I’m glad to say the Volvo is
good, so Matthew chose well for me. I
have now heard that the Discovery has finally been repaired and will come over
with the boys in June when they do their usual visit. I’ll be glad to have it back for all the
towing and animal/garden related stuff I carry about but will use the much more
economical car for normal driving.
My New Zealand house carers,
Kylie and Tony, were wonderful. The day
I returned they unloaded the car for me and then worked like stick on the field
moving, sorting, clearing, chucking, planting.
I can’t tell you how lovely they’ve been.
Then, after they’d left and I’d come back from
bowls I found they’d left me chocolates and a lovely mug, now my favourite,
from South Australia.
The weather has been typical April and perhaps more extreme too, strong sunshine with blue sky and little fluffy white clouds, then dark brooding clouds and hail storms, alternating all the time. One day this week, Orange sent out messages for us to switch off our internet boxes until storm danger has passed. I spent several hours in the polytunnel sowing seeds, peas, spring onion, radish, then outside sowing beetroot and planting potatoes, a bit late for the potatoes but never mind, they’re in now.
There was a surprise little
duckling in the barn when I went up at the end of the week. It was so lovely.
However, a couple of nights later
unfortunately, it got a foot caught in the chicken wire fencing and death
arrived before I did. Very sad – nature can
be cruel. I do have a duck sitting on
eggs at the other end of the barn so maybe there will be more before too long.
I have blown nearly all the goose eggs laid during the last eight weeks and one day I will consider decorating them. A friend who paints did come and take some not blown ones which I imagine she will decorate.
The week before last, I couldn’t find my smoker so opened the first hive on the field without first
smoking the bees. I was removing queen
cells so that they wouldn’t swarm. The
bees were not happy. Although I was
wearing leather bee gauntlets and rubber gardening gloves on top of those, I
was stung three times, with many more stings in the gloves which didn’t reach
my skin.
A lesson painfully learnt! I passed a very uncomfortable first night and
a couple of days before the swelling subsided.
On Monday, I went up to St Brieuc
to see the Allergologue about my bee allergy.
I parked right outside the practice and tried to find a parking ticket
machine. There was none. A woman parking opposite me indicated that it
was about metres behind me and she
pointed to a spot where there was nothing.
I explained that there was nothing there. She pointed again and again I told her there
was no machine there. She got out of her
car and look astounded and said there had always been one there. A man stopped his car and I asked him where
the nearest ticket machine was. He also
turned to point at the same spot and look very surprised. A third woman got involved too. They all said that there had been one there
last week. I walked around and found a
machine down another road and bought a ticket.
I had half an hour to kill before my appointment and sat in the car
finishing a novel I was reading. A white
van arrived and parked in front of me. I
continued reading. The chap came back to
the van a couple of times and finally I turned round and watched where he was
going back to. He was joining two other
workers on the opposite pavement installing – yes, you’ve guessed it - a
parking ticket machine just where everyone had said it was. The plot thickens! When, finally, I went in to see the doctor
she gave me a prescription for more antihistamine tablets, cortisone cream,
steroid tablets and epipens – I am now fully prepared for the next sting
although I have now bought triple thickness gauntlets so hope they may be
impenetrable …
The writer’s group again had a
lovely lunch at Le Saint Antoine in Plemet on Friday last. It is an exceptionally good meal in lovely
surroundings and pleasant staff – definitely recommended.
It has a good looking deli alongside which is part of it I think. I must remember to go in next time. No writing was discussed – I think, like the
book group, we are turning into a lunching group. I can think of worse things
to happen …
Two evenings ago I went for a Greek meal at La Grande Maison in Seglien with thirteen strangers. It was advertised on a FB group I’m
in and I thought – well, why not? It was
a good evening. Dave and Vicky provided live music and the hosts and other
guests were all good company. I am looking forward to hearing when the next non-curry night is going to be held.
Here's my ruchette in a neighbour's apple tree hoping to attract a swarm as I have two new empty hives to fill.
I have positioned the new hives ready and have my fingers crossed. My mentor, Richard, has suggested that I could split a thriving hive and fill my new hives that way. I may try that this week.
A retired Breton chappie who often stops his
van and talks to me if he sees me in the lane, parked and came into the veggie
area this week. He saw the hives and
told me that one of his sons keeps bees too.
On Saturday morning, I went round to see the son, who lives less than three miles away, and is really passionate about bees. We had a couple of coffees and chatted for a couple
of hours about things apiculture. He put
his number into my phone in case I get a swarm and need to move a hive
somewhere for a while. A really nice person and I'm so glad I went round to meet him.
Raining today for the first time
for so long I’d forgotten what puddles looked like.
The water containers are all filling up which
is really good news. Everything smells fresh
and lovely out there. I have been
clearing up things downstairs as I couldn’t work outside.
I also baked today for the first time since I came back from Cornwall.
I had to wait for the rolls to cool and the bacon to defrost before I could have a bacon roll for tea. It was so good I found myself making another.
Earlier in the week I picked up a pile of
papers and found the carte grise for my Land Rover which I had reported to the
Gendarmerie as lost. Thank goodness, as I
don’t have to drive up to St Brieuc to get another one from the Préfecture.
The horse chestnut almost opposite the house is flowering well - there were almost no conkers last year.
There are bluebells everywhere. The woods just have swathes of blue all along the ground - absolutely beautiful.
There are a few scattered along the verge on the way to the field. I have none in the garden, but do have some white bluebells which a friend gave me thinking they were wild garlic.
My wisteria has been absolutely glorious, as always. The scent is overwhelming when I walk past, such a good value plant.
Three things I like:
1. Bacon rolls.
2. Making new friends.
3. Finding things I thought were lost.
