The 'Orses Do-Over *

We had a very interesting afternoon yesterday at a celebratory lunch.  One of the ladies at the Bridge Club, Aline, invited lots of people for lunch, either the 16th (which we couldn't do as it was the last Sunday of the 'Open Garden') or yesterday 23rd.  The rumour going around the club was that it was a birthday party for her horse !

We arrived at the party for 12.30 to be greeted by quite a few invitees in a large open-sided barn where tables were laid up and the drinks table was invitingly waiting.  But no sign of Aline or the horse.  Everybody stood around, introducing themselves … and waited.  After about a half an hour, the message came out from the kitchen that some 30 hard-boiled eggs had been lost, but at this point we were encouraged to help ourselves to an apéro.  Amongst the drinks on offer (all sweet, as is the French taste) was a demi-john of home-made Ratafia, a distilled grape juice, which we felt obliged to taste … very warming on the way down.

Eventually everyone was invited to sit and we were served a salad starter.  We were seated at a table with 6 French people of our sort of age and so we had an ideal opportunity to observe the difference in French food culture compared to what we treat as normal in England.  The salad starter (with bread) was followed by a slice or two of cold roast beef (and bread).  A huge selection of cheeses was next (and bread), to be finished with Strawberry or/and Plum tart, although once the tarts were all gone, a big bowl of Crème Anglais (custard to you and me) was placed on the table to accompany choux buns.

Needless to say all of the meal was just an excuse to drink wine, white or red, whilst setting the world to rights.  We were included in the conversations which ranged from rural history, people's neighbours, Rugby, football, French politics, Brexit, and Rugby (in case you missed it the first time round).  We were unable to keep a track of how many bottle of wine the 3 gentlemen drank … certainly a tad more than the recommended limit for both health and the Law.

At this point, no sign of Aline or the horse, but bottles of Champagne were put on each table which everyone felt duty bound to drink to toast the horse's birthday.

By now some 5 hours had passed and so we thought we would say goodbye to Aline or the horse.  We went into the kitchen … empty, so we made noises and went into another room to see a lady and a gentleman who had helped with the serving, both flat out, one on the settee and the other in an armchair.  We enquired about Aline but were told she was 'having a rest'!

Sue drove us home very carefully via all of the back-roads.

* the Waller family name for an hors d'oeuvre

Ordinary Life

You may remember that we took it upon ourselves to place plant boxes under the entrance signs to the village.

Well off course this also involves watering them!  This morning I went off to do the watering and said good morning to a man nearby who was setting up a ladder to pick ripe cherries.  A conversation ensued (he turned out to be Welsh) and then he offered me some cherries (one of my favorite fruits!).  

I then had to put empty bottles into the glass recycling container (they weren't all wine bottles) and met Mme Florenty, the Pharmacist's wife.  She asked how Sue was, sorted through the jars I was going to get rid of, took some Jam jars and promised us a jar of jam.  On the way home I had to stop when I saw Gérard, one of our fellow village gardeners, and we exchanged pleasantries.  So as you can see my quick trip took a little longer than anticipated.

Once back home started watering our tubs and other plants as it is forecast for 34°c this afternoon.  I hadn't been watering for very long before Mme Florenty arrived on her bike with a jar of cherry jam (still hot!) and a bag of cherries which need eating.

Just the ordinary interplay of rural life … once you get accepted into it.

Finishing on a High Note

Yesterday was the last of our Sunday openings and we started with a garden club coming to see the garden at 10am … 24 interested gardeners on a weekend of garden visits.

As a measure of our integration into French life, Sue didn't do too bad guiding this large group around the garden for over an hour, all in French.

The rest of the day was not too hectic but it was good to think that we've completed our efforts for charity.  We had convinced our friends Bernard et Bernadette to open their garden as well this weekend, so we, their neighbours Mike and Irene, and our neighbours Jean-Jaques and Nadine were able to unwind at our house with apéros !

Thinking that we would take things easy, I was alerted by J-J of a minor crisis this morning … a swift had tried to enter a very small hole at the top of their house and was struggling to get out.  So, out came the ladder and up I went.

