l'été indien

"Savourez l'été indien" is a headline on the front cover of the October issue of my French gardening magazine and all French gardening books include a season  l'été indien between the chapters for summer and autumn. I have loved this stretching of the summer later into the year since we came here - Autumn is all very well, and I know lots of people who love it, but for me the longer we can put off the retreat indoors the better - last year visitors used our pool at the end of October!

This year however it has been different, September arrived bringing cold,damp and miserable weather for days on end, summer seemed to have left early just as it had arrived late. (The wet weather finished off the tomato plants so part from a large trug of green fruit at least my "tomato problem" is behind me.) There has been much frantic scrabbling to find long trousers,jumpers and even socks for heavens sake, and also a sudden urgency to the need to find someone to sweep the chimney. For the first time since we moved in we are having to buy some wood for the fire as most of our stocks from garden clearing here and at our ex holiday house are too fresh to use. We've had some delivered but will have to get more now we've got some idea of what a "stere" of wood looks like (not a lot is the short answer).

But we shouldn't be using wood yet - a French friend told us yesterday she never lights the fire before the first of November - and panic over, apparently the indian summer is going to happen after all. Yesterday a dull morning was followed by a sunny afternoon and I got to enjoy sitting in the sunshine beside the pond with a book ( I needed to recover from a morning spent lumberjacking in time for our dancing workshop in the evening). The forecast from tomorrow and for the next week is for sunshine and warm temperatures - perhaps the water in the pool might even warm up again, I bet TC goes in anyway!

ç'etait l'été

Looks like that was it - more then a  touch chilly the last few days - it seems that  summer is  bowing out early just as it arrived late. At least July and August were  lovely with  hot weather and very little rain and wow what a summer we've had - much too busy for blogging!

 A stream of visitors have kept us on our toes and we have been more than happy to spend the whole of the summer chez nous, why would we want to go anywhere else? We have enjoyed local festivals and exhibitions and TC got to play some music.

a little bit of Purcell

outside the Troubadour at the Occitan festival in Laguepie

a friend's party in Tarn

strolling musicians at the Parisot art festival

Our big project of the summer has been the conversion of part of the barn at the back of the house into a dining room. This meant knocking through the 60cm thick back wall of the house to make a door and several scary days with the wall supported on accro bars. The summer kitchen and barbecue area was a no go area while the builders were working but it has all been worth it though as the new room has made a big difference to the house and how we can use our summer kitchen space. I am glad to have a nice separate dining room too, I never have got used to entertaining in the kitchen!

The garden has been beautiful and the new pond has established quickly giving us a new focal point and another lovely space for sitting outside.

It has also been  productive - in the case of the tomatoes even a little TOO productive. I really must remember not to plant so many next year - I have roasted, souped, dried and sauced what seems like tons of them - 9 different varieties - I have red chutney and  green chutney, the freezer is bulging with boxes and boxes of sliced plum tomatoes and sauce. TC no longer asks what's for dinner it's "what's with the tomatoes?"

We are deliberating about where we might go for a holiday in February/March next year - could be a very good idea if the winter is going to be another long one and it could even have started already! We certainly won't be planning to go away in the summer - we love the summer  here too much.

ne'er cast a clout

Ne'er cast a clout 'til May be out ...... no way am I waiting that long,I live in south west France for Pete's sake!  I'm trying the power of positive thinking and the winter coat is washed and put away.

And what is out ? Well plenty of daffodils for a start, the hedges and fields are full of cowslips, the sloe bushes, cherry, apricot and peach trees are blossoming and the first asparagus has appeared in the market. We've had some really nice days just to tease but mostly temperatures are struggling to stay in double figures and there has been much too much rain but with reports of April snow in London and 5 foot snow drifts further North I'd rather be here. When the clocks went forward at the weekend we even manged to eat our evening meal outside in the sunshine .

AND......
 at least I have been able to get started on the garden, the potatoes are in , first sowings of peas and broad beans are through and the greenhouse is bursting with seedlings ready for planting when the danger of frost is past ( positive thinking again!).
 I love having the greenhouse, its not heated  but is great for keeping me busy at this time of year when the rain falls and the wind blows. Its much too hot in the summer so becomes an extra shed then - in England my greenhouse was the only place I could get tomatoes to ripen - here I can use it to sun dry the fruit. I do love it here!

 This time last year we were in a rush to open up the pool and get it ready for the summer Even last year we realised we had been too hasty and should have left it until nearer the end of the month, so it will be a few weeks yet before we start to investigate that - nice to think about though!


 I may have put the winter coat away but I'm hanging on to my waterproof hooded jacket for a while yet!

Not over til it's over!

Winter that is.

