The springtime jobs begin to mount up

 

Let battle commence

 

Some of the ivy bites the dust, at the local dechetterie 

I think this beautiful spring weather began last Friday, so today was the fifth consecutive day of blue skies.  Whilst still a tad fresh early on, the days have been pleasantly warm, today I noted the temperature at 16c on the car computer.  Of course with all this sunshine the jobs that one has been putting off all winter don't seem so bad and the one Lesley and I began last Friday has definitely fallen into this category.  The task at hand could best be described as what my father might have called 'Irish navvies' work.  Well our Irish cousins appear to be a bit thin on the ground in Ribérac at the moment so it remained for Lesley and myself to begin the work of 'entretien du batiment' on our dependance building which makes up one side of our courtyard. 

 

The dependance building, sans lierre and beginning to dry out nicely

Ever since we purchased the property way back in the heady days of 2003 when you literally got more 'bang for your buck' I have watched from our top bathroom window, the incessant crawl of ivy (lierre) envelop the entire back of the roof.  I am aware of the positive side of ivy, it is an evergreen climber that gives you a green backdrop during those dark, drab months of winter, it provides good cover against problem neighbours it is very hardy and keeps countless courting blackbirds happy, particularly at this time.  Living in France is raw, it does not really allow for sentimentality, it is about survival so one has to put aside this green curtain of cover, giving endless insects and birds something to rave about.  The fact of the matter is, ivy is destroying the dependance building which has happily stood since about 1850.  It is raising the tiles on the back wall allowing water ingress thus rotting the beams;  it is burrowing its way in between the stones themselves and causing separation of same; it is overwhelming and eating the building like a cancer growth. So it was with some alacrity that we began our battle against the dreaded lierre.

 

The ancient canal being very painfully reinstated

The very first job was to cut the spiralling, twisting vines at the base of the building, and then tear off, web like, a network of tentacled growth.  These tentacles covered the entire 20m length of the building, so it was not easy work.  Once the trunks were cut I was then able to get onto the roof and pull very large lumps of ivy to the ground.  I have to tell you it was very satisfying work and certainly made a change from the office!  The builidng almost gave an audible sigh of relief as I tore off the last cluster of ivy and threw it triumphantly to the ground.  A choked up, very moist, drainage ditch runs along the back of the building and continues into the distance towards the Place National.  My job was to find base level and then reinstate it.  I found it, 20cm down.  I had to chop down through a thick myriaded bed of knotty ivy roots, and then cut portions out, peat like, and toss them aside for the sun to dry.  This will make removing them from the site slightly less arduous if the water they retain has dried out.  I lined them up like trophies.   I had won the battle but not the war.  Nature will quietly draw a breath, wait for me to do my worst, then begin the inevitable process all over again. C'est la vie.

 

It's a shame you can't burn these