Rural Life

Summer reflections 3 - love and lighting

It's been an interesting week here in rural France.  Holiday makers and second home owners are starting to arrive, as is Covid-19, although Anjou is not as badly affected as Brittany or PACA, we have moved from green to amber on RAG ratings.  The tourism season meant that there was an added attraction at the market last Saturday, as local authors did a book signing session - mostly wearing masks.

While the start and end of the week were hot and sunny, the middle was less impressive, with cloud, some light rain and cool temperatures for July - it's not unknown.  The conditions were clearly right for stag beetles to get it on, and I found a pair at it in the aubergine and pepper bed.  I wouldn't normally comment on beetle sex, but these are seriously big beetles and they made a bit of noise, plus I have chums who are that way about stag beetles.

The photo was after the event...

As the weather improved, so the long evenings were more appealing for late walks after I have watered the potted plants.  This photo shows a pretty novel light on the church spire (yes, it is twisted, just like Chesterfield, well not exactly like Chesterfield, but...), as it is really only at about 9:45pm or later that the sun hits that bit of the tower.

Apologies for the revolting bungalow in the foreground.

The vegetable plot is starting to get into its swing - here is Fergus guarding our swag (hard earned swag).  We have also robbed a couple more potatoes, and the beefsteak tomatoes are ripening.

Finally, it is a good year for my favourite flower.  We have three pots of agapanthus and all are out, but this one is the most dramatic.

Have a nice weekend and wear a face mask in enclosed spaces!

 

 

Summer reflections 2 - excess fruitfulness

Summer is definitely here, as there are more and more British cars on the roads.  If you are coming over, and bringing a car, don't be fooled by the British press saying that main road speeds are back to 90kmph (56mph).  In some places they are changing, in other places they aren't.  Basically, keep your eyes on the road signs, and if in doubt, stick to 80kmph (50mph).  And ignore what your satnav says too, as it won't be up to date.  We believe it is a scam to earn more money in fines, and they will still fine you, even if it is a British registered car, and that fine will find you.

So what about the excess fruitfulness?  Well that is down to our poor, long suffering pear tree.  We have yet another year where it is loaded down with fruit and we hadn't realised how big some of that fruit was, nor how much there was.  Sometime yesterday afternoon, a gust of wind hit it a bit too hard and wallop!  Down came a big branch.  A cat may or may not have been involved too - Zola is being a bit coy about that.

Now our usual way of dealing with excess fruit won't really work, as it relies on things being ripe and mushy and full of sugars and with a bit of natural yeast.  While large, these pears aren't really ripe or even close to thinking about being ripe.  Anyone with recipes for what to do with green, unripe pears, please let me know before the chickens peck them all to bits (and a vast hill of chicken food isn't actually what we need either).

 

Summer reflections 1 - the weather isn't right

As my Facebook feeds and my memories tell me, in general the first half of July is scorching hot, bright sunshine, occasional and scary thunder storms and farmers working around the clock to get the grain harvest in.  Currently only the last of these seems to be running to form.  The weather is cool (low 20s at best) and a bit dull.  That hasn't stopped the maize from growing, although our own sweetcorn is unlikely to hit 2 foot tall.  I no longer have an evening vista to enjoy.

Some of the gardens we keep an eye on have different crops surrounding them.  This is not what you might think but very closely related.  Germination rates seem to have been pretty poor.

Evidence that Covid-19 is still a threat can be found if you have to go hospital visiting.  I'm not sure how the image below is supposed to bring comfort and succour to the invalid being visited, but that is the only way you can be to get in.  At least they don't stick a thermometer in your ear any more to check your temperature!

For those who don't see my Facebook posts, while the sweetcorn is unlikely to do anything this year, we have done well on garlic, shallots and potatoes.  The spuds were ones I robbed from 3 different plants, while rummaging in the soil to see how they were getting on.  Rather well was the answer - they were delicious with butter and a nice lump of salmon.

Let summer begin!

Apologies for not rounding off the 30 Days Wild with a wild post yesterday, but I was anything but wild - tied to the computer until 10:30pm getting a report finished for a client.  With a couple of chums, I've been doing a quick scheme review for the Fifth Continent Landscape Partnership, but at a distance.  It brought back memories of afternoons on the sands at Littlestone when I was small, walks on the shingle at Dungeness when I was older, and the litany of villages we used to have to go through to get down to Littlestone (Matfield, Brenchley, Goudhurst, Sissinghurst, Biddenden, Tenterden, Appledore, New Romney).  My Dad used to love it down there.

Anyway, now summer should be here and soon the holiday makers will arrive, but it will be a strange summer, as so many of the festivals and capers of summer have been cancelled.  There will be no 14th July festivities and fireworks, no Comice at Echimiré, although they promise they will do it next year instead, no festival of the giant croissant (and at 800g each, they are indeed giant), no car boot sales, no concerts.  We will have to make our own entertainment.

And that is where things can get bizarre.  We grew small pumpkins (potimarrons) last year, but didn't eat many of them, as they weren't as tasty as the butternut squashes we also grew.  They sat in the garage and slowly went off.  "What happens if you bury a whole one?" he says, and does that in the wild flower meadow.  I imagine that they sit in the soil until some enterprising worm or beetle nibbles through the hard outer shell, at which point the seeds, which are in a nutrient rich soup of putrid pumpkin, go "weh hey - an escape tunnel" and go for it.  One has produced four seedlings, the other?  Well see if you can work it out!

With life here in France returning to close to normal, I'll not be doing a daily blog, but I will provide updates a few times a week.  I will leave you with the portrait of Fergus I promised a couple of days ago.

