Reflections

Today was a funny sort of day, last night i was out with the band again and got back in gone mid-night and today was back out with them again. The contrast between the two events could not have been greater. Last night was a Bodega, lots of eating and drinking and dancing today however wasn't.
Today was all about what happened during the second world war. We were playing at a monument which commemorated 564 Jews that were taken from the town by the Gestapo and put on trains to Auschwitz and Buchenwald. They never came home. That is 564 people ranging from babies to 80 years old just gone, only their names remain on a granite memorial and on this day every year since the end of the war they have been remembered by the town.
These people died because of who they were and what they believed, makes you think a bit doesn't it?
We then went to a smaller monument, this time in memory of three brothers executed by the germans for being members of the resistance. The youngest was 17, the oldest 22.
Makes you think doesn't it?

Golden Salad Days

It would appear that there is at least one plant that i can grow without to much trouble.. dandelions.. i have a field that is just covered in them...nearly 3 acres of dandelions. How the hell am i going to eat that many salads? My skin will turn yellow and i will forever be spending my day going to the toilet as they are a diuretic at least i will have healthy kidneys though. Has anyone ever died from an overdose of dandelion salad? If you just walk through the field your clothes turn yellow from the pollen and the bees just seem to love them as well.
It will be good food for the horses which return from their winter quarters at the weekend and i have no doubt that they will waste no time in reducing these golden discs to usable compost!
Next job for the peasant is to build a very small wall on the terrace, should be interesting as i have never built a wall before so i trust it will all go to plan once i have worked out what quantities of sand to mix with the cement and how much water to slosh in with it to make into a mortar type substance..will keep you updated...bit like being a kid again and making mud pies..oh, you never did that? don't suppose you ate worms or played with the coal either? 

Cat on the tiles

Here we are again, saturday and it is a weekend. It is supposed to be a day of rest but not for me. Tiling needs to be done, this is a view from the lounge into the kitchen showing how much i have still to do!! The cat has decided to oversee the whole operation as it means that once again her domain is changing and she needs to be kept up to date with things! I had to move the chair as it was in the way but she didn't even move just watched me then rolled over for her stomach to be tickled. What a life eh?

Today has been absolutely gorgeous..39° in the sun on the terrace and 20° in the shade at the front of the house and i missed most of it as i really want to get his tiling out of the way. About 5ish i finished for the day and had a cup of tea and then it was time to check on the toilet system to see if any more compost was ready so that it can go on our new garden area to help the vegetable plants that are now in place. The herb garden has now been started as well and all i am waiting for now is Ally's plant to arrive and it will all be complete. The rhubarb has gone completely manic after spreading some of our compost around it and tomorrow i shall pick the first 4 leaves of the season and make a rhubarb crumble.. oh bliss all covered in yummy thick custard..hmmmmm
I have next week off from the plastering as plaster man is on holiday so i have a week at home to work on the house.
Last Sunday evening i was out with the band taking part in an ancient festival where the last man to be married in the village wears a horn on his head to represent a unicorn and goes round the village chasing the young women!! He doesn't catch any but if they manage to touch the horn then they are supposed to get pregnant soon after...ancient pagan fertility rights in a catholic country condoned by the church...bizarre but then this is countryside france and long may it continue....... 

Tulips & Oysters

The first of our 75 tulips have finally flowered and they are such beautiful colours. The picture doesn't really do them justice but if the rest come out as well as these the "garden" will be just full of colour! Some of the plants even have more than one flower head per stem so that is a bonus as well. Luscious is well pleased with her planting and i have to say that i agree with her.
It may be easter but luscious is out at work so i am on my own today, not ideal but thats the way it is. To be fair i am out later this afternoon into the evening with the band so even if she wasn't working this evening as well the end result would be the same. Limited time together! We will get to spend some more time with each other tomorrow but she still has to go off to work at lunchtime, meanwhile i have a day off from plastering and can get on with something else in the house like doing some more of the floortiling in the kitchen. What a way to spend easter eh?
Off to get lunch now which will be fresh oysters in a white wine and creme sauce followed by fresh fruit and creme fraiche ... yummy yummy. wonder what we will get to eat tonight after playing at the fete? happy easter to you all..... 

Vegetable Virgin Gardeners

We have a vegetable garden! To be more exact i suppose i should say that we have an area which has been ploughed for us which we are now making into a vegetable plot! As vegetable garden virgins this is proving to be interesting, consulting all the books we can find for instruction and then being told by the locals that the books are wrong and we should be planting something different! The picture shows the plot and a big pile of cow manure kindly donated by the mayors cows it also gives an idea of just how steep the land is around here. So far we have planted two gooseberry bushes, two blackcurrant bushes and five raspberry canes. Today i have bought some onions(normal and salad) beetroot, broccoli, cauliflower and as it will double as a herb garden some fenouil and angélique. We already have some sage, parsley, thyme and rosemary so hopefully once they are all planted we will be on our way. Luscious is going to start some haricot vert, tomatoes and runner beans off in pots and then we can transfer them to the garden. In amongst the vegetables we will be planting some flowers which are traditionally grown between the veg, dahlias, glady's and chyrsants. Here's looking forward to losing our virginity in the field of vegetables so to speak and a very fruitful and heavy cropping season. I am off to finish my bowl of fresh strawberries and créme fràiche.... 

Bedroom

This is the "guest "bedroom and it is almost complete!! almost that is except for a new floor and doors!! Still waiting for the flooring to arrive from the sawmill but at least it looks like a bedroom now and not a building site anymore. Have to move on to other things now as the bedroom we were using is now ready to be plastered out as well. This will then also be finished as the floor is already down. Oh.. it will need decorating of course! It just goes on and on doesn't it? Once this room is finished it is back to tiling out the kitchen and then we can have the units delivered. Now that will be a cause for celebration. Ah well until then i shall just keep plodding on.. i have just looked outside and it is a beautiful day and i can see that the grass around the house will soon be needing a cut...no rest eh?