The veggie garden

With sporadic snippets of time spent weeding and caring for the veggies, watering each evening and still battling with rabbits I did get to the stage of thinking is it all really worth the effort. But I've battled on through with beads of sweat falling in my eyes (that really stings) having to scrub away the mud stains from my feet each night and ease an aching back, fighting with the hose pipe to let me have the water contained in it (you know how when you move it it gets twisted up) and being attacked by ants as I unearth a nest, the tiny brown ants seem to be the most vicious freely giving a bites should you not see one crawling up your leg or arm.

And now the benefits of growing your own veg can be seen.The first broad bean plants have finished with a mass of beans in the freezer making way for three melon plants, each protected by a car tyre at the moment (I'm getting wise to these rabbits). The small crop of garlic has been dug up, the first crop in eight years - its usually eaten by mice before i get to it, still they have been a bit busy this year eating the peas i planted. I have even outwitted them by now planting peas in drain pipes and then transplanting the seedlings which seems to be working. We will probably never have enough peas to freeze any but to be able to eat them fresh will be good.

French beans are starting to appear and the runner beans are beginning to run up the bailing twine with a few flowers so hopefully they will produce a few runner beans. There is even a tiny cucumber coming along, hopefully high enough out of gnawing teeth. I did notice a new burrow under the borlotti beans which I quickly filled in.

Ive nearly finished getting out as much compost as I can which has been given to the pumpkins, courgettes and rhubarb with a wheel barrow going to the gites veg boxes which have been planted up with tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, cucumbers possibly? or courgettes? or pumpkins, not sure yet must work out a better labelling system for next year.

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2ENJ093 - FRANKLIN

Eight years ago today Franklin came into our family, a rescue dog from the SPA in Rodez we drove to see if they had a dog to re home. He had been there a month after being left tied to a bin in the town centre, chosen because he didn't bark, he came to us to say hello and was completely different from the dog we had lost days before Christmas. 120 Euros he cost, a young boy still a pup, very thin but with a look of take me home please. A collar put round his neck, forms completed, cheque handed over and a kiss from the manager and he was ours. Five minutes down the road in the car he threw up. Five minutes in the house and he had weed up the settee and collected an assortment of treasures including socks, toilet roll inner tubes, tissues and soft toys all placed in a pile under the table and garded. He ate at an amazing speed, fearing he would loose it to our other dogs. Then he started to bark, he has a fine bark on him. He barks for his tea, when a visitor arrives, the ...

Parisot lake

As it is a holiday today here in France (Bastille Day) we took the afternoon off an popped over to Parisot lake for a walk with Sorrel. It has all changed, since the lake was emptied and cleaned up this year you can now swim in it, as well as inflatable toys to play on, a life guard, bikes to hire, a new fenced in play area for small people and a total spruce up. But there is a price we were charged! 3 euros an adult, which I guess is OK if you are using the facilities but Sorrel didn't fancy a dip. The cafe is still open but that would of been too much for Sorrel to cope with being so close to people and music so we opted for a bench to sit on in the shade before walking around the lake. Sorrel opted for being Billy no mates and laying by herself, if be it for a short period of time before bikes and people went by. We are now waiting for the free firework celebrations over the chateau tonight - if we can stay up that late.😃

Lavender

One plant that does grow well around the gites and garden and that I don't seem to be able to kill is lavender. In the summer the bushes are swarming with bees, hummingbird moths, butterflies and other flying insects, lot of holiday photos have been taken by keen photographers, some setting up chairs and waiting for ages with big cameras and lenses waiting for the right moment and right insect to land. It does give a lovely show and smell as well, its picked and placed in vases in the gites by guests. Its very tactile and difficult to pass without a rub of a flower that's if you like the smell. I think its very much like marmite you either love it or hate it, a smell of memories of grans and old aunts who use to get given Yardley's old lavender smellies for presents. I like the smell but it can be quiet overpowering, especially when this year I have finally been able to save the dried flowers. Previous years other things have got in the way and its bee...

The English Paysanne

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