Shaved livestock

Posted on May 13, 2012 by a simple-person

Evening folks,

Today we had Christoph visit to shear the sheep (well, most of them…..).

The only three we didn’t have sheared were three of the lambs who’ve been earmarked (weirdly not literally) for a stay in the freezer in a month or two and so there’s no need to have them done.

Here they all are wondering why we’ve gathered them all together in the barn:

and here’s Christoph working his (VERY VERY fast) magic:

Now, they look embarrassed and foolish (which is good for Pim) and I’m sure they’ll feel a nip in the air tonight:

But…..that’s not the end of the exciting news – oh no!

Once I’d put the sheep in the barn ready for when Christoph arrived (and was happily settled on the loo) I heard one of the sheep outside the front door.

Quickly finishing up I rushed out wondering how one of the little buggers had gotten out only to be confronted with a random lost sheep which happened to have wandered to our door.

I tried to catch her but she ran off. I relayed the story to Christoph (in perfect French) and we went to have a look to see if he could catch it so that we could try and find out where it came from and return in to it’s farm but she was too wary of us and so we left her in the forest (thinking that she’d either find her way home or help nourish the soil).

Then, nearing the end of shearing the sheep she re-appeared at the house (having walked the mile or so back to the house from where we’d last seen her) and was chatting with our sheep from outside the barn.

So, we let our sheep out and they became friends.

She’s now enjoying a well earned evening meal with our sheep and we’ll look into finding out here owner tomorrow.

With a little luck we won’t be able to find out where she came from and there’ll be a little extra meat in the freezer in July!

Here she is:

Funny – no?

Cheers, Gairy.

Posted in animals | Leave a comment

What a differences a year makes.

Posted on May 11, 2012 by a simple-person

We were taking a few photographs of the Wishkin this morning and so we took a shot of Nikki with Amelie in the spot where we took the shots of pregnant Nikki for comparisons sake.

The same two people 1 year apart:

 

Strictly speaking they’re not exactly a year apart as the shot of the left was taken in early June and not mid-May (as the one on the right) but it’s pretty much chronologically accurate.

Quite a difference no???

We’re in the process of putting together an actual update blog post but that’ll have to wait for another couple of days – hope you can wait that long…..

Cheers.

Posted in amelie | Leave a comment

Veggie preparation

Posted on April 2, 2012 by a simple-person

Morning,

We’ve spent the last few days preparing everything for this years veggies.

The potato patch has been dug over, the new test ‘no-dig’ patch is being prepared, the old strawberry patch is having a make-over and will emerge as the new onion patch, the greenhouses have had a spring clean, a soil change and the first batch of seeds have been planted!

The weather here’s been amazing recently and so it’s been t-shirts and shorts all round.

Here’s the potato patch looking nicely turned-over:

and the small (seeding) greenhouse after it’s tidy up:

Here you can see the rainwater catchment system which we then use to water the greenhouses (there are another two tanks under the terrace):

Here’s the big greenhouse looking nice and orderly (won’t stay that way for long):

These are the first pots of seeds that we’ve planted this year.

So far we’ve planted 3 types of beans, peas, mangetout, 2 types of courgette, 2 types of squash and 4 types of tomatoes!

Good stuff!

Next up are more photographs of Amelie.

Here she is looking like one of the 7 dwarves on the Eurostar:

Enjoying some quality time on the swing (that you put up Ben – it’s still going strong):

 

and finally here she is on the terrace hanging out in the washing basket:

Ok, it’s a nice day and so I’m off back to help Monkey Boy finish off the greenhouses.

Later, Gairy.

 

Posted in amelie, gardening, vegetables | 2 Comments

2 Cats, 1 Baby and 1/2 a Deer!

Posted on March 11, 2012 by a simple-person

Nope, not a weird recipe but just a list of the things covered in this update.

In random order…..

Last week (while I was away camping for the night) there was a knock at the door and a strange Frenchman was stood there with a carcass!

It was a local hunter who (as thanks for us not giving them crap for constantly parking near the house) gave Nikki half a deer that they’d killed the day before.

