Yesterday the firewood for winter arrived, all 6 cubic metres of it, on a big lorry. It’s in 1metre lengths and just needed stacking, then cutting into useable sized pieces. The stacking’s done; I think the cutting up is done as it’s needed (I suspect this must be done by the wood fairies, as it seems to appear magically in stove-sized pieces whenever I’m cold!).

Today has been glorious; blue skies, sunshine, and, more surprisingly, warm! From a mile up the road, there’s a good view of the Pyrenees, their peaks covered in snow!

We ordered some building materials yesterday, which arrived this afternoon in a lorry nearly as wide as the gates. The driver very skillfully navigated into the garden, then proceeded to unload the lorry by means of a remote control hydraulic arm. If I thought the remote control cement lorry at Adrian’s was clever, this put it right in the shade! There’s now a big, very tidy, stack of breeze blocks in the garden and the grange is full of joists, plasterboard and bags of cement.

It has been commented on that I seem to be doing very little by way of DIY. Not true! It’s just that I’m the only one taking photos, and besides, someone has to feed the workers! I’ve almost finished decorating the spare room and have discovered one of the secrets of the French superwoman who always has stocks of “home made” paté in the cupboard. She buys it raw from the supermarket or butcher, puts it in jars and sterilises it. Simple! So, like all the best superwomen, I spent this morning bottling and sterilising paté and very impressive it looks.

Unlike the average French superwoman, however, I did go out for a bike ride this afternoon as the weather was too good to miss.

The amazing Indian summer we’ve been enjoying has definitely ended. It’s been raining most of the time since Friday; the garden’s a swamp and there’s a mini lake in the grange. The temperature has dropped too, so we’re lighting fires in the evening now. Well, to be accurate, I’m lighting fires as Nick and Kieran don’t feel the cold, and I suspect there’s a conspiracy afoot to improve my total lack of ability as an arsonist. It’s surprising how easy it is when you use enough firelighters!

The old wood burner that we took out of the living room is soon going to be re-housed in what will become Nick’s workshop and to that end he and Kieran have built a plinth to stand it on. I can’t see it ever getting very warm in there, though, as it’s open to the roof, which is open enough round the edges to allow even birds as big as owls in and out without a problem.

I’ve been busy decorating the spare bedroom (for the hoards of visitors we hope to have next year), and Kieran has built a bookcase for it. We have boxes of books all over the house, so we should be able to empty at least a few boxes now.

For those who are wondering, we’ve been to our friends’ house every day since they went on holiday, to try to entice Minus into coming home with us, but he hasn’t put in an appearance once:-(

Once upon a time there was a black and white kitten, called Minus, whose kindly guardians were going on holiday to New Caledonia for two months. They offered to give the kitten to some equally kindly newcomers to the village, who had a mouse problem. The newcomers promised to look after Minus well, but he didn’t understand that, and every time anyone tried to catch him to take him to his new home, he miaowed and scratched and escaped as fast as he could (which was pretty fast!), leaving the newcomers feeling – well – catless.

Will this tale have a happy ending? You’ll have to visit us again to find out!

But no visit to neighbours in the Gers is entirely fruitless; we did come home with a large boxful of pumpkins, tomatoes and peppers; all home-grown, of course.

Nick and Kieran could wait no longer to get on with some “real” work, so this afternoon they started digging out the base for an extension to the garden shed and filling it with some of the rubble from the pig sty. We hope that we’ll get planning permission for it, though it hasn’t been granted yet. Still, it kept them amused for a few hours!

Daniel and Maria asked us round today, to collect the kitten they’re giving us, before they go on holiday. We arrived, complete with cardboard box containing an old curtain as bedding, and a roll of parcel tape to prevent escape. Minus, the black and white kitten, was missing, so Maria rattled various tins and jars containing his favourite foodstuffs, but to no avail. After a while, their other two cats appeared; Maria gave them some food and Minus arrived almost immediately. Maria picked him up and put him in the box, which Kieran and Daniel were ready to close behind him, but he was far too quick for them and shot out of it at high speed. He was left alone for a few minutes until he recovered from his fright and started eating again, then Maria put him in the box again. This time, the box was almost entirely taped shut when he managed to squeeze out through a crack and disappeared like a shot, leaving Kieran and Maria with scratches on their hands.

So we’re going round again tomorrow morning, this time with a holdall type bag with a good zip. If we ever get him here, I think he’ll be extremely efficient at reducing our mouse population; he’s a ferocious little beast. But for now, no photos, I’m afraid; I’ll try to get one tomorrow.

We spent last week back in Blighty; the traffic on the M1 was reminder enough of why we left, if a reminder were needed. We bought a French registered, left hand drive car, a Peugeot Partner, while we were in London; more of a van-with-windows, really. Rather less luxurious than the C5, but comfortable enough and it seems to go OK. I thought Nick and Kieran may come to blows over who would drive it back to Yorkshire, but Nick conceded and was finally allowed to have a go on the journey back to France.

During our stay, we met the people who are buying our house in Grey St; a lovely young couple who, I hope, will be very happy there. Their status as really nice people with impeccable taste improved even further in my opinion when they told us that one of the features that decided them to buy our house was the stained glass window in the hall, which took me 10 years to build!

Today was spent on the after-the-hols clear-up, but we did allow ourselves an outing with the cycle club this afternoon. I explained that, after 2 years off the bike, I wasn’t up to doing the whole ride, so they promised to ride at a very gentle pace till I turned back. I struggled to keep up for all of 9 miles (pathetic!) and it wasn’t till we’d left the rest of them that I learnt that the guy who took the lead today is an ex-Tour de France rider! (made me feel slightly less pathetic):-)