Sparkling

When we got home we decided to nip up to the pool to enjoy our lunch, and then get it ready for our guests arriving on Saturday.

After all the work we’d put in earlier in the week it didn’t take much to have it looking sparkling in the sun.

The outside temperature was now around 25°C, and the pool was about 22°C, a couple more days of this sunshine and we will be enjoying our first swim.

No rush

We woke earlyish on Friday morning to a beautiful, warm, sunny day. We decided to head into Bar-sur-Seine to have a coffee and pain au chocolat at the café, as we needed to nip to the market to buy some fruit and vegetables. We were both functioning at a very slow pace, as we’d had a wonderful evening out the night before, enjoying a barbecue dinner with some friends. It was a very pleasant evening, sitting outside enjoying the summer sun, chatting and catching up on what’s been happening. On the way home we met a rather large wild boar standing in the middle of the road. He didn’t seem in any rush to vacate his position, but a flash of the headlights, and he scurried off.

We had a slow walk around the market, looking at all the gorgeous fresh fruit and veg.

Nothing ever seems to be rushed in France. A queue of people, listening intently to the stall holder telling a lady which strawberry is which, then all chatting amongst themselves about which strawberries are best to buy is quite normal. The chit-chat slows everything down, but everyone is happy to wait their turn. I was waiting for some apricots and strawberries. I then went to pick out some local goats cheese, which is rich and creamy, and then some honey, which is so good, and just perfect for breakfast on fresh baguette with salty butter. The goats cheese will be enjoyed this weekend with our guests.

I’m looking forward to a weekend of cooking and eating some yummy delights.

Two what?

In the side of our barn are two windows, well, there are two holes anyway. Once they would have brought light in to help see inside the barn, but now we have an electric light in there, so all they bring for us is heat from the summer sun. As Brian is in the process of perfecting his cellar, we have got to the point where we needed to make a quick fix and fill them in, as the weather is now warming up.

Brian took a look at the larger window from outside of the barn and found that there was an old wooden frame inside. That would make the whole thing much easier. So he decided to cut an old piece of board to fit into the opening.

With a few screws, it didn’t take him long to secure it into place.

Now he just needed to fix the small opening. For this he decided to use some polystyrene insulation he had left over from sealing the cellar walls. He approached it from inside the barn, as the roof of the cellar gave him a good platform. It was quite easy to just cut the insulation in place. Voilà.

We’ve already noticed that this little fix is helping the temperature of the cave stay low and more consistent.

Before you go…

Our friends were heading back home this afternoon, before they went though they wanted to help us with some gardening jobs. So not to miss an opportunity of having volunteers we were soon all doing our bit. Pam got the lawn mowed for us, whilst we went up to the pool with Sharon to finish the weeding. Brian got the jet wash out to clean off the black, winter mould, and I started to tidy up the honeysuckle over the stone arch. Although there were a few hard to get to pieces.

We then enjoyed a nice cup of tea and a piece of apricot tart together before they headed off. We’d had such a wonderful weekend together, and getting some gardening jobs done before they left was a very pleasant surprise.

The pool is now definitely open to be enjoyed.

Essoyes wine fair

We visited the beautiful little village of Essoyes on Sunday for the annual wine fair. They have producers from all the wine regions of France, coming together to offer you the opportunity to try their wines.

You pay just €2.50 for a glass and then you can try as many, or as few, as you like. There were around 35 producers this time, and many return every year. It’s an annual event that takes place on the 3rd weekend of May, it’s such a wonderful, relaxed show, and no pressure to buy, although we seem to every time we visit.

It’s such a great event, we love it.

70!

On Saturday we headed to the small village of Urville, about a 20 minute drive from us. We were heading there for lunch. I’d seen an advert for a celebration lunch to share in the vineyards overlooking Urville, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the ‘Route touristique du Champagne’ and I thought ‘What a wonderful event to be part of’.