 

Day 29 of 30 Days Wild - it's damp in the One Acre Wood

Not today, as I have either been chained to my computer or out at yoga, getting within 4 inches of touching my feet with my forehead, but yesterday, we got to the One Acre Wood for a walk after working on the plot.

Often at this time of year, it is cool and dry in the wood, with the air full of insects.  Sadly, as everywhere else, there are fewer insects in the wood, which is a shame.  Because of the recent rain, it was very damp underfoot and quite humid.  There is a beautiful bit of moss on the rustic bench by the upper seasonal pool (currently empty).

Further down the way, and looking through the trees it felt a bit like a temperate rain forest, although it isn't.

And every good forest has to have its monsters, this is ours.  They really are so unpleasant to look at, these monster orange slugs, but I tolerate them, as if the giant orange slugs are out and about, there is a chance that we will get mushrooms later in the year.  No scientific basis, just observation over the 15 years we have had the wood.

Apologies for this being so late in the evening - I'll bet you have nightmares about our Orange chum!

 

Day 28 of 30 Days Wild - Saturday fun, Sunday work

I did warn you that there would be no blog yesterday - we were out celebrating with one of the Chinon Two.  I have to say that weather-wise, it wasn't really the best day for celebrating.  Before we even got to that, we had to brave a cold, moist and windy market to get supplies.

Before settling in to a delicious and copious dinner at the Bistrot de Marché at Chinon, we went on a bit of a wander and café tour - this was in the main square, and a bit moist and windy.

So we moved location to the admirable Café Français and sat indoors, and admired the collection of confinement cartoons by a local chap, many of which had appeared in the Nouvelle Republique.  We then strolled on to the Bistrot de Marché, inspecting menus as we went - in many instances, that was actually just an academic exercise as quite a few had signs up saying they were complêt for the evening, even before opening time!  I tried to emulate the wonderful sunset scenes that so many friends post at the moment, but failed totally - if you look very closely, you might just spot a chateau on the horizon.

To make up for a day of lotus eating yesterday, this morning was spent working hard on the vegetable plot, while the afternoon has been spent clamped to the computer, working on a report that has to be submitted on Tuesday (so long as it arrives before midnight, that is OK).

Fergus is guarding the strimmer while we do other things - tomorrow there will be a Fergus portrait I think!

But now it is time for Sunday aperos - bring out the Gin!

 

Day 26 of 30 Days Wild - back to the files

It's been another of those days when I run from pillar to post without really getting anywhere, so it is difficult, if not impossible to reflect on French life or wild things.  On the good news front, the supermarket shelves seemed to be back to near normal and I was able to get age appropriate wet food for the cats - I'm not sure they will thank me, but I feel better about that.

In a minute we are off to celebrate at a distance the birthday of one of the Chinon Two - this is taking social distancing to extremes as he is about 80km away, but tomorrow we will go and see him and celebrate properly (hint - this means no blog tomorrow!).

So for today, I will delight you with weird flowers seen on Guadeloupe - I am pretty sure none of them are native to the island, but they sure are happy there!  I suspect the colourful bits are bracts not flowers, before the biologists get on to me.  These ones are upward facing.

These ones are downward facing - not so easy to use in flower arrangements.

And this one is just magnificent - I think it is called something like a china flower or porcelain flower. Not the scientific name obviously.

Day 25 of 30 Days Wild - what I would like to be doing!

It's not news to say it is hot, stinking hot.  Here in my office it is nearly 30ºC and I will stop work as soon as this is done and find somewhere cooler to be.  Or that would be the ideal - but it will be difficult to find I fear.  There are storms doing the rounds but not near us - to the north east of le Mans took a real hammering earlier.

My evening walk to look at the view is fast becoming a bit futile - it is now up to my shoulders and allowing for the curve of the hill and so forth, you really can't see anything beyond maize!

These long high summer evenings should be the ideal time to watch the evening primroses open.  That sounds weird, but sit with a plant and a glass of something chilled and just watch - they open over about a quarter of an hour, and there is a real ping moment when the sepals curl back and release the flower, and you can almost see the petals moving.  Great fun and very therapeutic!  But they open very late at the moment, so the best I can do is admire them in the morning when the flowers are still open.  By midday they are gone.

Watch out for storms!

 

Day 24 of 30 Days Wild - it's hot

I'm sure there is some fancy name for the plume of hot, humid air that is coming at us from the Iberian peninsular and points south, but when the thermometer gets up to near 35ºC, our main preoccupations are keeping the inside of the house and us cool, and us dehydrated.

My brain has also been turned to mush by the concept of match funding (not funding matches I hasten to add).

So today I leave you with this vaguely scientific thought - 

Ours are all trying the liquid state at the moment in various places.

 

Day 23 of 30 Days Wild - a series of crimes

I have crimes to report - trespass, criminal damage, vandalism!

Here is the victim - one of 10 fine, strong tomato plants, tall and vigorous and doing really really well, but not any more.  She is now naked and despoiled.

Her days are in danger - I don't think she will survive.  But the culprit left clues behind them, in the shape of good old fashioned footprints - or should I say hoof prints?

Basically, we failed to bolt the gate to the garden at the Shack, so a deer mooched around, through the gate and into the garden.  Naturally it made straight for the vegetable patch, and decided to try eating tomato (clearly it didn't like potatoes, courgette or squash plants, garlic or shallots).  It pulled all the leaves off, but left most on the ground, it shredded the stem for no good reason and left these three aborted and without hope.

In future we will be very sure the gate is bolted.  Deer are a pain, not just for the gratuitous damage they do, but also because they spread ticks around and I really don't like ticks.