himself straight down a red run when we reached the top! The slope had been roughly pisted, but it was exceptionally icey where the snow cannons had been used and where it was still in shadow. The edges were crusty powder which proved to be my downfall on two occasions. John reckons he 'skis like bambi on ice' which would be fair! But for a first outing he did rather well!

This evening. Andy appears to be suffering from a mild case of sunstroke but still managed to rustle up a very tasty rabbit casserole which was mopped up with some of Gil's incredibly scrummy bread. Saint Girons market in the morning to stock up on fruit and veggies.

The skis see the light of day - yay!

The gales finally stopped and by lunchtime the skies cleared to reveal snow down to 800m. The temperature was still low so we headed over to the Guzet Neige ski station to get a feel for our all new ski touring kit on some fresh powder. It was kinda pretty out there with frosted trees and stuff.

But anyway, enough of the pretty stuff, the skiing didn't start too well with considerable discomfort from my boots due to pressure points on my shins, so we will be off to Telemark Pyrenees to sort out some thermo liners, I reckon! But we did manage a gentle skin up a gentle path to the top of Picou....
followed by a leisurely descent back down what will be a green run when the resort eventually opens. Just nice to be out really and in such beautiful conditions!

Busy

The gails and rain continued today and the temps have been dropping. The good news is that there is now snow down to around 700m and even flurries down to as low as 400m, so the tops should have had a good pasting and we may get out on the skies tomorrow :-)

Due to the foul weather, we have again been confined to indoor activities but this means I have at last got the curtain made for the door that leads from the porch to the living room/dining room/kitchen which has cut out the majority of the drafts. It also makes the space down here that much cosier :-)

I also got the lovely oak dining room table cleaned, nourished and waxed which is a job I have been meaning to do for ages. And mighty fine it now looks too!

The rest of the afternoon was spent moving gear up in the attic and scrimming the wall section that was behind the bed ready for plastering. Quelle joie!

Blowing a hooley so indoor work it is

We were subjected to more gale force winds and driving rain overnight last night, which have continued into the evening today. There was a fair amount of tree debris on the road but fortunately no actual fallen trees when I made a quick visit down to Massat earlier. The dog has been edgey all day, not liking one little bit the groans of the wind as it rattles around the house and through the trees - the great wus! He really should toughen up a bit. Minus temps forecast overnight tonight and more rain tomorrow which will hopefully fall as snow higher up.... pleeeeezzzze???!

So anyway, we did more work on the attic and the stairwell today and it is starting to look good. Quite a contrast to the same space in early September We are now about ready to start working on a racking/storage system for all of our outdoor gear which will be installed below the window which will make skis/climbing and mountaineering equipment much more accessible. The newly created doorway and separating wall are pretty much finished, with just some scrimming and plastering to do. Again, quite a transformation to the scenario in early September.

For tea tonight, we continued our knack of eeking out the cheapest but tastiest cuts of meat by creating a tomato-based 'daube de boeuf' using a 3rd of a chunk of 'paleron de boeuf' (upper shoulder/top blade steak) which cost me €11 (the other 2 chunks have been frozen to await a future creation!). Using one of Andy's cast iron casserole pots, we cooked it with a load if chunky veggies in the oven on a very low temperature (120 degrees) for 4 hrs before transferring to the top of the woodburner where it had another 45 minutes on a higher heat to evaporate off some liquid. The result was scrummylicious and we had enough for 3 meals! So we have fridged one meal for the day after tomorrow and frozen the other portion. You can't beat the long, slow cook for getting the best out of what would normally be 'tough as old boots' cuts. Shame Andy hasn't been updating his blog recently, but time has been spent elsewhere.

Ow, Ow, Ow!

