Not a Show Garden View 1

Here is a cat's eye view of the rear garden towards the potager, seen from the 3m² area of strimmed daffodils and tulips. That was about a week ago! I spent three hours mowing my land yesterday. Over to the left are chicken sheds with no chickens! The brown areas are because about a month ago I used very old weedkiller to control clover in grass though hardly is it the style of an English lawn.  I thought the weedkiller hadn't worked but the evidence is that a lot of the clover appears to have died off but again it is creeping through!  The cut grass/clover was not allowed to be used as a mulch between roses to control weeds so have had to wait a few weeks and mows. Meanwhile it mulched itself!

Behind the camera and me is a stone wall - not my property. There are two plants of Rose Metanoia and this year I can begin to train them on some wires along the wall. I like the way they change from deep apricot to pale pink.

I am inclined to leave the wild dog rose (inherited with the garden) between the climbing roses. Along this wall are a few hollyhocks, lots of yellow raspberries running rampant even though I was brutal to them in early February, yellow Kerria also rather swamped,  a Clematis in hiding which is over-run by the growth of other plants and I can't yet get at it. There was a Passion Flower plant which I think has ceased to exist!  There are a few gladioli and there was Nigella (love-in-a-mist). There were bluebells that I didn't realise were there or were they grape hyacinths but much hidden under the growth of wild grasses and cleavers (goose-grass or sticky-willy being two other names!). There is some mint escaped from elsewhere and I have scattered some wild flower seeds to see what happens.There are two paeony plants... one here and the other by the 'not chicken' sheds.

Rampant raspberries by a bricked up doorway.

I really don't know how to manage this section of the garden!

 

Three nasty concrete plant troughs which were in the front courtyard were brought around to the back garden using the Italian workawayers' muscle power and mine. It was funny and even the French neighbour had a laugh whilst he stopped work in his potager!  I have six strawberry plants in one, lettuce plants in another and 'cut and come again' lettuces and radishes in the third. I even added manured shop compost and expensive garden shop straw which is cut into little pieces into the poor soil.  I haven't had the courage to ask anyone where I can get a small bale but problem solved now as I have used the grass mulchings.

The elder bush encroaches on the path and the washing line and this year bears flowerheads!

I like elderflower heads dipped in batter, preferably deep fried... hold by the stalk, dip in the pancake batter and you could shallow fry... I don't eat the central stalky part but the fragrant flowers are nice!
END OF GARDEN VIEW 1

Sky

out on the bicycle, stop to eat a pear,
lie down upon the ground, stare into the air,
empty the mind of things that really do not matter,
stop words and nuisance thoughts that make a mindless chatter,
conversation flutters like a brimstone butterfly,
dizzy day dreams disappear, Life could simplify,
brilliant cobalt blue above, clouds scud slowly by,
forming changing vapours, castles reaching high,
not a soul around her, 'cept fields and clouds and sky.
LOVE

Vintage Cakes at the CCC

I think baking standards rise. The organisation and hosts were again cool, calm and welcoming. Their efforts to make these afternoons such a treat is very much appreciated!  It seems to be more fun and we seem to be less inhibited about our baking efforts - certainly it is not a competition though there may be some light-hearted competitive spirit!  In fact it can be quite fun when someone else makes the same cake and one confers and compares.  Folk gathered round the table sampling and chattering, so no one really sat outside to relax in the afternoon sunshine. All too soon the bell rang to signal the end of the session and so it was time to take a choice of cakes home.
For me: Austrian Sachertorte was fudgyyummy, Brandenburg was exquisitely engineered, Coffee Walnut was excellent.

I loved the 'better than my grandmother's bread and butter pudding' which was always served as a cake, the jammily filled Swiss rolls and Parkin is always such a treat.

N. made a Caraway Seed cake too so we stood and compared the two. His was more orangey with the Cognac. He could taste the butter in mine. Other than that they taste the same to me. Maybe his was more pointy because of the s.r. flour whereas I used plain and added baking powder. I am uncertain.  We each added about the same amount of Carvi (= Caraway).  I also made a completely gluten free version.

