A Rum Tale

This is not only a rum tale it is a long one.

Last Saturday our friends invited us to a fund raising event in the next village. Their niece is very involved with a school in Nepal. A recent earthquake destroyed the old school so they have built a new bigger one. However it has no water supply due to the earthquake so funds are needed urgently. Sometimes it is good to reflect how lucky we are.

We had been told that there would be pizzas afterwards and we were to go to the barn....what barn? Peyrille is a small very old village with a tremendous community spirit and lots of expats. Apparently the "barn" was bought by the commune as a venue for community events. It transpired that the adjacent ancient bread oven had been fired up, someone had made a vast quantity of dough and we had to make your own pizzas to be cooked in the oven. In view of the large number of pizzas to be cooked there was an inevitable delay. No need to worry as we were also required to bring a glass which was filled with wine for a euro. Our friend had brought water tumblers for us which were FILLED to the top. Wine flowed all evening and the pizzas just kept on coming so you can imagine that there was a wonderful atmosphere!

Monday evening the same friends invited us round for aperos as their son and his partner were home from Martinque. We were still getting over Saturday night but it would be churlish to refuse!! Michel said "the boys" were preparing a Caribbean evening so it sounded fun. We were greeted with a rum punch which apparently contained white rum and surettes (a kind of sour apple grown in the tropics which is steeped in syrup). That went down very well and was followed by something a little longer - rum and orange. Gorgeous food accompanied the alcohol which now included organic red wine. As it got dark our hosts suggested we might like to try an "old" rum digestive. Why not! However to our astonishment it came out in a 3 litre box exactly like wine is sold in. It was delicious so we had two. We came home carefully, hoping that we would not encounter any gendarmes as we had to negotiate the village fete which was in full swing. We made it and reflected on a wonderful evening with super company. I also reflected that we had guests for lunch the next day and hoped that I would be in a fit state to cook. I had a perfectly clear head on Tuesday, it really is good stuff.

Christophe and Franck have ideas of turning Michel's barn into a pied-a-terre for their long holidays in France. Michel has obviously told them about our house so they arranged to come and have a look on Wednesday morning. However they arrived clutching another bottle of rum declaring "this is the best"

Subsequently John went on line to find out more about the producer and his wares. We were flabbergasted when we found out that the bottle was selling for 237 euros. What generosity.
We now have to organise a special evening to open it.

The very happy alcoholics are now having a few "dry" days.

The Clearance continues

Although we are not in a rush, I'm making use of this slack period in the garden (no mowing!) to carry on with clearing the 'dead' hedge.

I've trimmed back the hedge to the 'trunks' on the garden side.  (The hedge is at least 70 years old according to our neighbours)
At least one of the trunks is trying to regrow ...

... but a) next year's invasion by the box caterpillar will devastate the fresh growth
          b) we don't have enough time to wait for the hedge to become a hedge again even if we treat it.

I also have to report the first signs of autumn approaching ... the head gardener has started to tidy up in the porcherie for overwintering and/or next years sowings.

A Run Out

We are in the middle of a spell of entertaining which is very nice but rather exhausting. So yesterday we decided to have a break and have a "run out". He therefore donned his cap and I put on my chiffon scarf and we set off with our picnic.

Initially we were stunned to see just five miles away, vast swathes of hillsides covered in trees which had succumbed to the heatwave. We are used in August to seeing the odd tree with brown leaves but this was far worse than normal. We were driving through the Causse National Park which has exceptionally poor stoney soil with virtually no depth (worse than ours) but it was still a surprise. 

 We found a lovely shadey spot in a walnut orchard to have our picnic before driving to the nearby Castelnau-Bretenoux chateau which was our destination.

The chateau was built in the 13th century by the local barons. It was added to and embellished by subsequent generations but eventually abandoned in the 18th century. Some of the living areas were destroyed by fire in 1851 and it was again neglected until 1896 when it was bought by Jean Mouliérat. He was a tenor in the Paris Comic Opera and we assume he must have been the Pavaroti of his day as he obviously had very deep pockets.

We were fascinated to see that Jean was born in Vers opposite La Truite Dorée, a well known local restaurant. He seemed to want to live the life of "Lord of the Manor" but at the same time turned his every day life into a piece of theatre. Most French chateaux were ravaged during the revolution and are therefore not furnished. However, as Jean didn't start his renovation until the end of the 19th century his large collection of furniture and objet d'art remains to create his living stage set.

