I've always been a country girl at heart.Apart from a brief spell in Birmingham while at university I have always lived on the edge of the countryside. As a young child growing up in Devon I wanted to run a bed and breakfast, mostly I think because I loved the little country cottages we would pass on our way to the sea. Even during our 40 years in Stoke we lived on the edge of the city and our last house, although basically suburban, was opposite a farm. I always said the best thing about Stoke ( in a nice way) was that it was easy to get out of and we could be in the peak district in 20 minutes. But until now it was always nearly, nearly but never the real thing.We have spent the last year in the heart of real farming countryside. Two of our neighbouring farmers raise cows and veal calves and one has sheep. All of them also grow feed crops and our garden is surrounded on two sides by a field used to grow barley.
I have loved watching and feeling part of the rythm of the farming year - from the changing fields to the changing produce in the market. We can walk from the door exploring the lanes, tracks and footpaths watching the changing seasons and the local wildlife - what a life, how lucky am I?
Recent weeks have been wet, in fact the longest spell of unpleasant weather we have had since our arrival, but I find myself unusually relaxed about the grey skies and muddy garden as the land gets the water it has so gravely lacked all year. The main lesson I learnt in my vegetable garden this year was WATER WATER WATER - take no notice of the weather forecast. If it says it will rain it probably wont and if it does it wont last long enough to do any good. So we have been out and bought the largest water tank we could and our next project is to fix more guttering to collect every precious drop of water that falls on the house. We do already have two large water butts but at the moment only the front of the house has gutters so that will be the first project of the New Year after our Christmas trip to England.
Christmas this year will be spent in the countryside too - in the heart of the Peak District where we have rented a house big enough for a family gathering - it should be fun, hopefully we will get some time in them there hills there may even be some snow - not too much I hope - we wouldn't like to have problems getting back to chez nous!
joyeux noël et bonne annee
