A rake and a shovel

Monday morning. We had spent the weekend doing a lot of quite physical jobs in the garden so this morning, when we started to plan our day, Brian said that he would like a day not doing too much, certainly not to do anything too physical.

We had been waiting for a new charger cable for our laptop, as ours had broken, and it was supposed to arrive this morning, so the plan was for him to be able to spend the day doing some admin work which he needed to do.

All was going according to plan, until I remembered that the gravel we had ordered for the courtyard was turning up at 4pm. I wasn’t sure Brian remembered it was arriving today, other than he was with me when we went to Gedimat to order it.

I don’t think five cubic metres sounds like very much, but 7.5 tonne does!

Let me turn back the clock a little and give some detail. We had been told by the gravel company that they would deliver the gravel in two loads of 2.5 cubic metres each over two days (well that’s what we thought they said), so I wasn’t really that worried about it turning up, but at around 3.45pm this arrived.

‘Hun, the gravel is here’ I sheepishly called to Brian. ‘The gravel…today?’. He ran outside to be greeted by the driver, who promptly told him that he couldn’t drop it where we wanted it. A difficult, limited French conversation ensued without resolution. I had something to finish, so hadn’t rushed out straight away. Brian came to get me. ‘Jo, we have a problem, he’s going to dump it at the gate!’. I didn’t know what to say at that point, but I thought ‘Ok, if that’s what has to happen’ I’m not sure we have a choice’.

However, in our absence the driver had obviously made the decision that he would try and get through the gate. Things soon became a little scary, and I think we wished we’d just let him dump it all where he had said. He had pulled forward into the parking area opposite us, and was soon reversing across our quite narrow road, across our fragile, little bridge over the river, through our gate and into our courtyard, in this huge lorry. It was definitely not the little flat bed truck which we thought was going to be delivering it. We were both looking on nervously. Was the bridge going to hold? Would the drain take the weight? How was he not going to hit the gate? Never mind my lavender plants! All in all, a bit scary.

We sighed once he was half in, had missed the gate and the lavender and was no longer on the bridge. The drain was fine, thankfully. But now the side legs were coming out of the back of the lorry to balance the crane, the right side leg narrowly missing my rose, and the left nearly knocking over my cast iron vase, which Brian hastily moved to safety. Phew! He was now safely in position.

‘How’s he getting it off?’ I asked. ‘The crane’ Brian replied. ‘Is there room?’ ‘We’ll soon find out!’. We were able to get him to put it as far down this end as possible, meaning we could move it a smaller distance to reach both areas that needed doing.

We were both amazed at the accuracy of the driver operating the crane, and how he carefully placed each container of gravel where we asked. By 4.30pm he’d packed the crane away and was driving off, with a friendly wave. Panic over, except we now had over 7.5 tonne of gravel to move into place, and only a rake and a shovel to do it!

It was going to be a tough evening ahead, but we knew we needed to get it done. Neither of us wanted to end the day with the job half done, so I got on the rake and Brian on the shovel, and bit by bit, shovel by shovel we moved the gravel to all the corners of the courtyard and patio area. It was an incredibly tiring job, but we just kept going and going, and eventually got the job done.

We finished around 9pm, stopping for a snickers bar and a cup of tea half way through. We were both very pleased with our evenings work.

Rocking it

There’s a small corner in the garden beneath a laurel hedge, that doesn’t get much sun, that was looking a bit unloved, so I asked Brian if he could help me add some interest to it. My idea was to add some rocks which I’d found around the garden to make a small rockery. We were soon fixing the rocks into place with earth, so that I can encourage some small rockery plants to grow in between.

We then placed a garden statue along the side to add some more interest.

I have popped a few little plants in that I had, I just need to see how they take over the coming weeks. I like to create different spaces of discovery in a garden, little areas of interest, and I think we certainly achieved this here and cheered up what was just an empty corner.

🌸🌸🌸

This week our commune gardener has made up all the flower boxes that hang on the railings and decorate the side of the road, and along the rivers edge. It’s lovely seeing the care taken to fill the village with colour. There is a real pride in working to maintain our village 🌸🌸🌸 accreditation.

This year I also bought some flowers from the commune gardener to decorate our three window boxes at the front of the house. I thought this would help us stay with the village colour theme.

The mix of flowers have potted up really nicely, and I can’t wait now to see them flourish and bloom throughout the summer.

Chaux what

It’s ideal weather for doing some jobs in the garden, the sun is out but not too hot, around 20°C. So Brian decided he wanted to re chaux the side of the steps as one of the sides was crumbling off. Chaux (pronounced ‘show’) is a ready mixed lime mortar that we had only previously used for grouting, so it was a bit of a new thing for him.

After he had picked all the loose, old chaux off, he wetted the wall, mixed up the chaux and started to skim it onto the wall.

