Christmas in Verteuil sur Charente

Its Christmas eve  here in Verteuil sur Charente. The village decorations are up...a few more lights than last year. The french have a bizarre way of decorating the outside of their houses. ....

they hang bows, tinsel and ribbons from greenery outside windows and doors

even wrapped parcels hanging off branches...this is La Regie Verteuil...out weekly watering hole.

I doubt these would be around very long in the UK


HERE ARE SOME PHOTOS OF DECORATIONS AROUND THE VILLAGE

The big tree outside the Salle des Fetes

Decorated gardens of demeurre des roses verteuil

Robert our joli butcher..........a busy time of year for him...although he is very busy all year round. He is only closed on a Sunday afternoon............that's one hard working family

L'Atelier Vert ...............the window picture does not do this place justice...beautiful flowers and a fantastic range of gifts upstairs

Le Moulin

Eating home and away

Restaurants are getting booked up. We are dining at lunchtime Christmas Eve at le moulin de verteuil sur charente.
Not many are actually open on Christmas Day and a lot close early on Christmas Eve as many families here celebrate on Christmas Eve. This event can go on into the early hours of the morning...for this reason many older people prefer to have their "repas" on Christmas Day.

 I asked a local what the traditional fare would be here for the Christmas meal... as in the UK there are a variety of things that would be special but normally it is

Pineau...........an apertif drink which is a mixture of wine and cognac.  Usually from one of your neighbours secret distillery.
 Champagne

oysters
crevettes (large prawn)

Fois Gras..........say no more!!!

CHAPON  ........For those that don't know what a chapon is....look away now....
its a castrated cock!!!
Potatoes, marrons( chestnuts) and some of the vegetables that cost a little more and you would treat yourself to at this time

Cheese selection with bread! Always before the dessert not after

Dessert would be a Buche.  A log to you and me....no, not a wooden one...cake roll .filled with cream or ice cream

That is the basic meal but some families have several  courses and need long rests in between..hence the 2am finish...if you are dining at a restaurant or hotel that has a dance floor you will find yourself dancing off the food between courses.

There  celebrations are  among friends and family ......a celebration of being together , sharing food. drink and each others company . Family is the emphasis rather than the occasion.

Christmas is about the eve or the day........in the UK it seems to start with revelling weeks before. Massive work parties...  scantily clad women crawling along the street after heavy drinking sessions leading up to Christmas day or men fighting for no apparent reason other than alcohol fuelled aggression.
This would not happen here...perhaps in the bigger cities...I dont know but not in rural France

SHOPPING

While we read about queues to get in and out of car parks, fighting over stuff in shop aisles, people spending more on Christmas than we earn in a year... we can enjoy the more laid back approach in our little corner of France. . People buy enough food for the Christmas meal and for visitors  instead of stocking up for a local siege....shops are slightly busier but nothing claustrophobic.
People trying to outdo neighbours spending a years worth of electricity on outdoor lights.
Shops starting sales to get people to buy more and more of things they dont need.
No scantily clad women crawling along the street after heavy drinking sessions or men fighting for no apparent reason other than alcohol fuelled aggression.
All of these things have become normal practises in the Uk ...and perhaps in the larger cities you may find some evidence of it....I don't know....thankfully it's not what goes on here.

 .
A lot of things we did in the UK we did out of expectation. It felt a bit bah humbug to stop doing some of them but somehow Christmas was becoming a stress filled, money wasting expedition full of plastic throwaway stuff, wasted food and unwanted gifts.

I'd love to know what everyones opinions are on the following...

CARDS

I used to write about 100 cards every year. Having lived and worked in lots of different places we had a lot of friends and acquaintances. I would make the  effort to hand write notes to say what had been going on in our life. In return ....except for an odd one...I would receive a card saying......nothing!
We came to France in 2009... Just before Christmas.... Let's wait and buy some french cards we said. LESSON  1....the french don't do cards!LESSON 2  You will pay for one card what it costs for a pack in the UK.
We did some DIY ones...which was fun...however next obstacle we came across was the postage costs. Almost a euro per card....more if the letter that was in it was quite lengthy.
In today's technology you can send some lovely e cards free of charge. It's all the same other than the trophy lines of cards hanging up which some people like to proudly show off as a sign of popularity.
We do send some cards...older relatives who  don't use the Internet and those who just LOVE to get a card.  We often take a Christmas tree decoration instead of a card when we visit people....that's something you can keep instead of throwing away. This year we received this from our soon to be in law family....

That's an idea I will be using next year...thanks Lindsay and Richard Pooley

The money we would have spent on cards we are able to donate to a different charity each year

DECORATIONS

Not being a great fan of plastic I find a lot of the decorations tacky, cheap and nasty.
What could be nicer than filling your house with holly, laurel leaves, fir branches and cones...all available free from local forests and lanes. Baked oranges, cinnamon sticks ...natural products.
Our friend Liz Nolan

 made these for us this year.
They are the fallen oak nuts. She separated them then sprayed the nut gold. Once dry she glued the nut back in.
Great to have in your bowls with fir  cones or put on a string and hang on the trees.
I think they are gorgeous and its a great present.

on the subject of which....