 He was obviously one of those eccentric, larger than life characters whom I thought only existed in Britain. He donated the chateau to the State two days before his death in 1932.

We had intended the "run out" to encompass two other places of interest but we were too shattered after our visit to the castle. They will be there when the "ol' folk" fancy another excursion!!

   
      

 

No Need To Worry

Yesterday evening I was going to write a post entitled "Casualty of the Heatwave" but then the "casualty" showed signs of life. Perhaps I better explain.

In the Spring our resident barn owl found himself a mate. There was little activity for several weeks but eventually we thought we heard a faint "shooshing" noise which we knew was the cry of hungry owlets. As time went on we deduced that there was probably only one baby in the nest as the noise did not increase. All seemed to be progressing in accordance with the information posted on line regarding barn owl breeding habits. We regularly saw the male go off in search of food and we think we saw the female once. However this week we heard no "shooshing" from baby. We both feared that it had succumbed to the incessant high temperatures. We know how hot it is in our loft so goodness knows how hot it is in the top of the pigeonier  with no insulation.

However we were delighted late yesterday evening to hear the owlet demanding food and we saw "Dad" responding by setting off  to hunt.

Fingers crossed that the owlet will fledge and that we can get some photos....we have a better camera now than the last time they bred.

After the Caterpillar

A storm overnight and a cooler day, giving the opportunity to work in the garden!  And so the 'hedge' clearance continues.

The Irises are now all up.

La Soiree Blanche

Every year John and Lesley like to take us to a local event as a thank you to John for cutting their grass in their absence. This year we were attracted by the following poster.

Having bought the tickets unfortunately John Hampshire was ill and couldn't join us, although Lesley was able to come. John H. certainly missed an experience!!

We had been requested to wear white but as Lesley and I don't possess any white clothes we made a token effort and hoped we wouldn't be turned away at the door. On arrival music was playing and we joined the white clad guests on the terrace for "bubbles".

  As we walked through the "mini baronial hall" to the terrace the tables were laid as if for a dinner party, complete with candelabras. When we booked we weren't sure what we had booked for but we had certainly not envisaged this.

 There were about 20 other guests who all seemed to know each other and there was lots of nudging to say "who the hell are they?". We were then called to table and they seemed amazed to find that this  "strange lot" could speak french. Actually our fellow diners turned out to be very nice people, although we just could not get over the lady who sat next to me. She was the spitting image of Dame Edna Everidge and I really mean it!!

We had been particularly attracted by the menu......oh what a disappointment. The Thai salad was a mess in a tumbler. The creole duck tasted like a poor winter chicken stew with a piece of pineapple added and the mango tiramasu I thought was pieces of peach with cream on top. We all gave it "nil point" for presentation. The caterer was supposed to have a good reputation!!

Between courses the duo played and were very good, if rather inappropriate. However the piece de resistance was when they transformed into a 1980s disco/karaoke. We began to feel like great aunts at a wedding. Time to go.

Have you seen those TV programmes where shabby chic chateau owners have to make a few bob to keep the family pile going? Well that summarises our evening although none of us could say that we hadn't enjoyed the experience.

Hot! Hot! Hot!

Like all of Europe, we have an extreme weather 'incident' here ... no real rain since beginning of June and temperatures in the 30's, except this week it has been hitting 40 deg C.  The Head Gardener has been struggling to try to keep things alive, but even watering isn't the same as rain.

Even the Christo bed, with its Dahlias, Cannas, Pelargoniums, etc, is suffering and that gets watered every day.

To add to our misery, the Box Caterpillar is rampant here in the Lot.  Throughout the valleys the hillsides are lined with dead wild box.  We have lost our Box balls and the Box hedge which is actually in front of our neighbour's house and Nadine (who is older than we are!) says that it has always been there.

It is a shame but, 'hey-ho', it has given us a new opportunity to try something different.  We have plans for its replacement but first we have to cut it all down.  I've made a start already by beginning to lift the Irises in front of the hedge, but the whole project is definitely one for the Winter.

So now we wait for 'normal' weather to return (only another 4 days of 40!)