He was in this hole with his wingtips sticking out …  I think he had tried to turn around and had got stuck so I was able to gently pull him backwards until he was free and could go into the hole.

We left him to recover and about 10 minutes later J-J shouted to me that he had appeared at the entrance, fluttered his wings and then flew off.  Mission accomplished!

Hopefully the excitement is over now and we can just concentrate on keeping the garden alive as we have summer … 30°c today and hotter tomorrow !

Open Gardens

I have to admit that being involved with the charitable organisation OpenGardens/JardinsOuverts has meant that our lives have been dominated by gardens over the last six weeks. Of course I am not complaining as the very considerable sums raised for charitable causes is most important. Gardens in South West France are at their best in May and June but after that the high temperatures and virtually non existent rainfall render them a shadow of their former glory. As organisers for the Lot we have supported those opening their gardens, arranged publicity and appeared at a local plant fair to encourage others to open their gardens and visitors to attend those that are open. This year we have added to our own pressure by opening for 4 consecutive Sundays from 26th May. The idea was to show visitors how the garden changes each week from late Spring into early Summer. Of course we naturally feel obliged to present the garden at it's best so John has been mowing the grass every other day and clipping the edges twice a week ( we have had lots of rain - no complaints ) whilst I have been weeding continually. Although we have not had hoards of visitors we have had a steady stream of nice knowledgeable gardeners who we have thoroughly enjoyed talking to.

The following photos of our garden have been taken during the last month.

We are really looking forward to taking things a bit easier from next Monday. However Summer is forecast to arrive then and I will be permanently connected to a hose pipe!!

She's at it Again!

Pouring with rain and the Head Gardener is happy.

You can't keep a good gardener indoors.

Nature Notes and other curious sightings

This springtime has been exciting as we seem to have been living in our own Nature reserve.  The birdlife has been particularly active; we have Kestrels nesting in a hole in the house wall … as far as we know the female is sitting and we see the male periodically arrive with a catch.  In the meantime we have watched a pair of Magpies in trees near the house raise 4 youngsters and another pair a little further off raise at least 2.  We have had Great Tits, Sparrows and Black Redstarts nesting in other smaller holes in the wall, and I've seen at least 2 pairs of Swifts using very small holes near the top of the house wall for their nests.  We regularly see Hoopoes in the garden.  The most amusing incident occurred when Redstarts were raising a brood in the roof of our Porcherie.  We could hear the chicks from inside, and when we were working outside creating the new 'Exotic' bed we would have to stop and move away to allow a parent to go into the nest with food.  We would then wait till the parent had left before we could resume.  However, one afternoon I went into the porcherie to discover 2 youngsters on the windowsill, with Dad fluttering on the outside of the window.  I was able to grab the chicks and take them outside where they flew off into the trees with a relieved parent!

Out in the garden we have been battling with somebody who persists in digging through the nice soft earth of the newly planted flowerbeds.  We believe it is a badger and he does create havoc!

One particularly curious incident occurred when I was mowing the front grass and I came upon a dead snake.  It was a Couleuvre (a non-venomous grass snake) but something had just removed (eaten?) the head.  I continued mowing, only to find a second dead headless snake!!!

What would take the head and leave the rest?

On a more mundane note, we are involved with other villagers planting flowers to provide a bit of colour in the streets.  Yesterday Sue and I were planting a couple of boxes I had made to go under the village signs on the entrances to St Germain du Bel Air.

This job took longer than anticipated as we kept having to wave at passing cars (whether we knew them or not) or having to chat to friends who would stop to find out what we were doing.

At one of the signs we were working near a young lad on a vegetable patch.  He came over to us and we realised that it was Vincent, the son of the Pharmacist.  He was helping an old boy by looking after his allotment for him and Vincent asked if we wanted any lettuces.  Evidently, in the past, lettuces were allowed to go to seed and now, every Spring, the plot is full of lettuces growing everywhere. 

Sue gathered an armful and when we arrived home she distributed them amongst our neighbours.  Such is rural life !