Highlights of 2016 – Part 1

Well, I figure that the last update in November 2016 and the one before that was too big just to skip over. So this is part one of a brief synopsis of the highlights for the Cabin in the woods (with wifi) in 2016.

If you go back to an earlier update you’ll have noticed the fine sculptures that adorned the grounds. Victor had built these in his spare time out of all sorts of scrap wood and household items. When I got there most of the stuff had been cleared (believe it or not) but the big stuff took a bit longer to shift and is still going on as of February 2017.

Days before I went back to the UK for Christmas 2015 the septic tanks for three properties arrived to be installed in each of the gardens. I wouldn’t be around for the work, but thankfully Jean Pierre, my friend and the village Mayor supervised the work. He had his own septic tank being fitted at the same time. Each tank is 3000 litres and as big as a family car.

Whilst in the UK in 2015 I bought a small 5′ x 4’trailer off eBay. When compared to French prices it was dirt cheap and has been a great help in the clearing away of the bottomless junk yard that is the garden. Bringing the trailer back home was an issue when my ferry ticket price jumped a lot when I added it. Ahaaaa, but I had a cunning plan.. with the help of my brother we dismantled it and put the big bits on the roof rack of the van. I love my van.

That rust pile behind the tanks is just ONE of THREE scrap metal clearances that have happened since moving in. And there is yet more stuff to dig out of the garden. I did say Victor was a tad eccentric didn’t I? Only last month I found 30 empty bottles buried under leaf litter in an area I hadn’t previously risked exploring. Who knows what else is under there, but that another story 😉

January 2016

With the installation of the septic tank,  the garden got a total make over and not by me! Whoo hoo! I really have to push myself to be bothered with even basic gardening. So the prospect of clearing that lot out would, no doubt, have escalated to involve napalm, rather than hack it all out by hand. As my old mate Paul Mulder often says “Don’t work harder, think smarter. (Thanks, mate!)

So where as before, I had trees and bushes crowding in on the place, now it looked like the Somme.  This is a series of shots looking back from how it was to how I found it after I returned home in January 2016. At first I felt like a bug on a dinner plate, but the summer months meant we enjoyed a lovely view outside the south facing window and could sit out there in the evenings on the two recliners I bought to watch satellites and stars. Now I wouldn’t go back if I had to do it over again. I did sort of like that whole stealth thing I had going on before. Now I love the openness.

And unexpected bonus of having the tank fitted was they had to build a compacted rubble track down the slope and around the back of my place. The crane carrying the concrete tank must have weighed a fair bit to risk safely driving down that mud path at the top of a steep drop off to the right. So now I have a hard standing area for me to park my VW T4 on. Our cabin stands just behind that patchwork barn on the left. Might have to sweet talk Noel (the owner) into letting me rig up some sort of covered area to park under and allow me to work in comfort. Hmm food for thought that.

March 2015

With the opening up of the back garden onto the land behind meant I lost whatever fence was there. Thankfully my step-dad, Frank, had given me some treated chestnut fence posts which I hauled back home with me. In April I found a roll of chain link fencing at a local boot fair, so that got the fence sourced. Only now I needed a modest retaining wall to keep the earth in place. I don’t like the idea of a too sloping garden. Concrete slabs would be perfect, I thought. And it just so happened that Noel had several 2m x 500mm x 30mm concrete slabs resting right by where I park the van. See above. Some arm waving and painful French later I’d bought them off him (or sold my first born, whatever). With the help of the wheelbarrow and sheer male stupidity I was able to move the slabs down the slope and into place. That really pooped me out too. Suddenly I felt rather old. Anyway, it was built and just in time too, because three goats appeared in the field not long after. Lyn’s already thinking of spit roast goat kebabs over the fire pit once we build it.  (yum yum says Lyn)   😀

Have to say I LOVE the back view of the house in the shot above. I plan on taking several shots from that angle over the coming months/years to show the changes as they occur.

It’s what it is right now, but it’s mine and a very blank canvas. I just wish I didn’t have to shift so much stuff to get down TO the blank canvas. But then if it were perfect, I wouldn’t have been able to afford it in the first place. It’s a prefab building that I call my cabin…

However, now that Lyn’s moved in with me, this cabin is fast becoming a peaceful home for two to share. That’s the south facing window above my desk. The woodburner’s just out of shot to the right. And yes, the bed is far enough away from it to be safe. Trust me, I’m an ex-firefighter with a good imagination for what could happen.

So, in closing for this part 1 update of 2016 I thought I’d put into context where the cabin’s located against the surrounding countryside and the other houses of the little hamlet we live in. 13 houses… guess whose house is at the end of the road and got number 13? LOL!

Note the absence of trees around it. Not so “Cabin in the woods (with wifi)” Now eh? So sue me. LOL!

 

We’re both amazingly happy living here. It’s basic and maybe not to everyone’s taste, but it’s our home and we love it. The quiet at night is total and the vista of stars we see is stunning. Can’t wait to sit out in the summer months and just chillax by the campfire in the garden, munching on a goat kebab, counting satellites and picking out the constellations.

I love my life.

TTFN