The chainsaw is working.
It was never broken, that is what Lester found out when he took it into the local repair shop yesterday. He said the place was very busy, full of Frenchman, all speaking French of course,
and Lester can speak a tidy bit of French but to explain exactly what he thought was wrong with the chainsaw stretched his vocabulary to its limits. He said that the repair man took hold of the chainsaw and started it at first go. He said that he found himself going red with embarrassment.
It had taken him ages to try and 'mend' it, and a second opinion from a friend confirmed that it did indeed need fixing.
The repair man explained to Lester how to get it started. No buttons pushed, no choke or whatever use, just start at full power because that is what you do in the summer warmth of SW France, so to only use those other choke things during the colder weather. This was not explained on the 'How to start your Stihl chainsaw' videos on YouTube. It would have been handy if this had been mentioned. It would have saved a lot of effort, swearing, and general upset.
So he brought the chainsaw home, started it first time, and got on with sawing the wood.
But the veg plot is now suffering from neglect as his time is given to getting the wood sorted out for winter. The harvests we have had have been excellent, but, well, we can't do everything. Unfortunately my energies have suffered a drop after having had a bout of adrenal fatigue hit me,
everything having finally caught up with me, which is not a bad thing. Being forced to slow down does give me a chance to get my pathway ahead clearly visible....like scything my way through the hedge of mental detritus which has been cluttering up my mind over the last few years.
I am very happy with my life as it is, but sometimes old ways of thinking get in the way of fully enjoying what is in the 'now'. This patch of adrenal fatigue has given me the space to do this. It has been a blessing. Now all I have to do is be patient with my slowness, and stay confident that I shall not be in this slow zone for much longer.
It is easy to feel dispirited when one is not pedalling away at full speed with one's life journey.
But a wise person will know that sometimes the brakes have to be put on for a while, that a pause is needed before the pedalling at full speed starts up again.
Jamming:
......the plums in the fridge were not rotten, but had matured into a wonderful golden plumpness,
so some have been prepped for jam, and some have been dehydrated. These were Rheingold plums and my goodness they are a delight to eat.
I have another bowl of plums in the fridge to prep,
but they are smaller and less sweet so I shall put a sugar syrup over them, and get them into canning jars.
Lester is bringing in the potatoes now, and some of these shall also be canned.
The larder is filling up now. It is so satisfying to see the shelves being filled.
Opening the door to the outside world this morning,
and straightway I could feel that the year had turned:
the morning mist, the autumnal dampness, the softer light,
all these signalled that we were heading towards the cooler months.
I always find it surprising that this change of seasons seems to happen so suddenly,
almost as if a switch has been clicked, but always several weeks in advance of the season noticeably changing.
The magical changing of the seasons...... even in mid winter we can feel spring on its way, so no season is in a fixed state of being because the essence of the coming season will be in the air.
I shall remind myself of these words when I feel a rainy season on its way!
and straightway I could feel that the year had turned:
the morning mist, the autumnal dampness, the softer light,
all these signalled that we were heading towards the cooler months.
I always find it surprising that this change of seasons seems to happen so suddenly,
almost as if a switch has been clicked, but always several weeks in advance of the season noticeably changing.
The magical changing of the seasons...... even in mid winter we can feel spring on its way, so no season is in a fixed state of being because the essence of the coming season will be in the air.
I shall remind myself of these words when I feel a rainy season on its way!
Onwards then with the day.....
Bye for now,
Vx
Bye for now,
Vx
16 comments:
I marvel every time I read your blog at what the two of you achieve and what you have learnt to do on the road to self sufficiency. Early this morning here in Haute Vienne there was one of those white mists that mean a very hot blue sky day is coming and sure enough it has. Possibly the first sign that the year has turned.
I cant work pull start things, I wish some one make an attachment you put on and it pull starts it for you, I am starting to head into the canning season although harvests have been slower this year, yes sometimes you have to slow down and smell the roses :-)
MEADOWLASS.....we also have hot sun and blue skies, which makes a change from the days of overcast skies!
