Rural Life

Moscow-Paris event and apricot blossom

It may be to early to call, but I am prepared to bet that we don't get more than a couple of dozen apricots again this year off our enormous tree.  The reason?  Well, we are due to be gripped next week by a Moscow-Paris event.  This is an easterly air stream direct from Russia, that sweeps through with a nice sharp wind to help the cold air on its way, and there isn't really much high ground between Moscow and Paris to stop it.  Strasbourg is girding itself for will chill temperatures of around -20ºC, which is just not nice.

Apricot blossom is one of the most precocious after black thorn, and we already have the first flower open on our tree.  It is frost hardy down to about -5°C if not too prolonged otherwise about -2 or -3°C.  So that is looking iffy already.  The fruitlets are not frost hardy at all, and if we lose a crop (which happens most years in fact), it is generally because there has been a sharp frost in late March.

Apricot blossom is one of the prettiest, it is just a pity we so rarely get fruit!

The beauty of craftsmanship

Last week we were out in the country, in a borrowed cottage, while our old staircases were ripped out and replaced.  It might seem like vandalism to take out respectively a 200 year old (ground to first floor) staircase and a 400 year old (first to second floor) staircase, but it had to be done.  Even my GP said it had to be done as we had broken between us 3 treads on the staircase and those were ones close to the ground.  Further up and we would have damaged ourselves as well as the staircase.

As the house is (in places) 600 years old, it was a challenge to find artisans who were able to construct something bespoke and install it in a confined area.  No off the peg solution for us, but something made to measure, in places to our design, and from solid oak.  Even the balusters had to be made to fit, following the line of the handrail.

Amazingly the work took 9 days all told, with a lot of work done off site to prepare and build chunks.  One day to rip out the old staircases, three to install the new, one day off site to prepare the panel wall, and two days to install that and sand off any marks from snow and using the staircase.  Now it is down to us to make what surrounds this oak marvel just as appealing.

Below is a detail of one of the balusters.

Despite the snow

It has been a challenging week weather-wise, with heavy rain at the weekend and gales, then a day of calm, and then heavy snow for two days, and now it is sunny again.  Last night, with the snow and clear skies, as you would expect, there was also a very sharp frost.

This afternoon however, as I look out over the fields and wood at the back of the rental cottage that is my home this week, it is beautiful.  The sun is warm on my back, the air is clear and fresh and there is an excitement to the air.

As I watch, two buzzards float over the woods, spiralling around each other and calling out.  I like to think that they are screaming sweet nothings at each other, but it could just as easily be pointing out where there are good bits of nest building material.  In between their cries, there is also the knocking of a woodpecker in the wood.

As I turn back to the cottage, I am also aware of small birds calling to each other - or possibly hurling insults at me.  As I don't understand, I don't mind!  La vie est belle!

Bee action

A couple of weeks ago, I was in the One Acre Wood helping to sort out firewood.  At the far end of the main clearing, by the King of the Forest oak tree, I heard a certain amount of buzzing.  We are used to flies if something has been indiscrete in the wood, and of course mosquitoes in the summer if the clay pits have water in them, but it wasn't that sort of buzzing.

I looked around and followed the noise and found a small number of bees working over the catkins on a hazel stem.  I'm not sure there is much by way of nectar, but I could see they had loads of pollen collected on their legs.  It was the first time I have observed this, so was very taken with it.  The bee keeping forum I participate in have also mentioned it over the last couple of weeks.

Of course the bees don't go to the female flowers, so it won't have helped any hazelnuts to set, but wonderful to see that at least some bees are making it through this mild and wet winter.  You can just about see the pollen sacs on the bee in the picture below.