Snow Yeti Again

Well, this is going to sound a bit like a broken record, but we have had snow again this week. But first, let me tell you about our little trip last weekend to Rennes le Chateau.

We decided, after reading about the snow forecast, to make the most of the fine weather on Sunday and go to the market at Esperaza. Sun bright and people chirpy and market a little quiet but still nice. On the way home we took a detour and went to have a quick look around Rennes le Chateau.

Tour de Magdalene

Penitence

Chapel of Mary Magdalene

Those of you who have read Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) and Sepulchre (Kate Mosse) will know the story of Berenger Sauniere, who was a local priest accused of receiving funds inappropriately and even of spying for the Germans during WWI. His grave is in the churchyard of the Chapel of Mary Magadalene. This small chapel is beautifully decorated.

There are some nice windy streets and interesting buildings in the village, as well as stunning views over the Razes from nearby the Tower - the Tour de Magadalene. Inside the tourist office you can find a huge glass-covered excavation hole, which was dynamite blasted in the '60s to try and find "buried treasure", which of course was never found and probably never existed. But it did start fresh rumours about the priest, followed by a series of books and theories, some mentioned above. You can also visit the museum.

Feathered clouds on Sunday

Later in the day we had some lovely feather clouds which to us signify an oncoming storm. It was unbelievable as the weather was just warming up nicely and the day was so bright. But Monday morning was a completely different story. A large blanket of snow was everywhere we could see. The snowflakes started off wet and large and soon became thick on the ground. The temperature continued to drop and by the end of the day everything was quiet when we took Cassy for a walk down to the reserve. Wearing our good old NZ gumboots otherwise the snow would have gotten into our shoes!

Monday

Tuesday morning

Looking towards the back fence
Icicles on shed up to a meter long

After 4 days there is snow still sitting on the ground and in some trees. We have had watery sun occasionally during the week but not enough to get rid of all the snow. The icicles are beginning to thaw and crash to the ground. Now we feel we have seen enough winter and just want it to be spring! Poor birds are having a tough time finding enough to eat so we are putting out "fat balls" for them to nibble. It's quite lovely to see them all queueing up and then some underneath feeding on the bits that drop.

Robin in the snow

A couple of weeks ago we completed our new fence around the garden we planned to upgrade this winter. Before we could start we had to remove the privet hedge - one reason for getting rid of this hedge is that it looked rather straggly and another reason is that I am allergic to the flower pollen. We got a couple of the smaller ones out no trouble, but the others called for the more drastic action of pulley and block - I think Wouter likes to use these machines - like making cement is the grown man's answer to the sandpit.

Front garden with privet hedge

Wouter working wonders with the pulley

Wouter Kabouter......

I always hoped to find a kabouter (gnome) in the garden!

The posts are from acacia and were given to us by our vineyard neighbours. They just wanted to get rid of them and we said we would take them. Simple and great for us! We did buy a few small plants to pretty up the entrance (hopefully they survive the snow) and at some stage we will get something hanging on the rails by the gate. The other side of the fence will be covered with clematis once they grow. The centre part of this garden will also be changed, but we are not entirely sure how we will do this part.

Posts woven with Virginia creeper and pruned branches

By next Tuesday our temperatures will be into double figures again, so we are told, and then it will be a race against the clock to do all the chores that need to be done before planting, before trees sprout again, before fruit sets, and before weeds get too big to handle! After that's all done the snow will be long gone and we'll be looking at the next chores of building our outdoor guest barbecue making a cover for the well-pump.

Cold as Ice

While you Kiwis and Australians have been sweltering in the heat (especially Auckland, with a heatwave of at least 20 degrees...) you might be pleased to know that we have been shivering in our shoes, literally. We do feel sorry for the Melbournites who are currently struggling with temperatures into the 40s and are having to deal with bush fires and destruction of property.

Last week on Thursday the snow started coming in and is still here. The last few nights have been bitterly cold at -8 or -10, with last night being our coldest since we arrived here, at -12 celcius. The sharp air cuts through your lungs and seems to bite hard. The ice wave of UK finally made its way down to south of France and caught us up in its grip.

street in the village

chemin du relais towards reservealong the Southe oaks retain their colour in the reserve

We have both been knocked out with the flu or a cold or something in between - lots of sniffling and not being able to breathe properly, hacking coughs, headaches and just feeling lousy. But, Wouter is a few days ahead of me and is well on the way to recovery. I am feeling much better too, so it's all good.

During the snowy weather we also got some sun, so Wouter took the opportunity to go out and take some photos. You can't tell from some pictures, but the snow was around a meter deep in places. According to Wouter he had to shake out his boots several times. As the snow starts to melt, icicles are formed and today we saw some which were at least a meter long. If snow has been compressed on the ground, walking can be dangerous if the compressed snow has turned icy so it's best to walk in softer snow.

view from the front window

snow drift on east of property

hope the broad beans make it through....