PRESENTS

I love presents...who doesn't!! . There's was always something exciting about different shaped parcels and boxes..and the surprise of what inside. The thing I love about getting a present is that someone has thought of me.....and if they know me they have managed to get something they feel I would like.

Lets be honest how many presents have you opened and thought ...what on earth!!!...what a waste...

...a bit like the drivers gloves and car cleaning set once given to our 13 year old!!! Oh yes

We don't do presents at Christmas and we don't expect any....bah humbug again.

We give to our children ....its always money as that way they too can get something they need or want. We would give them this at any time of year..its not just for Christmas. Whenever they visit us we can treat them to little pressies if we see something they would like.
We have savings accounts for the grandchildren..unless there is something specific that parents would like us to get for them..we pay their money in there. Children often have far too many presents to open on Christmas day ...its too much for one day.

Surely this isn't the intention of the true  celebration of Christmas

In France there seems to be less commercialism and less overkill.
Of course children have Santa and lovely gifts ...just not so many.
For adults there are the usual gift sets of the cosmetic variety and lot of chocolate and plants in the shops.
Less of the "novelty " type gifts which you find in all the charity shops after Christmas ( at least someone will benefit from them)
As in Languedoc the folk in Charente seem to like to exchange home made stuff with their neighbours. Last year we made chocolate fudge for them. This year, as we had been to the UK for a visit, we bought some wensleydale and cranberry cheese, yorkshire blue and a box of crackers.

I will report back as to what they thought of it!!!

I have had a little setback to finishing my winter work.............

I have  broken wrist.

I would like to say it was a spectacular fall  something exciting like ski ing or snowboarding but it was just my usual walking too quickly and not paying attention to the footpath.
Luckily its the left wrist ( i am right handed) ... after the first week of pain and immobility I have been able to catch up on some of the work
 Carrots have all been dug up.....essential as the chickens who are now free ranging in the garden were attempting to dig them up for me. I never thin my carrots...too much work and attracts the carrot fly.....so I never now what t expect.

The big ones I use to make batches of carrot and coriander soup. The medium ones  chop into cubes for casseroles and the small ones I just blanch as they are to serve with  roast dinner. Of course there always the weird and wonderful odd shaped ones.
This I managed with one hand...the good one!!....not an easy task but its done!!!


We also have an excess of eggs again...the girls have all started laying every day...this them helping me do some weeding the other day

"IS THIS WHAT THEY CALL THE POT"
" I DON'T KNOW BUT I'M NOT GETTING IN JUST IN CASE"

so i made some large scotch eggs  for meals and some smaller ones to use for aperos. they freeze really well.The smaller ones I added curry spice for a change..

EASY PEASY TO MAKE BUT VERY MESSY!!!!!


SITTING ROUND THE KAGAI

 Last night we were invited to join some new holiday Verteuilaise residents. Nick and Tina have bought a beautiful Maison de Maitre house edging on to the river with a great  view of the chateau. They intend to live here one day and we welcome them heartily to the village,
We sat around a KAGAI....a very large outdoor fire pit with seating benches around it...cooking local sausages on skillets, drinking wine (of course) laughing, chatting, singing with old friends and new
Its hard to believe we were able to sit outside till  midnight on the 23 rd of December under an almost full moon and not feel cold!!!

Welcome to Nick and Tina and their very charming 4 boys.


So this is my last post of 2015 and I am already looking forward to 2016............Resolutions or not???Plans??? New ventures????? Objectives!!!

Cant wait to hear what yours are

• BONNE FETES A TOUS xxxxxxxx

garden and foraging in France in September/October

Its now almost two months since my last post. I WOULD like to say that I have been flogging myself to death working in the house and garden to create this wonderful image of "The Good Life"......
however that would be  totally against the principle of living well for less. Actually it is more a case of so many different things going on....summer gardening and produce, foraging, visitors and socializing!!!

• We also bought a rowing boat!...just for messing about on the Charente. Whilst we were buying our local organic honey from Chris Luck in Blanzay we spotted it amongst the long grass on his domain. Chris lives some way from the river so I was intrigued as to why he had one. Admitting it had lain there for years and as  he hadn't got round to getting anywhere near a river with it he was willing to sell it to us for a very reasonable price. We are looking forward to trying it out....once the cows in the meadow between us and the river move on!! Both them and the chickens seem to be very interested in our new addition!!!

Annie Sloan Paint in France

We are still in the process of trying to replace our furniture after making the decision to leave most of it behind when we sold our last house in 2014.

Point 1.....going out to buy furniture in France is not so much fun.......not a lot of choice unless you like everything lime green or purple!!

