Rural Life

Proper winter weather

It's January in the Northern Hemisphere, and despite 2022 being the warmest year on record, we are currently enjoying proper winter weather.  Okay so we don't have snow, but actually I don't mind missing out on the white stuff as I have twice weekly physiotherapy sessions at the moment and getting to those would be so much more complicated if there was white stuff on the ground.  But proper frosty weather and for quite a few days - it's good for the soil, the trees, makes parsnips sweeter and (I gather) Brussel sprouts more flavoursome - well, it has to be good.  The downside is that low winter sun on a frosty day makes for too much contrast on photos to be really good - for example:

On the other hand, honing in on fine detail can be a bit easier, with all that contrast:

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That is very nice carved detail over those windows!

The gardens can't really be worked at the moment, although when there is a bit of thaw, it's quite good for getting persistent weeds out.  It is traditional to slaver over seed catalogues at this time of year, but I have a big box with loads of free seed packets, so no need to buy new, just try to work out somewhere with enough warmth and light to get the seeds growing once March is here - anything sown direct is too vulnerable to chickens, cat bottoms, slugs, snails, being trodden on, being bullied by weeds, birds, drought, frost, flood, and heavy clay soil.  Weeds do remarkably well.  We had 5 seeds of giant parsnip we were given before Brexit made such things impossible.  We sowed them late (they don't like being stored) so were lucky two germinated and grew, and benefitted from the water the chickens didn't want in the drought conditions.  Finally this morning, John dug one up for our dinner - yummy!

The biggest we have grown in France (our biggest in the UK weighed over 2 pounds, and was 18 inches long of usable parsnip, but that really was a mutant!).

Last weekend I moved the trail camera as while all I had captured was a hunter's bottom, there was clear evidence that around the ponds, something was lurking!

In addition, the badger trail (which is visible on Google Earth surprisingly), is looking even more obvious than usual.

But at this time of year, the larger animals head for wooded areas, although the deer will likely be back in March or so I think.  While there is a lot of bird activity, unless we have the camera trained on a food station, it is very haphazard and difficult to catch, and frankly I have more than enough video footage of blackbirds and thrushes turning over leaves.  So it is the smaller, shyer, and less flashy animals I am looking for - foxes, badgers, ducks, the pine martin, mice, rats, perhaps even a coypu (although I really hope not).  Well, it paid off this week after the move - a badger bottom and a fox face!  Hopefully they will get a bit more used to the camera and I'll get more.

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I also need to get going on my campaign of attracting tits, particularly blue and great tits, as they are very good at eating pine processionary caterpillars and the pine trees have a few too many nests in for my liking.  The needles shed by the caterpillars are extremely irritating, and the rashes and swelling they cause last a good couple of weeks with no real remedy other than wrapping the affected part in wet towels so you can't scratch.  They can be deadly to animals, and have until recently no natural predators as they are a non-native invasive species.  But the birds are doing their thing, so feeders and nest boxes need to be set up in the next few weeks.  The feeders were very successful last year.

So, another frosty week in prospect for us, stay warm!

 

A spot of nostalgia and a highlight of village life returns

For various, boring, administrative reasons, I had to return to where I grew up - the Tunbridge Wells area of Kent.  I've not been there since perhaps 2006 at the most recent, so it was all a bit odd.  Somethings change enormously - the main topic of conversation on local chat sites was where the most recent potholes had appeared and how many cars had broken wheels or suspension or both as a result.  That really was rather scary!  Other things don't change or don't seem to anyway, as I found out on Wednesday.

My driver parked at the entrance to the Woods and we walked along the lane as far as an ancient oak and a kink in the road that for some reason my father always called London.  One of my bedroom windows is still the same old sash window I remember gazing out of for hours as a teenager, the porch on the cottage is still the one my Dad whittled over a couple of winters in front of the fire (I wonder if his fireplace with even more whittling is still there?), while the local post box is still the same and the amazing bronze stag door knocker on another house is as I remember, although the people who lived there are gone.  Some houses on one side of the road, the older houses, are being renovated, but on the other side of the road, up the hill from the road, the more modern houses are hidden by hedges that have grown taller and more impenetrable than I remember them.

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Another blast from the past was travelling as a foot passenger (last done in 1984 on the Harwich-Hamburg ferry), and using the Dieppe - Newhaven crossing, which I last used when I was perhaps 14.  The boat was more modern, but the crossing still lasts at least 4 hours, and as there was a gale in the Channel, it actually lasted more like 5 or 6 hours!  Travelling over to the UK, it was dark when I got on the boat so could see nothing, but coming back on a day crossing was rather splendid in the storm.  Near port, you could really see the waves crashing against the harbour walls, as well as admiring the Seven Sisters as we got further out.  Once away from the coast, the spectacle of a stormy sea was enjoyable, although 5 hours of waves can, after a while, get a bit dull!  I don't get sea sick fortunately.  Given the weather conditions, I couldn't get out on deck, so the photos are through slightly grubby windows.

