Sausage and Mash.......French Style

 We like to think that since we moved to rural France over 17 years ago that we have become true country folk. Living cheek by jowl with nature and the seasons. Well there "ain't no seasons" anymore and we have given up on weather forecasts and just look out of the window before planning our day. Saturday was a perfect illustration of this. As I stepped outside to start work in the garden I heard what I thought sounded like a flock of swifts screaming. I looked around but couldn't see anything so assumed  that I must have been mistaken as it is far too early for them to arrive. An hour later John pointed to a noisy flock of a dozen flying over head.

No doubt you are wondering what all this has to do with Sausage and Mash! The local school PTA had arranged a S&M meal on Saturday evening to raise money for school trips. The menu; [rough pâté (gold award winning and made by local butcher), duck or pork sausages and aligot (French version of mash very glutenous with the addition of cheese) followed by apple tart], did not overwhelm us but in our spirit of joining in we booked our tickets. In keeping with this unseasonable weather a thunderstorm broke just as we were about to set off. After the storm eventually abated the village hall filled with about 150 people from babes to 90 year olds and was truly representative of the diversity of us Germainois. We loved it. Things didn't get going for an hour and a half, who cares, the wine flowed and the food was fine. Above all the ambiance was wonderful, that feeling of conviviality that we so appreciate.

To cap our feel-good feeling we arrived home to be serenaded by a nightingale, doesn't he know that it is not yet the end of April!!

Just when the Garden is flourishing

 This year Spring has been unusual for us.  A lot of rain at the beginning of the year then days of warm weather.  As a result everything has grown rampantly.  The early Spring flowers have indeed been early and have given us a lovely display and we have never seen such abundant growth in the Allée.

However we had about 5 or so days of frosts in the mornings which killed off any young growth on lots of things:-

a white azalea

the large japanese maple tucked up against the house

Twisty Baby (pseudoacacia) in the courtyard

the trumpet vine (campsis) on the barn wall

And just when I was feeling really good about my Bonsai and they way they have responded to being repotted, my 2 wisteria were clobbered!

No doubt nothing has been killed but we now have to wait patiently till everything regrows!

'C'est la vie' say the old folks, it only shows you never can tell.