So I bought us four tickets, as our friends were visiting for the weekend. With a little trepidation, as I had no idea really on what to expect, I drove us to Urville. As we arrived there was a sign pointing up into the vineyards, it simply said ‘Cap-C’, who were the organisers of the event.

I turned off the main road onto the signposted road, not with the full commitment of everyone in the car, and headed up a dirt track into the vineyard. Another car followed behind me, so I now felt I was leading the way. The track quickly got narrower and more bumpy, and the uncertainty in the car grew, ‘Are you sure this is the right way?’ Brian asked. I wasn’t completely confident, so I decided to stop and ask the man behind us. I pulled over to let him through, and he obviously knew we weren’t sure on where we were going, because as he passed us he said “Le repas est ici”. “Merci”, I replied and we carried on behind him. Climbing higher and driving into a very bumpy track I felt we might well have turned back if it wasn’t for him. The track improved though and we soon arrived at a meadow area on a plateau at the top of the hill,  where a number of cars had already arrived. We parked up and, and feeling more relaxed with lots of chatter and laughter, we headed along to where we could see some people milling around.

They had set up some lovely long tables, with bottles filled with local wild flowers, and an amazing view across the valley. The building was open on two sides, and created from local stone and oak from the surrounding forests.

Our meal was a typical, local French menu of gougéres, followed by chicken gizzards and goats cheese, with a main of beef with boulangère potatoes, a plate of local cheeses and a strawberry meringue for dessert, all washed down with local Champagnes, of course.

It was an amazing setting to enjoy our lunch, learn more about the work of Cap-C, meet new people, make new friends and practice our French.

A great day out was had by all.

Simply delicious

I fried off the white asparagus in a little butter and seasoning, and steamed the green asparagus. We enjoyed it with Brian’s home-made sour dough, salty butter and a glass or two of champagne.

Simply delicious.

Bee fine

We woke to a beautiful fine morning, our friends had arrived late last night so we enjoyed a light breakfast together in the garden, before all heading off to the market. I’d wanted to get some asparagus for dinner, as it’s currently in season. I had decided to get some white and green, but I also saw this very delicate variety, I just need to find out how best to cook it. I’m thinking maybe to steam it.

We decided to have lunch at the café near the market, before heading over to Meurville to do some champagne tasting. Fifteen champagne houses around Bar-sur-Aube were opening their doors for two days, laying on tastings, walks, and exhibitions. We were heading for Gaston Cheq, as it was a producer we had tried at the champagne festival last year, and one I wanted to revisit. In 1911 Gaston Cheq lead the revolt that brought the champagne AOC back to the Aube, as previously when the rules for producing champagne were written the southern area of the champagne region had been left out.

We got to try four of their wines, brut, rosé, blanc de blanc and their milleseme. A very pleasant tasting.

As part of the open door event, they were taking small groups of people to visit their ‘Les ruchers’, the apiary or beehives. Before we knew it, we were dressed in our beekeeping regalia and on our way to the hives.

The beekeeper gave us a short safety briefing – basically do not stand in front of the hive as this is where the bees enter and exit from. He explained he would smoke them a bit to calm them, but not to make sudden movements near them. I was certainly wondering what we had got ourselves into at this point, I’m really not great with ‘buzzy things’.

However, as he started to open up the hives and talk us through how they lived, how they keep the hive at 37°c, the life cycle and hierarchy, it all became really interesting and I wasn’t affected by the bees buzzing around our heads, I actually felt quite safe in my suit.

They didn’t have any honey in the hive as yet, they were still building up their colony and readying themselves for a summer full of flowers and nectar. Fascinating little creatures.

An afternoon in Bergères

We arrived around 2pm in Bergères. The small little village was bustling with crowds of people all here to enjoy the festival of plants. We’d had such a wonderful time here last year, but were completely surprised by the scale of the event. I was really looking forward to coming back this year, more prepared and ready to buy lots of plants.