We've had some really warm days and had started to think Spring was on its way. After all we had been promised by that nice French lady we met on our walk that the "grand hiver" was over. OK there would still be frost at night but we could get started in the garden, I could start sowing some seeds - even the grass looked like it needed its first cut

first sighting of cornellian cherry in bloom

then what ..........we turned our backs for just a few days and went on a birthday jolly for TC in Rome ( the plan was to enjoy some nice early Italian sunshine). In Rome it was wetter and cooler than we had hoped but there was worse at home. Le Grand Hiver paid another visit and there was more snow.

When we got home the house was freezing - these stone houses are great in the summer months because they stay cool but its a different story in the winter. The stones act a a heat sink and it has taken a couple of days with every heater we possess on full blast to make it feel habitable again. The cats' food was frozen in the dish - it was lucky they also had biscuits especially as the lady who comes to feed them had broken down on the last day and never arrived.

We also arrived to find we have another problem. I went to let the hens out, including our two recently acquired arrivals, only to find one of them indulging in some very "unhen" type behaviour with one of our older girls. Further investigation plus some exuberant  morning crowing convinced us we did indeed have a cockerel in the henhouse. He will no doubt be a very handsome bird but I keep hens for the eggs alone so he will have to go! Luckily for us the lady who sold him to us is willing to have him back.

The weather is not the only thing that can't make it's mind up. I seem to have been fighting off a chesty cough for months and thought it had really gone before we went away and now it seems to have sneaked back and most unwelcome it is too. My dodgy knee, which had settled down a lot, has also flared up again so much so that I was seriously limping around Rome - maybe because we had enjoyed three nights of dancing in the week before we went but I'm not going to admit to that! Maybe I'll go the doctor when something gets better - can't go about two ailments at once.

In the meantime - that's quite enough of winter. They do say its not over 'til the fat lady sings - you have been warned - today I am going to sing A LOT!!!

Farewell snow - time for the snowdrops!

Yesterday was just  glorious - one of those sunny winter days to lift the spirits, the sort of day to let you know the end of winter is not too far away! As we drove out of Puylagarde we had a fabulous view of the snow covered Pyrennees in the distance, the clearest we have ever seen them.

It was a perfect day for a walk and we chose one which involved quite a bit of road walking ( normally we avoid them if we can) as we were concerned about just how muddy everywhere would be because of the recent weather. The "roads" were small and quiet - many hardly more than tracks - and the weather wonderful - temperatures well into double figures, clear skies and no wind.

The highlight of the walk was a small diversion to the abbey at Beaulieu to see the annual snowdrop spectacular. Snowdrops grow in great profusion here, especially along the roadsides in the river valleys and I had heard that Beaulieu was a good place to see more and sure enough the woods behind the Abbey were carpeted. They were certainly a sight to behold especially if you like a bit of photography - we saw one keen lady lying prostrate with some very impressive equipment! My "apparatus" is a little more basic but I got some nice pictures anyway! Here are just a few:

I have always loved the the English country name for snowdrops "fair maids of February". They grew well in my cold wet Stoke on Trent garden but often waited for the beginning of March to appear. Here they are called "perce - neige" ( literally pierce snow) and are a happy and timely reminder to me that the winters are shorter here - even if this year it  has seemed to drag on!

 Towards the end of our walk we passed  a French lady who was single handedly clearing leaves from  the drainage ditch on the hill above her house  to make sure that the water would stay in check. She cheerfully assured us the "grand hiver" was over though there was plenty more frost to come. Lets hope she was right - we keep reminding ourselves that the really cold snap here was in February last year - we 're really hoping we don't get a repeat of that.

one more for luck!

bonne annee bonne sante - not yet it aint!

I don't like January - never have done , only one worse month and that's February (but that's not so bad living here as Spring arrives earlier). Yep - looks like I'm having a bumper attack of the January blues.

When we moved here we avoided houses in the river valleys as we had seen during visits to the area the Autumn fogs so it was frustrating to find ourselves this winter shrouded in hill fog day after day for the  first two weeks of the year doing no good at all for the nagging chesty cough which I have been unable to shake off properly. That coupled with the usual post Christmas " down time" plus family worries (as parts of my family take dysfunctionality to a level which would rival an Eastenders Christmas special) I've been feeling a touch sorrier for myself than I have any right to be. Trevor is having a tough time with the current DIY project ( it involves plumbing - say no more) but at least he has his music and as he himself says has "never felt so respected as a musician".

All in all then it was a change for the better when the snows fell. It snowed all night last Tuesday and all day Wednesday leaving us under a blanket of 8 inches of the white stuff. Thursday dawned a beautiful sparkling morning - clear blue skies over a black and white world- great day for a walk and some photos With hindsight ( forever a wonderful thing) perhaps 13 kms was a bit much in the prevailing conditions underfoot - either glassy and slippery or deep snow to wade through. The scenery was beautiful though and it was great to be out and "enjoying" ourselves.

