more dapper and ducky wucky like

Blog 18 / July 2015

As the garden becomes more in control jobs turn up in order, and form part of the big garden procedure. Plant, weed, harvest, it is as simple as that…..I had weeded this bed of onions twice since 1^st June but as the crop matured I was able to hold fast on the next weeding appointment knowing that sometime soon I would be multitasking and weeding as I harvest, it is very productive and a real time saver. The new raised beds are working well for me as they satisfy my need for tidy and in control, no over spill and no weed spread and I can honestly say the weed crop is totally different now that they cannot just creep in under plastic or move in under the guise of what you think is veg, but at a closer look, is just weed weed, weed.

 

 

 

The shallots and onions are left to sunbath and dry out before I need to make the decision on how to store. We usually plait them up and hang them in the barn but I lost a few bunches this year with rot and I am more inclined to cut off the tops and lay the bulbs out on these lovely wooden trays I got from intermache supermarket to keep this year’s apples in. To be perfectly honest I tend to forget that I have stored apples and the mice get in just before Christmas as they prepare for their annual feast time as we do. Hung plaited or laid out in boxes, I am going to have to surf the net to get an opinion I trust.

 

The pumpkin growth is also well in control, we have four plants here and I have one in the poly tunnel. I am undertaking a scientific experiment to see where the biggest pumpkin will grow, not that I am determined to win a prize in this year’s Normandy pumpkin contest, no,  I am just being scientific and very grown up.

 

 

We have a project on the go at the moment to build a proper camper garage on the side of the barn to give me back the court yard behind the house to create a private and pretty outside room.  The plan was to use the hedge as the outer walls and rebuild the roof but I started the job of moving the two compost heaps from here to the allotment and Mike decided that he could not work with all this out of control hedge and we cut them out so we could see the wood from the trees, or compost from the hedge.  As Mike cut I grabbed and loaded the trailer, it was a slightly sad and melancholy moment as this was one of the first garden projects we undertook and planted this hedge way back in 2008. We bought 25 tiny little privets plants at the annual nurseryman’s fete in Montbourge

 

 

This is 2008 planting a hedge to hide the compost area and it grew and grew and grew. In 2012 and 13 we did not trim hard enough to keep it in control and it just went manic and became a bit of a monster. Earlier this year Mike had to cut in to find the entrance to this area as we were away at its most prolific time and it just took over and closed the way in..

 

 

 

 

So I am sorry it has to go but glad it did exactly what it promised to do. Now we will try to keep the front to maintain the look from the garden and protect the mowers from the prevailing weather but we have light and room to manoeuvre in order to build our new camper and mower shed. We left home twice today to take this trailer of trusted hedge to the decheterie but got sent home each time as the French farmers were in dispute with the rest of the world and have been systematically going through the country dumping all their farm rubbish on our roundabouts and when that did not make the news, they started last week to drive their farm vehicles to the entry and exits of the main roads, in order to stop people getting around. The police sit by and let it happen as they have the right to complain but I know if I was to dump my rubbish at the farmer’s gate and leave my camper at the end of his road so he could not get on with his day, I would be locked up and the key thrown away. I know they need to be paid for the work they do but it is the super markets they need to punish not us trying to get a project on the move and keep our momentum on an hourly basis and not a daily grind

 

 

 

so while I have your attention in the allotment let me boast about my sweetcorn bed with black plastic to keep the weeds down and the soil moist. We will get a handsome crop here and although I do not store sweet corn we so enjoy glutting for a couple of weeks with sweetcorn appetitive, veg, snack and just for the hell of it until they are all gone, and if we do get all sweet-corned-out the chickens are always grateful for a little treat as well.

I am doubly pleased that the allotment is looking good as we have people staying in the Mobile homes during July and August and although my precious place is out of bounds to them they do comment on how good everything looks and that give me a little spark of satisfaction and pride.

