Rural Life

Lockdown III, Day 27 - that rare thing, a Friday entry

Before anyone starts, yes, I have been to see the Azay One, and in order to fill in the accessing the building forms with an easy conscience, yesterday I invested in a packet of lateral flow auto-tests (they allege they are 97.5% accurate!).  Once it was nearly time to head off, I followed the instructions, remembering also the advice from the nice lady at the pharmacy, and after the appropriate waiting time, the result was....  Negative!  Yey!

First stop was Chinon to meet up with the Chinon One, put the world to rights, confirm my suspicion as to why there are mushrooms growing out of the top bathroom ceiling (hint, it is just under the hot water cylinder...), have a spot of lunch and see which of the Azay One's requirements we had, and what we had forgotten or failed to do.  There I was able to admire the fact that the freesia I planted last summer was having more flowers, and once we had been driven inside by persistent drizzle, admire the crow that the next door neighbour hand reared last year, who has come back after a winter away.

The visit itself was not the happiest - while last week everything was fine and she was putting on weight as she was eating so much, this week nothing was right, the food was inedible and she needed to find somewhere else.  Once that was off her chest, the staff are actually nice and she gets a good glass of wine with her meals, but the place is full of old people, some of whom are missing bits (from the person who lost half an ear last year).  After that there was a flight of fancy, but we did threaten her with a cribbage challenge next week, which might improve her mood.

When I got home, after a beautiful drive through the Anjou-Touraine National Park (woods, fields, lakes and pretty villages), and before entering the house to be shouted at by bored cats, I took a moment to enjoy the plant display by the door.  The Snow in Summer is starting to put out flowers, the tree peony is out (I really must repot that once the flowers are over, as it starting to suffer), the lemon thyme that had suffered from lack of water has sprung back and the cistus looks like it will flower shortly.  This pleasing display helps to shake off the feelings of guilt and self-loathing only a mother can inflict on her child!

 

Lockdown III, Day 26 - losing inspiration

When I've not been in front of the computer today, including a 2 hour Teams meeting, I've been running around like a mad thing, but not doing anything very interesting, other than watering the cabbages at The Shack.  I've unloaded the remaining seed potatoes on someone, so they don't taunt me.  My Asian hornet traps have now each attracted a European hornet queen - I'm not too upset as they are huge and we don't really want hornets around either of the gardens.  Tomorrow is Visiting Day, so is also unlikely to be hugely exciting.

There is some gossip, for those that know where we live.  The slum longère next to us has been sold to a nice seeming chap for about 10 grand more than we think it is worth - we told him outright that he was mad, but he smiled and said he liked it!!  François the Drunk's house is up for sale at 16,000€ - if you want a 1 bedroom, no bathroom slum with a sitting tenant, you may be interested.  That means that the Island Cottage must also be up for sale, again with sitting tenant, and should be rather less than 16 grand as it really is revolting.  One of our neighbours opposite used to dream of buying it and flattening it, personally, with a JCB - I hope he is still up for that, once he has got rid of the sitting tenant, Mr Pipi.

This time last year, it was heaving it down with rain - we could do with some of that this year, as the ground is very dry.  I might need to learn to do a rain dance.  Tomorrow sees President Macron give us his route out of lockdown - for me the big one will be when bar terraces are open, so we can go out and see people and feel that there is more to life than work, eat and sleep.  It won't be until mid May at the earliest I guess. 

My current attestation free range looks like this - from Monday that could change, however with no bars, restaurants and non-necessity shops open, what will be the point?

Today, I am clearly feeling the Covid Blues.  I'll find a Caribbean beach to finish with!

Lockdown III, Day 25 - doing comparisons

Yesterday while at The Shack, I took another photo of my tub of stale gladioli bulbs, and thought it might be amusing to compare how they have come on over time.  The two photos below were taken 5 days apart, and they seem to be coming on nicely - you can actually see progress.  That is one of those moments when gardening is particularly satisfying.

Other plants are not so helpful.  I'm thinking in particular of my miniature orchid that lives in the bathroom and taunts me on a regular basis.  For days it does nothing, then suddenly a bud appears, or starts to open, or shrivels up and dies.  I have talked about it in all my lockdown blogs, so here is a series of images of torture.  Firstly from strict confinement in spring 2020.