Point 2....its so much more expensive to buy good furniture

Point 3...you never seem to have the time to look properly when you are trying to renovate your house, create your veggie plot and go out to work at the same time

Point 4...you seem to run out of money before everything is replaced

As a result you tend to buy things second hand.....(Emmaus, Anglo-Info, Leboncoin Vide Greniers) In doing so, most of it needed the shabby chic treatment in an attempt to make it look anything other than shabby. I had brought a very large tin of Farrow and Ball Shaded white with us from the Uk but that didn't last long. There are outlets here that sell it but it is usually double the price!!
When I was looking at second hand furniture on ebay in the UK I noticed a lot were stating they were painted in Annie Sloane Chalk paint.
I began to look into it and discovered that this is soooo amazing. No preparation or sanding compared to other paints and usually only needs one coat. As well as that, the painted surface can then be waxed in a clear coating or with a darker one to give it a more distressed look.
I am probably already telling most of you what you already know but for me it was a great discovery.
Not only that....it was available locally and at a great price.

I tracked down Gary and Jayne who run couleursdevie.eu   This lovely couple who live in the most amazing house filled with lots of colour and character...

have put their heart and soul into their business. Their barn is filled with lots of painted pieces so that you can see how your paint will look and Gary even took the time to show us to how easy the paint and wax were to use.

I am now a total convert.

I bought these chairs from them with the intention of painting them a similar colour to our kitchen....Annie Sloanes Old White....however I quite like the different colours and will now try to incorporate those colours into my very conservative kitchen........what do you think???????

Lots of rain after the scorching weather and , lots of potatoes

The heat of the last 7 weeks has been draining.....its too hot to work but you still have to do it. The vegetables have really suffered and as my french neighbours said they are all "cuit" (cooked)
I had been hoping to leave the potatoes in the ground...the tops had just about burnt off...however on digging some up I found that some were starting to sprout.

As a result we dug them all them all up and our kitchen had a potato attack.. I dont have anywhere to store them which is cool and dark so several hours later of cooking, blanching and preparing ..on.NO FUN on a very hot day ...resulted in several bags of blanched potatoes, several bags of chips, several bags of mashed potatoes with cabbage and onion in,

Unfortunately....as I sometimes think we live in the middle of Siberia and only go shopping once a year....and my husband thinks Im planning for a siege...both of my freezers were filling up!!
Being part of the Ladies in France Network I put out a plea via our facebook site and thanks to Liz Nolan whoalso  lives in Verteuil I had a freezer on loan with two hours of asking!!! Now thats what I love about being part of this great group....there is always help at hand!!!
Now then...freezer number 3 is on its way to filling up....and hubby is saying we relly must start eating some of this food. However..., like the red squirrel who is busy digging holes ( or should i say more holes) in our lawn to bury all the nuts... I have this need to stash things away for the winter!!!!

I have used the last of the courgettes...thy reign no more in the garden!!....and made several quiches.
Tomatoes are in full flow and we are equally eating them and making  sauces for pasta.
The taste really is so much better than anything our of a jar or can!! Well worth the effort.
The aubergines have really flourished in the hot weather and in another week we will start harvesting them.

The rain has finally arrived.....plants as well as us are breathing a sigh of relief. The rain is the best excuse for not doing anything...well..in the garden at least. It has given  me a good chance to catch up on some inside work.
Ive had some material sitting about for...a while...to make some table mats for the sous sol kitchen. I thought these looked quite simple to do as, despite some of my ancestors being dressmakers, my skills in this area are something not to be talked about!!! Anyway, they do the job and look good from a distance! Much to the distaste of the hubby this kitchen is becoming a bit of a chicken shrine

The garden in France in July

So its the end of July already! The last  photo I took of the garden was when it was lush and green with the vegetables were healthily growing and I was looking forward to a good harvest.We  had a good mix of sun and rain making a gardeners life so easy.

Potatoes, onions, beetroot, celery,tomatoes, aubergines, lettuce, cucumber, peppers, strawberries, raspberries...you name it...everything was perfect!!

That was before we were hit with 6 weeks of daily temperatures over 30 and no rain! Now...I expected this when we lived in the South of France but wasn't prepared for it here. The soil was doing a good impression of the sand in the Sahara desert and the plants were just withering under the heat.
No amount of watering was helping they were just frying under the intense heat. The plants to suffer were the potatoes and onions...with the foliage dying the vegetables were just not growing below. They are now all dug up. The onions are only the size of tangerines and what were supposed to be big old potatoes are only the size of new potatoes.
Still...better than nothing.

Of course.that old favourite... the courgette...didn't seem to be affected. Even with only two plants we have had a massive crop. This year I have so far made 12 courgette lasagnes, 12 bacon and courgette gratins and 12 potato and courgette gratins.Thankfully there are a lot of good courgette recipes around...soup, fritters, quiches...you should never be at a loss of how to use them. I work on the principle of filling up the freezer first with winter supplies then use them fresh after.
Of course there is always the courgette that escapes and is hiding under a leaf....and this is what happens

Not as sweet and tasty as the small ones but good enough for making soup or marrow curd.

