The English Paysanne

A moment from the week at La Singlarie Portiche is in need of a bit of TLC, the last one of our first cows we installed on the farm she has now gone into retirement with a daily handful of cereal with added minerals she's a happy girl.

Today was the chestnut fair at Laguepie, the day of eating chestnuts. Amazing weather brought everyone out as it was very lively. Restaurants have set menus with chestnuts in each course,rows of  sellers sell chestnuts to take home or you can buy chestnuts roasted in big wire cages. Wire baskets are sold for home roasting along with chestnut products of flour, cakes, breads and conserves. As well as chestnuts there was market stalls selling the regional specialities of saucisson, honey, cheese, wine and walnuts, we brought ours 5 kilo bag from the old guy in the photo which Freya was made to carry around after Farmer J chainsawed our small walnut tree down by accident (it did only have four nuts so wouldn't of lasted long) at least they were lighter than the bags of chestnuts and apples we scrumped yesterday afternoon on our dog walk.

A moment from the week at La Singlarie In Franklin's words "It's torture living here". Now the cooler weather has arrived Fizz has been evicted from her feeding spot on the window ledge. The only place the dogs cant get her food is on the table (not sure where she will be eating soon once the table goes away too). Franklin is finding this new eating spot torturous, especially as Fizz is a grazer so a bowl of food uneaten is just not what dogs understand  around here.

Snuffling through the cereal Has it got bits in? Are you eating it? No it really is bad Our pigs are driving us mad at the moment, well for about a fortnight now since they started to have a new batch of mixed cereals. They just wont eat it. Is it only our pigs that are fussy? Out of all of them there are three who will eat it no problem but the rest just turn there snouts up. Gorgon and the girls have no problem with it or the sheep but the chickens and ducks don't think much of it either. So what is different about it? It can't be that inedible if some will eat it. It must be the taste. This is new mixed grain cereal from this year, a mixture of wheat, oats,barley and peas, a lot more peas than last year so it can only be the taste of the peas that is putting them off. When the cereal is changed the old lot is milled with the new lot half and half so there is a gradual change, the same done this time. We have a lot of this unpalatable cereal

A moment from the week at La Singlarie After being told she's on a diet Fizz takes matters into her own hands and goes hunting- hope she doesn't think I'm preparing it foe her!

This week the metal poly tunnel frame has been moved ready to be put up, barrels collected to be filled with cement, plastic brought and metal poles cut to size to sit in the barrels to heightened the tunnel allowing the tractor to fit in. Help was needed by out friend Thierry from down the road who's tractor held the first arc in place enabling the rest to put erected. lots of ladder climbing, (thankfully not by me) later and it was up with ties holding it in place before being wired and tied in place. It now awaits its plastic cover,I understand a little job for tomorrow.

It wasn't me, I wasn't there, she (Sorrel) egged me on, how can you tell ? Franklin has been back to his old ways of counter surfing,well not so much counter although he was caught lifting a half bag of sugar of the side -not good if your diabetic. It has been more like surfing around the kitchen looking in open cupboards and under worktop storage. Yesterday he had a packet of beetroot half eaten by the time I got to him, he didn't realise there would be tell tell signs of pink juice on his paws - caught you in the act Franklin. Today I came into the kitchen to find the big bag of flour which sits at the end of the isle counter had been attacked, bits of torn off brown paper around it. Now I would of blamed Sorrel and Franklin would of let her be blamed if it wasn't for the white tell tell signs. now when you add flour and saliva you get a kind of glue like substance which requires lots of licking, the photos show as his head kept moving. better luck next

The weekend was spent dismantling the 25 meter poly tunnel which we erected around 9 years ago. The past couple of years it hasn't been used, apart from shelter for the donkeys and keeping the pigs cereal dry. It was just to much work to keep growing veg in it and in summer too hot as the only free time to work in there was in the mid day heat - not good for an  English rose. So plastic was dug out from one half and kept for the other as part of it was to remain. When it was erected there was six of us bringing it down there was two, with the metal frame wobbling at times it finally came down leaving the four wooden poles of the end where a wooden frame was once attached with metal poles tied on. The frame has been moved to the silage pit to make a 20 meter tunnel to house the machinery. Metal posts are being cut to size ready for collection on Wednesday. Farmer J has driven to local garages collecting oil drums which will be filled with concrete (I spoke to

A moment from the week at La Singlarie Walking the cattle to their next field.Thankfully they were very well behaved as eight leads would of got into a terrible tangle. (Three with the dogs is bad enough)

I can thankfully say i had nothing to do with this part of extending the hanger. The whole concrete making of shovelling gravel, adding cement and water, mixing which I equate to making a cake and emptying it into a barrow (putting the mixture in a large tin) has passed me by and what a relief it was.  luckily our neighbour who has the digger is incredibly adept as picking up the gravel with his bucket placing it in his huge cement mixer. I was made redundant and so happy with the decision. For I would like to think my heavy building work days are finished. After making so many barrows of concrete for the gites and later the bases for the sows cabins I am hanging up my apron. The only part i did take at the end was clearing up the empty cement bags and praying that a certain cute kitten didn't end up getting stuck in the wet concrete. While it hardens off we have moved onto the next stage (in between other jobs) of dismantling the poly tunnel ready for i

Tempete may of used one of his nine lives up after finding a container used by farmer J when working on the tractor with the remnants of old diesel in it. His now beginning to explore his new base in the hanger, which is getting him into trouble. Two washes later and a wet kitten he was more or less good as new but didn't thin much of water and soap - not so cute now Tempete !

A moment from the week at La Singlarie Kitten attack