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Short days, long nights

Autumn ......

Sunrise at Chenevaux

After a mild but wet autumn the temperature has dropped significantly & the days are getting shorter and shorter, but its not long until the shortest day so that's not so bad! And then it will be Christmas, yaay~!  You couldn't miss it with all of the ads featuring fairy tales of some sort or another on the TV.  Even here where Christmas is pretty low key in comparison to the UK the supermarkets have already cleared the aisles for the mountains of boxes of chocolates that appear each year. Inflation has obviously reached critical levels as chocolate coins have now been replaced by chocolate bank notes, with values of up to 500 euros!  Quite funny because if you were in possession of such a large note most shops wouldn't accept it.  Father Christmas probably does though with the price of toys these days.

Autumn crocus

Acer leaves on the turn

Autumn is always a busy time in the garden.  As a result of watching Monty Don on Gardeners' World Mark decided it would be a good idea to make a container for fallen leaves/leaf mould, which will be great when we manage to rake up leaves and put them in it.  He's also cut down a load of dead trees around the boundaries, and used some of the wood to make a bench by the croquet lawn.  The wisteria which looked as though it had died in the spring has grown back, it will be interesting to see if it has reverted to a blue flower or if its still pink.  Generally things have grown well this year, apart from the vegetables which failed miserably as a result of the colder than usual spring and being eaten by the wildlife.  For the first time I bought tomato plants rather than raising them from seed and the taste was really disappointing.  We have decided to move the soft fruit ( blackcurrant, redcurrant and raspberries ) to the existing potager, and then use what we call the fruit cage ( actually built as a cage for baby pheasants ) as the potager.  As its completely netted this should stop all of our produce being eaten by hares, rabbits and birds!  According to some friends their soft fruit is largely ignored by birds and if they do become a nuisance we can simply throw a net over the plants. 

Lots of leaves for the leaf mould bin!

We did a plan of all of the roses the other day and had a count-up - nearly 70 not counting the hedge we have just planted,  which is another 20 so plenty of pruning to do!  

Roses in the Farmhouse back garden.

      

July at Chenevaux

Hot .. hot .. hot!  The weather that is.  The air smells hot, with the scent of mint, lavender, curry plant, sage and ripe wheat in the fields.  The breeze is welcome and our guests retreat to the cool of the house and gite for a sieste during the afternoon before emerging for a cool swim again in the early evening.  Perfect holiday weather at last!

Messing about on the river ... at Angles sur l'Anglin

Some friends of ours have recently opened a tea room at Angles sur l'Anglin - home made scones and cakes, a huge selection of different teas ( and coffees ) salads and lots of other goodies. Previously an unoccupied house for at least a decade, it is now really pretty, and has a lovely view of the river from one of the terraces.  I tried white tea for the first time, lovely, and Mark had a lemon and ginger infusion, accompanied by a chocolate cupcake and a slice of carrot cake - yummy!

Tea, cake and a lovely view ... perfect!

Earlier in the month we spent a day at the Chaumont garden festival.  This takes place every year in the grounds of the Chateau at Chaumont sur Loire.  Conceptual gardens are installed in April and remain in place until October, giving them time to develop and mature.  As well as the gardens the chateau has extensive grounds and the Chateau and Stables are also open to the public.  Combined with several other agricultural buildings which are now used as exhibition spaces, restaurants and the spectacular lighting of the gardens in the evenings there is plenty to see and do.  We had a wonderful day - and could have stayed much longer if our legs had been willing!

The Chateau at Chaumont sur Loire

Interesting planting in one of the conceptual gardens and the wire sculptures were clever

An area of the permanent planting - I have plans to use some of these plants in a shady area here

A one off creation?!

Or is it a hat shop!

The celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Abbey at St Savin being designated a world heritage site was accompanied by a craft festival which Mark was invited to as an exhibitor.  Despite downpours of rain throughout the day there were thousands of visitors who also watched a street circus with juggling, tightrope walking, dancing and mime artists, and visited the Abbey which has just had major restoration work completed to its romanesque frescoes and is stunning.

Some of Mark's ceramics

Making organ pipes

Illuminating using real gold paint

One of these little owls made its way back to Chenevaux!

A restored fresco from the Abbey at St Savin

Another part of the Abbey - well worth a visit

 

Our outdoor guests recently have included a heron that landed on a clematis arch, the young fox that came for the fallen cherries and then left piles of poo with the stones in it, a frog that came into the house and hopped all around the dining room before finding the front door, and the mouser which lives in one our barns produced three kittens.

There have been loads of raspberries, blackcurrants and redcurrants, as well as the cherries, now being followed by plums so the jam shelves are groaning with anticipation!  I've also had a go at making glace cherries - nearly done but they take 5 days - and want to do some mint jelly, and maybe elderberry, and crab apple - got to use up all of those jars!