Then there was a Strawberry Cake to die for, an Old Grumpy Aunty Fruit Cake, a moist Carrot cake, another cake of which the description I have forgotten, a Pineapple Upside Down Sandwich cake and a Victoria Sandwich.

17 cakes evidently!

It took a long time to get the photos in this format but not the same as the editorial format. I went into HTML to try and space them in the preferred position but methinks I need a tutorial!

Whilst trying to present a decent posting I was wondering why I spend so much time at it when there are other things in life!!! ... and when I am not getting on with essentials!!!
A: I do it for me as I like being a kind of journalist! It is creative. Creativity is important to my happiness.

A cake designed to keep lovers together...

Caraway seeds (not exactly a seed but a fruit comprised of crescent shaped achenes)  are, according to folk lore, designed to keep lovers together, or to prevent the theft of any object, including one supposes that hearts are not stolen and fidelity is guarded!

It is the CCC today.  I missed the April event but realistically was too busy with family visits and imminent travel.

The theme this month is VINTAGE cakes.  My first thought was Caraway Seed cake so didn't bother thinking what else I could make.  I wasn't prepared to fuss about with Brandenburg or Angel Layer Cake which I made many years ago.  I'd made gingerbread but not yet a fruit cake for CCC!

So... this Old Fashioned Lovers Seed Cake would be just the ticket! It would be interesting as I had not made one for maybe thirty or forty years!  Thanks to the wonderful web I learned a great deal, some of which I once knew but had forgotten.  Ah... caraway ... wasn't that in the medication we used to give as a colic treatment to babes in the 1970s?  It certainly had that taste! Caraway belongs to the Umbelliferae family and is related to cumin, fennel and anise.
These are three websites that give
1. good recipes including a gorgeous recipe for Courgette and Caraway Seed cake... very Modern!!!  2. good botanical information....  and 
3. good encyclopaedic info all for caraway seeds.

I think it must be the next superfood as evidently it is rich in

- minerals including magnesium, calcium, potassium, selenium and zinc, 

- vitamins A E C and B 

- anti-oxidants,

They are a rich source of fibre and can bind toxins together to protect (not cure!) colon mucus membranes from cancers and lower cholesterol levels.

They can be used as a cold remedy or for bronchitis,

for bad breath as a mouth wash

and assist digestive problems such as IBS and as an anti flatulent!

So… a good little seed it is….

Here is my recipe for a "Vintage Old Fashioned Lovers Caraway Seed Cake":

Cream 175g margarine or butter with 175g sugar. Whisk 3 eggs separately then mix into the creamed mixture, with 200g flour, 50g ground almonds, 1 teaspoon baking powder and 2 teaspoons caraway seeds.  Bake in oven about 160C for apx an hour.  Ready when an inserted skewer comes out clean.

Yesterday
I had a baking afternoon as I needed a cake for today,  plus a gluten free version for a coeliac and one for me, (lower three in the pic)  a fruit cake to donate to and express my gratitude to the neighbour who mowed my long grass (on the board),  a fruit cake (in foil to be gifted to a friend) and a fruit cake for 'I know a man who can' (on the plate). He is arriving in one week's time to help me renovate the kitchen  which is very 1980s. VINTAGE is not the word!  Yikes company coming!

Un Vignoble

I'm not sure how many people were in attendance on the final night of a three day wine and music festival called 'Le Son du Vignoble',  but it was beyond my expectations, as was the parking.  It was smart that I did not go in my chic dress and heeled sandals  - 'les talons',  as we had to trek across a field that looked as if in wet weather it would be water logged.

