Rural Life

Autumn Lockdown - Day 46 - and the last day, until the next one

Yes, that's right, from midnight tonight we are released from lockdown, and into being careful and being subject to curfew.  The real difference will be the ability to cross regional boundaries without fretting about being pulled over for having the wrong numbers on the car license plate, but the curfew between 8pm and 6am means that it is not a complete release from constraints.  There is also the small matter of bars, restaurants, cinemas, theatres and sports halls all still being closed until (currently) about the 20th January 2021.  As new cases are not actually going down to the desired levels, I would actually predict a new lockdown not long after Christmas. 

Anyway, we are nearing the Festive Season, when good food and luxurious goods may come to the fore.  In previous years, we have acquired one of these for a nice Christmas Eve supper.

We also tend to broach the Christmas cake on Christmas Eve - last year's were done with pretty marzipan - I've not got round to decorating them yet this year - something for the weekend.

The Christmas Pudding is normally taken on Boxing Day, and we meet up with the Chinon Two for that.  This year we will be having the smaller of these two.

Then early in the New Year, John buys truffle on eBay, and we have about a week of eating everything with added truffle - risotto, scrambled eggs, stuffed scallops, stuffed chicken breast and linguine with truffle and a cèpe and cream sauce.

Whatever you have, enjoy it and have a safe and warm Festive Season.  When the next lot of restrictions are announced here in France, I will be back on the daily blog, but for now, I am going to reduce my offerings until I have something worth saying.

 

Autumn Lockdown - Day 44 - it's getting to be a bit like Christmas!

After a couple of truly miserable days, this morning we saw the sun!  Not for too long - it was raining by 4:30pm, but this morning was definitely sunny.  As it's Saturday, it is also the other market day, the one in Baugé.  Last week was quiet, as the weather was awful, but I thought it would be a lot busier today, as it was fine.  Although the car park was pretty full, the queues were actually quite short - I think 5 minutes was the longest wait.

Normally around now Baugé hosts a large and rather good Christmas Fayre in the big René d'Anjou centre, but that was cancelled back in September I think, as it became clear that Covid wasn't going anywhere soon.  However today's market was augmented by two stalls selling wine, one selling macaroons, one selling books and a huge fire/steam powered cooker selling take away meals.  It was very impressive (but I didn't buy any of the food).

While I was waiting in line for fruit and vegetables, a familiar figure walked down from the Mairie ringing a bell, and making jovial HoHoHo noises.  He was dishing out sweeties too, but only to small children, so I didn't get one.  A few I watched him offering the basket of sweets to, looked absolutely horrified!  I think they might have been concerned he wasn't obviously wearing a mask (I bet it was hidden behind the beard!).

As well as the Christmas Fayre, there would normally be all sorts of fun for the children around now.  There are decorations and Christmas trees and bits of red carpet all over the place but it's not the same.  The various committees that organise festivities and events all year round have clubbed together and hired in a small merry-go-round for children to have free rides on.  As I didn't have a child in tow, I had to be careful to photograph no faces and ideally no children!

When I got home, John had ClassicFM blaring out with a number of seasonal tunes, to help the festive season along - so much nicer to listen to than "right on" talk radio or depressing news stories.

 

Autumn Lockdown - Day 24 - personal New Year

Yesterday I hinted that I was making Christmas Cakes as a throw away at the end of my post.  They had just gone in the oven and I was still hurting from all the mixing - as you add more and more chopped fruit, it gets harder and harder to break up the lumps and get it all well mixed in.  Then there is getting about 5 pounds of mix into two cake tins that have been lined and padded to avoid burning, and smoothing and damping down the top so you don't get burning and a split cap.  Then once in the oven, they need regular turning and checking, but at 8:45pm last night, I decreed them done.  Here is one in its tin, before being wrapped and put away to mature.

Today marks the start of my personal New Year, so we went to feed the Boys in the Country and I was able to sow a row of broad beans to provide some food next year.  As ever, the soil was claggy and damp, but I am told that broad beans like that and their roots are a good way to break down clay, so we'll see.  They did fine last year after all and in a worse bit of soil.

