The English Paysanne

 Sandy has now been moved to the birthing suite, she is due to farrow very soon although at the moment apart from a bigger tummy is showing no signs of piglets on the way, only hoping she hasn't been eating too many pies.  The day old chicks are now a month old and looking very different with their feathers. this is their panic pose when you enter the pen. Tomorrow they are going to be let outside now they are big enough not to escape through the wire fence.  The cows have moved fields a few times now, although there is plenty of grass in the rest of this field they seem to think they should stay in the mud. A ploy for a sympathy vote to be moved again to pasture new as the grass is always greener on the other side. a Another pair who are sulking due to being evicted from the poly tunnel are Vanille and Bambo, rather than sheltering under the trees they stay out looking like sad donkeys waiting for a passing carrot at pig feeding time. They are having d...

A moment at La Singlarie this week Putting in a new drain under the road.

When we lived in the UK our dinning room table was on the whole empty of everyday life, occasionally a vase of flowers was placed on it, homework was completed and meals eaten. A very different sight to our table at La Singlarie. The only time it has nothing on it is generally thirty minutes before friends come round for a bite to eat, when the deck is cleared and placed somewhere else. It certainly is a used table, in two ways brought second hand from a shop in Villefranche it has end leafs seating up to ten people, although a little squashed in our dinning area with dog chairs and beds having to be removed. Secondly it is used everyday to eat at, it is the office for gite bookings and meat orders and where paper work is done. Coffee and tea is drunk around it, sometimes with cake while conversations take place. Crafty activities take place here to, material cut knitting measured but no fleece carding (after being banned when our old table went wobbly due to zealous handle tu...

 After the last patch of rotovating was finished yesterday this morning was spent sowing seeds in the veggie patch more broad beans, French beans, lettuce and comfry. A raking over of soil ready for the tomatoes, aubergines and peppers I will buy at a plant fair on Sunday with a patch allocated for kale and cabbages that are small seedlings at the moment. Posts will be banged in for the toms to climb up and a structure? for the runner beans that seem to be coming up in pots in the poly tunnel, this is the first year since 2005 I have grown English beans. Sweet peas are also in pots to companion plant alongside the beans for pollinating. And the first strawberry is red, although I forgot to pick it and as it is pouring with rain now it probably wont stay around tomorrow when the slugs find it. The poly tunnel has also been rotovated with seeds sown today, lettuce, salad onion, herbs, beetroot, carrots and peas - lots of peas as I am guessing the mice will eat mos...

After a violent fight with his son the old white cockerel has not been the same, he was defeated with his son now in charge of the hens. The old rooster is the last in at night, keeping a low profile in the enclosed barn until morning when he now has a set routine of following us up to the pigs where he helps himself to their food which is put into buckets ready to have water added. As yet he hasn't come into the enclosures (not sure he would last very long) instead he runs up and down the hill emptying buckets. During the day he wanders around the farm down by the hanger and along the road checking on wondering hens. A bit of time is spent with the ducks, three old boys together. I'm sure if he was allowed he would be in the garden and kitchen, he seems to of got very friendly. A few days ago he developed a lump on his wattle, thinking it may burst on its own we left it. This morning it was still there, time to do something about it. While I had the job of holding h...

 The beginning of the week found Miss F and myself back in Essex staying with farmer J's mum in our home town. A trip to Southend for last minute buys with a stop at Leigh on sea on the way back for ice creams before our fish and chip supper. We had a great time in the UK catching up with old friends, eating and shopping. A day trip by train to London to visit to the Tate for Miss F to help her find inspiration in finishing her thesis to be handed in for May when she finishes her five years of being a student at Toulouse.  Five days away saw changes around the farm leaves emerging on the trees and bushes,the grass is looking lush and those weeds are growing at an alarming rate.  The sheep have been moved back to their old field to start eating away at the grass, it may be too much for two old ewes to cop with we may have to find a few friends for them.  The wisteria that is growing taking over climbing up the house is in full bloom, a lovely delicat...

A moment from the week Crossing the melenium bridge  on route to the Tate

As yet farmer J has been too busy to rotovate the veggie patch, other things have come up which have needed attention so i have plodded on digging and weeding, slowly getting there. Seeds have been sorted and new ones brought and hopefully all the old strawberry plants that didn't offer any strawberries have been replaced. The broad beans and garlic are looking healthy so far, rabbits have been spotted running around so rabbit repellent brought ready for when tasty greens will be sown. Red onions planted along with peas and french beans in the ground and hopefully seeds of runner beans, courgettes and pumpkins will be germinating and showing a couple of leaves soon, the rest of seeds will have to wait to be planted when i return after a trip back to the UK. Only hope the gnomes will water and weed while I am away.

A moment from the week at La Singlarie Something has happened to Fizz the cat, she's mellowed and is being nice. Anyone would think she actually likes poor Tyser (he couldn't move in  fear of being attacked)

I hear the piglets are moving up here Lets go, here we come No one said about ear tags I can't believe he put me in a bin let us out we promise not to do a runner Alright we will stay if you give us grass  lets go Oh your that side and we are this side That's better now we are together again Piglet moving day was yesterday after spending a while on their own getting use to life without mum and the electric fence the piglets were fed in the trailer ready to be caught and taken up the hill to new enclosures, three in one and four in another. We have found putting them in small groups makes for less fights over food and bullying not to mention as they get bigger a bit less intimidating for us, believe me you wouldn't want to fall over in a enclosure full of pigs, you must of heard about the American farmer who fed his pigs the poor ladies he killed. So trained fooled into the trailer the gate was shut on them as farmer J put a ear...