Boules de neige
Hello everyone
Apologies, Coffee and Chocolatines has gone a little AWOL recently, not helped by a massive malfunction of the site, now partially fixed. Promised posts have not appeared, all underway I assure you, but none completed. This was my end of April post, now beginning of May. Happy May to you all. Don’t you love the colour of these tulips, always the last to show in the garden. The white flowers are called Boules de neige (snowballs), part of the Viburnum family and utterly gorgeous. They bring a smile to my face. We were given them by our neighbour to thank Max for fixing her lawnmower. Another one for the plant wishlist!
I would love to say I had been so busy renovating that time had just slipped by, as it seems to with increasing speed these days! But no, I have been dealing with work things and a son who is in the final weeks of his degree, a long awaited moment given his years of illness, but now a source of great stress and massive flare up of his illness. The last 2 weeks have disappeared in a haze of dissertation, providing food and encouragement at various moments, being around just for moral support. The two Easters (as we celebrate Greek Easter too) were very low-key.
In moments like these priorities change, the immediate becomes the most pressing and the most important. It breaks my heart to see him struggle with this illness. At some point he will conquer it, but it is a horrible illness and needs strength to battle, which currently he has to reserve for revision and exams. At the risk of alienating many, please try not to use the words ‘I’m a bit OCD’, unless you are actually diagnosed with this miserable mental health problem. Being tidy, wanting things a certain way is nothing like OCD – it is a very destructive and cruel illness.
On that rather stern note (sorry), what else have we been up to. Max is valiantly trying to conquer a lawn now out of control. We have little time to deal with it as we are trying to keep things quiet and calm for the student. The weather is lending itself fabulously to fast-growing everything! I have plants lined up to get into various parts of the garden, hopefully over the next few days and masses of digging to do in the potager and weeding everywhere else. In the scheme of things, none of this is that important but it would be nice not to live in a total jungle! The cats, however, love it – perfect for hunting, which is not good. It is rather sweet to see the tips of some ears or a tail peeking above the long grass. Great fun for them!
We continue to await the arrival of the ride-on lawnmower – it’s been a month now. Apparently it is in Toulouse, but who knows when it might make the hour and a quarter journey to us! Customer service….. We have had the presidential elections in France. It has been quite stressful but the result was welcome. We even celebrated with a glass of rosé and in my case a few tears of relief. I am not in the mood currently for further challenges and a different result might well have brought some unwelcome outcomes.
I have been to sort out my new glasses – my first optician experience in France – somewhat overdue. Lovely guy locally, very helpful and patient while I tried on too many frames and couldn’t make up my mind. I am also going to try contact lenses finally. I have no idea if they will work for me, ie. will I be able to get them in, but from a vanity point of view it would nice to not have to wear glasses every day! The joys of getting a little older!
We did manage to get out last week and joined a local history group for a walk around an ancient forest. We were accompanied by a professor from Toulouse University who was passionate about the area and what it shows. The forest was beautiful with a very interesting history – more on that when I learn more! The forest is also so pollution free that a lichen called lichen pulmonaire (Tree lungwort) grows there – fascinating. It gets its name as it resembles lungs and was used to treat lung disorders in medieval times. This lichen is found on old hardwoods and is an indication of ancient forests. It is very susceptible to pollution or changes to the usage of the forest around it, so in some places is becoming rather rare. There is evidence of an ancient Iron Age hillfort but also the remnants of a medieval settlement, a motte castrale, as well as the ruins of an old stone building, thought to be a chapel. We clambered up a very steep embankment clutching onto to a dead tree to reach the top and were rewarded with some interesting finds and what the experts believe may be an old cistern for storing water, not a well as it is not deep enough but beautifully constructed in stone for some way down the shaft. An interesting afternoon, the group was very welcoming, the weather lovely and the scenery stunning. Max did amazingly on understanding a lot of what was discussed. A bit of an escape for us, probably much needed!
The weather continues to surprise, at times gorgeous, sunny and warmer, at others deluges of rain, with streams making their way down the drive to the drainage near the house. The garden needed a good water, well in some ways. As I said before it has also meant a surge in grass and weed (or wild flowers as I prefer to view them) growing. Thermals and hot water bottles still stand at the ready as the house grows chilly in the evenings, but it has been some days since we had to light the woodburner.
We have been foraging again, this time the new shoots of the butchers broom I mentioned in the post Fresh Start February (04/02/22) . It is eaten like asparagus and we have lots in our copse, but I also collected some on our forest walk the other day. More on that in a foodie post soon, along with nettles, and giant radishes! We also have lots more respounchous (another version of ‘asparagus’) courtesy of our neighbour.
Notre vie quotidienne (our daily life) continues as usual, the renovation limping along until exams are over. We have made some progress in the salon, cleaning and tidying, ready to try and open the unopened doors. Occasional gardening on my part but complete joy that the wisteria survived the severe late frost and has put on an exceptional show this year with the most heavenly scent permeating through the ground floor when the doors are open. Gorgeous. I have also managed to germinate two more wisteria plants from seeds – I will be setting up a nursery soon! Little Owl and a rather handsome huge hare are often around, it is so lovely to open the shutters in the morning and spot one of them. Nature is so therapeutic.
So onto another week. Probably a quiet time for us, maybe some time in the garden (as well as work and a mountain of admin). Perhaps a visit to another vide grenier, although I am not sure we need to acquire anything else right now with the backlog of projects we have! Enjoy the week ahead. New motto: When in doubt eat gorgeous cakes!
A bientôt
Ali xx