It was the 4th year.  I didn't realise that and hadn't understood that one could spend the day there and take a picnic.  I don't remember information telling me how much it would be, so thankfully I took monetary notes! Like many experiences in France I discover BEAUTY.  This was an interesting evening!
A 14e entrance fee provided me with a tampon (= an inky rubber stamp! The difference in language is always amusing!) stamped on my arm, a ticket and an inscribed glass.  This is civilised France and I didn't see any broken glass! Long may it last!  It wouldn't happen in UK!  Far too dangerous!  In the glass was a paper token for the first glass of wine. Thereafter one exchanged euros for jetons (plastic disks) which could be exchanged for wine, juice or food.  Pretty neat idea!  I haven't been to Music Festivals so had no idea how it all works.

I am not sufficiently knowledgeable to comment on the musicians. The Healthy Boy played for the first concert in the garden. It was nice as the sun was shining, children were playing far away under the orchard trees, people sat and listened nicely.  I found the echo system of repeating and overlaying phrases played by a single guitar a bit much for me. I was really impressed when the SOUND man for The Healthy Boy was doing it all on an ipad!
The second concert was by Thomas Fersen who is well known in France and I think hails from Bretagne. That was under a huge hangar. I could not understand the poetic nature of his music.
HOWEVER
I love Ampelidae wines especially Pinot Noir, which is why I went all that distance.  It took me an hour plus to do the journey so didn't get home until the early hours but did buy a case of 6 Pinot Noir to indulge the Summer.
These organic wines are sold in our village shop. It's been a long while since I set forth into that terroir.  I had forgotten how rich it is on many levels. I went to Marigny Brizay for a dégustation in about 2008 when the company were just getting better developed.  The enthusiasm of Kate the proprietor of the Chateau and Frédèric were palpable... such enthusiasm poured from their hearts... we were shown the vignes, the cuves,the cellars and part of the chateau and generally the group we were in were keenly welcomed and indulged.  That was then.

Last night, as I sat by the bar,  I found again that warmth and trust in their mission to create quality organic wines. Then along comes Kate who seemed to remember me and I enjoyed speaking to friends of hers from London, who worked in the technological domain.
I could not avoid listening to a discussion that a french lady had with an expert behind the bar, about the effects of citric and tartaric acids used in white wines causing muscle cramp.  She could not drink white wine because of this.  He suggested Pinot Noir and a massage.. at which point I was included in the conversation by laughter.  Not many moments later she brought her female friend who had not believed her to listen to the expert explain, at which point I was very much more included in the exchange.
An attractive man discussed with the same sommelier the connection between passion, oenology, trust, horses and the natural world. I was astounded at the intellectual discussion which I only in part understood,, but then the chevalier and I discussed in English.  Only in France does this level of Passion seem so tangible, yet it makes me feel so ignorant, humble and questioning as to why on earth I stayed within the four walls of an educational establishment much of my life, seemingly trying to educate, failing to educate myself, and generally wasting precious life!  Mind you, the pace of technology has brought about so much magic to the world that who can keep up with it!?
I sat where I did at the end of the bar, perched on the end of a table feeling comfortable and safe as a single woman, occasionally having interesting conversations, maintaining French as much as possible. I discovered the sommelier was part English/French/German. As I have said his passion and knowledge for oenology was fascinating as I concentrated on listening to improve my language skills.   I had two tokens left but he offered me a glass of the new Rosé which was the BEST rose wine I have tasted..... SO I wish to buy a case for Summer and friends!  THEN, he gave me a glass of PN 1328 -- which is named after 'une parcelle' of land.  This was such a fantastic wine and I did just sip and sip.  I'd like a case of hat too! The palate can taste the difference between wines even if one has tasted others before. And with that, when the music ended,  I came home to hot chocolate and bed, sensing that I had possibly missed a marvellous opportunity because friends from Toulouse called the chevalier to travel on. Probably just as well!

easy peasy orangey or lemony cake

I have been meaning to post this recipe... adapt it as you wish

375g clementines or 3 citrus fruits!
I also tried it with leftover wintry wrinkling lemons and limes but it was an acquired taste!
6 large eggs
225g sugar
250g ground almonds
1 teaspoonful baking powder

Cook for apx two hours the orange fruit in boiling water.  Drain and cool. Cut each in half and remove the pips. Blitz the fruit to a pulp in a food processor...add to all the other ingredients. Pour into a prepped greased 21cm springform cake tin or whatever cake tins you have.  Bake for apx an hour about 190C... maybe you have to cover it with greaseproof paper or foil to prevent the top from burning or lower the temperature ... you know your oven!....
An inserted skewer comes out clean when you test if it has finished baking.
Leave to cool before eating.
Nice the day after it has been baked.
Can be iced.
Can be served with custard, cream or ice cream!
Can be frozen.