Then when we deconfined in summer 2020, there were more interesting things, but with autumn 2020 lockdown, shorter days etc., we needed something to watch, and so Orchid Watch started - this was the 9th November.

Two weeks later and it was looking like this:

Not so different really, a bit longer perhaps?  Anyway, 16 days later it was looking like this.

Buds!  Longer!  Did it flower?  Did it heck as like!!  Not until the 12th April did we get anywhere near a flower!

And then today, another 16 days on, and one flower bud has shrivelled up and another is opening!

So, orchids not good for stress relief!  Much better to be like a cat it would appear!

 

Lockdown III, Day 24 - possible slum renovation!

It's not really rained for days, and for two weeks we have had a nasty wind from East.  It's a dry, cold wind, which assisted the frosts a while back.  Closer inspection of our garden fruit trees shows nothing on the peach, very little on the pear and heartbreakingly, very little if anything on the Victoria Plum - so much for wrapping the tree in fleece! 

Despite the wind, we could sit at the end of the garden, sheltered by the back wall, and watch the world go by as we sip our evening drinkies.  Yesterday we were treated to the delightful spectacle of the biggest chicken, Delenn, keeping Zola pinned down on a plant stand for about 10 minutes.  Apologies for the slightly hazy quality of the photo as it was on maximum telephoto.

The dry conditions aren't ideal for some of the wild flowers and the normally magnificent lady orchid in the wildflower meadow seems to be suffering.  It is fully exposed to sun and wind, as it is right in the middle, and just to one side of a badger trunk road.  Nature will do her thing, and I'm not going to interfere, as she knows best, but it is sad all the same as I was looking forward to a magnificent orchid flower this year.

A disturbing ripple is in the offing.  The traditional longère next to our house has always been a bit of a pain.  The now deceased owner was something of a slum landlord, and we have seen a trail of tenants over the time we have owned our house.  We've had a slattern who ran a dodgy childcare business from there and chucked "things" down the well, two members of a family known for being mentally challenged (not at the same time), two artists, one of whom was chased by demons (although he stayed in the house the longest), a postman who had a vast menagerie of rescued animals, a few nice people (who never stayed long) and finally an alcoholic slut who brought the place into such disrepute that the mayor and police had to intervene.  When she left, she "paid" her removal boys with the antique floor tiles in the attic (not hers to sell), and a year later, the ceiling fell in on the middle room of the building.  It has been empty for perhaps 5 years now, which has been a relief. 

But on Friday, people started to visit the property, and we fear renovations are going to happen - while eventually probably a good thing I guess, it will mean at least 12 months of dust, rubble, no parking and inconvenience.  My word I'm going to have lots to chunter about!!

Lockdown III, Day 23 - a few flowers

I've been stuck looking at my computer all day today, rather than being out and about, but it does give me a chance to use up some of the photos that I have taken but not shown (or don't think I have used anyway) which are mainly of flowers.

One of my favourite flowers over here are irises - in the garden by the house we have deep purple and lilac ones as well as a few red ones and some late white ones.  At The Shack there are some very dramatic purple and white ones but they are quite late too, and some Dutch irises.  So far the only ones out are the early purple ones - first just one flower, and then lots!

In the garden we have lots of white lilac saplings that keep heading our way from the main plant next door - I don't really mind too much, and every couple of year clear a load out.  I do prefer the coloured ones though and at The Shack, the one by the main gates is now if full blossom.

We have a large tamarisk tree at the bottom of the garden - I can't say it is my favourite and we would never have planted it, but the previous owners did and we have stuck with it.  Occasionally John does a vicious pollard on it, and it comes back stronger than before.  When the flowers are fully out, they are fluffy and baby pink, but at the moment they still have a crimson tinge from the buds so it isn't quite so much like a glob of candy sugar.  The dead flowers go everywhere and are really annoying.

Finally, and back to The Shack again, we have spotted the developing spikes of yukka flowers - I think these are magnificent, although again I would not choose to plant them, but they are there.  We should have at least two stalks of flower in time, and they are clearly not ready yet, but something to look forward to!  The twiggy bits are donations from the neighbouring birch tree.

Lockdown III, Day 22 - I'm not planting any more potatoes!