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Back in France, every January, there is a ceremony in most communes of a presentation by the Mayor to wish the local population a Happy New Year, to share a review of the year that has passed and to set out the main projects and excitements for the year ahead.  In an election year, they have to be very careful what they say, and as all and any residents can attend, for the last two years there has been no event, just a video, which is not the same.  This year these ceremonies are back.  A major difference was that there was practically no kissing - normally these events are a marathon of cheek kissing and hand shaking, this year it was fist bumps, nods, smiles and acknowledgements.  Fingers crossed it wasn't a super spreader event! 

For something over an hour the high and low lights of the past year were shared, from the Mediaeval Fair to the great fire, with so many things in between, a presentation to a retiring member of the village school team, an outline of changes for 2023, including how we pay for rubbish collections, and the works being undertaken to restore some community woodland.  There was also a presentation on, and exhortation to get involved in, the Comice 2023, which will be in Vieil Baugé.  After, there was an opportunity to nobble a member of the council about undeclared building work going on, as well as to drink a glass of fizz, greet a number of friends and each cheese puffs.  It was great to be back to something like normal.

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So 2023 is now fully launched and things are back to near normal.  Have a good week!

 

New year, new promise?

Last blog was all about looking back, today is more about looking forward as the days start to lengthen and we stop thinking about how to celebrate midwinter and concentrate more on what the new year has to offer.

On the last day of the old year, it was unseasonably warm.  Now it is always hard for a gardener to hold back on sowing things and planting things, because that is what it is all about, making things grow.  That challenge is even harder when it is mild and you see buds developing and catkins shedding pollen everywhere (and so the start of the new season allergies).  However I felt justified in doing a bit of sowing, as I hadn't got around to the second patch of broad beans, and I like to do autumn sowing to avoid the worst ravages of blackfly.  So I uncovered a nicely clean bed, raked it over to remove any foolhardy weeds and a bit more of the underlying builders' rubble, made about 88 dents and sowed broad bean Aquadulce Claudia.  I then raked soil back over and added a nice long piece of netting to avoid the worst ravages of cat bottom.  I guess it will be another 3 weeks or so before the shoots show.

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Another major winter occupation is firewood - now is a good time to fell as the trees are quiet, not too much sap around or leaves to encumber the fall, we aren't worried about missing mushrooms and we aren't being attacked by mosquitos.  We've brought down two trees so far this winter and want to bring down another couple to ensure continuity.  We had clearly grown soft this summer as moving the dead/dry pieces up to the top of the One Acre Wood is proving harder work than in previous years and neither of us have really felt that our elbows are in a suitable condition for doing a lot of splitting with an axe, however satisfying it can be.  We borrowed a log splitter which made short work of the existing stash of big logs, which are now ready for use.

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We are still eating the fruits of last year's gardening, and the Brussel Sprouts seem to be nearly ready for John to crunch his way through.  I won't touch them.  Next weekend we will have our first red cabbage, but I fear that the cauliflower plants, that grew so large and lush, won't have the reserves to make good curds in February/March.  I mentioned that it was unseasonably warm?  Today I found them covered once again by caterpillars!

It is good at this time of year to look around and appreciate what we take for granted.  Two examples of this.  Firstly I was in a neighbouring village for a work appointment, and rather than park at the client's house, I parked by the church.  Once the work was done, as I put my stuff back in the car, and changed sweatshirt to one that the cats could and would dribble on, I took a moment to marvel at the magnificent St Médard church in Cheviré le Rouge.  It's not the largest village by any means, but perhaps 800 or 900 years ago it was way more important, and deserved this large and impressive church.

Looking down, once at the Orchard and having a bit of a walk, I marvelled at the intricate patterns of cyclamen leaves and was perhaps a bit concerned at the number and size of orchid rosettes under the big walnut tree.  The cyclamen flowers in the autumn were magnificent.  The orchids are most likely to be lizard orchids - impressive, particularly when there are a lot of them, but not pretty.

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I'm travelling next week, so there may be photos from other places next Sunday!

 

Review of 2022

It has been fun reviewing all the blogs of 2022 to see what were the highlights and what were the determining features of the year.  Weather, local events and wildlife were the standouts for me, as I will explain.