It went on surprisingly easily, and he soon had the job finished. It’s really finished the steps off. Now we know it works there’s a few more areas that will need doing this year.

Colourful

We have guests arriving this week, so we spent the day up at the pool just cleaning up the pool room and generally tidying up the pool area. We also mowed and strimmed the slope, which is extremely satisfying when it’s done, but it is hot, thirsty work

So we took some time out and sat down under the parasol to have a little bit of relief from the late afternoon sun. We enjoyed an early supper of bread and cheese, local tomatoes and herbs from the garden with a delicious chilled glass of Sancerre.

Whilst we were quietly sitting eating our meal a couple of little butterflies came to visit and warm their wings. This is a small tortoiseshell, very proud of his brightly painted wings. It’s just wonderful to be attracting so many colourful butterflies to the garden.

Festival of plants

Every year on Ascension day, which is a major bank holiday in France, the small village of Bergères hosts a garden festival. It’s a beautiful village, nestled amongst the vineyards, and only about a 20 minute drive from us.

Visitors travel from all around to view, and buy, a wide selection of excellent quality plants. Even though there are only 3 routes in and out of the village we were amazed at how well they managed to organise the cars and parking. I imagined queues, or having to walk miles to reach the village, but they were using walkie talkies to communicate with each other, and it all went very smoothly.

The festival was brilliant, it felt like our own mini version of ‘the Chelsea Flower Show’ here in sunny Champagne. It is clear that the villagers take huge pride in their own gardens, and it’s wonderful to see some of their ideas and displays. There was a particular gorgeous looking barn, that was literally being held up by a vine.

Amongst all the variety of plant sellers there were also lots of local crafts being demonstrated and all sorts of garden products, tools, garden furniture, garden statues, and of course some local delicious food delights.

The atmosphere was fun and carefree, with all ages enjoying the live music, whether it was the American rock band on their pushbikes designed to carry their instruments and made to look like Harley Davidsons or chopper bikes, or the local marching band from Bar-sur-Seine playing the Star Wars theme music, it was all throughly entertaining, and we had an absolutely fabulous afternoon.

We will definitely be visiting again next year.

Mussy

We drove over to Mussy-sur-Seine today as there was a ‘vide grenier’ (car boot) happening. Mussy – pronounced ‘Mousse-y’ – is a quiet, pretty little village, along the banks of the Seine. It has a small tourist office, and a beautiful church which they have recently finished renovated.

The vide grenier was at the back of the town, along a tree lined track. It was really well organised and had some good stalls. For instance, how many car boots would you find a stall offering champagne tastings?

We had quite a successful little visit. I bought four decanter stoppers. I am making a bit of a collection of them, so I buy them whenever I see them, although I am a bit fussy on which ones I chose to buy now. Brian found another log splitter, as he needed a second one. We bought 2 more table cloths (you can never have enough), a little crystal vase (I needed it to make up a grouping of crystal vases), an old Jules Verne book – ‘Five weeks in a balloon’ – which will hopefully one day be read, and a small galvanised bin. All in all a very successful haul of goodies.

Same, but Different

I may have mentioned this before, but it’s one of the things that stays in our mind from when we first moved to France.

In the UK, we would often order an Indian takeaway, or walk across to our local Indian restaurant to share and enjoy a jovial dinner with friends, or just have a quiet dinner on our own. We imagined that one of the things we would miss most was eating this cheerful, sociable meal. There are Indian restaurants in France, but our nearest one is about 45 minutes away, so no chance of a takeaway. What this has encouraged me to do though is cook better Indian food at home.

Last night some friends came round and I took the opportunity to cook them an Indian meal, I had first asked if they like it ‘spicy hot’, just in case – I didn’t want to frighten them off. I decided to cook some favourites of ours - mushroom bhaji, dhal, vegetable curry and butter chicken. In the UK we would often chose a beer to enjoy with our curry, but we know the french prefer wine with their meal, so Brian chose one of the Clos Aguilam wines we bought at the wine fair, La Mas Rouge, a red wine which went very well with the spicy food. We then had an old vine Vouvray, a white wine, which was again gorgeous with the curry. All in all, very successful.

For dessert I had made a pistachio and cardamom kulfi.

I had made one previously, but it had been a long process of boiling milk. I chose a slightly different recipe this time, with a similar process to the honeycomb ice cream I like to make, which does not need an ice cream maker and doesn’t need hours spent on boiling milk. Firstly I infused some saffron in a cup of warmed double cream, and left it overnight in the fridge to impart it’s colour and flavour.

In the morning, I added another cup of double cream, and whisked the mixture to stiff peaks. I crushed some pistachios to stir into the whisked cream, and also stirred in a tin of condensed milk. You can then either chose to freeze in individual pots or, as I did, in a glass bowl, and serve by scooping out into individual bowls. I served it with a tropical fruit salad, and we enjoyed a rather nice Gewürztraminer with it.