I think this looks like woolly mammoths climbing our hedge (we just saw Ice Age...)
and the tobacco plants look rather glum under the snow

Cassy has enjoyed the one walk I've made with him in four days (due to flu) - there were so many new smells to sniff out - he was almost in heaven. Although he later showed his true labrador traits when I felt sorry for some birds who could not find food, so made a melange of rolled oats, pumpkin seeds and breadcrumbs and bacon fat. Cassy made sure the birds didn't get a taste for this new cuisine as he found every single crumb. But he paid the price by having sore gums later on - having spent a lot of time with his snout in the icy snow.

The forecast for tomorrow is for up to +12 degrees so no doubt it will feel absolutely tropical!

Busy Bees

Thought it was time for an update so you can see what we have been working on around the place. But first a wrap on the weather. While kiwis are expecting a humid week with not much sun, we have recently had the most glorious autumn weather. So unusually warm right up to Saturday that people were talking about it when you met them in the street. But good things come to an end and yesterday was not too bad even if a little cold. Today it's just cold and the dark clouds are now rolling in from the mountains. There will be snow underneath - you can feel the ice in the air. Luckily I cleaned out the fireplace last week and we lit our first fire last night. Nice to see the glow of the flames again but with it comes the dust, ash-clearing and bringing in the wood.... I had almost forgotten how much work it is to have a fire!

First update is the ramp for our guests with a wheelchair or walker. Wouter has made the gradient very low for ease of use.

before the ramp

It was good to get rid of the old building materials from out of the house when we converted the bedroom to new bathroom and loo. All the old brickwork has been used as fill and the side stones were collected from around the property. The concrete on top was left over from doing the inside renovations, we only had to buy the dye to match the current tiles.

finished ramp

Next is the path just inside the front gate where our visitors on foot arrive. Before we did anything it was bare earth and because it is hidden behind a tree and gate, no sun was getting there to dry it out, meaning muddy or dirty feet when you came through the gate. Also you had to step down into the dirt and then back up onto the driveway.

stones sorted, edges done, ready to go

Another problem was that once through the gate it wasn't really clear where you had to go to reach our front door. So we made a small semi-circle of stones to level things out, keep feet out of mud and make it clear you must go onto the driveway to reach the house. When I say "we" I mean that I sorted the stones and Wouter did the rest.

artist at work

The best thing of all was that we didn't have to buy any materials for the job - we collected the stones from our garden over the last year while we've been working, the cement, sand and builders mix was from another job. We're pretty pleased with the result.

finished path

The next thing on the list is the front entrance. When we arrived, looking from the road, the left hand side was not done at all - completely bare concrete blocks. The right hand side was partly finished and partly bare. There was a crack underneath the letterbox, the letterbox was rather grotty. Nothing matched - the grey blocks, the half done side and the pillars - all different materials and different colours. There was also a Wellingtonia growing on the lhs which we removed some months ago as we both didn't like the tree and we want to put something else in there instead.

before

Wouter decided to use a mixture of good old whitewash but a bit thicker and slightly coloured with chaux. The result is a rough texture and uneven colour, but we think it's great, very practical and also very cheap to do!

nearly there...

painting over the apricot coloured posts to match the new walls

Continuing work in the hangar is also important if we want to have workshops this coming spring and summer. Before work could begin in there Wouter had to remove a large 1000 litre oil container. Wouter offered it for free to someone who was going to come with a tractor and take it down as it was resting on a wooden mezzanine. However, they didn't show so it was down to the good old rope and tackle. After it was on the ground we used the car to pull it along on beams of wood to save it digging into the concrete and then the driveway.

artichoke

Meanwhile I have been trying my hand at making decorations from things out of the garden. Inspired by one can of gold paint I first tried an artichoke I picked a few weeks ago - the ones I picked recently are no good for spraying as they have gone slightly moldy from being out in the little rain we've had. But the good news is that I have plenty of seeds to plant more for next year.
The next decoration is made from sticks we pruned off the trees last year, tied together with some old string and sitting on a board Wouter kindly made for me, cones placed around the bottom - then sprayed with gold paint.

Lastly a wreath for the front door. This is made from strands of Virginia creeper which were growing through the stones on the ground, wound around each other to form the wreath shape, sprayed gold. Next I attached some suitable greenery from the Bay and other evergreens, and finished off with some gold-sprayed cones.

Last week we were given 4 kilos of olives. The owners didn't want them so I went down on my bike and picked heaps from quite a small tree and came back with a backpack full of them! Why not try my hand at brining them? It will take some time, patience and lots of water to get them to the edible stage, but it's a good opportunity to used something which was unwanted.

Cassy is blissfully unaware of all the work going on around him most of the time. This is one of his evening poses, curled up on his duvet, complete with squeaky cellphone at the top of his head and squeaky baguette under his nose....

Cycling Along the Canal du Midi

Today we both celebrated our birthdays. As a break from our regular routine of work and more work, we decided to make a trip by bicycle along a part of the Canal du Midi and have a picnic somewhere along the way.

Picnic spot

Where to start from and where to cycle before turning around and heading home again? The weather was another consideration because even though it was a glorious day, the predicted wind strength was something in the region of 100kph.

