It's that time again!

Melon... yes really!

Its Vendage Time again.

I cant believe where this year has gone, the vendage has arrived again (the earliest for 12 years or so) and the air is filled with the sound of harvest machines and tractors.

P and I went to the vendage meeting on our own, without translator, and came away feeling like we understood very little and we're both finding it quite frustrating. I feel like I'm back at school and "must try harder".

We've had a never ending stream of visitors which has been lovely but has also meant that we've been easily distracted and are not as far along with things as we should be! Again must try harder.

Having said that James helped/ showed P how to make one of the four lovely new barn doors...and he's going to have to come back as I cant lift it!

I'm also feeling pleased as we are edging ever closer to sorting out the ceiling beams in the gite. I've been to see the wood man who is going to give us a quote or two and has said that he'll come and have a look, with someone who might be able to collect our wood if we cut some of our trees down, and he cut them to shape for us. However he's not ultra reliable in that department so we'll wait and see!

I want the vendage finished, the new vines planted and the ones that are not looking too brilliant to not have anything terminal... those are my three wishes for the end of this year....!

Everyone keep your fingers crossed.

x

Fete Cantonale

Well this week by comparison has been relatively un-dramatic. We have had a succession of visitors with our first camper-van lot arriving this afternoon in the drizzle.

Yesterday was the Fete Cantonale which was as always a curious and fantastic day. Every village in the region decorates a float for their resident oldest tractor to drag around the square...this year there seemed to be an inordinate number of young men wearing womens clothing.

Also there were stalls selling anything from ceramic mushrooms (why?) to candyfloss and wooden bowls not to mention the roving still which looked exceptionally Heath Robinson esque and appeared to be churning out moonshine all day.

Lunch was the best bit though..it's the first time we've been. They had banda (marching LOUD band) which had apparently just won the prize for the best in france and between courses everyone lept onto their chairs, danced like maniacs and as the day progressed used the tables as well. I still cant hear properly.

Staggered home before the end as we had no torch and there was no sign of a moon.

Who wants to come next year?

He's a lumberjack and he's ok....

Its been one of those weeks (or two). Lorna came to visit last week and it all kicked off the day she arrived.

Having resigned ourselves to not being able to replant this year due to the lack of rain... the technical director of the coop came and said we could after all... so P decided to cut down some of the trees that shade the plot.

So we felled trees, went in a hurry to Bordeaux as our Mac power leads had died and P pulled some tourists out of a ditch with the tractor... and then to a french birthday party, where my french and head were pushed to the limit... and then we had a phone call.

The trees it appears to our neighbour are not ours! We went round armed with satellite pictures etc, terrified and ashamed.

1 hr later we staggered back to Lorna, pissed and bearing sausages and bacon.. and the name of the man in the village whose trees they were.

After lengthy conversations it seems like this happens pretty often and is "pas grave" thank god.

Fingers crossed it stays that way...

Then the technical director returns and lo and behold we cant replant this year after all... the pepineristes are furious and our grants will have to be re-applyied for.

And thats all just this week...

The swallows have had more babies though...

So all is as it should be.

The temperature it is a-rising...

Well I've been in the uk for the past 10 days and it was a mixed bag of emotions.

I had a unexpected funeral to go to, and did the Great North Swim for the 3rd time... closer ever closer to the elusive sub 30 mins!

It was lovely to spend time with the crotchet girls and actually it was nice to experience the great british weather as well.

Back here Mavis has laid her first (curiously small for such a big chicken) white egg and they are now spending a lot of time sitting in the shade.

Tomorrow we are off to the beach... as the weather forecast is muttering darkly about it reaching 36-39 degrees. (Tig I know you're secretly thrilled by this information!).

I dug up two rows of spuds this morning... and despite the plants looking sickly we do have some potatoes... admittedly not very big or plentiful but we do have them!

Also I have roasted some beetroot and salted the first batch of cornichons... all good and exciting!

Mirabelles here we come.

Lifting wires...

Well we've started the levage and its harder work than we initially thought. Or rather what I thought. Almost everything is!

We are also having an ongoing saga with the sprayer, just at the point when it looks like we might need it soon as maybe (just maybe) it might rain.

All standard for us.

We've had a very lovely week with friends all round. We went to Bordeaux and rode on the boris-bikes there.

This is very disjointed and I've just noticed that it is both 11.30pm and that my laptop battery has about 2 mins left.

Will write more soon.