I  tried a new recipe this year of courgette potato and cheese bread, Its really easy although you do have to have the time to let it rise. The recipe can be found on bbcgoodfood site. It is delicious..great for cutting up into chunks and sharing.

PLUMS GALORE

We have two plum trees in our garden. One is defunct ...however as it is home to a woodpecker we are leaving it where it is....the other produced about a dozen plums last year.
This year they are arriving in their hundreds. I cannot pick them quick enough and lots have fallen through the night and fed some of the local wildlife!
The plums are the lovely dark blue variety...not sure what they are... our french neighbours just call them blue plums.
So far I have made plum chutney, plum jam and plum sauce.
The plum sauce is to freeze and serve with duck....
It is so easy to make....this is the basic recipe and just multiply it according to the number of plums you have.This amount is enough for two people.
In a pan put the following....
8 washed, destoned and chopped plums, a teaspoon of dried ginger, 2 tablespoons of honey, 2 tablespoons of soya sauce, a teaspoon of cinnamon and a tablespoon of lime juice. Let it all simmer until thick and serve or let it cool and freeze it.

Our freezer is filling up and I need to start looking at other ways to preserve our produce...watch this space!

Our apples trees are weighed down this year despite the fact we really cut them back in the spring. In fact yesterday a whole branch fell off into the chicken run...causing a lot of squawking and running around in a tizz ( the chickens not us!!!!) We have a lot of fallen apples also as we are unable to take of the excess on the higher branches....in fact I spend about half an hour every morning picking up the fallen apples. Luckily they do not go to waste.........these are our other girls who wait for their breakfast from us every morning.

Before the farmer put up the barbed wire they were actually coming into the garden...it doesn't stop them trying now however!

As we speak the heavens have opened and we have the long awaited downpour! Whoopee! The plants as well as us ar breathing a sigh of relief.

Now then.....we have visitors in a couple of weeks..it would be nice if it went away again by then!

Elderflowers...champagne, wine and cordial

May and June sees the Elder  trees around us in Charente in full blossom. The blossoms are  beautiful delicate little bunches of flowers. They are known for probably having more uses than any other single species of blossom.

Its useful that the Elder tree is very prolific so its very easy to find a plentiful supply of the blossom....the flowers are best picked on a sunny morning.
Try not to strip the tree and leave some blossom to become the elderberries...the fruits are later in July and August.

It has been said that the elderflowers can be eaten straight from the tree...mmm...not fancied or tried that one so I can't comment.

The flowers can be put in the base of a glass and pour over white wine or lemonade. The flowers will fragrance the drink.
You can also just flavour some water with them.....pour boiling water over the flowers and leave to cool. Then remove the flowers and filter the liquid. Serve cold with ice cubes.

DEEP FRIED ELDERFLOWERS

Deep fried flower bunches are delicious and easy. All that is needed is a thin batter of 4 tablespoons of plain flour, one egg and water to mix. Make sure your elderflower heads are clean of bugs....just give them a shake. Never wash them as this removes the fragrance.
Dip the flower heads by their stalks into the batter...strain off any excess ..and then plunge into the hot oil and deep fry till golden. Eat immediately! You will want to anyway!!!!


ELDERFLOWER CHAMPAGNE

The most popular use for the flowers is to make champagne, sparkling wine or cordial.
There are may different recipes for the champagne but the one I have tried is from the Jonathan Wallace....Self sufficient in Suburbia site. This one needs to be left for ten weeks before it is ready to drink...it uses a lot more elderflowers than some and a lot less sugar.
It seems the ones that are ready to drink quicker have more sugar. I have not tried any others...and it will now be another 6 weeks before mine is ready so I can't yet comment on the quality..

I am really hoping this lives up to its reputation!!!!

you will need....

a 20 litre bucket with a lid
a carrier bag of elderflower bunches
juice and grated rind of 8 lemons
3 kgs of sugar
2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar.

Grolsch style bottles

Fill the bucket with cold water
Add the sugar and stir till dissolved.
Add all the other ingredients.
Stir well and leave with the lid on for 2 days

Strain well through a clean  muslin cloth or jelly bag.
Pour into sterilised jars and securely cap.

You may need to release the lid every so often as the champagne fizzes up......the bottles need to be strong glass or they may explode!!!

