Moulin du Clout - 30th October

After We had deposited Fennie and Jay at Rodez airport (about an hour away from the Mill) we sped back as our son, Matthew, the owner of the Mill was flying from Brussels for the weekend. He was arriving in Toulouse about 4.30 and catching the train to Maurs where we would pick him up.

On arrival at Toulouse Matthew found a demo going on in the town with farmers on tractors protesting (I think) about milk prices. Despite the difficulties he managed to catch his train although without a ticket as there was chaos at the station.

We don't often get time alone with Matthew as now he has a family they are naturally his first priority so we like to make the best of these times. We chatted about our plans for our time here next year if he hasn't sold it by then. He doesn't want to sell it but with family committments he finds it difficult to spend much time here and it does need attention. We have scrubbed round the idea (for now) of the tipis and I will try and market the gite for the summer months.

On Sunday we had lunch in Montsalvy and discovered parts of the town that we hadn't seen before. We then went on to the Poterie Le Don, a futuristic- looking pottery run by Nigel and Suzy Atkins.

We make regular visits here and usually manage to buy something. A purchase last year was this splendid garden sculpture - a Raven.

This time I limited myself to a small covered pot although we promised Nigel to consider a large hare next time we visited - €800 - a bit much.

Not wishing him to miss his flight and wanting to visit IKEA at Toulouse we drove Matthew to the airport on Monday morning.

Jim has continued working on the potagers, finishing the first one, planting it with broad beans and garlic and making a start on the second. We should like three altogether. They are just raised beds really - for growing vegetables when we are here next year. As the materials are all to hand they cost nothing.

I have not finished my sewing project - the patchwork quilt for the double bed in the main house. I should have got on with it during the first week. I shall have to take it home now and finish it there. Here are two squares of it. There will be 72 of them joined together and then bound with another strip of fabric.

Our last outing was to the Chestnut Fair at Mourjou. As it rained on the Saturday it was a bit of a washout but we went again on the Sunday which turned out very pleasant indeed.

On the Monday (when we should have been on our way home) we entertained a prospective buyer. He and his engineer friend spent four hours looking over the property and domaine. I gave them lunch. He wants a place where he and his wife can eventally retire and be fairly self-sufficient. It will just be our luck that he buys the Mill and we won't be able to spend next year there. It is in the lap of the Gods.

Moulin du Clout - 15th October (but written 30th October)

The weather has changed from warm and sunny to decidedly cold and sunny. A fierce frost this morning and no heating in the bedroom as the wall heater has stopped working. We have a winter-weight duvet and I am wearing a thick nightie so I am warm and cosy.

We collected Peter and Jennifer from Rodez airport last Friday. As we can't leave Rufus alone anywhere he had to make the return journey perched on the suitcases in the back.

On Saturday we made our usual trip to Figeac market. The market is the same as that in Maurs (Thursday) but Figeac is a lovely town to wander around.

We were able to get a new toaster to replace the broken one and have lunch in Bagnac on the way back. Peter likes this as you get about five courses plus a bottle of wine for about €11 each.

On Tuesday Peter and Jennifer said they would like to see the area with the volcanoes (extinct) which are a distance away so we set off early. We had a good lunch in Murat and toured the area.

In the evening, after an interesting casserole prepared by Peter and left cooking in a low oven during our trip we watched the film Tea with Mussolini. A great film.

Jim and Peter have been working hard cutting down saplings and general undergrowth along the leat. The roots are undermining the bank here and destabilising it. This is the sort of maintenance work that should be done regularly but because no one is here often enough it is getting neglected. Jennifer and I sit and sew, outside in the sun if possible, but we have had frost for several days this week and at this time of the year the sun goes off the terrace in the middle of the afternoon.

Maurs market today and lunch at La Bascule - another favourite, but €12 this time and we were not sure about the braised cabbage.

When I went outside to get the washing in at dusk I saw this little chap:
- a salamander. He was about eight inches long. The photo (taken with flash) doesn't do his colours justice - the yellow patches were bright yellow.
Tonight we watched On Golden Pond.

Tomorrow Peter and Jennifer return to the UK via Rodez and Stanstead. Where has the week gone?

Moulin du Clout - 5th October

We have arrived at Moulin du Clout, safely, after two and a half days travelling.

We have always taken our time over the journey, only driving 5 – 6 hours per day maximum and sharing the load. The first night we spent in Calais, the second in Limôges. On the third day we have time for grocery shopping and a leisurely lunch in Maurs before arriving at the Mill in the middle of the afternoon. This way we have daylight hours to solve any problems that we may find on our arrival. Last spring we discovered a burst pipe in the first floor toilet when we turned the water on which meant finding a plumber quickly. Through our friendly neighbour, Cyprien, in the village, we did so and had it fixed by 9.00 next morning.

Rufus Whippet travelled well. It is his first trip to France and we were keeping our fingers crossed that he was truly over his car sickness. We came via the channel tunnel so that we didn’t have to chance a rough ferry crossing. He behaved well in the hotels, sleeping quietly on his rug and not peeing on the carpets, which was my other worry. His only problem now is that he can’t bear to be left anywhere (including the car) on his own. He gets frantic with anxiety and barks and whines constantly.

The weather is warm and sunny and I am sitting on the terrace opposite the view (pic 1) as I type this. Every few minutes there is the crashing sound of walnuts falling into the undergrowth or bouncing off the barn roof. Away to my right I hear the sounds of the River Cele splashing its way over the stones and the small cascade from the millpond. I can hear bird song although I can’t identify the birds. Only the blue tits show themselves much here – they will come to eat the bits of walnut we put on the terrace wall. The birds are unused to humans and are shy. However in the spring we had a wagtail’s nest on the gîte window ledge (pic 2)and a blackbird nested in the clematis by the steps.

Jim is doing his rounds of the domaine checking the sluices of the millpond etc. Rufus is scavenging for walnuts under the trees. He cracks them open and eats the contents. We shall have to limit this occupation as the terrace is becoming strewn with broken shells and I fear for his digestion – always a bit dodgy.

One of the uses of the Mill was to extract walnut oil from the plentiful supply of walnuts growing on the surrounding trees. The mill equipment is still in place (pic 3) although, unfortunately, no longer working. Cyprien used to work in the mill as a youth and has told us about it.

Two of the walnuts Jim planted in the spring have sprouted so we shall have saplings to take home and the rhubarb is doing well. When we were here in the spring Jim and Peter created a circular potager from sticks (pic 4). We got the idea from a French gardening magazine and as suitable materials were to hand we decided to make three of these to grow vegetables next year if our plans to spend the year here come good.

All seems well about the property except we have mice in the gîte. Rufus and I found one sitting on the bathroom mat washing his whiskers. Rufus made a dash but the mouse disappeared behind the bidet. Jim will have to set traps. Peter and Jennifer arrive on Friday I hope we will have got rid of them by then.

À bientôt.