I have had a wee twinge in my neck since last weekend, which I assumed was possibly because I had been sleeping funny or something. No big deal, I thought, it will go. It didn't. Wednesday, as you can read below, I spent sanding down and painting. No major discomfort. But then overnight it developed into the most excruciating pain which almost made me cry as I tried to turn over, as if somebody was sticking hot needles into an area between my shoulder and my neck. I was wincing with pain even following the slightest of movements. Whiplash, Andy reckons, as a result of throwing the ball for the pooch at the weekend which would have been OK if I hadn't been so silly as to work on a 30 degree wall the other day which just served to inflame it :-( Horse tranx ibuprofen had no effect whatsoever on the pain, but a visit to the Pharmacie got me fitted with a fetching collar and some codeine which I was instructed to take alternately with Ibruprofen every 3 hrs. The collar brought immediate relief thank goodness, as it took over the job of supporting my head from the muscles/ligaments that I have damaged. By yesterday evening, the drugs were taking effect and I was more comfortable. I am so hoping this clears up quickly as I am feeling decidedly deficient in the exercise department :-(

And as for the weather...well, best not mention that. Gale force winds and lashing rain today, but it's mild with it, so still little chance of snow. Rubbishy has been warned and will be bringing his climbing kit and maybe his bike instead of the snowboard next week!

Renovations continue and balmy weather t'boot

With visitors (OK, a visitor...."Hi Rubbishy!") arriving in a week's time, we reckoned it was about time to do a bit more on the spare room (les combles) situation. It is a pain in the arse job, but one that needs tackling in chunks ... a bit like an elephant... after all, you can't eat an elephant in one go.. can you... or something.... uuuummmm!

So anyhoo, I spent the morning sanding down the 'rough bits' created by Andy's 'skimming' with shitty French 'plaster' and then spent the afternoon 'sealing' the plasterwork with a dilute white paint mix. It seemed to take forever and was all the more soul destroying when I realised that my efforts accounted for only 1/4 of the attic! We still have 3/4 left to scrim, skim and paint :-( But it does look better and I can see how it will look when we have finished and I am quite excited (after all, I'm just a guuurl!). I did allow myself to take the odd break on the terrasse this afternoon to take advantage of the unseasonal warmth of the sun (shorts n T-shirt, in December, ffs?). What a contrast to the chill, wet, miserable weather of the last couple of days! Long may it continue.

Andy got the stairwell up to the attic scrimmed this afternoon and the space is unrecognisable to the same space 2 months ago....so much potential in this house... still early days.

Anyhoo, I luuurve the sun and the warmth and all that... but when your impending visitors are hoping for snow (and lots of it) and you are sooo looking forward to testing all the new kit, you feel a bit stuffed really. Rubbishy is arriving in a week's time and Jamie is out for Christmas and both are so excited by the prospect of snow and 'going high'... how do we break it to them that, actually, hmmmm, well, there 'ain't none...??! (answers on a postcard please...?!)

A bit of an update

Following the wee chimney fire last Thursday, we took advantage of the good weather at the weekend to reinstall the woodburner. This involved Andy straddling the apex of the roof for a couple of hours in order to secure the double skinned stainless steel 8m long conduit that now runs directly from the woodburner, up through the chimney and out of the chimney pot which is how it should have been installed originally. It was with a mixture of trepidation and excitement (well, on my side anyway!) that we lit some paper to check that there was no smoke escaping from the system. All OK, so we set a proper fire going. The difference was amazing! We quickly realised just how badly the burner had been drawing due to its poor installation. Wow, we had heat again! And, we knew it had been correctly installed and we were safe. Job well done :-)

Car update - Jean-François down in Massat got the car up on the ramp on Saturday and yes, we do indeed have an oil leak coming from somewhere around the oil pump (well, duh!). Infuriating when you consider that we spent nearly £600 back in January having the engine dismantled in order to replace both the oil pump and the timing belt. Looks like a certain amount of dismantling and therefore a number of hours work will be required to fix this apparent gasket problem .... money we don't really have at the mo, but hey, it has got to be done.

Anyway, Tuesday today and we have had solid rain for the last 36 hours accompanied yesterday by some pretty high winds too which is rare for this neck of the woods. But this afternoon, the skies are brightening and the worst weather appears to have moved on.