Leave for 10 weeks......I will let you know how this works out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


ELDERFLOWER CORDIAL

you will need

1.5kg of sugar
20 elderflower heads
4 sliced lemons
1.8 litres of water
60 g of citric acid

Bring the water and sugar to boil in a large lidded pan
When it is cool add all the other ingredients and leave for 36 to 48 hours
Strain the liquid then heat it in a pan for about 5 minutes.
Pour into sterilised bottles

As this is a fresh mixture with no added preservatives it will only keep 2 to 3 weeks once the bottle is open(keep in the fridge). It may be wiser to use smaller bottles to prevent waste...depending on how quickly you think you would use it..
Some people actually put it into small plastic bottles and freeze it......however I avoid using plastic bottles wherever possible.



So that's the flowers...now we have the wait for the berries!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eat weeds....free food

Its now two months since the last blog. Who said retired people twiddle their thumbs wondering what to do.
There really aren't enough hours in the day. We try and work on the principle of work rest and play....however the work bit seems to be continually poaching from the other two.
At this time of year there really isn't much choice.....miss the timing for sowing plating and picking and you have lost your future food supply.

EAT WEEDS....FREE FOOD

The only truly free food is the stuff you forage and eat raw...berries straight from the bush and leaves from weeds used in salad for example. If you have to add other ingredients to produce an edible meal then the meal isnt totally  free...only the item you have added to it. I often see quite elaborate recipes using "free food....by the time you have all these added ingredients it becomes quite an expensive dish.It may be worth noting how much it costs you to make something with your free food!!!

Back to WEEDS.....love them or hate them!!!

Weeding is the bane of the suburban gardener.Obviously in the vegetable patch you need to remove these so they are not overcrowding and taking the nutrition from whatever you are growing.  However some weeds  prove quite useful in the kitchen......its all down to taste and if you want to make the effort...and of course you can usually find a plentiful supply.
This is the first year that I have truly started looking at all the possibilities.

I have had this book a long time and used it as a reference but recently I found an amazing website called EAT WEEDS... by Robin Harford... gives lots of ideas, hints recipes and even runs foraging courses.  Recipes are current and although it is based on weeds in England....believe me most of them are the same over here in France. You can be as adventurous as you like or just take whatever is easy and available  for you and suits your lifestyle.  The advantage here in Charente is that there is less traffic pollution and greater restrictions in chemicals used in the fields as well as a lot of countryside which allows wild growth. Just remem

 DONT PICK FROM THE ROADSIDE
DONT PICK IN OBVIOUS DOG WALKING AREAS
PERMISSION IS NEEDED ON PRIVATE LAND
DONT OVERPICK....GIVE THE PLANTS AND SOMEONE ELSE A CHANCE
MOST PLANTS ARE BEST PICKED ON A SUNNY DAY AND IN THE MORNING WHEN THEY ARE FRESH

I am logging when certain weeds are at their best so therefore when to pick them, find the best area to pick them ( and not tell anyone!!!!) and try different recipes which would suit our lifestyle.

DANDELIONS

These can begin as early as March and whilst they are evident all year round they are most prolific April and May..  In french they are called PISSENLIT.  Which should warn you what it is good for!!!We know from our youth that it was called the "wet the bed" plant.due to its diuretic qualities. The Romans used them for medicinal purposes. It is of course one of the most profuse of weeds so there is a plentiful supply supply if you wish to use them.

LEAVES.....pick the smaller ones as they will not be so bitter. Use them directly in salads with a little dressing of olive oil and lemon juice. They are also nice with chopped bacon bits and roasted garlic on top.

PETALS AND FLOWER HEADS

This year I have made dandelion syrup to use as a cordial, dandelion burgers and cream of dandelion soup
I would recommend all of them...as anyone who knows me I will only make things that are quick, easy and tasty.All of the following are just that.

DANDELION SYRUP

Wash flowers and detach the petals from the leaves
put in a pan and cover with water.then  bring to the boil
Leave to infuse overnight in fridge
Filter through a fine sieve pressing with a spoon to get out all the liquid
Weight the liquid and for each gram add 0.95g of sugar. Or 1 pound of liquid equals 1 pound of sugar for the non metric of us!
Mix with a squirt of lemon juice and heat slowly until all the sugar is dissolved and the mixture becomes syrupy.
Filter again then store in sterilized bottles.
Use small bottles as once they are opened the syrup will only last a few weeks.
Dilute the syrup with water to drink.

DANDELION BURGERS

Oh yes...really....and you know what... they were brilliant. Will certainly make more of these next year to freeze.

you need...

1 cup of plain flour, 1 cup of dandelion petals, 1 egg, 1/4 cup of milk, half a cup of onions, crushed garlic salt and pepper.

Mix all the dry ingredients together then add milk until you have a firm but not too sticky consistency. Make into shape of burgers and then fry  in a pan till lightly brown.

This is the basic recipe but you can also add seasoning of your own choice depending on your taste.
Oregano
Basil
Mixed herbs
Turmeric
Cumin

I added... Ras El Hanut....which is  Morrocan mixed spices.

