From England

Wedding.

Family visits.

Eye specialist.

Driving from Cornwall to Hampshire.

Driving from Hampshire to Cornwall.

Waiting now for my daughter to arrive from Canada.

It's all part of a 'holiday'

But the best day was one spent with friends whose garden you can see in the photo above, looking down the King Harry Creek. Boats are often brought here and 'mothballed' for months whilst not in use. It'a a wonderfully peaceful and quiet spot.

Back to France next week.

Goodbye for a while.

A slightly stunned voice called from the guest room..

'This isnt ALL to go in the car, is it?'

The guest room is where I pile the heaps of things that we will be taking to UK with us next week. Apart from our own clothes there are......

presents for family,

wedding present,

things that the last visitors left behind,

shopping requests for other people '(Oh doooo remember to bring us some of that lovely pate/ cheese/tarte aux pommes, etc')

case of wine for Another friend,....

So, yes, ALL of that is to go in the car!

I will be away for a couple of weeks or so,

by which time I hope that Blogger has itself sorted out and I will once again be able to leave comments on everyone's blogs.

Pot pourri

I'm collecting rose petals to make Pot pourri.

I haven't done it for years, but every time I pass my beautiful Ena Harkness rose, I think how much I want to preserve her perfume. It's too windy to dry the petals in the sun today, so I've put them on a cloth in the laundry room. Every time I pass I can smell that elusive gentle scent. I have mixed some Gertrude Jekyll petals in too, as they have an amazingly strong perfume.

When they are a bit drier I'll mix some dried lavender with them. Even if they only last a few months I shall still have the pleasure of roses in the Autumn.

Woodpeckers again

It is a truly terrible photo, and I'm sure that if only I understood my camera I could work out how to take clear shots, rather than blurred. However.....this is parent Woodpecker feeding the young one. (click to enlarge, for better view)To our delight, we have found that there are two babies who come with parent to supervise , and learn. We have christened them 'Clever Baby' and 'Helpless Baby', and could spend hours watching their antics.

Clever has almost learned to feed himself now, and clings on to the feeder, pecking away, gently, but getting there.

Helpless sits and waits for parent to feed him, flinching every time the feeder swings towards him. I don't think he is very bright.

The parents are so patient, but I guess soon they will be telling the babies that they are on their own, and they've just got to learn to do it themselves!

Kerusten, a rose garden in Brittany.

Kerusten, a rose garden like no other that we have seen in Brittany.

Every year we go there for the 'Fete des Roses', usually held in May or June. Roses scramble, they arch, they climb at will. No straight lines here. You stroll round a corner, down a grassy path, overwhelmed by the scents of the old Damask roses, tumbling, wandering over wooden pergolas, themselves mossy with age. It's a Secret Garden.
A glass of Rose Aperitif is offered, with a delicate petal floating.

Could anything be more evocative than to hear the strains of a flute, echoing through the garden. People wander through the maze of paths to find the music, and sit to listen. Poetry is written on slates, and hidden amongst the flower beds.

A delicious supper is served outside, as we sit and chat, quietly absorbing the atmosphere.

Once again Kerusten has woven its magic.

Mint and pea soup

My freezer seemed to have a lot of boxes of Chicken stock in it. Normally I use this in the Winter to make good hearty soups. Good hearty soups arent the most appropriate thing in a heatwave, so I hunted for a recipe for a cold soup.

In the 'Low GI diet cookbook' I found 'Minted Pea soup' which sounded delicious. It can be eaten hot or cold, but we think it makes an ideal light chilled Summer soup.
You need;
Olive oil.
Small onion. 2 cloves of garlic.
3 cups of frozen peas (or if you have fresh ones that's even better)
2 tablespoons of mint
2 tablespoons parsley
1 litre of chicken stock
Chop the onion and garlic finely and cook together slowly in the oil.
Add mint, parsley and peas.
Add chicken stock and simmer for 8 minutes.
Leave to cool and then puree in food processor.
Season.

The recipe in the book suggested adding small pieces of dry fried bacon, but having tried it, we didnt feel it was necessary.

Rent a friend??

I watched a programme last night, presented by Andrew Marr, called Megacities. Marr did a whistle stop tour of sprawling cities , visiting Shanghai, London, Mexico and Tokyo. He mingled with the poorest of the poor, looking at their lifestyles, even sleeping overnight in a shack over-run with cockroaches. What totally appalled me was his reference to something in Tokyo. Here, old houses are being torn down, and people are being rehoused in glass fronted 'apartments' no larger than 25 m sq, which looked more like a corridor. People are so alone in these huge blocks that they are almost afraid to go out, and many never make ordinary human contact.

There is however an answer to that, and this is what I found so tragic.

You simply 'Rent a Friend'.

People will hire themselves out to accompany anyone without a friend or partner. They will go to functions with them, or as with Marr, just go to a leisure centre and play golf. Thereby, no one 'loses face' in appearing to be without a friend.
Isn't that sad?

Ascension Day

Mark 16; 'So after talking with them, the Lord Jesus was taken up into Heaven, and took His seat at the right hand of God' Today is the Feast of the Ascension. All is quiet here in France. As a mainly Catholic country this is one of the days which is observed as a holiday, with attendance at Mass almost obligatory. Shops and public offices are all closed today.

This afternoon we shall be having a short service in our Anglican church to celebrate our Lord's taking up His place at God's right hand.

Picking posies

Do you remember, as a child, the joy of picking flowers? Those mangled dandelions and droopy daisies that you presented to mum? Flowers clutched in a hot little hand on a walk through the woods, somehow miraculously re-born with a drink of water at home.

Even wild flowers make a beautiful posy. I have Herb Robert and Campion in the garden, mixed with a few stems of Lady's lace they make a very pretty bouquet.

Nothing gives me greater pleasure, as an adult, than picking a posy from my own garden. Today I found my pinks were just crying out to be picked.

There's dear white Mrs Simpkins with her heavy clove like scent. There is Cranberry Sorbet with its band of deep crimson colour, and a much lighter perfume. The pink one with a deeper pink inner is, I believe, called Doris. I'm not sure what the plain pink is. Mixed with a little Campanula and Alchemilla Mollis, it makes a posy to delight me.

Click to enlarge and enjoy them.