Spring has sprung !

It’s late spring and everything in the garden is growing madly.

loot from the garden

Graham has been picking cherries every day. I would have taken a photo but someone had to hold the ladder. In exchange he has requested that I make 'cherry ripe' since it’s his favourite and we can’t buy it here.

It’s a race to beat the birds to the ripening fruit, but we have so many cherries that we are giving them away – not easy as almost everyone has a cherry tree. The strawberries are ripening too and the figs are still a little small but it won’t be long and we’ll have to think of things to do with them too.

I think I'll try making this strawberry mousse ...

doesn't this look yummy ? courtesy of Leeane and her Fabulously French blog

Every garden has roses. Ours were overgrown when we arrived so , after lots of pruning back and feeding, we are looking forward to more flowers this summer.

Through the spring we have also discovered that we have white and mauve lilac and daphne bushes ( 2 to 3 metres high ) and then there’s the honeysuckle and wisteria climbing the stone walls.  

daphne competing with a grape vine for space 

The local commune (council) workers take a lot of trouble planting out every little spot in our streets. The flowers are changed from season to season , and there is always someone weeding or sweeping the paths and gutters. During the cold winter months when there isn’t any need for garden maintenance they sit indoors making decorations for summer and Christmas.

cheeky gardener

keeping watch at the traffic lights

Last year they made flowerpot people for summer and for Christmas, trees from logs. For this summer they’ve made these wicker birds…

a wishing well in a local carpark

pigeonnier in the garden at the local bank

And we came across this little fellow keeping watch over his owner’s motorbike at Bergerac…

Sorry if some of the pictures are a little dull. After a week of glorious sunshine shared with two lots of visitors , the weather has changed again and we had to dash out between thunderstorms to get some more photos for you. C'est la vie.

bonne semaine mes amis