First stop on our tester trip in Berty. A smooth ride from home after overcoming a couple of small issues concerning pumping up the suspension and filling the ‘wasser’ tank! We stopped at the market in Lavaur for strawberries. Rio bleated a bit, wondering why we hadn’t got to the happy campsite  with the pool and bouncy castle. Geoff obviously did not clarify the nature of this trip. His idea is to mouche along free camping and checking out some wild swimming spot! Ha! In a small moment of madness I thought to leave the pads behing. Geoff went a bit white when he heard this, and luckily they are secreted in the charging spot under my seat in case of emergencies. Having got our strawbs we found a suitably dog poo infested spot to eat them. (Not Pip”s,  though Rio did ask why we bothered scooping as no one else does!!)

Headed out into the frosty garden in search of the perfect tree! After a lenthy hunt to find the saw, stepladder and another saw because the first one wasn’t sharp enough, I was beginning to think a nice 30€ tree from the local leclerc would be much easier. I was convinced of this after battling my way through the undergrowth (of which there is a lot, mainly bramble) to get a good sawing position. Getting the stepladder firmly on four legs was a highly irritating task so I gave up in the end and settled for balancing on a couple of legs. Swaying away in the freezing cold, snagging myself on the handy brambles I though of that handy tree….. however, after cutting, lugging and potting, the decorating was huge fun and the end result most satisfying. Fun had by all!