June at Chenevaux

The first meeting of the horseracing society at La Roche Posay took place a couple of week-ends ago and we went along with some friends who had come over for our annual golf day.  Its a small hippodrome with one stand, but the meetings are very well attended.  Minimum bet is 2 euros and that's about all we put on!  This time all of the races were trotting - some with traps and some without.  Its rather strange to look at at first and there are lots of disqualifications for breaking into a canter or gallop.  Great fun for an afternoon.

As a result of the slightly different weather conditions earlier in the year we have had some lovely combinations of flowers recently - for example in the photo below.  Normally these irises are long gone before the buddleia flowers but the colour combination is lovely. These are my least favourite irises but they have been greatly improved!

Buddleia alternifolia and irises

The roses are really going for it and look so healthy.  We have another rose growing structure in mind for later this year!

The rose pergola that Mark made in spring 2012 

A Shropshire Lad

Only a couple of days away from the longest day already.  At this time of the year we always have a couple of nights where we are in bed before it is completely dark!  Mind you, yesterday morning we were woken at dawn (very early) by a blackbird singing very loudly.  The blue tits have already raised one clutch of chicks and are now on their second.  Mark is sure that they are putting the first chicks to work feeding the new ones, sounds like good delegation to me.  There are two favourite nesting places near the house and the gite.  One is in the nesting box over the top of the bird table and the second is in a niche in the gite wall that used to be a fuse box, and it's still covered by a metal door. At the moment it sounds very full!

We have one swallows nest in the cafe and although they are very messy I guess we will leave it now until they have raised their chicks.  And the hoopoes are back again! ( see blog 9th June 2011 )

In late autumn we come across piles of leaves and vegetation bundled up against the walls and these are where the hedgehogs hibernate.  I normally spot them whilst doing a pre-winter tidy up when I nearly step on them!  We don't often actually see any hedgehogs but after a downpour recently this little family were spotted by some guests.

I mentioned the golf day earlier - this was our 7th!  The first ones were held on Boxing Day, well why not?  However one year the weather was so cold we decided to move it to the summer. This means that non-golfers can have a go at the croquet (Chenevaux rules) too.  Everybody brings a dish of salad, or a desert etc which is great, and a friend very kindly did the barbeque this year.  We had 30 people here and ate in the barbeque palace.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable day.

On the green

Discussing the Chenevaux croquet rules?

Mark's waving down at the end!

Towards the end of last year there was a series on the TV with Monty Don visiting French gardens.  A couple really interested us and a few days ago we visited one called Prieure d'Orsan. www.prieuredorsan.com  It's at a place called Maisonais, about 80 miles from here so a fair trek, but en-route you pass through Argenton sur Creuse, which is also well worth a visit.  There is a very attractive chateau at Sarzay just before you get there and restaurants here and near the gardens where a good lunch can be had, so all in all a full day out.
As the name suggests, Orsan used to be a priory, originally founded in 1107.  After falling into disrepair in the middle of the 20th century the remaining buildings and land were renovated in the 1990's and now the main building is a hotel and the gardens are open to the public.  The total area is quite small but as it is divided into enclosed areas and incorporates lots of wooden structures you feel that it is a lot larger.  It took us getting on for two hours to have a good look round.  We came home with lots of ideas of ways to use some of the old oak beams we have stored under our open barn!  The buildings are very attractive too with bits of quirky decoration.

Clipped hedges, vines and Villa Ursinus in the background

Wow - that's an idea!

There are lots of wooden support structures and seats

Summer holidays aren't far off and guests are already here and using the pool which is lovely.  All that's needed now is a nice cold drink!

May at Chenevaux

This year the theme for May has been rain!   The grass has been growing almost as we watch it, and so have the weeds.  However the lilac and other flowering shrubs have been fantastic with the blossom lasting far longer than normal, and everything has put on a lot of growth.  Cuttings of a purple leaved sage and dogwoods rooted really quickly but the tomatoes are still waiting to be planted out - after some more weeding to make a place for them.  The compost bins are full to over flowing as are the water butts, but at least watering hasn't been an issue yet this year.

Crab apple blossom

Dragonfly clinging on to a peony stem 

Everything looking very lush and verdant

 We took ourselves out for a day and visited this little chateau type property with a lovely garden, which is open to the public.  A very well maintained potager ( no weeds in sight! ) beautiful trees, and stunning views over the countryside.

La Motte near Usseau

Fabulous peony

Then on to the golf club at St Cyr for lunch on the terrace.  This is a championship golf club which is open to the public too - one of Mark's favourite courses in the area and the food in the restaurant is delicious.

