Midsummer's day is approaching fast in St André

It's been a busy fortnight.  

I had a colonoscopy on 3 June and was given the all-clear for anal cancer.  Dr le Bihan did find a polyp much, much further up and removed it for testing.  Initial testing is good news and he doesn't expect that will change with more detailed analysis.  I may not have to have another colonoscopy for 2-3 years.  I never have any bad effects from the colonoscopy but the anaesthetist did have trouble inserting the drip needle and having tried inside my elbow and the back of my hand finally made it into a vein on the inside of my wrist.  I was pretty fed up with all the poking around in each insertion and was very glad when he finally had success.  Needless to say I am so pleased with the results of the examination and feel I have been treated very well and have been very lucky.

My little chick, named Annie, as in little orphan Annie, has thrived.  She spends her time between the house, garden and the garden hen house at night.  The latter is a trauma for her and she hides behind the nesting box so she can't be bullied by the others.  With a change of allegiance, she has spent quite a bit of time on Matthew's lap while he's been here this week.

Matthew, Brett and Sean came over for just 3-4 days.  The weather wasn't very kind, they were a week later than usual and if they'd come last week it would have been much better.  However, they still managed to sit in the garden most of the time, use the hot tub and we had a BBQ on their last night.  They mended some fencing, pruned the fast growing vines bits and cleaned and set up the swimming pool and hot tub.  I drove them back to Roscoff today and picked up my new Workaway who had come in on the boat on which they were going back to Plymouth.   

I went back for a second x-ray on my left wrist.  Luckily it wasn't broken after all.  The weakness and pain is because the joint is arthritic and the trauma has caused inflammation.  i continue to wear the splinty thing, which really helps, and hope it will soon be much better.

I gave a dozen eggs to a Breton neighbour who had two broody hens but no cockerel.  He came round this afternoon to say that six successfully hatched this morning and he was really pleased with the mixture of birds, two black, a brown, a ginger, a grey and a white chick.  He also said that his little terrier dog had killed his fourth fox this morning which he'd cornered in an outbuilding.  Although I love foxes, I don't want them near my hen fields - mixed feelings about it.

There have been lots of interesting insect visitors to the garden.  First of all this moth who was on the outside of the house early one morning

Then a very large black bee which Annie had unfortunately wounded mortally.  I later identified it as a carpenter bee.  

Here are bees in my neighbour's garden on the buddleia - I wonder if they're my bees  who've flown down from the field.

See the pollen on her legs.

I also found a drowned bee beetle, never seen one before, in the small terrace pond.

The hawthorn blossom has been particularly beautiful.  The white is next to my bee area and the pink is in the lane immediately below my furthest driveway.

Here is Claude sitting in my large flower bed.  He has been up and down the lane with me every day when I walk to the field.

I love the colour of this osteospernum in my garden and of the riot of colour in my neighbour's patch.

These are containers planted up last year which have burst into life without any help from me except pruning.

I love this time of year, the gardening is burgeoning with blooms and the polytunnel and outside raised beds have almost no soil visible now.  The strawberries and the salad leaves have been great, as have the rhubarb and herbs.  I now have green tomatoes and chillis which will soon be changing colour as they ripen.

Hard to believe it is almost midsummer's day and we will then be heading back to winter!

Three things I like:

1.  Having the boys to stay here in St André.

2.  Popping a sun-warmed strawberry or two, or more, into my mouth straight from the plants.

3.  Hearing that two of my friends are on the way to becoming non-smokers.