 

And lastly our boy ducks have gone through an extraordinary moult and were both looking quite ill and stayed off the water so in response we started a determined effort to clean out the pond and have dragged barrows and barrows of rotting willow and straw off the bottom but I am pleased to say that the water quality is improved  and our boys are looking a lot more dapper and ducky wucky like, this week xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

please come again sooooooon xx

Blog 17 July 2015

My chickens make me laugh. I went to get my crop of eggs and found these two in the nest together, both extremes, and I am sure that the girly who laid the large egg was concentrating good and hard to give us that breakfast treat.

 

 

 

 

We went to Orglands to watch the annual spectacular and decided that as it is such a long evening we would take the camper and stay the night. We imagined that there would be a good camper crowd so we got there early and set up camp in the stadium by the football managers dug out and waited for the crowds to arrive. 

 

 

We held an appero with friends and then walked to the event field with our picnic chairs to set up for the entertainment to start. This event is a night time son et lumiere and is usually held in May but due to the past 3 years of being rained out they moved it to July. We turned up en masse at 9:00 and then had to sit patiently listening to a traditional duo singing and playing the accordion and we waited and waited when it suddenly dawned on us that the night darkness is so much later in July and the event did not start until 11:00 and finished with a spectacular firework display at one in the morning.

 

It is not so clear in the picture but there was a shire horse and hay cart trotting past in front of us and this story telling evening was crammed with vintage cars, farm yard animals and people dressed in period 1940’s telling the story of the days after the war in Orglands itself

 

We took HOSS for a walk into town and are still enjoying his good behaviour and ended up at the German cemetery where 10,000 men are laid to rest but saw a sign banning dogs in the cemetery which is not a problem but I was amused to see that they were banning German Shepherds from the German cemetery, but HOSS was happy to sit and stay and we were delighted and actually, just I bit proud of him…

Since I have lost 50 ­­­­­­­­­­­­percent of my hearing I have become very aware of  noises around me and as I sat in our empty football stadium I  was amazed at how different the ambient sound was around me and I put it down to this lovely tree full of mistletoe. We had a little discussion about mistletoe in France and the amount of trees that are infested and then concluded  that because French culture allows you to kiss at welcome after knowing each other a mere 2 days there is no need to have the  Christmas tradition of kissing under the mistletoe. There are, therefore, no market traders clearing out the trees and as it is a parasite it is illegal to load it into a trailer and sell it in the UK. There are frequent calls from local Marie’s obliging tree owners to pull out the mistletoe to let the trees recover…….. quite interesting, how a small and a perhaps forgotten tradition has real power to save trees in one country when they are strangled in another….perhaps we should insist on our mistletoe tradition in the expat community and decorate our fireplaces and give the trees here a fighting chance to survive…. .

Mike and I found a tent to sit under as the sky was determined to confuse and it felt like it might rain. Friends just kept coming and we were a happy and sing along group way into the pouring wet evening.  We were some of the last to leave as we were then determinedly sat under our bit of tent enjoying the entertainment despite the down pour and chilly winds.  There were French people dancing in the rain and a line dancing group set up shop for all to join in and that in itself was entertainment enough

 

 

 

 

 

We went to St Mere Eglise for an evening of fun and music and as Mary and the Bugs were on the bill we thought with a band name like that , it just had to be done, and it was.

 

 

 

 

We celebrated two birthdays in posh frocks and black tie in a local Hotel. We all took a 22 Euro menu which makes the splitting up of the bill so much easier, the food was good and we had a great night out.  The tourist are nowhere to be seen this month once the June fun and antics is finished and I am sure these Hotels and happy to accommodate a cranky bunch of ex pats all tiara and bow ties and that is what makes us unique in our far from home communities. The people around us were holiday makers and the American gentleman who took this shot was in jeans and t shirt but did not bat an eye lid and joined in our fun.

 

 

I thought I was coming to the end of a mad week of outings and doings when our brother John called to say he was calling in on his way home from Brittany. He arrived at the cheese course of a lunch  date with our friend Ray and we sat once again in the pouring rain under our faithful tent and  when Ray went home Mike, John and I  found ourselves sat out until it got dark catching up and putting the world to rights. John slept on the drive in his camper and quietly ­­­­­­­­broke camp at 6 in the morning but I just had enough time to blow him a kiss from the bedroom window as 6 in the morning does not exist in our retired routine of life.