Easy quick and tasty

CREAM OF DANDELION SOUP

4 cups of dandelion leaves
2 cups of petals
2 cups buds
1 cup chopped onions
6 cloves of garlic

Boil the dandelion leaves in 6 cups of water....strain and repeat if leaves are large and bitter.
Saute onions and garlic
Add 4 cups of water plus leaves buds and petals
Season with salt and pepper
Simmer for about half an hour
Just before serving add some cream

This is the basic recipe but I personally found it a little bland and thin.  I added some mixed herbs. a stock cube to season it and some chucks of potato to thicken it up.
I also served it with parmesan croutons on top.
Again...I think you can add other seasonings until you find the kind of taste that you like.

We played a game with some of our guests ....guess the flavour of soup!!!! They loved the flavour and were suggesting all kinds of vegetables....mostly green ones as this soup is very green....They were really surprised when they found out it was dandelion and thoroughly enjoyed it!!!

I have since found several other recipes which I will try out next year....Blossom bread and easy wine!!! They will be on the list for next year

Spring has sprung...time to get to work!!!

I am itching to get planting in the garden but the time is not yet right. Working, as the french do, to Lunar planting, I am now waiting for the last quarter of the moon....11th April...to put in the potatoes and onions. I know its possible to plant them earlier but unless the ground is warm enough they just will not start growing until it is. There is still a risk of frost and also heavy rain. The ground is also still quite wet at the minute so not really good for planting so I am continuing digging and weeding
until the time is right.

we are hoping for a better food supply this year and have really missed the freezer full of goodies in the winter. This week we used the last of the summer berries and other than that we only have one bag of potatoes left in the freezer.

FOX ALERT

We allow our chickens to free range in the garden when we are in but always close them into their run when we are out. When they are free ranging there is always a risk against predators. Our french neighbour came to inform us that a fox had been spotted in the neighbouring gardens and to be more vigilant. The chickens are in their house at night but there is always that risk time early in the morning when we have just let them out and at dusk before they are shut in.
There have been times in the last two weeks  when the chickens have been quite vociferous and giving out warning squawks.....we are not sure if the fox was there but so far they have been safe.
To be honest the chickens would have a real problem escaping...they eat soooo much that even if their wings were not clipped they would never manage to fly very far!!!

Here they are two of them...lounging after stuffing themselves with seed I had put out for the birds as well as pinching every poor worm that appeared while I was digging!!!
All the girls are still laying...as they have done all winter...and despite giving away 3 days worth of eggs to our  neighbours per week , we find we are constantly looking for different egg recipes to use them up.
As well as the usual poached, scarambled and fried...we have had egg fried rice, frittata, egg gratin. Most people coming for aperos have egg mimosa and instead of taking chocs when we go to neighbours for a meal we always take eggs!!!
We are still on the lookout for more recipes!!!!!!

I love Spring.Spring flowers are my favourite. The lawn is filled with violets, daisies and dandelions which most people class as weeds but I love their natural splashes of colour in the greenery. Its always a shame when its grass cutting time as we lose this...I try to leave cutting as long as possible..
I love all the buds coming on the fruit trees....the raspberries, currants and blueberries are all coming to life. The hazel tree..which we didnt have a chance to cut back this year, is loaded with buds.
The chance of having any hazelnuts this year is very dependant on whether we can manage to relocate the red squirrels which use our garden as a local restaurant!!
We bought a squirrel catcher cage.....

.as advised in all the handbooks...simply put bait in the back of the catcher and relocate caught squirrel more than 12 miles away. SIMPLES!!!
1 week later......said squirrel seems able to get bait out withour triggering off the door. Not only that it is now climbing up onto the balcony and looking in the window as if to say......HA HA NO CHANCE MATEY!!!! As well as that it seems to have brought its Aunty and Uncle as well.....

Looks like we will not get any hazelnuts again this year.
As well as having spent 40 euros!!!!

Despite spring starting we are also looking to next winter! Yes...no rest...one has to plan ahead you know!
We have been pruning and cutting down several trees in the garden.They have been very neglected and all we an do is hope that we an salvage something out of them. If nothing else we have a good supply of wood for next year.....saving us at least 300 euros!!!

I am very happy to have had the garden shed installed at the bottom of the garden. Potting.... here we come!!! It will be like my little

haven... hubby has his workshop and I have my shed.
Perhaps I should put a sign on the door..... Bag Lady's shed!!!!
As well as that we laid a patio......

and then we have laid the base for an above ground pool

So the intention is  not" all work and  no play"..although it does seem that way sometimes......if we were being totally self sufficient I can honestly say I would probably buy an apartment by the sea. There is, after all a reason why our ancestors moved away from the country into the city.
Its hard work and you have to plan and prepare. You are victim to the weather and pests.There is no guarantee of a good crop and if there was no crop you had no food....Irish potato famine!!!!!
There are days you feel like a duck with feet going ten to the dozen under the water while trying to give an impression of total serene above!!!
We are lucky to have the safety net of supermarkets, take aways, restaurants....after a hard days work you can say lets put our feet up. Not so in the past...they worked from morning till night to just for basi survival.. If you didnt prepare in advance you were seriously short of food and fuel!!!
Living well for less is a choice and is enjoyable..yes its hard work and its a challenge...but some of us like that......if it stopped being so then there is no doubt we are lucky enough to say we don't want to do it anymore.
On that note...Its Friday...its the weekend...... getting  into a hot soapy bath...accompanied by pastis and coke..and hubby...sausage casserole is in slow cooker...woodburner is on.....70's music playing in the background.....heaven!!!!