It being Sunday and a day of "rest", we were back at The Shack carrying on the labour of love (or greed) that is getting the crops in for this year.  The final third of the potato bed was so much harder than the previous two - I'm not sure why!  There were more roots, more bits of branch, more stones, more cat poo, less wind, less cool air and therefore more breaks for rest and water, but it is done - 16 more spuds planted, and that's it.  I have 12 good quality, chitted, seed potatoes left if anyone in the area wants them - certified stock and purchased at Jaques Briant.  I'm not saying their stuff is any better than anywhere else, just that is where we got them.  Let me know.

In one of my many moments of resting before the next bout of root extraction, I took the time to look up and found (yet) another spectacular view across the fields of Anjou, but one that will soon be gone.  The walnuts are about the last of the trees to get their leaves (along with a number of one variety of oak, possibly sisal), but I reckon that this view will be blocked by leaves in a couple of weeks time.

While I was getting the potatoes in, John was tidying, mowing, rotavating and making a nice seed bed for sowing a few carrots and beetroot.  If you don't look too closely, it all looks rather ordered and like we know what we are doing.  I can guarantee that in another 4 weeks it will be knee high in weeds again, but for the moment, we are feeling a bit smug.

Once everything was put away in an orderly fashion, we popped into the orchard to try to enthuse ourselves about getting that tidied up (fail), and on the way back to the car I noticed this little fellow sunning him/herself.  It is really good to know that we have such creatures around the place, and who will help with the inevitable plague of critters that will try to eat our fruit and vegetables before we do!  It's a slow worm by the way, for those who've not seen one before - probably about 10 inches long in total.

We treated ourselves to a trip to the One Acre Wood on the way home, partly to retrieve the ropes for the hammocks which have been tied round a few oak trees for about 10 years.  We have identified a spot in The Garden by The Shack where a hammock will fit most nicely, sadly only the one hammock, so there will clearly be a few "discussions" about who gets to loll around in it, but that is something to look forward to for May.  Anyway, the lily of the valley are finally out, which is a joy - so I leave you with flowers for today.

 

Lockdown III, Day 21 - a very busy day

Yesterday was my day for visiting the Azay One - I guess I am lucky we are allowed in to see her actually, given the hammering nursing homes have taken in this whole Covid thing.  We are only allowed in for an hour, we have to sit around a sanitised table, wearing masks (well, apart from the Azay One), and have to complete and sign two attestations on arrival.  Visits in rooms are not allowed.  Still, all went well, but it is always a tiring day, so no blog yesterday, but I did take this photo late yesterday evening after I had locked up the chickens.  Simple flowers and blossom attract many insects and it was heartening to see the variety last night on the Granny Smith apple blossom.

This morning, while John laboured, I went to the market at Baugé for a supply of good things - although the queue for fruit and vegetables did make me question my devotion to buying from small providers and local produce for preference, as it took me three quarters of an hour to get to the top of the queue!  At least the weather was good but social distancing had gone out of the window!

The afternoon was devoted to outdoors things, including mowing for a client, watering our produce and cosseting the boys in the country.  Now we are home and I need a gin and tonic so I will add the photos and call it a day.  I may be more voluble tomorrow.

Lockdown III, Day 19 - mostly details

I have a friend who is a proper photographer, and one of her well known and loved pictures is called something like Ted's workbench or shed - it is a loving study of a well ordered and well used garden shed, clearly a place where a chap could potter productively and did so with pride.  Our shed will never reach those heights, but it is a bit disconcerting at dusk to put my head into the shed and see the freeloading bantam perched there like some Taunton cider man.  No wonder we find broken eggs dotted around the shed if this is her idea of a safe roosting place!

Today was a cat feeding day, so I was able to see how my Dame Edna experiment was getting on.  Two years ago I bought a cheap bag of gladioli corms, fully intending to plant them somewhere, and then totally forgetting.  About a month ago I found them again, and potted the whole packet into a tub with my patent mix of sifted horse poo and leaf mould, put water on them and left them to do their worst, during the last really cold snap.  Today I think there are about 7 or 8 coming up along with a couple of cosmos seeds that have germinated.  I'm hopeful of some August colour if things go well, we remember to water the tub, and the cats don't decide to make it their outdoor bed!