DAWN, Lester says his arm nearly falls off every time he starts his chainsaw! Hope your canning projects go well....I am just about keeping up with ours, but it is such a nice feeling to see those jars on the shelves. Slow time is something that does not come easy to naturally busy people, does it!
It is a great feeling too be preserving food for the winter.
Frustrating about the chain saw but at least now he knows!
LISA, it is true....Lester now starts the chain saw first time!
We have been canning green beans. Next tomatoes and corn. Might have pears to do soon. I also love to see the pantry shelves fill up with jars of good food. This time of year is so busy. Love your blog.
PJ, such a pleasure to see those filled shelves, isn't it! Makes up for having to can in a hot kitchen as the outside temperatures soar!
I also looked out our window today to find quite the opposite to yourself. The morning mists that occur each morning were not there today and the sun was shining with a clear sky. As you enter Autumn, we enter spring in a few more weeks. Hope you have a gentle autumn and winter Vera.
Leon and Sue
Have you never thought of getting volunteers to work on your smallholding Vera? Woofers is supposed to be very good and you give people life experience working on your farm in return for board and lodgings. Did you think any more about a B&B/campsite? We let two French ladies camp last night. They came from Nantes. They were very grateful and they are going to email us.
So glad the plums survived, yum yum. We have rain today and both the garden and I are actually enjoying it, We were beginning to look well dried out despite watering! Take care Diane
My wife can't start the chainsaw. Very convenient for her, because I now have to do all the log sawing. We have been very busy with summer guests for the past few weeks, and the veg garden has gone mad. I lifted my red onions a couple of days ago, and the weeds surrounding them were unbelievable. Autumn always used to start after August 15th; we would have a belting storm, then everything would slowly change.
The story with the chainsaw reminds me of my basic home paper shredder. I thought it was broken, so I ordered a new one. It appears the model is out of circulation. I didn't want a more expensive one, so I started to play with it and found out that it was working just fine.
Lesson learnt - not to jump too quick to conclusions.
LOL that's why I always tell the guy the chain needs sharpening AND it needs a new filter AND is often times hard to start perhaps the carb needs cleaning :)
Covers all the bases and gives me an excuse to bring it in and not look like a newb :)
I normally sharpen all my own chains and change filters myself but figure if it needs big work those costs are nothing.
LEON, I find it fascinating that our seasons are opposite of one another!
NORTHSIDER DAVE, in the future we shall get help in, and there are several organisations, like Woofers, we will contact. But we don't have bedroom space, so that needs to be done first. It is definitely something we shall do eventually. We do have a downstairs bedroom which is not finished yet, but I hope to use that as B&B accommodation next year.
DIANE, the plums were done, and another lot about to be done, and there are now three crates of plums waiting to be done!
CRO MAGNON, I was thinking about suggesting to Lester that he lets me use the electric chain saw which is smaller than the Stihl. I love the slow turning of the seasons, and will keep an eye out for significant changes on and after the 15th!
DUTA, Lester was so convinced that the chain saw was broken, bless him! But he was glad not to have to pay out huge repair costs!
PIONEER PREPPY, now that is a good idea......over explain the situation! Lester is having a go at sharpening his own chains now. I think it might take a while for him to get the hang of it!
No chainsaw, but DH has a new strimmer he´s keen to get on with. I expect the charm to last about 2 months.
Did you plant the plums or were they there already? This fall we really must start planting fruit trees.
We´ve got family visiting right through August. At least the garden gives me an excuse to have some time to myself.
Take all the time you need to recover. I also marvel at what you get accomplished.
COCO, there were no fruit trees at all when we arrived here, but Lester has now planted about sixty. They are still quite young trees though but we really ought to prune then this winter, but we don't know how to do that and don't want to damage the trees! No visitors for us this year, but we needed a slower year after the busyness of the last few years. Hope you enjoy many happy hours out in your garden!
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