Courtyard Garden

On 16th May the courtyard garden was finished: it was started in February before 'la grippe'.
Here is what it looked like; very green when the weeds and moss grew, brown, dark and depressing when raked.  I had previously tried to cheer it with garden pots:

The concrete troughs were there when I bought the property but set elsewhere in the courtyard ... they have to be emptied to move them and then they need more than two people to lift... also they have holes in the bottom where the concrete has fallen out.
I helped the two Italian workawayers trolley and roll them on cylindrical lengths of wood to the back garden for lettuce etc... It was fun but had work bent double running, pushing and keeping the troughs steady whilst  Fl. pulled the weight.

In the past, logs for the woodburner have been stacked under a blue bache, but this cannot be a place in the future. Nor will I be allowed to store geraniums to overwinter in smaller plant troughs under copious layers of bubble wrap with pine branches weighing it down. The photo was taken in January! (This French village ties fir tree branches to vertical guttering along the streets and then decorates with shiny paper bows and wrapped boxes for the Christmas season!) I also acquired some for my downpipe and used them again before they headed to the dechetterie.

There will be no more hoeing, raking and weeding of soil-filled gravel.

Here it is now:

The fence is to be painted/stained a kind of charcoal grey.
 It is intended to provide a degree of privacy between those in the B&B room and those venturing to the exterior toilet block!
I made the fish a long long time ago for a party to hang suspended from the trees in a different French garden...
soon time to throw them out, but they add a watery theme!!!

Anyone who stays at my Chambre d'Hôte can enter from and exit onto the courtyard, even eat there if it is warm enough once I put the new table and chairs there...I am inclined not to clutter the courtyard with furniture!

I like mirrors in gardens.. and once the fuschias start to trail in the hanging baskets there will be more colour. I want only blue pots but beggars cannot be too choosy. I know the paviours could do with a scrub but that would be very hard work... it  amazed me how much moss grew in the last winter and how much soil I sweep towards the gate on a weekly basis.

After five years in this house, with help from WORKAWAYER friends, and others, the courtyard garden is clean, tidy, open, bright with light, and lets light into that kitchen, where I hope in the next few weeks or months a brown window and door will be no more...the kitchen will be gutted, not me! AND we all will WATCH that kitchen space... for progress and when it is finished from my lovely garden. Then from the kitchen I will be able to look out on ongoing fresh brightness!
I am so happy to have my courtyard garden looking cheerful ... it is not quite the intended Asian feel... am not sure what feel it is... but clean and tidy it is .... no more throwing the decorating paint onto manky gravel... no more weeding of manky gravel... and after all my angst i have no regrets that the wretched tree, which did entice the birds is gorn!!!!!!!!
I just love what I have done, even though it has doubled the previsioned budget which was already 1/3 more than I wished...... the price of love!!!!
To begin with I had no idea what to do but did a little research, went more than once to look at what was available to try and understand what to do! To see the possibilities within keeping the funding grounded!   I recycled a friend's tommettes as well as  the fish shapes  There are camellias, an acer, roses, clematis, geraniums, baskets of fuchsias waiting to take off,  lavender and rosemary, a struggling tree paeony and herbs. The flag irises have just finished, anemones struggle on to bloom, choisiya gives that lime green feeling. When I add the table, chairs and lime green parasol kept indoors for the now, then outdoor life will be complete ... at least in my imagination!!!!!!
In Reality life is becoming very different!

