Coming home, bees and April weather

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 son, Matthew, who is still building the steps and retaining walls at the low end of his garden managed to knock a concrete block off a pile onto his right foot this week.  He has two fractures and now can’t drive for a good while.  It’s a bit late to tell him to that he ought to wear reinforced toed boots when doing construction work.   Hopefully it will be well healed for him to bring over the Discovery.

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.