This last week has all been about the slow recovery from a nasty bout of 'flu, with a slight blip when a gastro bug decided to make life more challenging. But aside from that, it is amazing how sunshine makes things feel so much better! On Monday, the sun was a bit tentative, and with dramatic clouds that did nothing but look impressive, so it was enough to tempt me out for a short walk to get the blood circulating and track down a bit of vitamin D. The church was looking as magnificent as ever, to create a perfect image of sunshine, cloud and architecture.
There was a cruel wind, so to keep out of its path, I kept to the small lanes and built up bits of the village, rather than stride out to the route de Beaufort. For a change I pottered down the cobbled lane that leads to the lavoir, or village wash house, to admire the clear spring that rises from a chum's cellar into a deep pool before pouring through the washhouse and down to the river. Even in the big droughts a couple of years ago, the spring didn't dry up and it is always tempting to dip one's toes in during the summer. Nothing would have tempted me to dip any bit of me in it on Monday!
Tuesday morning we treated ourselves to a trip to the compost emporium nearby. They take all the green waste from the local tip as well as serious loads from farmers and others with significant quantities of "material" and on an industrial scale, produce the most marvellous compost. Bagged up, it is a bit pricey, but take along your own trailer and it is much more reasonable. A trailer load of about 400kg comes in at 32Euros, or roughly what you would pay for 3 bags of 50 litres of something that has been sitting around at a DIY shop for a few months but has "added goodness" apparently. They also have a loyalty scheme. Of course the only challenge now it to move it out of the trailer and onto the bits of garden that need it.
A bit of sunshine and a bit of motivation and the ability to be distant from a bathroom was all I needed this morning to do a bit of work in the garden. There were a few final potatoes to lift before they got too interested in growing, so I struggled with the heavy clay soil to get them up. While they are covered in weed suppressant matting, so there aren't too many weeds, the soil has soaked up as much water as it can and is heavy and unpleasant to work with. Despite that, I managed to disturb a hibernating slow worm. I put him in a sunbeam so he could warm up enough to move to safer ground, and stood guard while he did so, ensuring no prowling birds or cats could attack him in his sleepy state. I'm sure I'll see him again later in the year - we do seem to have loads and I am very fond of them for their slug control capacities.
Finally, the early spring bulbs are doing their thing, and in very sheltered corners, the first of the daffodils are showing flowers. Others will take up the challenge as it gets warmer, but these are tucked under an apple tree so not in any draughts.
The forecast is good for the next few days, so I should be able to tackle the compost and prune apple trees and set up my hornet traps and get prepared for spring, which isn't so far away now! Have a good week!
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