The weather had a major impact on the year, from a sharp late frost affecting certain crops, winds taking down trees, sand storms in the African desert affecting cloud colour to the searingly hot and dry summer, which facilitated the massive forest fire and reduced crop sizes for those things that survived the frost.  Once the rains did start finally, at least we had mushrooms for the end of the year - here are some photographic reminders of all that.

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After two years of Covid restrictions, 2022 had many of the usual events back, including the local trout fishing day, the delayed 600th anniversary of the Battle of Vieil Baugé, a full on Comice, car boot sales and my favourite, the Societé de la Paix Mechoui.

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But perhaps most excitingly, the trail camera lived up to its promise and showed us a wealth of wildlife, plus being more alert to that meant spotting others with a phone camera too, so the real stars of 2022 were the animals!

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Hopefully the animals will all put in appearances during 2023!

Happy New Year!

 

A time of decadence

The past week has been one of gluttony, sloth and the odd bit of exercise to try to make that seem less decadent, but really that is what this season is all about - recovery, putting on a bit of winter fat, reflecting on the past and looking forward to the new year.  The cold broke but it is taking a while for the warmth to build up again in the old stones of our house.  Actually it is rather nice to be curled up on a sofa in the Snug (used to be called the seating area, but now it is seriously snug), with the woodburner going, covered in fleece rugs and with a cat to provide a bit of extra snuggle - it's what winter is about!

There was also the issue of serious puddings - a fantasy of chocolate, praline, salted caramel and biscuit on the Friday before Christmas, and The Pudding on Boxing Day over in Chinon.  Between them, I think these are good for about 4 pounds on the hips!

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Looking around when walking, either to get to the supermarket, or just for the joy of walking, there are still natural sights to delight in.  This leaf with a corolla of damp around it was rather striking at Aldi.  The old tree in an abandoned area of scrub was about 50/50 tree and mistletoe, and for those who say the quality of French mistletoe is rubbish with no berries, I beg to differ.  This is loaded!  The birds are in for a treat.

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There is hope in the vegetable plots.  The broad beans sown in late November are now starting to show, seemingly unaffected by the serious frosts.  Looked at from a distance, it is also clear where I sowed the wheat in a vain attempt to cut down on next year's chicken feed bills.

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While there has been no major activity on the trail camera other than foraging blackbirds - in the main due to a fogged up lens - I did spot a minor catastrophe at Badger Towers.  Whether a boar had been jumping up and down in that area too much, or whether the layer of soil became too thin, or whether frost and rain did their thing, a foot long piece of set entrance fell in during the weekend.  It was tidied up fairly quickly and doesn't seem to have had any lasting impact, but it certainly looked different - and Clause agreed with me.

So the final image of the year is of the best view in France, in my opinion anyway.  Whatever the weather, it makes my heart leap with undefined joy.  What a pity the camera on a smart phone can't really capture the true joy of it!

Enjoy however you spend the New Year cross over, and next time I will review the wildlife year  of 2022, before getting on with the excitements of 2023.

Midwinter musings

Apologies for not writing on Sunday - a mix of yuletide fun and frolics and some wretched football match meant that the weekend didn't go as planned and since then I have been running to catch up.  But yesterday, after securing a rare piece of meat for Christmas Day at the market (whole poultry is a bit rare with the avian 'flu outbreak), getting my fourth Covid jab and sending off the final version of a report I've been working on for a number of weeks, I found that I've caught up.  Actually it works well, as I don't want to blog for the next two Sundays so pushing the publications back a few days is a good thing.

The previous blog talked of the sharp frosts that had hit that weekend and the cold snap lasted another week.  While nothing compared to what the North American continent is facing, it was nasty enough for us in the west, and further east they recorded temperatures as low as -18ºC.  The sustained cold meant that buildings lost any retained heat, and we found ice in the bowl in the cats' kitchen one day!

I read today a short story about the midwinter hare, and ours is certainly out and about a lot at the moment.  There is a trail through the scrub and I guess there is a den somewhere along the run.  The trail camera is at one end of the run and so we are getting a lot of images of the hare and also some short films as it becomes more used to the strange log that has appeared.  More of those next week perhaps, as I really can't face battling YouTube today!

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The hunters have been out and about more than once, so I am not surprised to see little evidence of boar and deer at the moment - I think they have moved to more wooded ground.  We are seeing more pheasant activity however, as they are well sheltered in the enclosed grounds and of little interest to hunters with very powerful guns.  Hares and pheasants seem appropriate for the time of year!

