We arrived slightly earlier in the year as we were going to leave earlier to go to Lefkada in September.
We had a good journey trough the night. We opened to the curtains to discover our bees were back! Not a great problem but as it turned out, Nigel the Bee was busy until our last 2-weeks therefore we had to wait until then before we could open the window!
The temperature throughout the visit was … hot! It was hot in UK as well. It was a lovely temperature here and we visited with Lac Vassivierre and our favourite local Lac Lac de Lavaud Galade. Later the river became really dry and we were able to walk along the whole length. This was a good thing as we did some trimming up and removal of large branches in and around the river and banks. This enabled the kingfisher to fly up and down. We were able to see him on quite a few occasions.
Nick the Tree came in the first week to remove some dead and decaying branches from the plateau area, particularly where we plan to build the Cabin in November. By using the quad and trailer we stacked them along Cuckoos end where there is a nice tack building up for 2023 log rotation. We also split and stacked some log in the garage ready for the same year. These were from the large plateau oak that was felled a couple years ago. We now have the makings of a good rotation.
The quad behaved well and it seems like the charger is working on trickle mode. Ot was time to get it services and the plan was to put the quad on the trailer and take it to Ussel. Unfortunately, when we hooked up the trailer lights, it was like a disco. Apparently the garage needed a relay for the trailer light which didn’t come with the kit! I wasn’t going to risk a fine by driving without lights so the moto quad shop came and collected the quad at an additional @200. The bill came to @400 so it was quite an expensive outing. I wasn’t sure whether they did the rear foot brake either like I asked. Not too impressed but at least it’s serviced now.
Other work around the site included the usual trimming and trimming. Thee is certainly a benefit of getting Paul Goldstein to mow through the property before we came. It really looked good. I trimmed twice around the trails and that was good enough.
We had a use for a couple of days. Jason Ingamells came through in his bike. He was originally going to stay one night but actually stayed two. It was good to see him and I think he was inspired by our work here at the mill – so he said.
We did the usual trips to Gueret for a Royal Wok and saw Joy and Barry – but really we didn’t go anywhere special. We went to see two french bands; Wazoo and Oubere. They were very good and it was a great night.
We camped out for a couple of nights – ritz by the fire circle and me in the hammock at hammock camp. It was lovely and peaceful with a couple of owls and of course the ever present bats. The flying hammock set up on the isthmus was also a good set to watch wildlife. A roe doe was sometimes in the Mill pond field.
We dropped a letter in to our fellow Mill owners on the D992 – the ‘other’ Moulin de Lascaux Maury. Initially they confirmed they were the Moulin de Chatoux. But on return to the UK we received an email to say that they were the Moulin de Lascaux Maury and provided a document form Jens Pierres grandfather when he bought the Mill in 1908. He even went to the Mairie de Gioux to show them. It remains to be seen now if they will change our Mill’s name. JP and Nice are really nice people and I hope we will see them again.
All too soon it was time to go. I really enjoyed this trip. The weather was marvellous and there were no issues with the Mill. Even a check on the fosse was positive with little or no sludge and that’s a good thing.
We plan to return in November to supervise the cabin build and to experience the wonderful autumn colours said to be present at that time of year there.