It is a beautiful day here, so we sat out with Fergus and Clause and did some solid Vitamin D capture.  We did the same this afternoon with Nibbles and Zola in our garden.  The skin on my face feels a bit tight, so we may have slightly overdone the Vitamin D thing, on the other hand, you have to keep Covid at bay somehow!  And it would be fun, if a little mad, to say I got sunburn in the garden in late November in north west France!

We sat out in the garden with mugs of The Coffee from Guadeloupe and honey and almond pastries from our Moroccan friends - normally we would go out for a meal, but it's not possible this year, and while I have to cook our dinner (maximum garlic chicken, also known as Béarnaise chicken with mash), the materials I have to work with are wonderful, so it will only be my fault if it's no good!

Personal New Year resolutions?  As every year, eat less, drink less, lose weight, do more exercise, eat better, earn a bit of money, be happy, don't sweat the small stuff.  Chances of keeping any of them?  50/50 at best!

 

Autumn Lockdown - Day 23 - dismantling an old friend

While we were initially up and about full of vim and good intentions, a flat tyre on the van and an annoying experience in the market (some poser bought all the local garlic and the quarter of red cabbage with MY name on it) took the shine off the day.  It was a cold but beautifully sunny day, so that was a shame.  So in a fit of energy, we decided that it was time to start to dismantle further the dead cherry tree in the garden.

As one would expect from a pro, John spent a lot of time looking at angles and weights and plotting how each bit would come down without damaging the neighbour's wood store or our "shed".  Then we got the better pole saw out, the ropes, relevant safety gear for John and we were ready.

I can't show you any action shots, as I was on the end of the rope, holding up pieces of tree and then gently lowering them to the ground, ready to be turned into firewood, but this is what it looked like when we were done for the day.  Clearly there is more to do, but in the rest of the daylight and the "making a noise" window, what was down needed to be turned into log burner sized logs.

This is just part of the booty - there is more and it is all now stacked and sheltered from wet.

While the neighbours kept popping their heads round the corner to see whether we had broken anything (we didn't), and admiring a man working, there were a few garden residents who weren't so impressed with what was going on.  Muck and Brass are appalled and Delenn has gone AWOL, having refused to go through the sawdust and into the run.  I don't know where she is sleeping tonight, as I couldn't find her on my last check round the garden.

In other news, I made the Christmas cakes, and they are now in the oven.

 

Autumn Lockdown - Day 22 - life is dull, so how could we forget this?

Time hangs heavy in some ways, although the days speed by and my to do list gets no shorter.  When you spend 10 minutes trying to photograph a branch of a Worcesterberry shrub that is being strangled by lichen with a smart phone, you know you are heading to the edge of how to spend time usefully.  Here is the best of my many attempts!

A sign of our listlessness is that a day we usually celebrate in the calendar passed us by until I got a message from Chinon asking for my opinion - yesterday was Beaujolais Nouveau day.  Actually the French news has been rather more impressed with the English Nouveau Red Wine day at Waitrose (so we know roughly where the correspondents shop in London, and my bet is the big one near Kentish Town), covering it both yesterday and today - you would think there were more important things going on in the world perhaps?  Anyway, to some extent, we have redressed the balance as John popped into Spar for essential groceries and came out with this.

We'll try it tonight and report back tomorrow!

 

Autumn Lockdown - Day 19 - non-local produce

Let's face it, cleaning and sorting potatoes isn't interesting.  It's not interesting doing it, and it certainly isn't interesting reading about it.  And as that was the highlight of my day, I have had to find something else to write about.

My very special husband has to put up with a lot of wailing when Death in Paradise is on, as we try to work out where filming has taken place.  One day a week or so ago, Postie turned up with a decent sized parcel, and John just had to share it with me, as it was just so special.  When we were last in Guadeloupe, we went to the Coffee Museum (they have all sorts of useful museums over there).  From the outside, it was pretty unassuming, but once through the entrance gate, and having paid our entry fee, we were enchanted.  For a start, as well as growing coffee, they also grow chocolate!

There are some long, low buildings with all sorts of displays, including how the islands were colonised, how they discovered coffee grows nicely there, and how it was cultivated and prepared.  Outside there are some old machines that could be used for various phases of the preparation of the coffee beans, but the main production site is separate from the museum.