It was an excellent evening full of lively chatter and plenty of laughter. It’s a wonderful way to get to know people by sharing a relaxing meal together.

Great sign

Great excitement today as our sign arrived. It was a bit precarious putting it into position as we wanted to hang it on one of the gate pillars, right next to the little river - Artaut. I was holding the ladder whilst the forgeron (blacksmith) and Brian fixed it to the wall.

I want to give it another coat of grey paint to finish it off and protect it, but we are loving it. Brian will fix the Chambre d’hôte and table d’hôte sign below it.

Foire aux vins

Essoyes is a beautiful little village 15 minutes drive from us. Each year on the third weekend of May they hold a wine festival in the square next to the river. It consists of around 40 wine producers from around France, and they try to reflect each of the wine growing regions.

They also include some stalls selling delicious food items, some locally produced. And of couse, there is always somewhere to find something for lunch.

We were keen to taste some red wines, but as usual for us we got sidetracked and started our tastings at a producer from the Alsace. We then spotted Clos Aguilem, whom we had bought from before. We were soon chatting to Sylvie who talked us through their range of wines, and provided us a very nice tasting.

All the producers are extremely helpful, and keen for you to taste their wines. We had a very enjoyable day. And came home with a good selection of wines - red and white.

Perks of the job

As an owner of a small chambre d’hôte business, one of the many hats we need to wear is around marketing and promoting our business. One thing that is important for that is ensuring our pictures on the website are fresh and current.

So this week we have been taking some new photographs for Brian to add to lamaisonenchampagne.com.

We still have a few more to do, but it takes quite a bit of thought and time setting each photograph up. We need to consider the style of the shot – to evoke the right ambiance for the mood – dress the rooms to a guest standard, add a bit of life, and photograph at the right time of day to capture that mood.

We will start to add the new photos onto the website over the next few weeks, so please take a look and let us know what you think.

It’s not all hard work, we did get to enjoy one of the props at the end of the day!

Roses are red

Today ended with the sun setting behind the pool house, it looked simply gorgeous. The days are longer and definitely hotter now, with a touch of summer feeling. I think we are being treated to a taste of lazy, sunny days ahead.

I’m so loving seeing the flowers blooming around the garden. I feel I have much more understanding of how the garden works now, and what is flourishing when.

The peonies come first, with their bold bright blooms, that fade in the sun as the days pass by.

Then the red roses, that flourish over the front door and just below the bedroom windows. Their scent drifting through an open window. The roses will bloom throughout the summer, as long as I clip the dead heads off.

I also have a few hot, pink mini gladioli, that I planted earlier this year, that are just starting to pop up through the beds.

I am so loving getting to know my garden.

Jolly good day

Our morning started very well. We had a visit from one of our local champagne producers, Charles Jolly, who delivered a mixed box of champagnes for us.

Champagne Charles Jolly is a small, family-owned business in our neighbouring village of Landreville. The family has kept the business thriving for five generations, actively developing their expertise over time. Charles produces fresh, well balanced champagnes, which reflect the carefully managed terroirs he so consciously tends everyday.

They have received both HEV (Haute Valeur Environnementale) level 3 and VDC (Viticulture durable en champagne) accreditations for their environmental practices, that cover the areas of biodiversity conservation, carbon footprint, water conservation and fertiliser management. In the short time we have got to know Charles and his family you can tell the protection of vineyard wildlife is just as important to them as the health of their vines.

Our friend Sharon is visiting, so we are all looking forward to trying them over the coming days.

After breakfast we went to Chaource, to visit a small art exhibition and drop into the cheese shop there to buy some of the local Chaource cheese. Afterwards we stopped by a rather nice golf course. Sharon is a keen golfer so it was good to understand from her what her thoughts on the course were as, apparently, it is one of the prettiest golf courses in France, and only a 30 minute drive from us. It’s called La Cordeliere.

https://www.golfdetroyeslacordeliere.fr

It was such a beautiful day, that when we returned home we couldn’t resist a visit to the pool for a quick swim and a little aperitif before dinner.

We enjoyed a light supper and chose the Charles Jolly rosé ‘persérvérence’ to accompany it, which was delightful. It had a subtle elegance, and was very sumptuous. We will definitely be going back for more.

Such a wonderfully relaxed day, and a joy to spend quality time together with friends.

La Randonnée Gourmande

On Sunday we enjoyed a wonderful walk around Celles-sur-Ource as part of their ‘randonnée gourmande’, a ticket only event available online some months before the day. It’s an extremely well organised and convivial 10km walk, with food and drink, through the vineyards and forests around Celles-sur-Ource. The sky was beautifully clear, with the temperature a very pleasant 29°C, although it did warm up a bit more towards the end of the day.

