You Have To Laugh

Or you would cry…. Today was lovely and frosty but bright so I enjoyed a leisurely get up and set to stripping the wire I’d bought yesterday. It was solid cored and it was only the way it had been cut that made it look multi-strand. So far so good.

I then opened up the pump to attach the cable and realised I’d been sold a mono-phase pump not a triple-phase one. No chance of water until I go back to Villeneuve and exchange the pump (if they have one), or order the correct one.

So with unexpected time on my hands, what to do? I could go back up to the field and mark out some more planting spots but it’s Sunday. Sunday is when all the hunters go out shooting anything that dares to move and I have no wish to be in the firing line or anywhere near their dogs, most of which run round doing what they want and disregarding their ‘master’s’ calls.

In the end I decided to do a bit of pruning.

OK it is a bit of a sever prune otherwise known as my first attempt at chain sawing. I ended up buying both an electric and a petrol chain saw. The idea behind the electric one was that it would be easier to start and would have a quicker emergency stop time and I could get the hang of using a chain saw before using the petrol one.

I have two mulberry trees at the front of the house. They aren’t the type that silkworms eat, nor are they the fruiting mulberries. They are the coppiced trees you see all over France that gives shade in summer. The new growth from the coppicing point is not as strongly attached as the original branch and should be cut back at least every two years if not every year. These trees have been left for a while and the ‘new’ growth has got quite large and I’m worried it may break off in high winds. The tree is also beginning to encroach on to the telephone line so some major work was called for.

In the foreground of the cut wood is the protective gear, gloves, leggings, helmet with ear defenders and steel capped shoes. Working in that lot was hot but the most difficult bit I find is that it’s not designed for 5ft tall women. I eventually managed to turn up (the leggings), squish round (the gloves) and adjust helmet so I could see and still be able to move enough to work the chain saw. I’m pleased to say that I only got the blade trapped a couple of times and that was only lightly and that the only casualty of the day was one strand of the washing line. The knot on the line was far to tight to untie and there was a possibility that the branch would miss it - but it didn’t. Still I do have spare line for when I have water and can do some more washing.