 

 

And when we thought the June military madness was finished we found a bunch of enthusiasts commemorating Operation Cobra and we were thrilled to see working tanks revving up the contents of a typical WW2 jeeps laid out in front of us. All these collectables and precious memorabilia set out for us to look at and admire.  Mike and Graham took a walk around the tank museum whilst Anne and I sat in the sun and chatted as only like two old girls can do. We had our weekly picnic together and the sun shone and we enjoyed our picnic outing 2 kilometres from home.

 

 

As this picnic date was just in the next village we decided to take Monty for a run.  We parked our 1936 Morris amongst 1940’s  jeeps and tanks knowing that he was already by then, eight years their elder and was very at home in the re-enactor environment we found ourselves in  that day. We all got in Monty and took a run around Carentan waving at picture taking bye standers, crunching the gear box and willing him up the hills with 4 of us comfortably sat in for the ride.

 

 

 

And lastly... it is a year since Mike and I had the joy and privilege of filling our home and garden with family and friends to celebrate Mike's and My 60th birthdays. The sound of the fun we had still resonates in our rafters and the joy of filling Brevands up to capacity is a memory that will stay with us forever

 

Thank you family…we are still having a hoot, so please come again sooooooon xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

to show off with this year…lovely..

Blog 16 / July 2015

 

It has been hot hot hot in Brevands and we have been able to open the pool every day and after Mike has gone through the fly clearing, skimming, ph reading and all the things a good pool boy does we cool down and totally relax, have our board meetings and just count our lucky stars that this old pool is going to last for yet another season……we hope

 

 

Until the area where the steps are became wet and flooded and the water level in the pool seemed to be going down and OOOHHHH NO….we found a leak. We spent a frustrating  two days looking for the puncture repair kit and another infuriating two days looking for the goggles to allow Mike to get down to work under water.

 

 

And finally on the Monday we had planned to go to St Malo for a two day break, Mike mended the leak and as we wallowed about cooling down we took a board room decision to stay in the garden and have our two day break here in sunny Brevands, with all mod cons right here.

 

 

 

 

We drove the camper into town, bought holiday food and drove it back to the top car park to let  ourselves into el campo del Brevands  and found a nice shady place by the pool and settled down for a two night stay.

 

 

 

 

We BBQ’d and made our own S’mores, the latest craze in Canada involving marshmallow, chocolate bar and digestive biscuits all squiggled together,  thank you to the Joiner family for inspiring our al fresco desert.

 

 

 

We positioned the camper to get the morning sun and as we know the dynamics of this garden like the backs of our hands I was looking forward to the soft rays of the new day stroking us out of our slumber only to wake up at seven thirty to the gentle pitter patter of rain and the sun stayed resolute behind the clouds till way into the afternoon

 

 

 

 

 

 

so, what if we are bonkers, at least we are having fun just us two and  it still amazes me that after all these years we can still do this sort of stuff. We played scrabble and I won, and crib and Mike won, so all was balanced and calm in the Brevands camp site for a couple of nights.

 

 

In the week previous we had a few mates around to have a hot chicken salad, all very impromptu and a lot of fun and laughs. I have the eating-out process off to a fine art now, and I don’t find myself plodding back to the house just to fetch the salt any more, but I have a very big request that if and when we ever move on from here my al fresco terrace will have to back onto the kitchen, it saves time and makes sense……..my legs say so.

 

 

 

 

And after the sun went down we lit the tent lights and enjoyed that wonderful late night comradery you can only get after a few bottles of wine and good cheese board, oh yes. and a box of grown up chocolates goes down well too.

 

 

 

And finally, my appreciation of the rogue plant and I love it when it happens. A Gladioli growing out of a potted fuchsia

 

 

 

 

And an, I don’t know what this is called lilly, out of the yellow loosestrife which pops up every year without fail and now has a very pretty playmate to show off with this year…lovely..