Token blog post

These to-do lists are why I haven't had any time to blog for the last couple of weeks:


I've only just had time to take a photo of our first gosling while it's still a bit green:


The mother goose is sitting on another eight eggs in that wine barrel. We thought they'd all have hatched by now, but they haven't. We don't actually know much about geese yet, so wouldn't know if this is normal, abnormal, or something in between.

I would write more, but I might just take five minutes instead to enjoy That Relaxing French Lifestyle.

Door bore

Earlier in the year, we put up a snail-shell cubicle for our solar shower and a tree bog. What I didn't mention at the time was that both of them were missing these:


I've never made a door before, and started with the one on the right which, I think, looks proportionally better. The one on the left has the horizontals just too far from the edges and the boards aren't pinned tightly in place like the other one. I might add a drip edge to this, which will sort out the bottom - but not straight away. (Far too much else to do before our first guests of the year arrive on Saturday.)

If you've never made a door and want to have a go (and it's cheaper than buying one if you have a woodyard handy), the diagonal bit should always go towards the lower hinge. This braces the door and prevents it dropping if it feels so inclined. I know there's at least one carpenter who reads this blog and Door Enthusiasts may find some Fascinating Door Facts in the comments section eventually. Joinery's probably the next step but who knows when I'll need a door that precise?

These doors are made from fresh-cut larch and seasoned chestnut, with hardware bought from down the road. They're currently missing locking devices, but I've got some ideas...

Coming soon(ish), a little bit more of the huge amount we've been up to.

And rest

Spent the last two days putting the rest of the floor together. By six thirty last night, it was ready for the newly sanded and oiled frame to go on.


Early evening is not a great time of day to start putting up a yurt (when you were already staggeringly tired in the middle of the afternoon), but with rain forecast for first thing in the morning there was no other way. Apart from the road and car park, that's the last bit of infrastructural work finished for the year.

Yes, we're planning even more improvements.