• Friday, October 26th, 2007
After a lot of debate on where the new veggie patch could go, the decision was made to put it along the left side of the garden. It gets the sunny pretty much all day and it’s right next to the pond so easy to get a water supply. However, there was just a small issue of removing a large tree and a lot of hedge. The hedge had actually died and been taken over by brambles so as it was being removed, it might as well be used for something productive. After our neighbour Lucien showed Steve how to sharpen his chainsaw, he got to work and felled the tree. It wasn’t enormous but we didn’t take the job on lightly as it could have done a lot of damage if it fell on top of you! Then there was the job of cutting out the old hedge. Once that was done, there was just a small matter of how on earth I was going to remove a tree root and lots of the old hedgerow root not to mention the brambles that had fully set in on top of it all. A long couple of hours was spent with a spade and fork only managing to dig out a couple of small root clumps. It was very hard work and as it happens I was due to go out that afternoon to see our previous tennants and now good friends George and Ali who live in a small hamlet 5 minutes away. During my visit, I happened to mention my back breaking efforts to which George replied “I’ve got just the thing you need for that job”. I am not sure what it’s actual name is but it looks basically like a pick axe but has a blade on one side and a big spike on the other. All tooled up, I got to work the next day and what an amazing difference it made. I managed to dig up the old tree root and everything else. I worked through the soil for about 3 days in all and got the whole lot dug over. Although it was still hard work it made all the difference having the right tool. There is still a long way to go and the story continues, but for now here I am at work ….
Me hard at it!
Finally got it out!
• Friday, October 26th, 2007
The french are renowned for their markets and I did report earlier on the fantastic summer markets where you bought your food and they cooked it “sur place”. Now that the summer is over, these have all finished but the regular markets are still running. Here I go to one in St Junien. There is always really fantastic produce on offer including a stall that sells nothing but oysters. I didn’t know there were so many different varieties. Apart from the fact that these are pretty much all local producers, alot of the produce is either bio or free range. I will only buy meat if I know the origin and I now have found a regular supply of free range pork, chicken, duck, lamb and eggs. The produce is so diverse, sometimes you see things that you don’t even recognise or couldn’t believe existed. Like last Saturday for example, at the “bio green beans” stall, he had the most enormous pumpkin you’ve ever seen. Makes mine look like a pea in comparison!
Makes mine look like a pea!
Just a selection of the fresh fish on offer
• Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007
Now that autumn has arrived, the organised randos are fully underway. We have already ridden a few and as usual have been great. The weather since the beginning of September has been awesome and the trails are in perfect condition. All the old summer bracken and bramble has died away and with the leaves now falling the colours are really starting to show. Our last randonee was in the area of Nantiat which is about 30 minutes north east from here. They took us right up to Lake Pardoux. I did 38 kms and Steve did 58 kms. The route was fantastic, with lots of single tracks through the woods and round lots of small lakes and ponds. It started off freezing cold but as the sun got up, the sky was clear blue and the sun was shining. It was a really great mornings riding and as usual there was a feast of food at the end. To top it all, I won a lucky dip prize for being a girly riding the 38 km circuit. A nice little over the shoulder ruck sack bag. There wasn’t much time to take pictures but we did manage to get a couple of nice ones and hopefully these will give you an idea of the beautiful countryside and scenery we rode through.
• Saturday, October 13th, 2007
We have seen a variety of wildlife here in the garden and when we are out mountain biking. We have a great ride recently enjoying the autumn weather around the area of Rochechoaurt and Chassenon. As we leisurely ambled along one of the lanes we could see some unusual pink shapes in the distance. As we got closer, we could see dozens of little piglets rooting around in the dirt, oblivous of what was coming towards them down the lane. As we got nearer, all hell let loose as they spied us and scattered squealing trying to remember where they had escaped through the fence. It was very amusing and amazingly, Steve managed to get a few pictures. Here’s one that came out …
• Monday, October 08th, 2007
Autumn is in full swing and the weather has been typically beautiful with crystal blue skies and lots of autumn sunshine. I have been keeping an eye on the sweet chestnuts all year as they have been ripening and getting larger and larger. Finally, they have started to drop their brown jewels and what beauties they are this year. We have already had a taste of the first of many roasted chestnuts. Have saved a few to enjoy over the christmas period too. Did you know there a different varieties of chustnuts and they do have quite a history. Here is some interesting facts about chestnuts.