"It's not all play"

The Reality of French Home Ownership:

The water boiler has been intermittently making worryingly loud noises and occasionally has settled down in peacefulness for a while. I phoned the electrician in October, and sometime between January and March and then again in April, then he came in May and went away to find out from the manufacturer what is wrong with it and how to repair it!  He installed it! I am still waiting, phoning and waiting!!
Just before Easter I noticed copious amount of warm water trickling into the waste pipe.  So I turned off the electric boiler.  When my family came we didn't have hot water every day until I risked turning it on. Same problems.  I can do without a bath or shower for only so long, then my brain seems to need a watery experience!!! A sink wash isn't the same thing at my age! So, I turn the elec on and sod the noise and whatever it costs!!! I need a bath!

In addition the toilet seat I thought I'd fixed shouted 'bah humbug' at me an 'it aint so easy,'  as the complicated hinge fell apart! Not sure what to do!!!! Am waiting for a man who I know can!
In addition the three bathroom spot lights suddenly went out! Fortunately a wall light by a different switch opposite works nicely!
Next is my form of humour:
The weather had been dry for a while.  One early May morning I was concerned about the lack of water for my newly planted peas and beans, potatoes and leeks and self seeded poppy plants I had moved.  I spent about half an hour which wasn't too bad I suppose trying to get rainwater through the pump from the cistern into the hosepipe for watering the garden.  I understand the principles about priming but I couldn't remember or see how I'd taken it apart on a previous occasion and filled it with tap water.  The outcome was: I undid a plastic screw plug and got a lovely warm shower!! I laughed! Quickly I pushed it back onto the strong fountain! Then switched electricity and the on / off button,  on off on off... took the hosepipe apart in two places and was amazed that there was water in it, tried again and yippppppeeeee ........I am not sure what I did but wasn't I lucky that it worked so quickly.  the potager got watered and within two hours it rained mightily! I laughed again! Water pumps are notorious for needing to be primed after being unused for a while!

Nightingale hovering high

A friend recently led me to be listening to THE MOODY BLUES... and whilst I was listening to the lyrics of Voices in The Sky  I heard a reference to the nightingale...
I am somewhat obsessed by its song this year as the bird is immediately at the end of my garden most of all night and most of all day!!! Maybe there is more than one.
This particular video is lovely to look at if you wish to meditate on the images and song...
It is amazing how creative people are!

"Voices In The Sky"

Bluebird, flying high
Tell me what you sing
If you could talk to me
What news would you bring
Of voices in the sky

Nightingale, hovering high
Harmonize the wind
Darkness, your symphony
I can hear you sing
Of voices in the sky

Just what is happening to me
I lie awake with the sound of the sea
Calling to me

Old man, passing by
Tell me what you sing
Though your voice be faint
I am listening
Voices in the sky

Children with a skipping rope
Tell me what you sing
Play time is nearly gone
The bell's about to ring
Voices in the sky

Just what is happening to me
I lie awake with the sound of the sea
Calling to me

Bluebird, flying high
Tell me what you sing
If you could talk to me
What news would you bring
Of voices in the sky
Voices in the sky
Voices in the sky
Voices in the sky

The thrill is gone....

but the music will live on for generations to come...
with thanks to all those other marvellous musicians who discovered B.B.King...
and so my little tribute is
With respect...  to the master, a man who crossed boundaries...
and to all those with whom he played.

May Observation

May is the Most Marvellous of Months in The Garden
May is the Most Marvellous of Months to have a Writing Moment
A warm May evening is delectable.

When the cuckoo vocalises its name from minor to major third, 
sometimes to a fourth 

or an interval in-between

that is why it’s sometimes hard for me to echo.

When the nightingale plays an operatic role 

it doesn’t need a chorus.  

He is singing now, waiting for a friend to cease his solitude.

My cat likes to be stroked in hot evening sunshine 

as she lies on the table. 

I forgive her as she stretches out in pure pleasure.
Naughty cat!

She frowns when she hears the neighbour say ‘Stop’ 

to presumably the dog 

as there was no reply.   

Big Feet’s fur is so incredibly hot as it absorbs the sun. 

