Lots of work this trip.
Laverie
We finished off painting and laying the floor in the Laverie. We had to put down two coats for the interior doors and three for the outer steel doors. The washing machine vibrated too much in the winter so we bought a vibration may. his seems to have worked.
The whole Laverie was tested out by V&T who came to stay for 3-days. They found it a good extension of their tent at Cuckoo’s end and nothing needed changing except an additional broom.
The Land
Everything has overgrown. Us not being here in Summer and the work required in winter made everything a little over. I don’t think Duncan helped by moaning about what he had to do. We now have Andy to help with mowing plus…
The broom is a mission and always will be. Bought an accessory for the trimmer to help cut the broom. Definitely a plus as it went through the stems very easily. Need another accessory to grind down the roots for net year. A good half a days work streaming down the top drive.
Likewise – the rest of the land is sprouting a bit and needed trimming. We must do quite a lot in the winter to trim and prune and reduce or cut down some trees in the Mill woods to help the sun in the morning.
Conifer planking
The conifers planking is at the final stage. Nick came during week two to mill the wood which had been stacked by Sappajou. This was stacked initially by Ritz but we had to restack because of drying out. V&T helped make stickers out of plastic left-overs and they also helped stack the planks. Ritz and I cut up the burning wood into 50cm and stacked. This will be good burning wood in 5-7 years.
Mill name
We have been informed (Feb 21) that we are called Moulin de Lascaux-Maury. We understand this is a nationwide attempt to give everywhere a formal address. Since Feb 21 I have been trying to ask the Mairie how the name came about considering there is another Moulin de Lascaux-Maury on the D992 and the French IGN carte says this is so. That mill, according to the Mairie, is apparently called Moulin de Chateax. We went to the mairie and asked them where the information came from and got a shrug of the shoulders in typical French style. They could not say where the name came from officially. Still baffled!! It will always be the Moulin Bleu.
Nature
Lizzards are prevalent this year as are the normal wildflowers. Not so many ticks. Perhaps this is because of the garden and land management. All the tits came back after I filled up the bird table food of peanuts and fat-balls. Loads of stinkhorns and later other mushrooms. No sign of deer except on camera. Signs of otter but no images. No boar on cam from December. Camberwell beauty and Jersey Tiger moth seen.
Quad
Seized an opportunity to purchase a quad . Stuart Swales is returning to UK and is selling everything. He aid quad not for sale but this was for effect. Cut a long story sort we bough the quad and garden trailer for £10650. it’s a Can-am Outlander XT P 1000. 2018 version but hardly used because of covid year etc. 4,000 miles on the clock. It’s immense and a great workhorse for the land not to mention on-road fun and to-up. We went to Gueret for Carte gris and is no insured and registered.
Log rotation
We had to sort out the garage for the quad and hence re-staked all the wood. We now have a good idea of the rotation fo the wood.
Garden
The mower broke down and we had to get that fixed. Because Duncan strimmed the garden instead of mowing which looked dreadful. The seeding didn’t work too well and has left bare patches where the outhouse building work has taken place. We intend to put down soil and seed before we go. Obviously the plateau id pretty crap as well but that can recover in slower time.
Next project
We now have planks and wood. What next? Tree house?
A busy few weeks with a week in the Auvergne where we met Prince Charles Henri de Lobkovitz. A great trip.
Forest Life Thoughts – August 2021
I love the mill and Forest Life. The woods, although not level and strictly all broadleaf, is wonderful and of course the river is amazing. This is all I’ve ever wanted – my own woods and and a river running through the property. So what makes me so anxious over there? I’m not sure. There’s always a lot to do which is the very nature of the place. With woods in a forest, there is a certain amount of responsibility and work to do. If you just leave it it will become overgrown. I want it to look good as well as making it better for nature’s sake. I can’t put my finger on why I am so anxious. Is it perhaps because there is so much to do? We have had lots of work regarding the outhouse and conifers.
It’s all been a bit of a mission and now hopefully things will settle down and I will begin to enjoy the place more. But even going out camping brings a state of anxiety. Is it, as Ritz said, that I’m always thinking of packing up before I even get there, or is it because I can’t be bothered going out in the first place.
I have had a couple of sit-spots and they have been great. I seem to have lost a bit of connectivity with nature over there and I must get this back. I also seem to forget about other things like writing and painting.
During our winter trip I need to connect with the mill and the woods again. I need to look the things I do over in the UK and find out why the Mill makes me anxious. 🇫🇷
