Lack of the new installed hard drive has meant I have not been able to keep up to date with my journal. Chris tried to install the new hard drive without success so has had to put back the old one for now which means re-installing all the programmes. So I will have to rely on my memory now, which you all know, is not good at the best of times! On my first day back, last Wednesday, it started to snow at lunchtime and continued for 24 hours giving us a foot in the garden (the birds went mad feeding, thinking winter had returned) but that has now all gone. It has put another layer of snow up the mountain, however, which is good as it means the skiing will probably be able to last now until the end of April.

We heard explosions up the mountain on Thursday morning, which we have now discovered, are man made avalanches. We heard this frequently last December but at the time, had no idea what it meant. I spent a few days cleaning, washing, food shopping and catching up with a mountain of paperwork brought back with me from England. Whilst walking Chelsea, I noticed that in my absence, all the edges to all the 'canals' (the ditches that take away the excess water) have been burnt, presumably to stop them from getting overgrown. Once the snow starts melting in earnest, these ditches will be full.

Apparently the Yeti is closing at the end of April until next winter and Steve and Laura will be out of jobs. Steve understandably is not very happy, as when he took the job as manager last autumn, he was not expecting this to happen. It is because Thomsons have not taken any holiday bookings for the summer (or not enough) due to the Iraqi War. Thank you, Genean, for sending my latest copy of Marie Claire. However, not only had the brown envelope been ripped opened, but the original plastic envelope covering the magazine had also been opened. Were the authorities looking for porn I wonder, or was it just a very nosy French postal worker? At other times letters have been slightly damaged but this had been blatantly opened and not even sealed back up again to disguise the fact!

New birds alert

This week has seen the arrival of three new species to our garden. The first was a Pied Wagtail, not uncommon I know, but one that has not been seen on our patio before. The second was a Willow Tit. We first thought it was the Marsh Tit but on closer scrutiny realised it had the whitish panel along the wing which is the only thing that distinguishes it from its relative. Finally, great excitement, a bird we have never seen before, a Redstart. This is a beautiful bird, the size of a robin with a quivering rusty red tail. This must have been male as it also sported reddish underparts, with a black throat, white cap and ash-grey back. This is a summer visitor, migrating to Africa in search of warmer weather during the winter. They feed mainly on insects and as I had raked over the grass earlier that afternoon this may have been what encouraged him to visit our garden. Whilst I was gardening, Chris decided to see how far he could get up the Granon Road on the bike. I was very impressed when he returned and announced he had gone up to the 1500 metre mark without stopping. We are at 1350 metres and at an 11% gradient all the way, we worked out that it would have been just under a mile in length. Chris reckons that by the end of the summer, we might be able to get all the way up to The Col du Granon. Yes, I'm sure. Perhaps if I took all day, stopping for long rests at every U bend! Saturday we went up skiing - my first time in two weeks so I was slightly nervous. It was very quiet and the snow was lovely. During my trip back to England, Chris had been to see Adam with our skis. For a better price than in the local ski shops, Adam had sharpened the edges and waxed them for us. I knew about waxing skis, although I feel I go fast enough thank you, but we didn't know about having to have the edges sharpened on a regular basis. Danish Kim had looked at Chris' skis and said they were so blunt he didn't know how he turned in them. Well, what a difference it made. They felt rather slippery at first but it made 'carving' so much easier. Even so, after a 2-week break, my legs were aching by the time we came home. We had mastered some difficult reds, however, finding it much less effort with our newly serviced skis. Whilst back in Watford, I purchased two 70 minute audio CDs called 'Quickstart French' made by the BBC, which I have been listening to on my personal CD player as I walk Chelsea. Well, you listen, then repeat, and then try it on your own. Well, I hope nobody heard me. Unfortunately I have finished them already, as for me they were simply revision. I now need to find a similar thing at a higher level. They will be excellent for Chris, however. Last night we went to see 'About Schmidt' which was not quite as good as we were expecting but a good performance from Jack Nicholson. There were 7 people in the cinema! We're just waiting for the time when we will be the only customers! Today we went up skiing again but as the Easter holidays have now started, there were quite a few people about including many English. We skied over to Villeneuve, going down an icy blue that was more like a skating rink. Imagine ice-skating down a hill and that will give you some idea of what it was like - not nice. The lift queues at Villeneuve were so long that we decided to return to Chantemerle. The only way back was a long wait at a button lift behind about 100 people, which then decided to break down. Two liftmen climbed up the apparatus and proceeded to hit it with a large hammer! We were just glad we were not one of the people stranded up the slope, hanging onto the pole, hoping your legs don't give way. Back on top of the Serre Che, we decided to attempt 'The Pylons' and see if it was easier with our newly sharpened skis. Well, we reckon it was the best we have ever skied, being able to carve down instead of just turning and sliding most of the way! After a break, we decided to do the same again and then straight onto the Luc Alphand. This was very slushy so we had to be careful. Chris' legs gave up 2/3rds of the way down and that coupled with the fact he had had nothing to eat today (thinking of his waistline), by the time he got down to the bottom, he was feeling sick and giddy. I couldn't possibly go without food. I not only had a good breakfast; I also devoured a Twix at lunchtime with my 'demi bière'. As I walked down to the river with Chelsea this evening, I noticed that all the wild white crocus are now coming out and also what looks like hyacinths. Chelsea has had a run in with a white cat. One evening she spotted this cat and ran up and barked wildly at it whilst the cat just stood there with arched back, as if to say, "Yeah - come on then". I dragged the dog away but the following night when the same thing happened again, the white cat wasn't standing for any nonsense and attacked Chelsea making her yelp and run! Hopefully she has learned her lesson and will steer clear from now on but unfortunately; she is not the brightest of dogs.