We arrived on the 3rd August just after Lughnasadh, the start of the harvest after a tortuous journey on the UK side with the start of the UK holiday. The French roads were relatively clear, although arrival at the Mill was greeted with a drought, a restricted water use (no hot tub) and a fire/BBQ ban. Nevertheless, we were grateful for the lack of grass growth as we only had to strim the paths lightly and mow once.
We had an easy couple of weeks, with a disappointing solstice on 12th but managed to forage for a few things to celebrate Lughnasadh.
We hosted Tracey and Mick and went to see Barry and Joy. We also managed to load the plateau oak into the trailer and hauled it to Mick and Tracey to split for us, as they had a more powerful log-splitter. This was long time due and it was good to see that all was stacked in the garage, which is now completely full and ready for autumn. Other jobs included completing the shelter over the hot-tub by staining the shelter and installing "The Ladies: Dexi, Lexi and Luna."
We were really gearing up for Daryl and Susan’s stay. This was a long time coming as well and they had wanted to visit for a while. They eventually arrived on the Tuesday.
We had a great time with them. They are great company and Daryl and I get on very well. We visited Felletin market, a walk around the Isle of Lac de Vassivierre and a nice restaurant for lunch and Pont de Senoueix. A lot of the time we stayed around the surroundings and walked the dog track in the forest, the Gallo-Roman remains and of course around the property.
What I liked and made me realise was how much there is here at Forest Life. I realised that by re-teaching my zone-in principles to them, I rarely follow my own advice - something that will always enhance the experience of owning Forest Life.
We had good food, albeit they being vegetarians and they did their fair share of the cooking. It was a lovely and enjoyable time with easy company.
The rest of the stay at the mill was lovely. A huge number of birds heard through Merlin, probably more than ever. The drought affected the river and it was down to a mere trickle, probably the lowest I've seen it. Nevertheless, there were a couple of crayfish carcasses found on the fallen logs. On the trail cam some lovely captures of Roe deer, Boar and, unbelievably a Racoon, and invader which is slowly moving across France. This may be the first sighting of one in this region, but I am not going to mention this in official circles. The trailcam also spotted the best yet capture of what is most certainly a wild cat down by the campfire circle.
The peace and beauty of Forest Life is awesome to behold. The Milky Way and planets like Venus and Jupiter when the Moon is not present, but even the Moon shines brighter than anywhere I know. The lack of cows in the foeld has resulted in Rode deer appearing at about 7:30 pm every night and again in the late evening.
Despite rising costs (Starlink is now going to be 45 euros -5 euros more for half the download speed) it remains a wonderful place.
Update in fact we will be able to downgrade to 100mps = Euro 35 for the winter. 200mps should be ok for when we are here.
Now in our penultimate week, it is a week of rest with a slow commencement of pack-down. We were going to go on before the ferry - but why? It's just so wonderful here! Steve and Jake came and we talked over osme tree-felling due for November. They will be bringing in a tree-surgeon to assist.
Our Forest Blessing Anniversary came and went. We spent the evening down at the fire circle and shared writings about the anniversary, which I will produce as a journal entry here. It was a lovely evening but a cold night both in the hammock and in the tent for Diem. We were grateful for a coffee in the warmth of the house in the morning.
After a nice warm start to September, it suddenly turned colder in the morning, 8C, although the days were sunny and warm. Only a little rain. The river remains very low.
Our final couple of days were spent reminiscing and making sure everything was packed away. We kind of lost touch on the final days. The sadness of leaving the Mill is quickly replaced by the days and weeks ahead at 29RC and whatever we intend to do there.
This was one of the best trips we have had at the mill, and the memories will linger on.