I also sowed more bee friendly flowers - we'll see if any of those come up.  The seed is fresher than much I have used this year, so I am hopeful.  On the other hand, the generous dose of wood ash may have been a bit too strong - we'll see.  Anyway, I was resting from my labours and noticed that finally the work of the solitary bees has paid off and there are tiny, tiny bean pods set on the broad beans.  That will be delicious in about 3 weeks time.

Finally for today, while checking round the plot as I do, I noticed that the new weed suppressant mat I had laid where the sweetcorn will go, was not looking as lovely and shiny as before.  Closer inspection showed that the shower of rain the day before yesterday brought vast quantities of colza pollen with it, which is all over the matting.  It is also all over my car, and probably all over me too when I am outdoors.  Hay fever season is here again!  Good thing my GP has agreed to prescribe the antihistamines required as I can't pop into Boots this year!

It remains to be seen whether I will have a chance to update you tomorrow - I'll try, but I'm not promising!

 

Lockdown III, Day 18 - something a bit different

It's getting warmer and sunnier here, and because we had a bit of a weird day planned, John was able to come up to la Flèche with me for the market.  He hadn't believed my tales of long queues for pretty well everything, so I was pleased he got to see it for himself!  Despite both cheese waggons being in, the queue for our preferred purveyor of fine cheeses - Jean-Marc Charland - was huge!  Two ladies of a certain age behind me were plotting how to get people to leave the queue for a while, but eventually settled into gossiping about the local health centre.  As I stood in the queue, having done all my other shopping apart from charcuterie (delegated to John for today), a band turned up, playing a variety of instruments, calling out rather than singing, and with a group of followers bouncing along in their wake - it was rather fun and certainly made queueing more interesting!

A chunk of the afternoon was spent waiting for the arrival of the septic tank (fosse) emptying man and his big lorry/vacuum cleaner for smelly stuff.  While it felt like longer, it was only an hour (for a nebulous "in the afternoon" appointment), and then he was there.  So I proudly showed him the cover of what I had been assured was the fosse lid, and was told that no, that was the filtre bed cover, and was even shown that to prove it.  I was then given a lecture on how to find the missing fosse, which involves metal poles with a sharp end and stabbing the ground.  When it has been located and uncovered, only then will he come back and remove the contents - seems reasonable I guess!! 

What was slightly surprising was that the fosse inspector had not spotted that the trap he was shown was not actually for the fosse - that strikes me as a cop out but there we go.  

Anyway, the venue was very scenic and it was a lovely sunny day, so here are two views that I wouldn't normally share, as they are not near us.

Lockdown III, Day 17 - revisiting an old haunt

While rarely mentioned at the moment, Brexit has brought a number of changes to our lives, including the fact that friends and clients are selling up and moving back to the UK.  They give a variety of reasons - grandchildren, the garden has become too much, fear of being cut off from loved ones.  Covid has helped to hasten the flow, as properties are selling quickly and sometimes for reasonable amounts of money.  Properties that would normally take between 2 and 5 years to sell are now disappearing like hot cakes, while those that have been on the market for a while are also suddenly gone.

When that happens, in many cases we are asked to help with disposing of stuff (over the years, we have increased our collection of ride on lawnmowers in this way), get given things (towels are always appreciated) and try to have a final drink/meal with those heading back.  Those that are clients tend to leave John's card with the new owner - for which many thanks, and in this way we gauge the new owners.  Those that quibble at John's prices are those who really shouldn't be affording a second home, not least if there is also a pool at the site, as they clearly don't understand the level of work entailed in maintaining a country home.

This afternoon I was "helping" at one site where John has been working for years and where there has been a change of ownership.  Already the garden is taking on a new character, but then I've not spent much time there for a good 7 years, so it is interesting to see the changes.  The woodland paths that we created years ago are being taken over by nature, but when we first cleared them, they were surrounded by early purple orchids.  This year there are some - already almost over due to the dry conditions - but not as many as I remember.

This garden also has a pond that is spring fed (I think), and I remember watching newts doing what newts do in the spring when it was very clear and with no plants.  I'm pretty sure the newts are still there, but with a certain amount of planting, there is a greater diversity of wildlife, and I met two small and very beautiful frogs.  I also met a lot of mosquitoes - today was the first day it was propitious for them to emerge, so I demanded that the frogs do their job better and walked away.