Sick kitty

Well, Porc Noir is all fine, but Tortilla will need to stay at the vet.  Her swelling was not kittens but a ruptured bladder.

Kittens to the vet to be fixed

Porc Noir and Tortilla went to the vet today to be fixed.

FZ6S headlight continues

4 hours to strip the front end off a bike.  Still, as least I can change the lamps if I need to without removing the entire assembly, unlike someone's FZ6N light.

Saga continues with making of brackets, and painting part of it black, where it had scratched off.

Carte Vitale

A major milestone for me.  A carte vitale.  

did an update for both cards at Tournay pharmacy 22/11/13 ~10.30

FZ6S headlight

Bought a fz6s headlight, damaged off ebay.  Arrived yesterday.
one side (left as looking at bike) a few deep scratches, but ok, other side well abraded along the top half.
tried a bit of jif on both sides, but no change.  Left the left side alone.  Cleaned lenses with IPA as there was a lot of glue on lhs, a little on rhs.
right side
used 1000 grit paper to get uniform hazy finish over the damaged area
jif seemed next most abrasive, so plenty of that on damaged area
chrome cleaner
tcut
clean in water
spray furniture polish
the untouched area might have a coating which means you can see the difference if you catch it in the light

Looks pretty good and uniform.  Now I just need to glue some lugs back on and fit it.
€130 saved for a couple of hours work.

col de soulor

About 180km round trip/ 3.5 to 4 hours, via Lourdes.  Went from Pau side.  Fantastic deserted road up to the top, 1474m.
Didnt have the camera, but it looks like this

Logs for winter

As the nights draw in and become cooler, my thoughts turn to trees.  To burn.

Since last spring, the remainder of the 2 stere of beech we bought in December 2011, has been stacked against the house in the dry.  These are 50cm logs, typically split into quarters from 50cm diameter trees.  As the log burner can only take 25cm logs max, the chainsaw, axe and elbow grease come into play.

4 hours later, 1 neatly stacked pile of thin 25cm logs is next to the front door.  About 0.75 stere.  The wood store has over 2 stere from a tree given to us by Emele in early 2011, plus a crate of tinder oak pieces.

year 0. Jan 2010.  Gas.  Brr.
year 1.  2010/11 bought 2 stere.  Used about 1.25 stere
year 2.  2011/12 cold winter.  bought 2 stere.  Used 2 + 0.75 (previous year) - 0.75 stere (left over) = 2 stere.  
year 3 2012/13 warmish winter, but long.  Used nearly all the 'tree' in the woodstore, which burnt quite readily.  About 0.25 stere of beech left, stacked by the front door.  So say 2-0.25 = 1.75 used. See blog late 2013 for info on the timber.  Currently ~6m3 in wood store, say 7m3 stacked in trees.

More firewood

7 car load, or about 2 tonne/stere of timber brought back from the forest today.  And an hour of tidying up.  4.5 hours in
The pile is over 2m high in some places.

Where's the dish gone

Satellite dish. It was a fairly bright white colour, which up against a bank stood out a bit.  So a pot of olive green paint later and it's a bit better.  Needs a little brown to fully camouflage it.

Spain here we come

Went to Spain with Graham and Di on the bikes.  170km to Ainsa for lunch, and then back via a view point, which is almost the back side of Gavarnie.  Left at 10am, back at 6pm.

FZ6N headlight

Another ebay bargain.  This time a FZ6N headlight.  Brand new and 1/3 of dealer price, or 1/2 discounted price.  A mere €230.  And the difference between the LHD and RHD?  A polished, cast aluminium (I think) reflector, which is not supplied as a spare.

Fitting is a pain as it looks like this light was an after thought on the design.  The bulb wires rub badly against the frame when you turn the bars.  Even with a few mods, it's marginal

Finished the steps

Cut the rest of the steps, laid the slabs, and grouted all of yesterdays slabs.  long day.
Yesterdays mortar is still soft, meaning 2 slabs got wobbly from being walked on.  These autumn days slow things down.

paving the front of the house, wood store and more steps

Cut some stone with a diamond blade to make risers for the steps.  Only 4 steps this time.  Cut 1 step into the bank, and laid the rest of the slabs alongside the shed