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One thing I did manage to do last week was to assemble the vast piles of pillows, duvets and cushions that departing second home owners have left with us as it wasn't worth taking them back to the UK and facing paying customs duty on them.  My audit showed 6 duvets, 15 pillows, 8 cushions, a bolster and an electric blanket.  This was after a number had been donated to worthy human causes.  This carful (I couldn't see out the back, I was relying on wing mirrors) was donated to a local cat rescue, sterilisation and rehoming charity run on a shoestring but a handful of lovely ladies who work extremely hard for no reward other than cat cuddles.  The electric blanket and the bolster were particularly welcome for kittens.

There are no brussels sprouts for Christmas this year from the plot - they may bulk up in the next couple of months - but we are enjoying butternuts, potatoes and parsley and hope to have a magnificent Christmas parsnip from the garden, now the soil has defrosted!

May your midwinter festival of whatever persuasion be peaceful and mellow.

 

Frosty weather

Last week I welcomed winter and talked of purple risotto and the need for slow cooked and warming food.  The week continued cold, but no frosts until Thursday night, when it was a bit closer to zero, while Saturday morning was a nastily brisk -5.7ºC at 8am - currently the coldest time of the day.  With that harsh frost does come the recompense of sunshine, but also the inconvenience of at least two pairs of socks, wearing gloves when going shopping, not being able to sit for too long without getting cold feet and the chickens' water fountain freezing solid.

Good frost also brings beautiful ice crystals and an edging of white, and is finally knocking out those plants that really shouldn't be growing on still, such as chillies, cannas and rhubarb.  Here is a montage of frosted foliage.

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As predicted, the visit from the hunting dogs last week means I've not spotted boar on the trail camera over the past week, and there isn't much new damage either, so they may have moved on through.  There wasn't really enough for them to eat here anyway, as a marauding extended family group of 15 pigs can eat an awful lot, so it was probably time they moved on elsewhere.  I have seen deer and a hare and a badger on the camera though, so it isn't the totally clean sweep we had earlier this year.

As I said, the advantage of this type of weather are lovely views.  The frost also meant that a number of trees that had been hanging on to their leaves with a steely determination, finally dropped them, very quickly too, on Saturday.  I watched the apples and the quince basically ditch everything in a quarter of an hour - it was strange to watch and made for an eerie sound.  But what is lovely at this time of year, is to see a new view or vista, a new building (actually more like a very old building, but new to us), or an old familiar but in a new way or after a few years.  Our favourite view from the Garden is over to the Chapel at Montplacé, which has been hidden by leaves for many months, but has now been revealed again.

I'm keeping this short this week - I've not had the heater on in my office since Thursday evening, and with it going solidly since this morning, the temperature has crawled up to 16ºC, which is not totally comfortable for sitting in, certainly not around the feet!  Keep warm and keep safe if you have snow!

 

Winter is here!

It's cold, it's dark, there is Christmas music on the radio and threats of snow on the weather forecasts - I think it must be winter.  We have been so lucky with temperatures from a purely selfish perspective over the past two months of autumn.  That has freaked out some plants and trees and the oaks round here still have a good covering of brown leaves, while I hear rumours of things flowering out of season, although not with us.  With high energy prices and exhortations to keep electricity use to a minimum, keeping more than one or two rooms at a comfortable temperature gets harder and that pile of fluffy fleeces is particularly welcome when sitting still.  We have also rediscovered the joys of hot water bottles (wilfully ignoring the advice that they need to be renewed every 3 years at least).  Slower cooked comfort food is also the thing, and yesterday was my first winter risotto, using the liquor from rehydrating dried cèpes as the stock, Paris mushrooms to provide the content, and purple carrots to provide a certain je ne sais quoi.  Served with fried medallions of monkfish, it was delicious.  There was a bit of rice left for the chickens (sort of resembles maggots), and I look forward to seeing if that has an impact on yolk colour, should any deign to lay an egg.

Keeping an eye on the trail camera, there has been a mixed bag of activity in the corner of the meadow.  Inevitably, but disappointingly, there was clear evidence of hunting dogs questing up and down the line of fruit trees yesterday, so I fear it will be a while before we see deer, boar and hares in that area again.  On the other hand, I can understand that farmers get a bit hacked off with boar activity, as we have plenty of evidence of their destructive tendencies and a litter can be up to a dozen piglets, with no natural predators.  The badgers aren't out at a time when the dogs are but, and I could well be wrong, are likely to hibernate for a bit soon.

I also know very little about the private life of the pine martins, so whether this chap is getting ready for a long sleep or not, I couldn't tell you, but it is always lovely to see him around the camera area.

