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!
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| 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!
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| 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!
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| The Chateau at Chaumont sur Loire |
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| Interesting planting in one of the conceptual gardens and the wire sculptures were clever |
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| An area of the permanent planting - I have plans to use some of these plants in a shady area here |
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| A one off creation?! |
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| 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.
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| Some of Mark's ceramics |
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| Making organ pipes |
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| Illuminating using real gold paint |
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| One of these little owls made its way back to Chenevaux! |
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| A restored fresco from the Abbey at St Savin |
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| 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!