The golf club at St Cyr

April at Chenevaux

The warm weather is taking its time arriving.  We had a few lovely days in late March and then the temperature dropped again and we had a couple of hard frosts.  Unluckily, and once again, the peach and apricot trees had already blossomed so we may not get much fruit on these this year.  On the positive side, the cherries, apples, pears and plums have all held back and hopefully by the time they blossom we will have left winter behind for good.  This must have been the longest winter since we moved here - not particularly cold but really wet and dismal.  However we have managed to do a fair amount of outside work including rendering the back and side walls of the Farmhouse, laying slabs outside the two sets of french windows and creating a small patio area using the clay "tomettes" we rescued from the original upstairs flooring in the gite.

On Easter Sunday the first brocante of the year took place at Anglse sur l'Anglin - it was rather chilly to say the least!  The tabac/epicerie/cafe has recently moved to a building that has been renovated by the commune and now has two lovely terraces overlooking the ruined chateau.  They were serving vin chaud which seemed a very good idea!  Come the summer and the annual fireworks evening this looks as though it will be a prime spot for spectators. We came home and watched the boat race with the log burner blazing away.


A few days ago we spotted a new species of bird in the back garden.  Mark thought it was a blackbird at first but when we saw it again he realised it wasn't and has identified it, or them as it was a pair, as Ring Ouzels.  Apparently its common name is the "mountian blackbird"  and they inhabit wild open country.  We've never seen them here before and are wondering if they stopped to find food on their way back to the UK after wintering in the Med.


This week-end ( apart from watching the Grand National ), Mark is taking part in a national "Open Studios" event.  By chance the tourist office at La Roche Posay also asked if they could bring a group of visitors (16) on Thursday afternoon so we had a big spring clean and arranged all of the ceramics and paintings in the hope that some people will be interested and come along.  I've put out some of my jam, marmalade and chutney for people to taste as well.

  

The three large paintings on easels (only the middle one is finished) are based on rock formations on a beach, where the sea has eroded the rock into pools.

Having seen Carol Klein taking mahonia cuttings i've given it a go and they are in the greenhouse along with other bits and bobs from last year that are waiting to be planted out when the ground dries out a bit.  The veggie patch is covered with old tarpaulins to warm the soil ..... so everything is waiting to happen!

March at Chenevaux

Mark's exhibition at the Old School, Whittlesford, just outside Cambridge, is only a few days away so he is working all hours in his studio to finish off the ceramics and paintings for the show.  I'm sure that lots of you reading this have already heard about it via Mark's blog at www.markjudsonart.blogspot.com but for those of you who are either reading from afar, visiting this blog for the first time or maybe have forgotten (!) ..... he is exhibiting a selection of his abstract acrylics and some ceramic pieces alongside watercolours by Vandy Massey and hand-made wooden boxes by Denise Shearing.  The exhibition is only on for a couple of days, Sat 9th and Sun 10th March, from 10am - 5pm,  so if you are in the Cambridge/Whittlesford area please do come along.  Full details are at www.markjudsonart.blogspot.com and we will post more photos afterwards.

Mark uses different materials to create texture

Work in progress, based on rock formations

In the meantime here at St Pierre de Maille, the annual early spring event called "Fete des Laboureurers" took place on Sat 3rd March.  Its a celebration of the end of the winter and the first time that everybody gets together after the short winter days. We have been several times over the years and as we all know the weather at the beginning of March is totally unpredictable.  We have experienced torrential rain, snow, really warm sun - and this year dismal freezing cold that made everybody hurry along to the Salle des Fetes rather more quickly than usual.

Showing how truffles grow under oak trees

The batterie de fanfare and  two very patient cart horses

Rose all round

The day starts with a Mass, followed by a procession of tractors accompanied by the local Batterie de Fanfare.  They all proceed round the village, stop at the Maison de Retraite, salute the war memorial and then back to Gorrie's cafe where an aperitif is offered to everyone in the village.  Then off we trot to lunch, which takes hours and incorporates an extremely lengthly tombola draw and some traditional French songs.  By the time we get home (a pied) the day is almost gone!  Those with more stamina are invited to a free Ball, which continues until past midnight, but we are far too lightweight for that these days.

One of the first signs of spring every year is the arrival of the cranes, or grue as they are called in French.  We are on the edge of the Brenne National Park - a huge area of lakes and flatlands where birds and wildlife are protected.  Its a great place for bird watching.  The cranes stop for a few days en route from their winter habitat in Spain, to Scandinavia, where they spend the summer.  Flying in flocks of up to a hundred or so, the noise is the first thing we notice, way before the birds come into sight.  As they fly over it is tremendous, especially as there are often up to a dozen flocks that pass overhead in the course of two or three days.

The Gite and back of the Farmhouse on a cold and frosty morning