Here it is:

Ordinarily we’d be pleased by receiving free food but this time Nikki and MB were absolutely ecstatic as it gave them the idea of making Biltong.

For those who don’t know Biltong is a South African dried meat speciality which Nikki and MB have a bit of an obsession with.

The first batch was made, dried and consumed (the 2nd is drying as I type) and has only fuelled their obsession. I’d never tried it before and, in my opinion, it’s nice but nothing out of this world but apparently I know nothing!

Rob – the sooner you get out here the sooner you can eat our home-made Biltong!

Next up, here’s a shot of Muca and Mimsie relaxing the sun:

The snow’s gone now (as have Nikki and Amelie funnily enough) but here are a few shots of us on a nice little snowy walk.

All wrapped-up:

The ‘Rooster’ looking dignified:

Me and the Skrinch:

Finally, now that she’s (just about) big enough we’ve been able to try-out the amazing hanging baby-chair that Rob and Ali made for us last year.

It’s a thing of beauty and we’ve been itching to use it (but she’s still a little too small and can slip through the side gap if we’re not careful).

Here she/it is:

Thanks again guys, it’s brilliant!

Ok, that’ll do for now as I’m a busy man with things to avoid doing…..

Cheers, Gairy.

 

 

Posted in amelie | Leave a comment

Change of direction…..

Posted on March 2, 2012 by a simple-person

It’s been noted that (too?) many of the entries on this blog are off-topic in that they mainly concern me and bike riding in one form or another.

So…..we’ve split the blog in two!

From now on you can get all of your renovation, farm, Amelie, simple-people info right here and, for those who’re interested in the biking side of things, a new sub-blog has been set-up here:

simple-lodge.com/biking/

(or you can click the Gairy’s biking blog button in the top menu).

Don’t forget to ‘follow’ each of the blogs you’re interested in (via the tab on the bottom right) so that you don’t miss anything.

Cheers, Gairy.

Posted in biking | Leave a comment

Bike and Bivi Mini-Trip

Posted on February 26, 2012 by a simple-person

So…..yesterday I set-off on a 24 hour micro-adventure.

The plan was simple: Ride away from home (taking in a mean 2500ft/800m climb and some uncharted single-track), Sleep outside (testing a load of new kit bought for the July TranAlp trip) and Ride home again (after a good nights sleep and feeling well rested).

The first part went swimmingly!

Here’s my loaded bike near Le Cheylard:

Then came the ascent of the big climb of the day (this climb was a Cat 2 climb in the 2010 Tour De France).

Here’s a nice little panoramic shot part way up:

Near the top (I’d been reduced to shorts and t-shirt by this point as it was HOT):

Here’s the profile of the outbound route so that you can see the severity of the big climb:

(on the plus-side after that climb was a 16km/10 mile single-track descent)

But…..all was not going according to schedule – I’d had to take Rudie to the vets (again) and so I set off 1.5 hours later than planned.

This meant that I was late in arriving in the area I’d hoped to find somewhere suitable to get my head down for the night.

I was losing light fast and so I settled for a spot on some ancient terracing with a nice view and began to unpack.

Here’s my spot:

And here’s the view from my spot:

Aesthetically my choice was sound but there were a few problems:

1. It was on a slope (which I couldn’t see from above when choosing the site).
2. Even though it was grass it was lumpy as hell!
3. It was in the middle of a Sweet Chestnut forest and so was covered in spiky evil husks from last years nuts – nuts!
4. There was no wind cover (which meant that when the wind picked up to almost gale-force in the night I was not a happy chicken!).

To cut a long story short – I slept very badly!

But…..in the morning I was up and off before 08:00 (it wasn’t like I was missing any sleep!).

Here’s the view from some amazing technical single-track that greeted me first thing this morning:

All that stood between me and home then was 40 miles which consisted entirely of ups and downs!

Here’s the route profile of the return journey so you can see what my tired legs and sleep-deprived brain had to contend with:

I took one more photograph before I went into auto-pilot (1000 yard stare, head down and muttering curses about the insane head-wind all the way home) – luckily it’s a doozy!