 By the time we got home my back was seriously suffering - a result of walking clinging on to my walking poles - and I felt at least a hundred years old! It was necessary to cite the "cold weather " "I've just done a long walk" ""I even made a fish pie when we got back" and "sod it who cares if its a weekday I need a drink" amendments !!!

OK so enough's enough  - very pretty and all that but I should have been dancing tonight except the roads are impassable and everything is annullé. Want to get on with looking forward to the Spring - I need my garden!

Oh and seriously - bonne annee everyone!

 

Weathering the weather

Ask any English ex-pat for reasons why they left England and its a pretty safe bet that the weather will feature in the list. We lived near the Peak District in England and loved to visit the Lakes, both beautiful areas, but there's no escaping the fact that the weather was too often too cold and too wet and the summers too short.

Its not just that the weather is better here in France it is the change in lifestyle that comes with it. Since moving here our lives are spent almost exclusively out of doors from April until October. We cook, eat and relax outdoors as well as spending many hours gardening and our sitting room sits empty until the cooler evenings start. Just last weekend ( October 21st) my son and his family visited and the children went in the pool while we sat in the sun, had a barbecue and then sat out til 2 in the morning.

Its not always hot and sunny of course, the good weather last week was a particular bonus as just a couple of days before we had suffered three nights and two days of non stop gales. The weather forecast warned there would be strong winds - the Autan word was mentioned - and by jove did it blow. For three days and two nights it blew " fort" non stop giving precious little chance of sleep and as the local paper said it was not weather "to put your nose outside the door".
The "excitement" culminated in 21 hours without electricity and it was really worrying thinking about all of the food in the freezer which could have been lost ( luckily it stayed well below freezing so all was well)

It rains here too just not all the time! We often have long spells without rain and watering the potager is a daily necessity if the vegetables are to grow. TC despairs every summer as the grass turns yellow.  When the rain comes at last it is usually in the form of a storm ( none of that drizzle stuff hereabouts) the water butts are replenished and the garden revives. Even that yellow grass quickly recovers.

Yesterday and today the wind has changed direction bringing cold air from the north, there has been a rummaging through wardrobes to find thicker trousers and  long sleeved shirts. We had to eat lunch as well as breakfast indoors! This evening we even plan to light the fire for the first time this year. Oh well - at least we know spring is not too far away and with a bit of luck we won't have a repeat of last years big freeze.

I love the sun and warm weather but I also love the green hills and trees and the rivers and valleys of the countryside in this part of France which we wouldn't have without some rainfall so I guess we'll weather the weather whatever the weather as they say.

Wenceslas never had this trouble.

Last weekend after a mild winter the sudden drop in temperatures had caught us on the hop and we found our stock of logs was getting very low. No problem, we had plenty in reserve at Pavillon our old holiday home just 40 miles away. Snow was forecast later in the day but again no problem, we were ready early and would be there and back inside 2 hours in time to snuggle down in front of a blaze!

How wrong we were! We were about halfway when it started to snow, nothing too bad at first but by the time we arrived it was coming down thick. We didn't dare drive down the steep drive into the garden so kept the car on the roadside and barrowed the logs up through a steadily thickening snowfall.


We didn't hang about and set off hopefully towards home. It soon became clear that the journey would be very slow as despite de-icer the windscreen wipers were freezing constantly and making visibility extremely difficult. We had to keep stopping to break the ice off the wipers, stopping becoming a challenge in itself as the roads were so slippery.

The road along the gorge is at least a reasonable width, and it was looking spectacular with frozen waterfalls and gigantic icicles hanging from the cliffs, but once past St Antonin Noble Val the road towards Caylus is much narrower and very bendy with deep ditches on each side of the road. We negotiated it slowly, all the time aware that this was nothing to the difficulties we had to come! Caylus nestles on the side of a hill in the valley with steep hairpin bends in and out of it - we live on the hills at the top of one said steep hill! We approached Caylus from the south up gentle hills and at our junction we could see the chaos at the foot of the hairpin bends so we took a quick decision to stay as high as we could and continued across country where the road rises but quite gently and is at least straightish. As we drove through Lacapelle we started to feel a little more secure - we have friends there so if we had to give up there was at least shelter.

A little further and we were at St Projet ( the next village to ours ) now we were within our walking distance if all else failed! The hill into St Projet didn't seem like much but it was also on a sharp bend and after several failed attempts we had to give up and drive onwards , once more out into the country. Having walked a lot around the area we knew if we carried onwards we would be able to avoid any steep hills but we were actually now driving further away from home. Eventually we had gone far enough to be able to approach home from the north gently downhill and slid gingerly through the gates of Segala -and there we stayed most of the week.

At least we have had plenty of logs to keep us warm in between unfreezing the water pipes - but that's another story!

A la campagne

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