There were a number of coffee trees or shrubs around the compound, and you could sit on a shaded veranda and try the local brew.  It is pure arabica, although they do have some robusta trees as well to show the difference.  The coffee trees are not particularly remarkable and the fruits not as impressive as the chocolate pods.

So last Sunday, with no more of our shop bought Guatemala brew left, we got to open the first of two 500g packets of coffee from the plantations around the Coffee Museum, and to breathe in the aroma of fine Guadeloupean coffee and dream our way back 7,000km or so west and south to our favourite island.  They don't supply any shops in the Metropole (as mainland France is referred to over here), and production isn't huge, so John had to contact the plantation itself to get some.  And that is a treat that will keep giving for several months, as we don't drink that much coffee!  Aren't we lucky!

 

Autumn Lockdown - Day 18 - spuds

It's difficult to know what to write about today.  I spent the morning in front of the computer looking at invitations to tender for things that might be within my competence to do, in theory.  Well one of them I didn't quite understand, another looked really juicy but like they wanted a team working on it and possibly from a University or a top name consultancy, and one is in London and over 5 years so I would end up paying them to do the work given the budget.  There was one that looks eminently doable and would be interesting - I'm just trying to get the team together now!

After lunch, it was time to see the boys in the country and when I got home, I could find no other excuse so had to start to prepare the harvested potatoes for storage in the garage.  A few buckets of water later and I have perhaps a quarter of the remaining harvest sorted, having rather lazily picked out the biggest tubers, so will have to do the smaller ones tomorrow.  This tray of spuds was very heavy when I carried it into the garage!

Someone asked what variety I grow - the last two years I have grown Stemster.  They are a main crop potato, good for baking, chips, gratins and mash (and roasties), with a preponderance of large tubers (that's the blurb, but I think they are right) and good keeping qualities.

I was reminded this afternoon that I really need to point out that I have excellent support when growing potatoes as Fergus keeps a very close eye on them.

After all that excitement, I get back to my desk and computer and find loads of emails, including an invitation to tender for something that has me written all over it.  Two in two days!  Now I've just got to write the proposals and beat the competition.

 

Autumn Lockdown - Day 16 - market heroes

Saturday is market day in Baugé en Anjou, specifically the food market (there is a small market on a Monday with other stuff as well, when we aren't facing restrictions).  It is my go to place for fish, milk products, fruit and vegetables that we don't grow ourselves, crèpes and galettes and nibbles, among other stuff.  There are also 3 very good meat products stalls.  A fine morning in Covid lockdown brings out the crowds - all stalls had queues.  I stood in line for 10 minutes for fish, and a further 20 minutes for fruit and vegetables.  Some would say that was a waste of time, but I firmly believe in supporting local businesses, so I didn't see it as that, but as a chance to relax and look around and contemplate.

So what did I contemplate in my queue?  Certainly not queuing theory, so my bad - as an OR person, I really should have been doing a bit of mental modelling!!  Instead I was looking at the chateau and wondering how the view had changed over the years.  While one might like to believe that the Lord or good King René would have looked out over a similar market scene (although without the motorised vans), in fact the Place de l'Europe would have been within the curtain wall of the chateau, and so we would probably have been among sheds and stables and pig pens or the potager.  The market would have been elsewhere in the town.

An outstanding example of a business start up and also the importance of being reliable (unlike the purveyors of yoghurts and dry goods, neither of whom were there today) to build a solid customer base is the family business selling Moroccan prepared dishes.  She started up selling home made cakes and mint tea out of the back of her car, finding a spot where she could, but turning up rain or shine.  The cakes were fabulous and sensibly priced (1€ each) and word spread.  Then she added stuffed pancakes (mesnems I think they are called) to the repertoire, again sensibly priced, and fabulous quality.  A year or two of solid trading like that, and she expanded her repertoire to include couscous and tagine to take away, ordered a week in advance.  The cakes have increased in price a little (now 1,20€ each), but the range has increased as well, and there are now 20 different delicacies.  There is always a short queue and everyone raves about the quality of the food.  If she is going to be away, she warns you.  Her husband helps from time to time, her daughter occasionally, but she is now at University, so her most faithful (and charming in my view) assistant is her son.  She has built a fabulous business, so if you are in Baugé on a Saturday morning, go along and buy a yummy cake or two and admire a true entrepreneur.

