Rural Life

Quince and Medlars

Autumn is now here, both in terms of astronomical correctness and in terms of weather.  Up until yesterday, September had been hot, dry and very lovely, but yesterday with the equinox, things changed and we finally had some rain and the temperatures have dropped about 10 degrees in two days.

On Wednesday, which was hot and beautiful, I took a camera into the garden to admire the fruits still on the trees.  The five figs that will ripen shortly were too far away to get a good image of, but the quince on the tree we planted just four years ago, were looking positively classical in their loveliness, as you can see.

 

They are a modern cultivar and go a lovely golden yellow and lose their fur as their get to peak ripeness.  They also get very big.  I cut off loads of immature fruit through the summer, but we still have about 15 that I have allowed to ripen, and the tree is sagging a little.  As each fruit weighs at least 12 ounces, and one that came off in my hand on Wednesday weighed one pound and 6 ounces, Poirot didn't chose the safest place in the garden to hide in the shade!

 

The medlars are swelling, but are not yet ripe.  In fact they won't be ready to eat from the tree at all.  In mid-November I will pick them, once the leaves are off the tree and put them in egg boxes in a cool place to blet or soften up or start to rot - which ever you prefer.  When they are squishy to the touch, we eat them with cheese and perhaps a small glass of port, and they are very good.

 

We have been juicing over the past two weeks - grapes and apples.  Once I get the photos off the big camera, I will do a nice post about the wonderful pressoir at Clefs.

The Sabotier at the Vieil Bauge Comice

In the same way that you find craft stands at agricultural fairs in the UK, you find a number at the Comice.  Sadly, as with UK fairs, there are only a limited number that demonstrate their craft, as most are more intent on selling.  However the great great grandson of the village sabotier from the 1870s set up a wonderful stall at the Comice.

His complex display included a step by step set of objects from tree trunk to finished sabot.

John got into a long discussion with him - apparently oak and chestnut are no use for making sabots as they tend to split as they dry, but the birch logs here are ideal as are poplar so that the finished product is not too heavy.  This is important as a sabot is a wooden clog - in days gone by the essential and durable footwear of choice of the agricultural community.  A couple of years ago we needed to borrow a few pairs for our "Windmill in Old Amsterdam" act, and most of the village ancients had at least one pair to offer to the team.  I was lucky in that I was able to borrow a fabulous pair made by the sabotier for his father, and they fitted well.  Others had to do the traditional thing and stuff loads of straw in theirs to keep them on their feet - apparently that keeps your feet nice and warm in winter too!

Here is the full stand in all its glory, with the sabotier explaining his craft to interested parties.

He is also a talented carpenter as his day job and the son of our next door neighbour.  Note he is wearing sabots to be truly authentic!

 
 

Animals at the Vieil Bauge Comice

As well as a motley collection of horses that drew some floats for the procession on Sunday at the Comice, farm animals do play a part in the Comice diary.  On the Saturday morning there is the formal judging of the animals, and you can see them altogether.  At lunch time, the winners are moved to shaded pens in the main field and the others go home for a nice rest and feed.  I took these photos while they were still all lined up, so for the concerned out there - it was hot but not too bad and they were due to be moved just as soon as their owners got away from the beer tent.

The main livestock round us are dairy cows, although there are some beef herds knocking around.  This photo shows the winning Friesian, Jersey (generally very rare round here) and Holstein cows before they went to the display pens.  All are good milkers.

 

This Percheron mare was very proud of her foal - he was a bit big and heavy of foot but motherly love doesn't see that!  As in the UK, there is increasing interest in heavy horses as more sustainable methods of transport, and the heavy horse sections of shows are increasing in popularity.

There were a couple of very nice donkeys this year - normally there are more. 

No rural show would be complete without the most dangerous of farm livestock - the small, cute pony.  I reckon if I had got too close to this little monster he would have had my leg!  John regards these as competition but would like to remind people (particularly second home owners) that he doesn't need to see a blacksmith every 6 to 8 weeks, nor does he need extra hay and oats in the winter, regular grooming (he can do his own, thanks), and he can be left unsupervised for weeks at a time, which you can't do with livestock!