Here’s a panoramic shot of the river which accompanied my massive (1st of 2) 10+ mile climb:

All-in-all one of the hardest 24 hours of cycling I’ve ever done (if only because of the lack of sleep).

Two rides, 80 miles, no sleep, 3000m of height gain (maybe a little more) and one tired Gairy at the end of it all!

BRILLIANT!!!!!

 

Posted in biking, photography | 2 Comments

1×9 Inbred 69er

Posted on February 21, 2012 by a simple-person

No, this is not some weird sexual thing – it (believe it or not) explains a bunch of changes I’ve recently made to my single-speed bike (an On-one ‘Inbred’).

Disclaimer: If the above makes no sense to you then I suggest that you stop reading now and find something better to spend the next few minutes doing as the following will interest you about as much as it does when you talk to me about football (or insert the thing you’re passionate about that I find dull here).

If, on the other hand, the above has meaning/interest for you then read on…..

Previously my old city single-speed bike had been converted into a single-speed mountain bike for use out here.

Initially it was still fully rigid but then last summer I moved some Rockshox Reba SL’s over and it took on a whole new dimension.

But…..all was not happy as the single-speed set-up (or rather the bike coupled with my legs) simply wasn’t cutting it in the Ardeche mountains and so something needed to change.

I didn’t want to run it fully geared (as then it’d just be a 2nd, almost identical, mountain bike) and so I opted to convert it into a ’1×9′.

I only recently finished the conversion and am absolutely loving the way it rides – it’s a great compromise between the simplicity of a single-speed and the practicality of running a regular geared mountain bike – I didn’t feel like I ran out of gears on the climbs at all.

Here it is just after the conversion:

I am still running a 15 year old XT chainset on this bike which has a non-removable big chainring and so, as a very ingenious solution to a potentially costly problem, I angle-grinded (angle-ground?) the teeth off and it now acts as a handy chain device – brilliant no?

Here she is:

But…..there’s more!

I’ve been fascinated (if not yet thoroughly convinced) by the idea of a 29er for a few years and so, after some research and a few very good bargain purchases, I’m beginning my test of all things 29″ by converting the Inbred into a 69er.

Today I put it all together (am still waiting on the new brakes).

Here you can see the difference in the front-end:

I’m very much looking forward to getting it out there and seeing how it rides.

Ok, that’s enough nerdy bike stuff for one post.

We’re about to eat Nachos!!!

Later, Gairy.

Posted in biking | 1 Comment

Some other things of late…..

Posted on February 12, 2012 by a simple-person

Mornin’,

I didn’t have enough time to write this last night as I’d planned and so here it is this morning.

Other than the B+B barn lots has been happening round here in the last month or so (aside from the Taco news).

- Wwoofers:

We had some frenchies staying here with us for a while over the last month - Mekki (here for 3 weeks), Xavier and Dower (both here for 4 weeks).

An enjoyable month of wood-chopping, fine meal eating, comedy problematic translations, COLD weather, nice walks, more wood chopping, even more good eating and finally a stupidly cold mountain bike ride was enjoyed by all.

Here are their mugshots.

Mekki:

Xavier:

Dower:

Here’s a nice photograph of the waterfall (near the Abbey we went to for Anna’s birthday for those who know where it is) taken on a little walk we went on:

Thanks for all your help and laughs guys (and girl) and maybe we’ll see you again if you fancy some more torture???

- COLD!!!!!

As you lot in the UK might have heard it’s been (properly) cold in Europe lately (not just that off-warm warm you lot have had been enjoying recently).

Last week things got real cold (around -20 at night with a high of -15 in the day) and our water froze meaning nothing to drink and no toilets or showers until we got it thawed out.

It’s now been about 3 weeks that we’ve had seriously Arctic temperatures and we’re very excited that, according to the forecast, we might reach 0 degrees sometime in the next week or so!!!