Bonne weekend tout le monde xxxx

Winter garden work and egg production

Having spent most of 2014 renovating the house it's now down to work to prepare the garden.
We have a lot to consider. The house is more suburbia than country so we have a garden rather than a small holding.
We have to work within the constrains of living with neighbours. This rules out......
COCKRELS......TOO NOISY
PIG....TOO SMELLY
GOAT....LIABLE TO ESCAPE AND RUIN NEIGHBOURS GARDENS

The garden is too small to have any livestock other than chickens.

Our garden also needs to be our social area so we need to blend the working and social sections together.
We have no planting going on yet. Garlic and cabbage are the only things growing at the moment.
PREPARATION  is the" in "word!
Weeding
Digging
Making new beds
Pruning trees
The garden has been neglected so the ivy and brambles are taking over. That is going to be a long haul to try and eliminate them. Petit a Petit as the french say!

Other than that we are moving our strawberry bed to a sunnier spot. The plants were ones that I brought with us from Montbrun and they did not produce well last summer. I think they were too shaded and competing with the roots of the cherry tree. We decided to make a raised bed to give them a better chance. It is also a spot in the garden where the leylandi hedge seems to be dying off.  The bed is ready so am just waiting for some signs of growth in the strawberries so that we can move them.

The apple trees have been pruned as best as we can do it. We are no experts so haven't dared prune them back too hard. We have an excess of cider apple trees so are not too concerned if they do not fare well. As long as there is enough to attempt to make some cider I will be happy.

The fig trees we planted at the front of the house have been covered up over the winter to protect them. The weather is warming up now but as they are new trees I think I will leave them covered until all danger of frost has passed.

The chickens have fared well despite  the cold and wet. We have been allowing them to free range in the garden.....nice bit of fertilizer (just not always where you want it!)
The egg production over winter has not altered...4 eggs every day!!! We are very pleased.
The chicken pen was getting a bit boggy due to the heavy rains and .the girlies do like to dig a lot so they isnt any grass left at all. However when we bought the logs from a local woodyard to make the raised beds we noticed he had lots of bark shavings. They very kindly let us fill the trailer full...gratuite... so now the chicken pen is bog free!!!!

The black and redcurrant bushes have started budding and I am hoping that now they are more established we will get a better supply of fruit this year.
The raspberry canes produced well last year and we are still enjoying them from the freezer.

No sign of the rhubarb plant returning. Is it too early?? I didnt think so?

We have had all the usual wildlife in the garden. The girlies love chasing the squirrels around. Last year we had one red squirrel but now we have two. Not much hope for the hazelnut trees again!!!!

A hedgehog was lulled out of hibernation but the lovely sunny weather we had a couple of week ago and was feeding on the chicken pellets in the garden. The next morning Hubby found it cowering against a wall freezing! We snuggled it up warm and it seems to be pulling round. However two days later it didnt make it. It was probably too small or had some kind of illness. We had contacted the local rescuee centre here in Charente but had no reply. C'est la vie et 'est nature!

Our other visitor was a bit more of a surprise!! I pulled the shutters closed in the tv room....in order to clean them(no, I hadn't done it since we moved in!!) and discovered this.....

I'm not sure who had the biggest shock! Me...as I thought at first it was a huge spider or the bat which was suddenly exposed to the bright daylight!!! It meant I just had to shut the shutter amd not clean it...shame!!!!
Anyhow...it has now gone elsewhere...but I still haven't got round to cleaning the shutter!!!

We are fortunate to have had no visits from foxes or stoats so long may that continue.

I have joined a gardening forum here in the Charente so its great to chat about what does and doesn't work in the region.  Inspired by the blog .....Self sufficient in Suburbia.....Jonathan Wallace....I may suggest some kind of exchange day when production is in full flow!!!!

Mad chicken woman....and chicken bore!

One of the biggest delights of last year.....and there have been a few....must be the acquisition of my darling girls.
I have never had chickens before and like most people have always really wanted them. It was one of the reasons for moving to a new house to have a big enough garden to accomodate them.