It’s very well signposted along the route, with lots of unique hand painted signs that keep you going in the right direction throughout the day.

Along the walk you stop off for your various ‘gourmande’ courses - canapés, starter, main, cheese and dessert, all washed down with a fresh, cold glass of champagne at each stop. They also had a marching band helping us along the way, and a jazz band to chill out to at lunch. It was such a delightful way to spend a Sunday.

Moutard

We decided to do a champagne tasting after lunch. I had seen Moutard advertise, and thought they would be a good one to visit. They are in the small village of Buxieres, about 15 minutes from us. It was about 1.45pm, and not yet open, so we went to take a look at the river in Neuville-sur -Seine. It was a crystal clear deep green colour, and full of fish, that we watched for a while darting amongst the weed, nibbling for their lunch.

Next stop champagne Moutard. We tasted their Perrierres and their rosé. Both were good, so we came away with a few bottles.

They had an excellent range of fine quality wines and also spirts, as they make not only champagne but Ratafia, Marc de champagne, and whisky.

Left Hanging

Brian has been enjoying creating his workroom. He’s been fitting the second door, which required fitting a second support post. He did it this way around because he knew the size of the doors that were needed and so built those first. This way he can get a good fit between the doors without having to edit them. So he started by clamping them together so that he could mark where the supports had to go.

Then he used his trusty laser to mark the floor and beam above, so that he could be sure the support would be straight. Then it was just a case of drilling the concrete at the bottom, bolting in a horizontal support and screwing the support into place.

A quick check with the door in place, screwing in the hinges and voila, working barn doors! He also added an old, wooden, glazed french door for extra light. It’s coming along nicely.

Peonies

I think because we have not had any rain recently to damage the flowers, the peonies are looking gorgeous. I probably have a dozen or so plants around the garden, which bloom at slightly different times.

There are a couple of plants I’d like to move, but I’m just not sure the best time to move them, and probably I am a little conscious I don’t want to damage the plant. I need to pluck up the courage to read more about moving them, and then just do it.

For now though I’m enjoying their blooms.

If you do have any tips, then please share them with me, it may give me the push I need to make some decisions on them.

It’s 5.45!

It was a beautiful end to a delightful afternoon spent with Dominique from ‘Ferme des bles d’or’.

I had made contact with her following our trip to the farm the other Sunday for ‘Dimanche à campagne’ and she had invited me over for some tea and biscuits. When I arrived she was finishing preparing a large order of oils for a local shop, I was soon helping and sticking on labels. She had already prepared the biscuit mixture but not added the flavourings. She chose her favourite ones of pecan, cranberries and crystallised orange peel. She simply chopped them up and needed them into a quarter of the biscuit dough. We chatted fondly whilst she cut them out, and baked them in the oven. Whilst they were baking she used some more of the biscuit dough to make a base for a rhubarb tart. I imagine that would be delicious with home grown rhubarb.

Soon we were sitting outside, under her pergola, which was covered in ivy for shade. It gave a subtle dappled light across the table. Dominique had also made a fresh lemon and mint drink, which was a refreshing alternative to my hot black tea. I will definitely make this at home, as we have lots of fresh mint in the garden and always have lemons.

Whilst we sat drinking, and nibbling on the now warm biscuits, Dominique showed me the bread dough she was also preparing for her picnic the following day. She makes all their bread, so kept some of the ‘starter’ back for the next batch. This is refreshed with additional flour and water to kick start the fermentation all over again. But for now she showed me how she brought the bread dough together to get a beautiful rise, and excellent crust, just as we had tried at the open day the previous week.

The time flew by, and we were both surprised when we looked at our clocks. “Gosh, it’s 5.45, I better go and let you do your shopping” I exclaimed. It was such a wonderful relaxed afternoon, spending time chatting, sharing secrets and cooking tips and getting to know each other.

Sidetracked

After going to our local DIY store to buy some wood to finish Brian’s barn project, we got a little bit sidetracked. After unloading the wood, we decided to check on the pool. We had opened it last week, and spent a couple of days cleaning it, getting it ready for our first dip.

We ran a net over the surface, cleaned the skimmers and checked the levels. It didn’t take long though before we were putting the sun umbrellas out and setting the sun beds up. So we ended up enjoying a couple of tranquil hours having lunch overlooking the pool.

It’s a sign

A long awaited parcel arrived this afternoon, so Brian prised himself away from his building project to open it with me, as he was as excited about it as I was.

So much so that he didn’t even take a moment to remove his work gloves. He grabbed his Stanley knife and we took some welcome shade under the umbrella to open it together.

We managed to find this plaque online. We’re also having a sign made of our logo, so plan to fix them together by the front gate, where our guests can see them easily on arrival.