Cathar Castle Views

Look down on the mountains

See for two hundred miles

Happy Rentree

Here is a symbol of September, the first fruits of our grape harvest;  rosé grapes in an Italian grape bowl which caught my eye in a charity shop.  Grapes love heatwaves and drought.  I only watered this vine a couple of times and yet it thrives. 

B leaves school for university, R leaves Collège for Lycée. 

Terrace Aftermath

Spot the cat as usual, faithful companion in times of rest

We can go on no longer (for the time being)

R & Friends...

...making pancakes one Sunday morning...

Cosmic stuff

Terrace interlude

We have had to abandon work half way through the project, to take it up again during the fine weekends of September, our helpers have gone and JC is back to work.  We dumped all the planks on top of the foundations to protect them and so we can get out of our door, and it gives an impression of just how wonderful it will be...when we finish it.

YES  the first plank, Sunday!

B lovingly sets up and demonstrates our laser machine which we could have used to help us get the terrace level had we remembered that we had bought it in a brocante years ago...but I will use it to draw large squares of colour on the wall in the living room

Sunday evening, time's up, puzzling over the laying of the parquet and screwing in place

Terrace facing defeat

The loneliness of the leader before the everlasting overhwhelming challenge, pushing on beyond the point of exhaustion.

We realise we are involved in a major construction, a roof perhaps, or an entire house.  We are underqualified, under staffed and our deadline is inappropriate.  I think it would have been easier to build 20 metre foundations with an underground carpark and have done with it.

It is Saturday evening, last half day tomorrow, and not a single plank of terrace is in place.  The 80 4 metre long planks have not even been carried to the building site.  As I write, JC and A are screwing the foundation frame in place.  Utter exhaustion has set in and and in desperation family loyalties have been pressed upon.

R:  OK OK I'LL WORK BUT NEXT TIME BEFORE YOU DO SOMETHING STUPID ASK ME I MAY BE ABLE TO HELP YOU AVOID A PROBLEM.

B came over with H his girlfriend, after disappearing for 2 days and nearly causing a family Rift.  Push on, push on...

The rare sight of B, R and JC on site at the same time, if only many hands would join to make light work...

One hole drilled in the baked earth every 40cm, filled with cement, topped with an adjustable foot to be finely adjusted, equidistance between the rafters, equal height, perfectly flat in all directions...

R prepares to 'work'...and JC prepares to collapse

A does the work of 3 men he is a titan...a black belt in Aikido, a qualified sports teacher, a determined, honorable and loyal friend

Complex engineering, calculations, problem-solving...

A sea of terrace foundations stretching to the horizon


I feel like a war photographer.