I took some photos so you can see the snow/wind-blown-frost in action:

Taken from the corner near the house:

This one was taken up in Mars (at around -15) and looks just like some of the shots we took in northern Sweden last year:

And finally this was taken from the road whilst I was driving to/from the vets (which I’ve been doing a lot recently):

- Lamby-magoo:

One of our lamb triplets had been getting steadily weaker and more frail until last week, we didn’t think it was going to survive much longer and so M.B. and the wwoofers built her a little pen and she’s now residing in our front room!

She’s put on loads of weight (although she’s still way smaller then her sisters) and we’re happy that she’s progressing and should make it.

Here she is in her new home:

- The Wishkin:

Last but by no means least, here are a few shots of the Stinkles for your viewing pleasure…..

Here she is inspecting the work in the B+B barn in a duck-down gillet:

Cheeky-grin:

Looking a little mental due to tiredness (don’t feel bad for her as she’s the cause of all things sleep-deprivation related):

That’s all for now – will post more as it happens…..

Cheers, Gairy.

Posted in amelie, animals, photography | 1 Comment

B+B Barn: Feb 2012 Update

Posted on February 11, 2012 by a simple-person

Evening all,

It’s been a while since we’ve posted anything about the work that’s ongoing in the B+B barn and so here’s an update…..

- Big Windows:

About 3 weeks ago the BIG windows were finally finished and so the guys came to fit them (as we didn’t fancy dropping one and being responsible).

Here’s the frame for one of them in place:

They’re around 4m/12ft long each and took some fitting – here’s the guys hard at work on the 2nd frame:

Here they are in place from the inside:

And…..from the outside:

- Mezzanine and support beams:

M.B. has been grinding the last remaining shards of his back cartilage away moving and placing the big wooden support beams both under the main floor beams and for the mezzanine in the main room.

This beam (the main one running away from you in the photo needed to be moved a little to the right in order to work with our plans for the building (as well as be more structurally sensible by being in the middle of the beams it is supporting):

So…..footings were made, uprights were cut and the whole thing was painstakingly taken down, moved around and then put back up in the right place.

Here we are lifting the biggest beam back up:

Everything is now in place and we can get on with the internals of the B+B barn.

Here are (4 out of 5 of) the mezzanine beams in place:

- Internal Insulation:

The next task was to build the wooden frames to house the internal insulation (in order to keep the heat in – unlike our house!) which we took delivery of a few weeks ago (it’s recycled cellulose and cotton).

Here you can see the stud wall frames which will house the insulation and onto which we’ll mount the chestnut batons which will then be lime rendered:

Once again this was predominantly M.B.’s work with assistance from the two French wwoofers we had here for a while (more on that later…..) and with me lending a hand when time allowed.

In this shot you can see the dividing wall between the accommodation end of the building and the living area:

The floor plate is now beginning to go down but more on that in a later post…..

Ok, that’ll have to do for now as I need to get on with the next post which is about everything else which has been going on lately.

Cheers, Gairy.

Posted in renovation | Leave a comment

Taco

Posted on February 1, 2012 by a simple-person

Evening,

There aren’t many things in life more devestating than watching a good friend die and yet, today, that’s exactly what we had to do.

Taco had been going slowly downhill over the last year or so and then we found out yesterday that he had a huge tumour and wouldn’t likely survive the operation needed to remove it and would probably never regain his health and happiness.

So…..we made the harrowing (and yet necessary) decision to let him go.

There aren’t many humans who have half the character that Taco had and even fewer who’re half as gentle and loving as the big fella was.

At 10 years old he’d had a long life and we’re glad to have been able to offer him a place to lay his huge shaggy head for the last few years – it’s been a pleasure.

If you didn’t meet him then this won’t mean much to you but there wasn’t a person who knew him who didn’t love the ‘man in a dog suit’.

We’ll miss his ninja-like ability to put himself in the least helpful position possible in the kitchen and his ever-ready reaching paw which would trip you up as he attempted to reach out for some lovin’ (without actually moving)

Here’s the big fella in action:

Adios Tacoleum – you will be missed!

Posted in animals | Leave a comment