With the complete lack of sanitary facilities at the property, there was only one thing to do. I dug an army-style latrine in a convenient glade in the woods adjoining the farmhouse. This took the simple form of a hole in the ground (obviously it's not near a water source!) measuring approximately 20 cm wide, by 20 cm long, by about 80 cm deep (or as deep as you can comfortably get using the previously mentioned digging implement!
I took care to conserve the section of turf which was cut out. Over the hole I placed a wooden chair with its seat missing. The recycled plastic toilet seat from the disused "outhouse" was then fixed to the chair. An ex-army poncho provided a screen to the front, and trees screened the other three sides.
After every visit, a thin layer of soil is placed over the deposit until the hole is full, and a new hole is then dug adjacent to the old one. The piece of turf which was carefully put to one side when the hole was dug, was then replaced over the top of the old hole, with the result that the hole disappeared entirely.
One could argue that this system is not fully ecological, but there again, what do bears do?
And anyway, there are only two of us, and it will suffice until we can obtain a better system. I discuss this in the next section : Separett composting toilet.