Les poissons en France: May 2013

Ain't No Stopping Her Now!

Sue has been grabbing any opportunity to keep on top of the 'serpentine' bed in the front garden. As a sign of her improving health, she's been weeding and hoeing and the results show.

Now that she's got the front garden in control, she's begun on the 'long' bed in the back.

However, before she began on it, she planted out some of her petunias under the red roses in the front.

It's all looking like a 'spring' garden at last.

Saints de Glace

There is a superstition here in France that it is possible to experience frosts up until the 13th May. There are 3 saints festivals on the 11th, 12th, and 13th of May and after then, you needn't fear a frost. Wrong!!

The gardener was not happy this morning when, on delivering the cup of tea in bed, I announced that there was a frost on the back field. I won't repeat her comments but she has plants hardening off in the ruin.
She has subsequently checked her plants and says that they're ok. I haven't told her yet that it will be colder tomorrow morning!

Second Floor ..... Going Up!

The weather continues to refuse to brighten up! Rain, showers, thundery showers, cool. It's just like being back in England.
So, as no outside work was possible today, I started to assemble the third flight of stairs leading up into the 'loft'.

I've worked out how to fit the treads into their recessed slots before pulling the sides together, although the assembled weight doesn't make it easy.

There's maybe a couple of days work left on the stairs and bannisters, but, as soon as the weather allows, I need to be out in the garden!!!

Hope Springs Eternal

We are hoping that the rain will stop sometime and it will warm up. I moved a few plants outside today to harden off, in desperation rather than because the conditions were right. They have been hammered by torrential squalls today but seem to be surviving.. Do you remember that I said that I could be planting out "the geraniums" in September, well may be that wasn't a joke.

Look at the size of the plants I bought from the nursery and those that I have grown. Back to the drawing board next year!!
Mas de Bouye has been trying to plant up their pots between the showers......

....Nadine has gone for red geraniums whilst we......

...have gone for white geraniums and petunias.

Shut the Door!

Having had our little break in Arles, it's back to jobs. Which means that today the new door was hung.

However, we not only have a new door, but we have a new table top on the outdoor table on the top terrace....AND a cover over the entrance to the water cistern or citerne (you'll have to come to have a look to fully understand!)
The colour of the door has been condemned out of hand...far too light! This will be worked on.

In the meantime, June was as happy as a sandboy sitting on our mower cutting the grass.

Holiday Jobs

Our friends David and June are with us for a holiday but they like having a 'project' to work on whilst they are here. So we're making a new door into the 'salon'.

However, the jobs were interrupted by a few days away in Arles. This lovely romanesque city is about 5 hours away from us; a place with lots to see and with connections to Van Gogh.

It also has the advantage of being on the doorstep of the Camargue. We actually spent 2 days exploring the abundant wildlife there.

On the day of our return we decided to stop in Nimes, which has reputedly the most complete roman amphitheatre in the world. But, when we arrived the city centre was 'occupied' by a huge fair, so we drove out again! Not to be disappointed we drove on to Avignon, and were delighted to have done so. We were very taken with the city; lots and lots to see and a vibrant atmosphere.

Our first stop was the famous Pont d'Avignon, immortalised by the song we learnt when we first began to learn french at the age of 11. We were a little taken aback when we saw that you had to pay 4 euros to walk on the bridge, so we contented ourselves with a photo from the road!!!

Both the Camargue and Avignon will be on our list to see again!

Treading Carefully

We've had showery weather again so I've been working on the stairs ... and the bannisters.

We're pleased with the finished look of the pole and the wires, although I had to do some work on modifying the connectors so that we could use a thicker wire ( and a bit more modifying may need to be done to ensure a lasting job!) We're now temporarily stopped whilst we search for more supplies of the connectors. So I turned my attention to the top flight of stairs.