For the last week both I, and the weather, have been predominantly doing one thing. For me it has been to continue clearing the garage bays. For the weather it is raining, almost constantly.
There had been a few wet weeks prior to Christmas when we felt that there was more standing water on the ground and rushing through the roadside ditches than we had ever seen since we moved here. This week we are probably on a par and the ground is completely waterlogged.
This has impacted how I have continued to clear the garage. Previously I thought I would move a lot of the waste wood from the garage and put it into the serre where I could chop it up when required. However, with the serre being on the other side of our saturated lawn just walking across it a couple of times creates a sloppy, muddy path.
To avoid this I decided to split the wood in the garage where I can stay dry and will then move it into the serre when the ground is drier. However, as there is so much wood, it has taken me hours and hours and hours and there is still a lot to be done! It has not been the most exciting week of our time here!
These pictures show where we are as of today. They may not look very different from last week’s images although I can promise that there is a lot less wood in this week’s than last. Frustratingly, we haven’t made our trip to the déchetterie but, as wood is the principal waste material in the garage, there actually isn’t that much to throw out.
Also, while we have accumulated lots and lots of cardboard I haven’t thrown that away yet as we may need to use it for packaging when we collect something in the spring. We are having some paving slabs being cast for us (we have found it impossible to find paving circles in France) and the person making them says they will need to be protected with cardboard for travelling. What he hasn’t done is reply to my question if he needs us to provide the cardboard so I can’t yet throw all of ours away.
It has prevented us even starting our first major project that I suggested we might be able to do. However, we keep hearing a rumour that France is likely to enter a new period of total confinement in February. The project will be in Granary and we don’t want to make a start only to be left as we were with Priory last year and we can’t complete. We have decided to juggle some of the projects and may hold the Granary work off until after Easter or when things are a little clearer.
At least we have plenty of alternative things to press on with and, for the start of next week, it will be more chopping and splitting unless I need to keep the wood in longer lengths to create a raft as the weather seems to be doing much the same too!
Kenavo.