Amelia left me in charge of planting the little tomato plants that she had grown from seed. Every time that I thought of planting them my French neighbours warned me that I must wait for les saints de glace to pass. The country folks in most of Europe, especially in this little corner of France … Continue reading »
This week, Amelia has returned to England and has left me to look after her “French garden”. I’m the husband that makes the bee hotels and now has been entrusted to keep her posted with the happenings in the garden while she is in the U.K. There is a lot to do this time … Continue reading »
We hung one of the new bee hotels within easy site of the patio so that we could watch the bees come and go: imagining relaxing as we sipped our coffee. For the naturally curious it doesn’t quite work out like that. Take a warm sunny day in May, the temperature has reached 30 degrees … Continue reading »
When I visited Minerve in the Languedoc-Roussillon last week we parked in the visitors car park outside the village which must be reached on foot. The car park was well designed and the light stream of visitors parked and followed a well-trodden path for their initial view of the beautiful village. Afterwards they followed the paths … Continue reading »
Last Saturday morning we realised that if we did not take the chance to get away for a few days we would have no time to fit it in before I go back to the UK in May to be with the family. A couple of hours later we had booked our hotel in the Mediaeval … Continue reading »
The first flush of the spring bulbs is well past and the old faithfuls are shooting through. Some things don’t come up as you expect them to. I bought a beautiful pale blue Pulsatilla a few years ago as I was so taken by its ephemeral lightness. I propagated its seeds but only to find … Continue reading »
When you live in an old stone house you have got to accept that you will not be the only occupant. It’s just a matter of when you meet the other lodgers. As usual I find myself looking into a hole when something starts looking back at me. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to catch the … Continue reading »
It has been a dull start to April. Heavy clouds hanging over the garden dulling the colours of the flowers and keeping the bees in their nests. I shouldn’t complain; the north of France has had snow and we are only suffering from a lack of sunshine and below normal temperatures. It has reduced my … Continue reading »
We have had much more rain this winter than usual, even the water table level that has been getting dangerously low for some years has returned to normal. This is all good stuff for gardeners and I look forward to seeing many more wild flowers this year. What has surprised me is the crop of … Continue reading »
One of my photographs has just been published for the first time! O.K., O.K., I know it was only 7 x 5 cm. (3 x 2 inches) and the print quality was dubious but the original isn’t exactly Nature Photographer of the Year quality either. However, it was in Buzz Magazine which is produced as … Continue reading »
