Our latest project…

It’s taken a couple of months, but finally it’s done !

We decided to remove the above ground pool that came with the house. It was too small for swimming and so we haven’t used it more than twice in two years. It had to be cleaned regularly, chemically treated, filter run and winterised for the cold weather. It just didn’t seem worth the trouble.

The Team

Friends volunteered to take it for their garden and agreed to help us build a dining terrace in it’s place.

Gone !

So Lynn and Phil arrived in April to dismantle the pool. Despite not having any instructions from the initial construction, it proved not too complicated, just dirty and wet. We had been pumping water out of the pool and into our well for days beforehand. Since there hadn’t been any chemicals in the water for months, it was a good place to store reusable water.

Lots of water in the bottom of the hole, still.

Then our friends, Richard with his truck (camion) and John with a load of rubble he wanted to get rid of from his own home projects, arrived to help fill in the hole .  

Thank you Richard for your help and the truck and compactor

This part of the job completed, Lynn and Phil went on holiday. This gave us the time to find the materials for the next stage.

Big hole ate all the rubble we could find

After lots of visits to local Bricos ( hardware stores like Bunnings) and anywhere else we could find a pergola (tonnelle) in kit form, and much debate about shape and size and style,  we finally made the decision and bought  a circular frame with fabric roof and curtains. Then the same process to find suitable pavers. The choices here in the country are not all that extensive but we found something in the end.  As in all things, the biggest stumbling block is always finding something we can both agree on, of course.  

Not looking forward to the job ahead - mixing cement and shovelling sand 

Almost there !

assembling the frame

In place, at last

Almost finished

Another three days last week and finally, the paving was finished and the pergola in place. A quick visit to the local pot depot (only open in summer so don’t know what he does in winter) , the Brico for gravel, and the garden centre for more plants. The weather was getting a bit warm by now ( high 30s) so we limited ourselves to working in the early morning or late evening.

Finally !

Last night we christened the new dining terrace with a relaxed dinner in the garden enjoying the breeze from the river rustling the trees and the peace of a country village evening.

Chilled melon soup - puree charentaise melons ( like a rockmelon)
with vodka, and chill, chill, chill !

Barbecued chilli garlic prawns with a salad of avocado and peach

Home made strawberry ice cream with fresh raspberries, strawberries and
 langues de chat ( cat's tongue biscuits)

I know it's all pink, but it just turned out that way and  all was enjoyed with a pleasant chilled Alsace reisling .

A very big 'thank you' to all the friends who helped. We couldn't have done it without you. When can we expect you for a drink ?

Bonne semaine à tous, mes amis

Gardens in the streets

birdhouse at the war memorial

Two years ago the local commune workers decorated all the little garden areas in the streets with flowerpot people. 

Last year it was wicker birds. 

This year it’s birdhouses.

outside the library

at the only traffic lights

an unusual version made of wicker

on the island in the middle of an intersection

in the carpark

Not only do they need to replant these gardens every spring, but they also make their own decorations. I don’t know who comes up with the ideas, but it’s such a whimsical use of offcuts of wood and leftover paint. Can’t imagine what they’ll do next year.

at the post office

in the war memorial garden

the pigeonnier in the garden at the bank - the french do love their birds

The commune has entered the competition to be named one of the Villes et Village Fleuris (Towns and Villages in Bloom)  and so have gone all out with the flower planting this year. Apparently, the competition is also judged on ‘village life’, so we will be interested to hear the results.

even the carpark is looking 'floral'

the mairie

the bar on the corner

a neighbour's house

We have even installed and planted our own window boxes for the first time.

flowers hanging in the main street

Another 'only in France' moment - we are also being issued with new recycling bins so the mairie has arranged an ‘information’  evening in order to answer any questions we may all have ( about garbage bins ??). Naturally, wine will be served at the end of proceedings.

 bon week-end à tous mes amis

Sunday lunch in a vineyard

Down a country lane

We were invited by english friends to join them for a lunch at a local vineyard, Domaine de Jolis Bois. Patricia, the vigneron, and her family hold these lunches on weekends through the summer and they begin with a walk through the vines and an introduction to the work of a vigneron. Patricia’s family has been making wine here for a long time and the hamlet is filled with extended family members. That’s about twenty houses.

Vines, vines everywhere

there's always an old church

everyone prepared to earn that lunch...and a drink

 

four year old vines

a new parcel of vines just planted

just planted - a one year old vine covered in red wax

Patricia explains about the planting

explaining that different spacing is required for different grape varieties

grape variety can be identified by the leaf, apparently

no irrigation is permitted so they just have to hope for rain at the right times

After the walk through the vineyard in the hot sun, we were relieved to return along the lane under shady trees and into the barns and cellar.

walking back beneath the trees

This is a small family operation carried on in whatever old farm buildings are available so none of those fancy  purpose-built ateliers and underground cellars full of oak barrels that you usually see on an organised wine tour. The equipment is  well used and the buildings a little creaky looking, but the enthusiasm is there and it shows in the wines.

family heirloom ?

tractor seat wouldn't pass OH&S in Australia

no fancy steel vats here

grape crusher

a corner of the cellar

Patricia is very charming, and while she doesn’t speak english, and our french is still halting, she made us feel very welcome and was curious about Australia and australian food and wines. Her partner , David, is a chef and prepared some wonderful duck on a barbecue over burning vine wood from the old section of vineyard that had been recently uprooted and replanted with new vines.

Graham considering his wine after a hot walk in the vines

  

After the tour we all gathered , 21 of us, under the trees for a tasting and an opportunity to get to know each other. There were five of us in the english group, a half a dozen french locals and what turned out to be a boisterous group from Perigueux.

serious about their lunch

Ahh, that's better !

The word ‘generous’ is an understatement when talking about the wines at lunch. We all sat at one long table and the reds, whites and rosés flowed freely with the salad, the duck with roasted potatoes, and the ice creams, all presented in the style of a typical french family enjoying their Sunday lunch together.

now for the serious stuff - finishing the last of the wine

Particularly popular was the eau de vie. This is a distilled drink ( pure alcohol I should think judging by my one little sip) that is made ‘for home consumption’ and not permitted to be offered for sale. Everyone was given a little shot in our coffee cups and we were shown the correct way to enjoy it – poured over a sugar cube and then swallow the cube whole and always, lick all the excess from your fingers ! The Perigueux group were very enthusiastic about showing us this and after a few the lunch soon degraded into a singalong of french and english drinking songs .   Entente cordiale indeed.

We shall return…

Leslie and John - thank you for the invitation and a wonderful sunday afternoon

Bonne semaine mes amis