The good weather that we ended January with did not continue as I had hoped, it has been very mild but once again we have had an abundance of rain in between the good stuff, and as I write this there is so much water entering the lake that it is actually in flood
The changes in the climate continue to be quite obvious, January was officially the wettest but warmest ever, and once the stats are gathered and compiled I feel sure that February will also break a whole load of rain-fall and temperature records.
It is that time of year when I am making sure that everything is done around the lake for the start of the season, and be the weather good or bad I am having to crack on with things. The ground is very wet though and I am having to be extra careful with the tools to limit the damage to the tracks around the lake.
It does not help when I am using my little digger in tight areas and having to turn on the spot:
The water in front of swims 2 and 3 has been getting shallower over the last several years due to a build up of leaf-fall, I originally dug them out about 10 years ago and it was definitely time to clean them out again.
A dirty job but the improvement will prove to be well worth the effort.
While I had the digger down on the lake it gave me the excuse to clean out a couple of the drainage ditches:
Nothing better than having your flow sorted out !!
The main job this month was to refurbish swim 5, the whole thing had been leaning forwards in to the water and for the last couple of years I had simply been adding more stone, it was time to do it properly.
Digging this lot out was just a little too complicated for my very old digger, because of its limited capabilities it would have done more harm than good so I decided it was going to have to be done the old-fashioned way, with a pick and shovel. It beats any workout in the gym and by the end of the day I had just about broken the back of the job, as well as mine :
A bit of a tidy up and the end result looks spiffo :
A new set of doors and new lighting for the cabin and swim 5 will be ready to rock and roll.
Still lots of little jobs to do though before we could call it ready for the season. A quick strim of the dam:
Some new oak timbers and a new grating in the monk system:
And of course lets not forget finishing the sluice gates. A good rub down with a wire brush and a couple of coats of black paint before sliding the new gates in to place, job done :
A shout out to Vince and his apprentice J-Jon for those gates as that little job was beyond my abilities.
I have had to drag out and cut up quite a few trees this year, mainly due to the sheer number of storms that we have had to endure, very unusual to say the least. Once tidied up that will be the lake ready for the start of the season which starts on the 6th of April.
The first catch report will be posted on the 14th of April and the Guys are using my new boilies so I will let you know how that all works out.
All I need now is for the rain to stop and the sun to shine !!!!
Till then, take care.
Le Moulin de Graffeuil 