Winter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The rain stopped 2 weeks ago.It rained for about 5 weeks with only 1 dry day each week.Wet and windy ,i was going batty!!!!!!!!Then last week it cleared up and got really cold;it snowed everywhere in France except for this region.The last week weve had really heavy frosts with wednesay and yesterday being the coldest ,-6° and -7° in the mornings.BBBRRRRR!!!!!! At least it wasnt raining,until i woke this morning to -YES!!!!! more rain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its not too cold, maybe5 or 6°.Again ,its snowing everywhere else but here
Lola has been home from school with a bit of a flu this week.A viral thing thats kept most of her class at home.She's alot better today and i'm sure she'll be better for her school xmas break which starts tomorrow.I'm sure santa will be good to her this year as she has worked very hard at school and had excellent results
Were getting organised for xmas and preparing for the xmas lunch here with 14 of the family coming.We're the only ones that can fit them all in together.looking forward to plenty of good food and wine.
I have only been surfing once a week lately with the conditions being less than ideal.I had a good session last week with jez and i and 1 other guy brave enuogh to tackle the cold conditions.It was 3-4 ft and some fun Left and right peaks,not perfct but we have to take what we can get at the moment ,so if its offshore and surfable we jump on it right away(even if its 2°-3°)Water temp is still not too cold at 14°, so its still bearable and i havent needed my hood yet so its not too bad. Its usually colder on the beach looking at it than it is in the water; and of course getting changed afterwards isnt much fun.With 2 winter wetsuits and 2 sets of bootys it means i can always have a dry suit to put on- definitely makes it easier

Ugly weather

Its that time of the year again,Stormy,windy and so much rain! Weve had only 3 dry days in the last 3 weeks.Its so wet !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Its not even winter yet and its grey and darkIt hasnt been very cold but it will come soon.No waves for the last 2 weeks ;I've spent a lot of time stocking our firewood;Jez lost a couple of trees in the big storm 2 years ago and said i could have them if i wanted to cut them up.So with what he had( and theres more)i should only need to buy a couple of vanloads this year.I've finished the garden shed so i now have somewhere to stock the wood under cover.i can fit enough wood to last (hopefully)about 6-8 weeks

Grande Lustre

Well i have finally found the light that weve been looking for the last 2 years.Not really a light but a' Lustre' . Very heavy,around 70-80kgs,made of forged steel, a handmade masterpiece that needed some serious anchorage.It feels like were living in a castle every time we look upat it.I was looking for some timber in a second hand yard and stumbled across this little treasure.It was in really good condition and a quik rub with some steel wool to clear up alittle surface rust and its wiring was good too ,it was ready to hang in no time.80 euros later it was an absolute bargain.The photos dont really give the impression of its size.At nearly a metre across and 1.3 metres high is very big and perfect for this big room
I've finished rendering two walls and its looking good.The garden shed is done and i'm getting our firewood ready for winter
The waves have been pumping and have had more good wavesthis week and last week.The waters still not cold so thats good too

Garden shed and External Render

The waves have continued to pump until a few days ago when the swell dropped to about a metre for 3-4 days.This autumn has been so good for surf.

I'm now building the garden shed so i can finally empty out the garage to convert it into another bedroom.And in between that and surfing i've started the external rendering also.Its not very easy as i havent really (except for inside) done it before.Its an acrylic render which makes it easy to apply and seals the walls well. i'm trying to get a rough and kinda old finish on it to match the existing house,as the other walls are pretty rough .With my lack of experience ,my finish is (when i try to get it perfect!) so rough that it actually looks similar.

We had our first fire for the season last night so that means we're moving into winter.The weather is getting colder .the leaves are changing colour and starting to fall.Autumn is a very pretty time of the year here with lots of different colours and lots of still days.It also means the water will be cooling down and i have ordered my winter wetsuits.I need 2 new ones this year,A 5x4x3 with a built in hood and a top of the range 4x3,so with the

hooded suit from last year it means that i can(hopefully) always have a DRY suit ready at all times

Quik Pro 2010

The Quik pro was on here last week with some amazing waves and some amazing surfing.Brian Forward was in town on holidays,so we hooked up and watched most of the competition.Thanks to Richie Porta(now head judge of the ASP) ,who sorted us with some VIP passes,we got to watch the comp from the stand and enjoy plenty of free food and drinks and finished off each day with plenty of cold beer(also free,good on ya Rich!)The waves were most of the time,incredibly heavybarrelling waves that were only for the best .I have never seen anyone surf in conditions like here before.Normally too inaccessible from the beach without jetski assistance the conditions were absolutely jawdropping and the surfers wereimpressive in the way they attacked the thick heaving and a lot of the time dangerous waves at times up to 10feet high.Jetskis are used here quite often ,but they are usually on the outside banks and not inside and maybe only 50 - 70 metres from the waters edge.Well done to the water patroll boys for that!Owen Wright and Dan Ross had one heat where Owen broke 3 boards in 4 waves and then Dan broke one too.4 broken boards in 15 minutes.Ridiculous stuff!!!!!!!!!!!Shame for Owen coz if he hadnt broken so many boards he would've no doubt advanced.Immediately after the heat was over he had a 10ft wave that had him so deeply barrelled and for soo long it waould have been a 10 no worries.Slater, Ace Buchan,owe wright and of course the eventual winner, Mick Fanning were the standouts in a real spectacle of a competition.I was so lucky to see such an event live

Apart from that the waves have been pumping for all of september up till n ow;Great autumn conditions with another good week in front of us.The crowds left last week when the circus moved on to Portugal.Uncrowded pumping waves were everywhere last week.

Lola is 10

Lola had a 'Rock Star' birthday party for her 10th birthday last weekend.She had lots of fun with her friends here and then we all went for a treasure hunt and finished up down the lane checking out our new neighbour-A 2 week old baby donkey-So cute they all gooed and gaaed for ages .

Later on Derek and Niki dropped around to wish Lola a happy birthday too.Co and i went out with D&N on the friday night for dinner to a sushi bar and then onto a cocktail bar to finnish off with ,A fun night was had by all .

The waves have been pumping for the last 2weeks with some very solid waves provided by the hurricanes in America.Warnings are in place for a busy H season this year which is great for us coz we get the long range effects with long period swell of up to 20 seconds at tmes.Solid 'straight ,thick lines which give us some epic conditions!!!Watch this Space!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back to school

8 weeks is a long break.Lots of beach,surfing, sleeping in and doing nothing.Now get back to school!!!!!
There are still lots of people around and lots of surfers,so the water has been busy, but theres been plenty of waves and this week has returned to the way i like it with waves everyday.I havent been working much for Jez,just keeping busy around the house.But he wants me to do a few things for him now so thats good too.Its good to be surfing everday again ,i was going crazy thru August with the lack of waves.My shoulder is sill not too good but it seems to be the work that flares it up more than the surfing.Lots of ice packs and massage and some (lots)homeopathic painkillers keep it bearable .This morning Jez and i had some nice clean 4-5 ft lefts as the sun was rising to a magnificent autumn morning.Tomorrow will b the day with an expected 6 ft at 15 seconds.OOOHHH the season has begun
Brian Forward and his partner have arrived for a 4 week stay in Hossegor ,i caught up with them yesterday.I might have a surf with him tomorrow.Derek arrives for 2 weeks work tomorrow and Richie Porta arrive on the 24th with the pro tour as the circus hits town for a couple of weeks;Then all the travellers will follow the competion trail down to portugal.Bring it on!!!!!!!!!!!!