What we are seeing a lot at the moment are standard "garden" birds enjoying turning over leaves and checking boar damage for something interesting to eat.  There has been a jay, a pair of blackbirds, a green woodpecker I think, the inevitable pheasant, and also a thrush.  It is years since I have seen a thrush in the garden, but over at The Shack, I have heard them smashing snails and have found their anvils in and around the vegetable plots, which is delightful.  Not only do they help keep pests down for me, but the broken shells add a bit of drainage to the heavy clay.  So I knew they were around but had to take it on faith in general.  I was therefore delighted to find one posing in front of the camera for me, and also very pleased with the quality of the photo, even when cropped/blown up a bit.

While I am not one of those that advocates you leave your garden covered in leaves, with long shaggy grass and weed stems, I would suggest keeping a small corner untouched to allow thrushes and blackbirds to have somewhere to rummage, because they are getting rid of the things that will eat any crops and flowers next year.

Have a good week!

 

The tail end of autumn

Yes, on Thursday Winter kicks in and there are hints of Christmas in the air too, with decorations going up in the streets.  It is really rather bizarre, as the weather is relatively warm still, many trees still have leaves, and not all have turned colour yet either, and I have the most magnificent yukka flowers out too!

In the vegetable garden, the parsnips continue to do what they do, the chard is amazingly lush, there is a magnificent crop of parsley, and the brassicas continue to be munched by caterpillars.  At least the red cabbages are hearting up, but it will be a while before the cauliflowers do the same - about three months, I think.  The token Brussel sprouts are not really showing any development yet, so John may have to cope with bought ones for Christmas Day!  There are also a number of self-seeded curly endive growing around the edge of one of the beds.  I marked their position so they wouldn't get mown, but the markers were moved as they were in the way for mowing... Anyway, they have reappeared and now I need to try to keep them faintly weed free.

Last weekend I changed the position of the trail camera, and after a false start, as I got lots of images of horsetail blowing in the wind, there has been some activity.  Well, when I say some activity, I think it is fair to say that I have captured activity from three species of bird, and five of mammal!  The place I have chosen is clearly popular with many, but now we are into the challenge of cold season images, so that most are at night, and many in fog - some things are really very grainy, but see below for pheasant, pine martin, hare, badger and boar.  As far as photos go, I also have deer legs, but there are a couple of videos of them which make me think that the faun that was born there in the summer is still in the vicinity.

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It doesn't happen as often as it should, but we went out for dinner during the week, to that fine concept, the "All you can eat Chinese Buffet".  Basically, you pay a price, which depends on age and time of day, and then can keep going up for more until you can't eat any more.  The caveat is that if you take more than you can eat, you pay a supplement, which seems only fair to me.  There is a vast range of starters and mains, plus you can take a plateful of raw ingredients and get them woked to your liking.  There is also an ice cream bar, which we didn't spot until we were too full to eat anymore!  The visit had been planned and cancelled too many times to be funny since last November, so it was delightful to finally assuage my need for caramel pork and noodles!

There are many of these across France, and they all seem to be cavernously huge, on slightly dingy shopping estates.  I will probably survive another couple of years before I need to go back, but it was a lovely change!

 

Finally uploaded some videos!

Recharging the trail camera batteries and a wet Sunday morning mean that I begrudge somewhat less (only somewhat) the hour and more it is taking to load up 7 videos for your delight and delectation.  I've not actually triaged all the 298 video snippets from the camera, I've still got a hundred or so to go through, and I have to remember what I have already uploaded.  

Going through all the files does give me a chance to spot some gems that I don't see when I am doing a quick search in the field on my phone.  This first one would not show anything at all really on the phone, but is utterly delightful, particularly if you watch it on a decent sized screen.  The crispness to the jay's face is amazing!

Then there is this fellow - we often hear him being alarmed around the place and occasionally see him flying around in a way that makes you wonder how he ever gets airbourne!  Not the smartest card in the pack, and certainly not native, male pheasants really are rather beautiful.  It's a pity they are only too aware of it!

But really the stars of this blog are the boar.  This sequence of short videos was taken one evening at dusk, hence being in black and white, but shows the sheer numbers in the group that come round our way before the hunting season disperses them a bit.  They are very interested in a pile of walnuts that John collected on a client's lawn.  He proudly presented her with a big box of fresh walnuts, but her horror at finding this present was astounding.  She implored him to take them away, and so he did, and dumped them in the orchard.  We don't really approve of feeding boar and hoped that the badgers and squirrels in the zone might find them interesting, but they never really got a look in, even if they were interested.

 

 

 

All the walnuts are now eaten, and the camera moves today to a new location which is showing a lot of passage marks, so hopefully there will be a nice variety of movie stars for the next month!