There’s such a huge array of different flora, I knew I needed to be focussed if I wanted to get what I was looking for. First though, a friend had given me a tip to go and view an open private garden behind a small house in the centre of the village. It was not only a beautiful little garden, it was very inspirational; how they had used decaying objects as part of the garden structure, and how they had masked an old garden shed. I was in love with how they created their borders, and laid paths weaving between areas, to enjoy a quiet cup of tea or evening apéro in either full sun or the shade of a tree. Simply delightful.

There is so much to see and do. We had enormous fun searching out the plants I wanted to buy, whilst stopping every now and then to enjoy some of the local entertainment.

I have been looking for a while for a wicker garden chair. I wanted something that was comfortable that I could paint white and throw some pretty cushions on, so I could sit and read a book, enjoy a cup of tea and relax. I always thought I would buy a second hand one, but I was very pleasantly surprised when I saw two new ones, of just the style that I had wanted. We decided to get both of them.

Morning in Mussy

Where has this week gone, there’s just been so much happening, on Thursday which was Ascension day there was a Vide Grenier happening in Mussy-sur-Seine. It’s held on a lovely little site, I think it’s the route of a disused railway under the dappled shade of some lime trees.

We had a good wander round, and purchased a few little bits which we were very pleased with. We live at 13 Grande Rue, and although we have an enamel plate on one side of the gates we thought it’s good to have another house number on the other side. We bought two postcards which we will frame of poppies and pansies - both flowers that I love. I also couldn’t resist three little glass decanter stoppers, these will be added to my collection that sits in a glass bowl in the dining room. Then finally some curtain hooks. I think these will either be used in the library or our bedroom.

All in all a good morning.

We then headed over towards Bergères, for their annual festival of plants. We decided to stop en route though for a spot of lunch in Essoyes, all rather delicious, and I’d obviously found something very amusing judging by the photo Brian took.

Irises

Whilst cleaning the pool area yesterday, I’d realised the steps up to it had started to become overtaken by the beautiful, elegant blue irises that grow on either side, so I decided I needed to tidy them up.

Meanwhile Brian was going to cut the slope, as the grass had really grown since we did it about a week ago. However he does know to leave the meadow areas I’m cultivating.

For my job I started by just removing the long grass and weeds, and then started to remove some of the irises. They were so well rooted in though, I did need a helping hand. I was really pleased with how it was looking, and have replanted the irises we removed further down the slope. Hopefully they will take.

Little Changes

Last year we had a few box bushes that did not get shaped. Somehow they just got missed. I thought the chance of getting them back into a formal shape again had passed, so I suggested to Brian that we leave them and let them grow, but he knew I preferred them shaped. So out came his hedge trimmer and off he went to try and reshape them. I was surprised at how easily they came back. Once he had cut some of the weighty branches away they pulled together into a much tighter form again. I think he made a remarkable job of it.

Whilst we were in a change mode, we decided the dead fir tree by the pool needed to go. I was reluctant to take it out as I liked the height it gave, and was waiting to see what we could replace it with, but actually I was quite pleased once it was gone, as it really opened up the view.

A few minutes later and he was dragging it down the hill, and two more little jobs were ticked off the list.

Trim, weed, watch

With the weather warming up, and the pool now open, we wanted to spend some time cleaning up the pool area. Before we took the cover off the pool, Brian strimmed the grass. I got the job of sweeping it up, and stopping as much as we could from going in the pool.

Brian then trimmed the box bushes, which he’s learnt to do with his hedge trimmer. Way quicker than the little hand trimmer I use.

I got on with some weeding.

It’s a very satisfying job when you look back and see the progress made. We haven’t quite finished it, but it’s looking so much better.

Our last job of the day was to put the robot in, and watch him clean up, whilst we relaxed and just soaked up the view.

A good little haul

There are four public holidays in France during May, and this week, which includes Ascension day, is a popular week for events.

It started off on Sunday with the inaugural ‘Braderie de Bar-sur-Seine’, a small flea market held along the main high street. We were not quite sure what to expect, being the first ever, but it was a pleasant mixture of stalls from the shop owners (offering sale items, which rarely happens in France) to bric-a-brac stall holders.