Her head is cool 

but as I run my hand along her back 

it becomes hotter midway along her spine 

hottest three-quarters of the way, almost too hot to touch, 

then her tail is quite cool.  
How a cat responds to sunshine is quite phenomenal. 

How can she cope with such heat as she lies on the oiled skin / plastic tablecloth?

She loves it when I stroke and scrunch a right ear with my left hand.

This time she stretches closer to my pen, 
reaching out to touch lightly with both paws 

as an acknowledgement 

that I am writing about her.
A narcissistic cat!

Now she has turned so that her cooler tummy faces the sun.   

She has always been called a French tart, a French tottie.

She is very much at home in my garden.   

I stroke under her chin and along the jawline.  

She caught a field mouse this morning.

My loud voice told her to go ‘OUT’ of the house.  

It’s really warm 

so I remove layers of my own clothing 

and expose my skin towards the golden ball 

to enjoy the heat of sun for the first time in the year.   

It’s after six p.m.

It's the second week of May.

After midnight

Yesterday had been another glorious HOT day of the kind I like with a gentle warm breeze becoming strong with a chill as the sun descends. It has been cycling weather.  That has yet to be accomplished. I have been gardening of necessity. Skip the story with the neighbour about the debate concerning 'un village fleuri,'  'un plus beaux village' 'sans Office de Tourisme',  and a possible bye law preventing me from doing what I have done for the last five years. He said he would find out more.
The barbecue at a friend's house was fun with seven children under seven and how lovely that the youngest who knows me well came several times to sit on my lap and chat... maybe it had to do with him arriving at the front of his house  as I arrived and me catching him unawares, asking him if he was up to mischief. Was he a scallywag. Yes, he said! Ergo, he will now be called 'earwig'...  My son was always affectionately known as Earwig because he too was an intelligent child always up to mischief as children should be!!
Earlier in the week I took the weeds in black 'poubelles' to the 'dechetterie' and filled one with their compost ...but it's a dry compost.  This morning I made myself go to purchase more of the right kind of soil to pot up camelia, magnolia and other plants for the courtyard. I got a huge bag of straw for the potatoes but I would rather have a bale of straw - no known farmers, except the Maire!  I very naughtily bought 6 right royal strawb plants named Charlotte, lettuce and kale plants and must find a space in the garden for them!!!  Must finish the task today and mow that lawn!
So much to do ...Today is a grey day for "The  Feast of the Ascension"...

this Salon has to be cleared by the end of the day!!   Ciao!

Just before Easter 2

For clever ones who have noticed, (and how would you if you don't know me?) I have gone backwards in time ... and now this is the end of the April catch up!  Life can continue.  Postings won't have to be retrograde.

We stayed too far north of the island of Ré for day returns to the two nights house rental for refreshments. The kitchen was upstairs but we did not venture forth into the balcony which was integral to the main house. Neat idea to remove the roof tiles but blinds don't cost the earth! I was a bit worried about the floor, beneath which was the ceiling of the front living room where the single bed was.

It got sorted but was very annoying to arrive late to find there was no bedlinen! Greeting lady dashed off to get some. Owner lived in Paris.  As I had signed no contract the linen fee was waived. I gather this is standard for this level of holiday place. So I shall be on the watch next time, as cost plus linen equalled nice hotel room pre-season.

With the tide out we wandered on a nature walk.

For afternoon tea we had an expensive though sumptuously presented gourmet delight on a plate!

Green loo rolls can be found at IKEA!

 We were leaving the island, heading home when the Giant Spider spotted us! I expect it had been a youth project.  We weren't scared!

I have had wonderful fun with my family out and about... 

the only stress seemed to be when we were back indoors... so we are each working on that!

I had a lovely restful time with friends and family in England and although I am pleased to be back safe and sound in my very own French home I miss them all enormously, as well as the ones I did not arrange to meet.  I miss nattering and being part of their lives!

The world is a busy place. I don't understand any of it or myself but what does that matter!

It's important to have fun however we make it.