Along the towpath

We had thought of Castelnaudary because there is a fairly wide path there and access is easy. But we looked further on Google Earth (great programme) to see if there were a couple of villages we had not yet visited (as we have been to Castelnaudary a few times now) and chose Villesequelande as our starting point (43 14' 21".03 N 2 13' 57".37 E). We cycled direction east towards Carcassonne, past Sauzens and up to the sharp bend opposite Pezens.

The Canal du Midi is a World Heritage site

Along the way I kept thinking of Kermit the frog and the Rainbow Connection. Kermit rides his bike in the opening shots of the movie and then the music starts and we see a swamp and hear the first chords of a sole banjo - the camera slowly zooms into the swamp as singing starts and orchestra joins in and there we find Kermit sitting on a log, playing and singing. I think this is one of the most beautiful songs ever (although I do admit my list is a long one!)

Ecluse (lock) between Villesequelande and Sauzens

Old Poplar

Back to the canal - there are some wonderful views from certain points, but you have to remember that as a canal it is not high up for panoramic views. However, you do catch glimpses across to the Black Mountains, across the villages on the northern side of the canal, and on higher points, over towards the peaks of Andorra. Quite stunning landscape indeed. And no worries about the wind as in most places it is very sheltered, having trees on both sides a lot of the time, or the canal is dipped behind stop banks - would be hot in summer but at this time of the year it's quite wonderful.

Wonderful trees along the way

Reeds in flower

Wouter was fascinated by many crows in one field - they seemed to congregate there and when he made some bird noises (he didn't tell me before that he could do bird impressions - the things you find out about a person....) they circled around like something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie, squawking. Armed with camera, he managed to take a few photos which satisfied his curiosity.

Field of crows

The canal is by no means busy at this time of year but there are a few boats still out for a leisurely trip here and there. You usually see boats in small groups - this is because when they go through the locks they come out together and so two or three pass within minutes of each other. Between 12 and 2pm though, it seems like they just tie up somewhere while the lock operators have their lunch break.

Reflections in the Canal

Cycling back another image came to mind - the Famous Five who were always having an adventure - except there were only two of us - Timmy (aka Cassy) was at home on guard duty and Dick and Anne were off hunting for mushrooms on Kirrin Island. We also didn't have lashings of whipped cream with any of our picnic but we did eat well mainly from our garden (tomatoes included).

I hope our pictures give you some idea of the lovely scenery along the canal and you can imagine a pleasant bike ride while enjoying the autumn sun and the calm of the surrounding nature.

Art Exposition

Last weekend were expositions at both Cambieure and Cailhau (neighbouring village) to celebrate Achille Lauge (1861 - 1944), a local artist from Cailhau. The exposition was to show-case today's artists who could somehow relate to Achille Lauge's work, in the form of a cultural community event and Wouter was lucky enough to be able to take part.

gathering interesting items for the display

preparing prints and text for hanging

The opening was at Cailhau with 6 local artists exhibiting oils, watercolours, specialised photographical images, sketches and drawings, and glass sculpture. Cambieure and environs exhibited work from artists of oils, acrylics and gouache, paper art, and of course printing.

setting up the hall

other side of hall

At Cambieure there were also activities for children - Wouter made a special drawing of the water pump down by the river (well, creek), to make a simple 3 block print, using Cambieure mud as one of the colours. The children were very focussed on putting pressure on the baren to make the ink transfer from the block to the paper. Even some adults had a go and found it enjoyable.

Pamela's first attempt at printing

Alice showing correct placement of paper (registration)

Great pressure and concentration for using the Baren

some adults in the Sunday print workshop

The drinks on Saturday evening proved popular with around 90 people attending - the atmosphere was lively and while socialising, people were looking and admiring the artwork - we saw lots of discussion taking place, which is after all, another aspect of art - encouraging discussion on a picture and how the image was achieved. We met lots of new people and also caught up with others we hadn't seen in a while - very enjoyable.

drinks are always popular!

The texts for the prints and the story book to show the preparation process before you get to the printing stage explained that there is a lot of work and effort required for making a print. And it was only while doing this I completely understood what Wouter was talking about when he was telling me about such things as registration marks and working the block. People often don't see or know about the planning, the preparation, the carving, the printing - and how long it all takes to achieve the final result - they only see one image completed on a piece of paper. The experience was also valuable for us to know what participants in future workshops might expect, want to do, and what sort of questions can be asked.

All in all the event was a success with locals being able to enjoy some local artistic talent on display, children being able to express their artistic abilities and try something they may not normally be exposed to, and seeing an unexpected horse trek of around 20 horses and riders passing by. As a last treat while we were packing up, a local arrived with a preliminary sketch by Achille Lauge, so we were able to see the real thing. Pity the image was damaged with a long tear in the paper, but hopefully the owner will have it professionally restored to preserve it.

Wouter's woodblock prints can be seen here (please note the image copyright) and his art work here (also copyrighted).