Our four girls were bought as point of lay from a local market. Primarily wanting the chickens for their eggs I was advised to go for the common garden brown french hen!!! I dont have 2 turtle doves or a partridge in a pear tree...but I do have 4 french hens!!!
My OH and I have  4 children between us gave them task of naming them.. Each were to choose names that were chicken related ...so we have

Yoko
Princess Leah (Layer)
Sunny (as in sunny side up)
Drumstick

Leah was the largest and had the most beautiful dark brown and black colouring... she even laid an egg the first day. What a star! Yoko and Sunny were very similar and colour and it was difficult to tell them apart at first....and they were most certainly top of the pecking order amongst this crowd.
Drunstick....welll ...what can I say....runt of the litter, ugly duckling...you name it. Poor girl was definitely the odd one out. Within days all the chickens except her were laying...their wattles and combs were getting bigger and redder. Drumstick wasnt producing and was starting to look more like a turkey than a chicken.
We then had problems when 2 nights in a row she disappeared. Despite the run being closed, wings clipped and no chance of escape...she was not in the hen house! It was obvious she was being picked on by the others but I couldnt work out how in the evening she was missing from the coop and by morning had miracuously reappeared.
A little spying was necessary .....so as it was getting dusk I laid in hiding to watch what was going to happen. There was Drumstick...despite clipped wing,,,,flying to the  top of the coop and then up to the top of the hedge of next doors garden where she proceeded to sleep for the night!!!
Next day I took action.
1..more wing clipping. I obviously hadnt done  it short enough
2 Keep the biggest bully to one side whilst Drumstick got the feed first

That night when she tried to fly on to the hedge it was a bit of a crash landing back into  the run. She didnt try again.
After a few days the pecking order was reversed and calm prevailed. No problems at all since then.

I am happy to say all the girls are very happy, as we are also, as eggs have been in full  production every day even despite the dark days and early nights. I keep them in the run in the morning until the eggs have been laid and then they are allowed to free range round the garden ( and until we managed to block the holes in the fence they free ranged in all the neighbours gardens too!!!)

 Thia is our very posh chicken house...its called a DOODLE HOUSE. We purchased it second hand...its easy to keep clean and mite free as it comes to bits and can easily be washed down and dried in a couple of hours. Despite having 4 nesting boxes there seems to be a preference for them all to lay in one!!!

BE WARNED!!!!
KEEPING CHICKENS IS NOT COST EFFECTIVE IF YOU ARE BEING SELF SUFFICIENT

Unless you are not looking after them very well.....the cost of the chickens far outweighs any gains that you  make in eggs. Hen house, fencing, bedding, mite powder, feed...treats!!! ( they will come running when they hear the rattle of the sweetcorn tin!)

However the pleasure of keeping the chickens and the guarantee of fresh organic eggs is what makes it all worthwhile.

Please dont start to talking to me about chickens!!!!! It drives the OH crazy and he says I am becoming a chicken bore!!!!

If we were being self sufficinet in 2014 we would have starved..bring on 2015!

2015 came into our household with more of a SNORE than a bang!!! I think it must be the first year that we have slept through the bells...and my... was it agood sleep. The wine from La Regie in Verteuil certainly went down well and it was far too relaxing sitting in front of the massive log fire chatting with the host Sebastian. So relaxing that, after eating on our return ,we were so zenned out we slept till 8 the following morning!

So New Year...New start.

I love the start of a New Year...the idea of that first crisp clean page of the diary and calender waiting to be filled with all new adventures. Its like when it snows heavily for the first time and you look out the window at all the clean and white pureness...before cars and pedestrians turn it to a mucky sludge.

New years eve sees me frantically cleaning everything in sight, new bed linen and cupboards replenished. This year was no different and after our hectic year of DIY it was a pleasure to be able to have a kitchen with cupboards to replenish and even a pantry cupboard in order to set up my rows of "just in case" foods and supplies of home made goodies.

My blog this year along with all plans of being "self sufficient" somewhat went down the tube mixed in with tubs of cement, tiles and paint!! I have to admit to giving up a bit on the garden in order to concentrate on the house. Had we been reliant on what we grew to eat then I have to admit we would have been starving.
We dug the garden far too quickly thinking it would be a good idea just to get something growing! Big mistake...the soil was so neglected that very little grew. Along with the massive shadow from an overgrown apple tree the potager was looking very sorry for itself.
The only success was the beetroot..so plenty of chutney....but didnt do enough of it.
Some potatoes but not enough enough to last more than 2 months. Tomatoes were virtually non existant...so no sauces for the next year. Even the courgette plants that usually grow like Triffids faded and died with no fruit on!
The squirrel took every single hazlenut from the trees.

What we did have was lots and lots of apples!!!! There are 6 apple trees in the garden. I was really looking forward to going out every morning to collect fresh apples to make juice. Unfortunately only one of the trees is an eating variety...the rest are cider apples!

I DONT LIKE CIDER

The cows in the pasture behind us profited well from my apple crop and were waiting daily for their afternoon feed.
Next year...although I dont like cider...I will attempt to make some. So..my mission this year is to collect some demijohns and bottles in preparation. Watch this space next year for that.