autumn work to do

We have got to that stage in the season where I walk out into the garden and think UGH .....  there is so much to do, to cut back, to get rid of, to change place.  This is not the moment for a ladylike wander around the flower beds with a small secateur and a cutting basket, no way!  This is the moment for boots, gloves, shears, wheelbarrows, the moment when the compost heap will grow to giant proportions.

There is no way around it, I shall have to bite the bullet this weekend, the sun is shining, I have no excuse. 

Here are a few shots taken on crisp frosty grass this morning, as I walked around summoning up some courage.  Because now I've made it public, I have to do something about it, right?!

A happy weekend in the garden to you too.

autumn pleasures in my garden

Leaves are beginning to tinge orange and rouge, the wind is picking up and it's time to pick apples to store for winter.  This is the season of excess, of strained branches, of deep pinks and purples, the sweet perfume of ripe fruit on the air.

We like to store our apples in the cellar on 'clayettes', special trays designed for storing fruit.   I sometimes buy these stacking trays in brocantes, love that they are practical and beautiful.

and if you'd like to see more pictures taken in our garden pop on over to see Julie at Being Ruby, she's showing more shots from her stay here, and they are way better than mine!

a country weekend

September is proving to be beautiful (OK I know we're only the third, but I'm optimistic by nature!).

The weekend got off to a good start as Ghetto came home for a couple of days and tried to impress Gibson with some slick tricks he learnt in Paris!

The horses are surprised, they thought we had gone into the fall but the renewed heat forces them into the  shade under trees and they only want to be ridden at the end of the day.

and the special weather magics us beautiful skies for our warm evenings

I wish you all a wonderful weekend in your favourite company, be it two legged or four!

setting the stage

Don't you think that half the success of a good dinner is the 'setting'.  

Last week we had a couple of friends around for a last minute dinner, just the time to put together a simple meal and lay the barbecue  table with a few flowers and candles ... night fell, good wine, nice food, lively conversation and before we knew it it was ... well I won't tell you what time,  but we didn't have much sleep that night!

The table was laid with a mix of modern and old for the plates, antique glasses and new, candles in  small glass votives, brioche moulds and vintage chandeliers.   A linen tablecloth but paper napkins - I'm meant to be on holiday, right?!

Maybe this is part of the charm of a climate where warm summer evenings are short lived and to be made the most of.  Music in the background, heated French discussions punctuated with laughter, and we're lucky that we have no insect problems.

This is how we like to share evenings with friends, entertaining French style

lavender from my garden

The summer has been warm, the spring was dry and the lavender is ready to cut earlier than normal.  It's not a quick job, cutting back the plants, drying the lavender then separating the grains from the branches, but oh boy!  it's worth it.

Yesterday my first batch was ready to put into sachets.  I used pieces of old linen, filled with fresh lavender and decorated with a simple bow.  A timeless pleasure.

mon potager

Mon potager - my vegetable garden - is a reflection of our life here.  Fairly simple, nothing showy, often a bit untidy and rambling round the edges.... relaxed.   We have four squares, each measuring about 3 metres or 12' square.  That size is easier to maintain and looks rather pretty.  Looks are important when it comes to the potager, that is why flowers are allowed to self seed, rhubarb is left to flower and little boys like to plant in straight lines.

The potager is  in the corner of the garden, edged on two sides by the garden wall, and on two sides by a picket fence that I made from scrap wood.  I had a brief and uncharacteristic moment of genius when making the fence, and created each section  to be lifted off for mowing the lawn.  ... pause for maximum effect, my good ideas are so rare, I have to make the most  of them ...!!

Our bean frames are home made, and restrung each year with the string that come off the horse's bales of hay.  The heaviest task is each spring, when we trundle in wheelbarrow fulls of compost  to feed the ground.

One square has a little apple tree and our herbs, the other three rotate each year and we grow tomatoes, beans, courgettes, sometimes red peppers, parsnips, rocket .... Nothing exotic, just the stuff you really want to have an unending supply of close to hand.  In the stone wall corner is bordered by raspberries and pumpkins for ground cover.  Poppies self seed themselves and we leave them in situ because they are too pretty to pull up.  Same for the fennel, whose stalks are great with fish and whose lime yellow flowers are useful in bouquets.

How about you, do you have a potager, pots on a balcony with tomatoes and herbs, or a full size walled garden that could feed an army?!

summer storm approaching

A difficult day yesterday, trying to balance work obligations
with family needs - 

you know the thing, guilt, frustration ... GRRRR .... SIGH

Badminton on a summer lawn, children laughing, absences forgiven.

A menacing sky that is breathtakingly beautiful.

The frustrations of the day forgotten.