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A bit of floof

Hello to you all

It is officially Spring. Butterflies are out. My amazing double narcissi have flowered. Some of the fruit trees are in blossom, some are heading that way. The scent as you pass the plum trees is heavenly and the blossom is full of bees.

As we near the end of March, the weather here is trying to warm up. We have had some gorgeous days with temperatures getting over 20°C but the nights are still pretty cold. I am looking forward to the end of the hot water bottle ritual, which is performed every night. 3 bottles to be filled and pyjamas wrapped around them so it is not too icy when you get into bed! The things you do to live in a delightful old draughty house.

Bear enjoying the sunshine

We finally released the kittens this week. Well not released them really, but let them out into the big wide world. They had such fun on their first adventure. Up the laurel tree, in and out of the terrace gates, climbing wood stacks, jumping through as yet uncut grass near the tower. Max and I sat on the terrace wall being entertained and enjoying a celebratory glass of Perlé, a slightly sparkling white Gaillac – this time Château Clément Termes which we love. Well you have to celebrate these moments don’t you? We narrowly averted confrontation with the neighbour’s cat who spotted Raoul and Nina in what she considers to be her garden! She was not happy, understandably as she has been sole cat occupant of our garden for many years, apart from the brief 6 months that Minnie was here. Interesting times ahead. The girls are still quite little so I hope it will be OK.

Last week I showed you the progress we had made on the pond type thing in the garden. Well we finished it off at the weekend. 3 wheelbarrow loads of great compost went off to the potager – fabulous. (which reminded me that we needed to go to the tip to see if they have any yet – sadly not.) The bottom of the structure is stone, about half a metre down. It is 1.25 metres in length. There seems to be a pipe at the top that could have been a water inlet pipe. We put the photos on a renovating in France group we are part of to see if anyone knew what it might be. Lots of suggestions from fish pond, to dog wash, horse trough, somewhere to tread grapes, a snake spa, tiny dungeon, aspargus bed and a place to refrigerate food. Not all serious of course. We are heading to the village to see if anyone has any idea what it was used for.

We have also been busy buying more lavender as well as the first clematis for our path from the concrete stairs to the well. We discovered lavender plants in Leclerc (the supermarket we go to) last year as I have mentioned before, so went on a quest to boost supplies as it is very good value. I think we were a little late as all we found were 10 very thirsty rather sad looking specimens. I decided to take a risk and get them anyway as we need loads for the garden. A good water, a bit of sunlight and overnight they perked up completely. I will be busy this weekend, now that the frosty nights appear to be behind us. More seeds have been sown for the potager, I just need to get on with digging out the remaining beds!

Last week I promised to tell you all about our experiments with carrot tops and radish leaves! We have been trying out pesto sauces made from these leaves. Most of the time they go straight to the compost bin, a good thing in itself, but I happened upon an article about uses for carrot tops, one of which was pesto. I discovered that these leaves and those of other veg are also very nutritious – a great source of vitamin C, amongst other nutrients. The carrot top pesto was delicious so this week we tried radish leaf pesto, as there were some fabulous radishes at the market. Radish leaves are quite bitter, but the end result stirred through some pasta was really tasty and a fabulous colour.

Why not try out the recipe below and let me know what you think:

Recipe for Radish Leaf Pesto (adapted from a www.forkintheroad.co recipe for radish greens pesto)

Ingredients:

The leaves from 1 bunch of fresh organic radishes

120ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil

40g Pine nuts (or sunflower seeds)

2 Garlic cloves – minced

Method:

Cut the leaves from the radishes as soon as you get them home and soak in cold water.

Dry the leaves in a salad spinner, then chop them.

Put the chopped leaves with the pine nuts and garlic into a food processor.

Pulse until finely chopped.

Gradually add the olive oil, pulsing until all the ingredients are combined.

Season with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice to taste.

This makes a vegan pesto – you can also add vegan parmesan if you wish.

For a non-vegan version, add grated parmesan (approx. 40g) and mix together.

Next week – carrot top pesto!

This week has also seen me return to the lovely Maguy, coiffeuse extraordinaire in Cordes sur Ciel. As you may have read before, she is the decision maker in all things haircuts. You may go in with an idea of what you would like, but you come out with what she thinks is best! So far so good – apart from one very floofy occasion but you will have to read about that in the blog post: Lockdown Life Again! Well this week’s haircut experience was no different. Aside from the fact she lost her salon keys so was running a bit late (she had to go home and then found them – in her pocket), I had my usual fun time there. She had decided what she wanted to do but this time had a photo to show me! I am actually really enjoying coming out of the hairdresser with a different style each time. I have taken the view that my hair will grow if I am not 100% thrilled with the result and I have also decided to trust her judgement. I am not sure I have done that with a hairdresser before now. Back in the UK, I had the same hairstyle for a very long time, varying lengths but the same cut. Not here! This time no floof (my word for what she does to make my hair all curly, which it is not naturally) but lots of volume. If only I could replicate it at home, or afford to go almost daily to get my hair blow-dried by a hairdresser!

Floof, it turns out, is a real word which is used for a very fluffy cat or dog. Perhaps I should have used it for the lavender too!

The rest of the week has been work, work, work. Max and I have decided to take a little time off from work over the Easter break and focus on renovations in the house. I look forward to sharing the results with you over the coming month.

As Victor Hugo said: ‘There is nothing like a dream to create the future’ (taken from The Pocket Book of Positives, published by Arcturus). Let’s hope that applies to our renovation plans in the coming weeks!

It is quiet here this evening as the kittens are completely exhausted after today’s adventures in the garden. I just hope they don’t get too energetic just as we go to bed!

Until next week, look after yourselves.

A bientôt

Ali xx

2 Comments

    • Ali

      Thank you Lucy. Weather here is now in the 20s and lovely – hope it lasts. I owe you an email or a call!. Hope all well and thank you from Max. Catch up soon. xx

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