Autumn Garden Jobs

 .......just don't seem to have been done this year and I can't really pinpoint why. Firstly the "Summer Season" didn't wane, the flowers kept on blooming and I hadn't the heart to cut them down. Then we noticed enormous bare patches in the front "lawn". Whilst the mornings were moist and the rest of the day warm we decided to rake out the moss and reseed. This turned out to be a much bigger job than we anticipated and so far, after more than three weeks, has not yeilded a single blade of grass!

The next "hiccup" was that the weather forecast declared that we would have a frost. This is normal for this time of the year but suddenly my emphasis had to move to lifting the 80+ geraniums immediately in front of the house. I imagined that it would be a simple job, lift and repot, job done in a day. So far I have repotted half and keep debating whether the rest should go straight onto the compost heap. That seems a waste but I still have so many jobs to do that it will probably be their fate in the end. By the way a "proper" frost did not materialise until yesterday.

Next pressing job, 3000 bulbs had arrived and needed planting. We initially planted the narcissus and daffodils, easy peasy with our trusty bulb planting drill. After a couple of days hiatus buying and planting pots for an elderly friend (she took us out for lunch so it wasn't any hardship) we turned our attention to planting our own tubs. Unfortunately we discovered that all the tulips were of poor quality with mainy showing signs of mould. I have used this bulb company for years with no reason to complain however as you can imagine they got the full force of my tongue,via email, on this occasion. They said that they give 100% guarantee if they don't flower. That's little comfort when this fabulous display I had in my mind's eye for Spring doesn't materialise!

Well all this bewailing doesn't get the jobs done so I better get cracking outside.

St Germain goes upmarket

Last Saturday was an important day for St Germain du Bel Air.  The Mayor, Monsieur Labrande, invited the village for a walk down to the new Sewerage treatment works.  

This took a little while as there must have been about 200 people in all!

Once there the process was explained to everyone and then we could wander round.

The new 'Sewerage Works' serves the main village (who are on mains drainage) and uses a Reed-bed filtration system to purify the effluent before it is safely discharged into the river Céou.

The Mayor then gave a speech, followed by the regulation 3 other speeches by different invited dignitaries, which then allowed the 'official' opening and cutting of the ribbon !

But this was only the first phase of the day's excitement.  We all strolled back to the vllage hall, the Salle de Fête, which has been totally renovated. Before entering, everyone had to show their vaccination certificate, their Passe Sanitaire, to a security guard, hired especially for the occasion, and have thier hand inked to prove that they had been checked!
 This allowed the Mayor to give his second speech of the day, followed again by 3 other speeches before the second ribbon cutting of the day.

We were all finally allowed in to the hall to start the celebrations with an apéro, serenaded by a 3 piece band!

There was actually no limit to what or how many drinks you could have before everyone drifted into the main hall to find a place at a table. Lunch was a self-service Buffet of salads, cold meats, foie gras (naturally) and cheese, with dessert and coffee to follow.

All the time we were eating the band were playing till eventually some couples were up and dancing!

Despite what you can see in the photos, it wasn't just a lot of old fogeys !

We were so overwhelmed by this incredible display of 'community' that I had to keep explaining to our French friends sitting with us why Sue kept shedding a tear.  I had to explain that Sue was happy/ nostalgic/overcome with emotion when comparing this event with things we used to put on in England some 50 years ago in the village where Sue grew up .  And to explain that we felt this celebration would not be staged there now.

 It is so enriching to live  in a community where you know people and are known, where people take the time to greet you, where people are always ready to offer a helping hand.

These 2 projects have been completed at a cost of over 1 million euros but it shows that, in France, all levels of government are prepared to put money into maintaining small communities, in keeping alive a community spirit so that we are all proud to be St. Germinois !

15 Years of Dirt

 I have been closely watching the weather forecast in the last week as the temperatures have dropped dramatically in the mornings but risen again later when the clear blue skies and warming sun get into their stride. However tomorrow heralds the actual probability of a frost and the compulsion to move tender plants under cover. Panicking a little I asked John if he would clean the windows in the porcherie/potting shed (as I can't reach them) before it became full of plants.

In order to clean the windows "properly" we had to move benches etc. By lunchtime we realised that this "little" job had morphed into a full blown "Spring/Autumn clean". Not before time some would say as it hasn't been done like this for the past 15 years. Although I frequently de-cobweb, this time I was amazed to see that they were draped like lace curtains between all the beams. Surely monster spiders must live here but I never saw one of any size.

  (there is a man cleaning the window behind the reflection)

Although not planned we felt very virtuous when we had finished. Must go now and start moving the vulnerable plants.