FRESH VEGETABLES, SUNSHINE and STONE CARVING

The lovely weather continues, I got quite burnt last Thursday when I gave a stone carving lesson all day on the terrace. My shoulders and neck are still sore. I'm very pleased with the works of art produced, really surprising, as they always are, since one has no way of knowing what's inside the stone and what the effect will be. Here are pictures of the best piece, a fish jumping out of a piece of rock, the only one that was completely finished. Click on the picture to get a close up view. I am giving another class next Saturday.

The week before last I had the visit of an English couchsurfer for three days. We knew each other from chatting on a couchsurfing forum, and as we had foreseen, we got on really well. And he very kindly finished painting my sitting room ceiling (a major step in the right direction for those who know my house!).

And here is a picture of the back of the sleeveless pullover I have knitted for Cécile (she requested it in winter, it's now summer as you will have realised... luckily, winter comes round again!). The front is plainer. It's a bit of a funny shape, and too short, but never mind, it'll keep the bit of her it covers nice and warm, it's cashmere (mostly). I'll send it to England, Cécile, since you are going soon, I'll save on postage!

My garden is growing, but needs a lot of water. I've planted melons, as I'm convinced the good weather is going to last until September. October, why not! I pick a handful of strawberries each day (but the blackbirds are having a feastday with them), and I have a few wild strawberries almost ready. Raspberries just have to ripen. My runner beans have not worked at all, but my French beans came up almost as soon as I planted them. Tomatoes, salads, artichokes, coriander, new potatoes, broad beans, I'm really enjoying the fruits of my labour, and just wandering around looking at it all grow. Here are a few photos.

First plum tomatoes

First baby potimarron





Very proud of this - first artichoke!

First blueberries

Coriander and new potatoes

First courgette

Michael and Steve, we were talking last time I was in Dorset about how Daddy would have loved new technology, computers, digital cameras, etc. I was mowing the other day, I have a little tiny Flymo - do you remember how excited he was when he first bought a Flymo? And when he got a microwave? He microwaved everything in sight! Sad he didn't live to see Facebook and Skype!

I've just returned from visiting a few Trait Breton carthorses and their foals. What beautiful animals. But, boy was it hot again, out in the middle of a field mid afternoon.

WILL WINTER EVER END?

Well yes, it will eventually, of course, and we are only in February. But we have had an incredible amount of snow this year, since December virtually non stop. Sometimes a few centimetres, sometimes a few flakes, but not a week without. Just before Christmas, the weather had been so mild, I had geraniums still in flower on my front terrace, and I have a good picture of red geraniums covered in snow! But the frosts in January soon put paid to that.



Now we have hail at some point almost every day, even when the weather looks quite mild. Yesterday, for instance, the morning looked set to be really lovely, quite mild. I organised a walk on the beach with Ellie and my friend from pottery, Marcelle. On my way to Ste Marine, to the beach, it hailed heavily, quite large stones. And then once at the beach, it was lovely again, the sun quite warm. It was Ellie's first time at the beach (Ellie is my new dachshund puppy, for those who have not been following). She didn't seem to mind the sand at all, was not interested in the water, didn't notice it in fact, but loved picking up long bits of seaweed and running off with them (I forgot my camera!). And driftwood. And shells. So definitely a success, and 40 minutes' walk in the sea air exhausted her for the rest of the day, so I had peace and quiet!


I bought salt to spread on my back terrace, which the night previously had been lethal with frozen rain. I spread the salt at 19h30 and then it started to rain. It rained all evening, washed away the salt and this morning at 6h00 when Ellie felt the urge, the terrace and steps were completely glassy, really dangerous. So I didn't even try to go down to the garden, she had to pee on the terrace, that was dangerous enough. But I've just discovered that there is about a 5°C difference between the back and the front of my house, the front terrace is not frozen at all, nor is the water in my little watering can. So she'll just have to learn to go out there for the moment without putting our lives in danger! This is all fascinating stuff isn't it!

AND STILL MORE SOCKS...

Here's the latest pair that has just gone off in the post to Marius in America. I've decided to sell these (not his, but a series like them) on Etsy.

It's been warming up a bit during the day in Brittany, but not at night when it freezes most of the time. What a strange winter! I took Oslo to the beach last week, picked up a few cockles for my lunch. She enjoyed it, if a little painfully, she does have a problem walking on sand now. She paddled a bit but didn't swim (I think the water must have been awfully cold...). And I've started to garden a bit, only in pots around the two terraces, tiding up, planting up a couple of things in prettier pots. There are a few snowdrops out, and my spring camelias are taking the place of the winter one (Yuletide, a lovely red one with small flowers in profusion and dark green leaves, lovely at Christmas) which flowered in November, December and January. Camelias are so cheerful and so little trouble. You can have one or other in bloom from October to April.

Christmas is coming so fast...

Although Nicholas is the only one coming at Christmas, and we've decided to do things rather simply, I seem to be in a rush. I've finished making all my presents, I've sent everything off, but I haven't got a Christmas tree yet. I decided not to use the enormous fake one I bought 2 years ago, it's very impressive, but a real pain to get down from the attic and last year it took me a whole day to set it up and decorate it, and then another day to take it all down again! So this year it'll be a tiny real one in a pot.

This is the finished result of all that spinning and knitting for Grama. It's not bad, I had a good time doing it and I'm quite pleased with the result, but I think it's going to be too thick for her and there are goldy bits she's not going to like. Never mind.

I've started putting a few things on e-bay again, I haven't done that for ages. I still have far to much stuff here, loads of paintings, and no walls to put them on.

The weather has been pretty miserable for the last two weeks, but nothing compared to the rest of France. No snow and not really very cold. My woodstove is working well and does not use much wood. I haven't used a quarter of the quantity I used to burn in Le Mée. I saw an ethanol fireplace on the television yesterday. No chimney, no smoke, and apparently they heat fairly well. Bit of a pain having to fill it up with fuel all the time, but you can put them anywhere, hang them on the wall like a picture, or against the wall, anywhere. Might be a good idea to keep the cold coming up from the veranda.

I did a day at the German calligraphy studio near here on Saturday, entitled "Illumination" (manuscript type!). It wasn't really illumination at all, but it was good fun and a very tranquil setting and atmosphere. I managed to make a sort of Christmas ornament star, all decorated in gold leaf. Quite pretty, and I learnt a few techniques.