I should point out that they dropped their masks for the 30 seconds that it took to photograph them, and then they were back on.  All cakes were well covered while they did that, as you can see.  She takes food hygiene very seriously.

 

Autumn Lockdown - Day 7 - November gardens

Yesterday I raved about being able to buy a locally grown christophine from the market - it was delicious yesterday evening, done in a gratin style.  I was surprised no one asked what it actually was, or perhaps impressed that you all clearly do know what it is.  I think it was a little under-ripe, as it was a bit too green (it should be a bit more yellow than this), but wasn't going to try to ripen it.  Anyway, here it is before I carved it up.

As we have had a couple of frosts, I should be able to pick Brussel sprouts, except ours are tiny, little more than a hint of sprout at the moment.  Mind you I'm not used to growing them, so don't know really when they start to show, other than there are a lot around at Christmas!

I was supposed to be mowing this afternoon - it has been dry for two days and the wind has blown away the frost and dew, so it should have been ideal conditions.  The ground is still very wet, but not so much that I would sink in the mud.  The real thing you need with a mower (in this case a ride on one), is that the blades engage and turn round at high speed, thus cutting the grass.  Annoyingly, the blades failed to engage, however many times I tried to reset and engage, they just weren't having it.  Over the year, it has become harder and harder to get them to engage, so I guess today is the sign that the mower (this one is called Ginger) needs to go to the nice man at Durtal for a thorough going over.  I also need to borrow a mower from another site to do these grounds before worse weather kicks in.

So when I got home, I went into our garden to release the chickens for their daily vandalism spree (although they could soon be in lockdown as there is bird 'flu close by).  I noticed that finally, now the frosts are here and they will be struck down very soon, my Cosmos have finally decided to flower.  I've been nurturing the wretched things for 7 months (alleged time sowing to blooming 3 months) and only now do they decide to blossom.  Very annoying!

 

Autumn Lockdown - Day 6 - out and about

Thanks to advice from chums who read this via Facebook, I decided to brave the market at la Flèche, armed with my attestation and a shopping list.  I was glad I did - for a start it was a lovely drive up, with magnificent leaf colour most of they way.  Parking by the river was easy, and I could stand and watch this view for hours!

Pretty well all my regulars were there, except the bread, croissant and cake stand, which was a real shame as I had been looking forward to croissants later in the week (although the porridge is still magnificent).  I came home laden with local produce including a very fine cauliflower and a christophine - probably the only one this year, as the guys who manage to grow this tropical delicacy found that the polytunnels were too hot for it this year.

This afternoon I finally started on a rather nasty but essential task, and progressed it as far as I could, at which point I felt that I needed a treat and some exercise.  Armed with another attestation (fortunately the paper supplies 3 normal and one work related per day), I set out on a short but beautiful walk.  First I turned up the mediaeval Rue Basse to the Church.

I then walked down to the Pont de Godeau (once again, he didn't turn up).  Passing by the wall of the mini-chateau, I noticed they had a very fine crop of olives this year.  If they have a couple of kilos, I'm sure they could get them pressed for oil at the oil mill - we are thinking we might get some walnut oil made, if I spend a period of confinement cracking them.

I then went up to the Route de Beaufort, along a bit and back down the Rue de la Croix de la Mission.  I had to go over the old railway line, now a walking and cycling path.  I did pass a jogger at one stage, and spent a few minutes contemplating how far he was taking the Mick, as he had clearly come and intended to go further than 1 kilometre from his home base or his place of work.  But what the hell - people are working within the spirit of the regulations, and keeping their distance, and that is surely the point.  I was wearing a mask too, so should have been safe from any droplets he was shedding around him. 

Anyway, on the field side of the disused railway, I spotted this magnificent spindle bush covered in bright pink berries.  The higher up berries are hawthorn and can be cooked, but spindle is pretty poisonous so is best admired at a distance.

And then towards home and the road back to the village - a very nice walk, but not the longest I can do in my allotted hour and within the radius of one kilometre, but more about that another day.  Now I must join a Women in OR and Analytics virtual conference.

A demain!