Happy March
Hello Everyone
I hope the sun is shining where you are? After a month of rain and storms we are enjoying warmer days and an air of spring. Southwest France took a bit of a battering from various storms, with rivers breaking their banks and towns flooded. We suffered some damage with a number of trees down, a broken fence and a blocked road in both directions from fallen trees (fun at 7am on the way to Toulouse) as well as water everywhere. Minor things to add to the list!
The garden is now beginning to emerge from its winter slumber and is beginning to dry out a bit. We are enjoying the pretty early blossom of the wild cherry plum. Daffodils and hyacinths are brightening up corners and as it has suddenly got warmer everything else (grass, weeds, etc) is growing at speed!
February flew by, with many family and house things on the to do lists and once again my blog took a back seat, as did much in the way of renovation. Despite the waterlogged conditions in the garden the snowdrops, hellebores and primulas started making an appearance.
Here we are in March, springtime, the darker winter days behind us. Time to air the house on warmer days, dry laundry outside and hopefully pack the thermals away soon! March for me is always more like the time for fresh plans than January. I find it hard in the cold short days to do much other than find ways to keep warm, work and fit in some renovation work when it isn’t too cold.
What I do love about January and February, apart from frosty mornings, snowdrops and roaring fires is that it is citrus season so marmalade making time for me. Nothing beats the aroma of citrus fruits wafting through the house as oranges, lemons, bergamots and more bubble away ready to become gleaming jars of marmalade. Last year taking inspiration from a clementine cake recipe, I decided to change my approach to marmalade and boil the fruit first, then chop it in a food processor before making the marmalade. There is less in the way of chunks of peel, but I have become a huge fan. So much less chopping and soaking. I am not sure it takes any less time cooking-wise but it is a simpler approach.
This year I saw a recipe for Bergamot jelly which I decided to try – delicious. However I was left with lots of cooked bergamot after straining the juice, so I changed the clementine cake into a bergamot cake, with success I am glad to say. Tried and tested by others, not just family. Our supermarket also finally stocked Chocolate Navel Oranges, which I think I have mentioned before. Until now I have had to go to Toulouse to find them. Not this year. They are olive skinned oranges with the sweetest flavour, great to eat, turn into an orange salad and of course make marmalade! You have to be quick though as the season is pretty short. Now it is the turn of blood oranges, another favourite. I think marmalade making is one of my feel-good activities – maybe it’s the smell or the satisfaction of a row of jars brimming with one of my favourite things or perhaps the fact that you can’t hurry the process.
Back to March, Spring and onwards to warmer days. Our focus has returned to the house and garden, a juggling act with everything else. The doors must be painted, interiors progressed and the odd bit of cleaning wouldn’t go amiss! We have finally settled on a colour for the séjour, now our dining room. It has taken a while and a load of sample pots, but we got there. By chance the paint we decided on was on offer in February so we have stocked up. I am looking forward to sharing the final result. Sometimes it is hard to prioritise. If only there was a magic wand to wave and things would be done. I am impatient to see results. However renovating is the not the only thing on the ‘to do list’ so it has to slot in with everything else.
One exciting thing is my first sweet pea shoots are up. On the advice of a gardener I follow online I planted some in February, slow to germinate as I only have a basic propagator and no greenhouse, but on their way now. Time to start tidying beds and planting seeds in trays. So the year maps itself out….
What’s on your list?
Enjoy the week ahead.
A bientôt
Ali xxx