We came home with a nice little haul of goodies. Ten cups and saucers, which will be ideal for soup or desserts or little salads. A little wire basket with 6 metal cups, which I shall use for flowers, and a piece of stained glass. We don’t quite know how we will use this, but we’ve placed it somewhere safe for the time being.

Green green grass

We’d had a good day in the garden yesterday. The grass was looking green and lush with the recent rain, and the roses are all full of buds, ready to just burst open.

I’d spent some time cheering up one of the corners, where we had moved one of my heavier urns. It looks better now, but once some of the perennials start to fill out it will look glorious.

Today it was a little overcast, so what better way to spend the day together than to finish off sanding the table in the barn.

I have to say though, my efforts on the table were limited. However, Brian had achieved an amazing result with the top. He just now needs to fix the rusted holes, and we can get it painted.

The big move

We enjoy seeing the garden develop, and as we start to understand it I often find that things are not where I would like them. Sometimes those things are quite big, and I need Brian to help me move them.

Having potted out some of my Geraniums in the largest stone urn we have, I realised it would be in the way of the Fleur de Lys I wanted to plant in the border, so the urn would have to be moved.

The first step was to work out where it would go and then cut a square of turf from that spot and use it to fill the hole made when the urn is moved. Brian did this with his normal care and soon we had a repaired lawn and a new home for our urn.

It wasn’t moving far, and with a bit of effort, and the use of our lifting trolley, we soon had it standing in the right place.

Bright start

It was a nice bright day so we decided to spend it in the garden. There are quite a few jobs to get done, weeding, mowing, tying back, trimming etc.

I was pleased with my potting area Brian had created for me. I had organised it with a variety of pots, garden tools, compost and fertiliser. I am loving the look.

Brian placed my window boxes, that I had potted out recently, onto the front windowsills for me. The bright pink and white geraniums are looking vibrant against the the white stone of the house.

All we needed to do was to enjoy our breakfast before getting started.

Roaring fun

There are often classic car rallies in our region of Champagne. They enjoy driving through the local countryside with its winding roads, vineyards and forested areas. They also enjoy parading through the beautiful, little white stone villages, beeping their horns as they go. We usually have two or three rallies come through our village each year. They’re delightful.

As they leave the village you can hear them put their foot down and roar up the hill along the winding road and through the forest. I wonder where they are headed, what discoveries they may make, a delightful little lunch spot, or an interesting tasting at a local producer. Bagsy I’m the passenger!

What fun they must have.

Elbow grease

Brian decided to make a start on the table we want to renovate. We bought it a few years back as I love how the frame underneath has the scrolls on it.

He started by scraping off all the old paint, which was no easy task.

We have bought ourselves a new vacuum which connects to our new sander. We have quite a few sanding jobs to do and our old sanders have taken a bit of a battering over the last few years, so we treated ourselves to a new one. Also, our old vacuum, that we use outside, has really lost its suck, so we replaced that with a more industrial style one that fits to the power tools Brian has. To test it all out, Brian thought he’d see if it would be a better solution for removing the layers of paint.

It soon became apparent it just needed some good old fashion elbow grease.

How potty

I’d bought some beautiful plants at the garden festival last weekend, and I was keen to get them planted. I had a few ‘vivace’ (perennials), which I will find some spots for in my borders, and I’d bought some beautiful pink geraniums for the front of the house.

It wasn’t long before I had my window boxes potted up.

What it made me realise though was that I was missing a potting area. Brian had set me up on a table outside, but we realised it was the table I had wanted us to renovate, so we decided I needed a couple of shelves above an enamel table he had fitted on the wall previously for me. I already have all my compost and pots underneath, but the top keeps getting used for other things. So I thought that if my pots and fertiliser etc were up on shelves above, it might get used properly.

He got to work fitting the shelves, having to fix a few bits of wood together for one, as he didn’t have any pieces long enough. I just need to get myself organised now and it will be a perfect potting area.