First Outdoor Barbecue of the Year – Premier barbecue extérieur de l’année

I say first outdoor barbecue of the year because we use our fireplace to cook meat during the winter. This was the first evening this spring without a cold north wind. Hooray! Je dis premier barbecue extérieur parce nous faisons cuire la viande dans la cheminée pendant l’hiver. C’était la première soirée du printemps sans …

Daisies Everywhere – Des marguerites partout

The north wind was replaced by a more pleasant west wind so we were able to go cycling. I always love the way daisies pop up everywhere in the spring. Comme le vent du nord a été remplacé par un vent de l’ouest plus agréable aujourd’hui nous avons fait du vélo. Je trouve toujours amusant …

Morning Sun – Soleil du matin

This was the view from our bathroom window this morning. A promising day until it suddenly started hailing at about 3 pm. I had to madly cover my seed beds and lettuces and put my petunias in the garage. A definite lack of coordination between the weather forecast and the weather gods. Voici la vue …

Fields of Yellow – Champs dorés

I love the canola fields in spring but they are not easy to photograph because they are so flat. We went past large stretches today on our bikes. It’s a very common crop in France. My Dutch son-in-law amused me once – he thought they were tulips. J’adore les champs de colza au printemps mais …

Tulips for Charity – Des tulipes de bienfaisance

I don’t usually buy tulips because the garden is full of them but the Rotary Club was still them today at the market for medical research. Je n’ai pas l’habitude d’acheter des tulipes alors qu’il y en a tant dans le jardin mais le club Rotary en vendait aujourd’hui au marché pour soutenir la recherche …

Windy and White – Du vent et du blanc

We had a windy, rainy weekend but it cleared up long enough for a neighbourhood walk. The temperatures will rise slowly this week and, with a bit of luck, we might soon be vaccinated. Le week-end a été venteux et pluvieux mais on a réussi quand même à faire une promenade d’une heure dans notre …

Tulips in the Wood – Tulipes dans le bois

The bottom of our garden is a small wood. Every year this tulip patch gets bigger. The secret to tulips is not to cut the leaves but just let them wither and die. You cut cut the tulips though. not that we do. Le fond de notre jardin est un petit bois. Tous les ans …

Frost-Bitten Wisteria – Coup de gel à la glycine

Sadly, our much-beloved wisteria has suffered from two nights of frost. It doesn’t usually freeze at this stage of growth. The grape vines are in much worse trouble with growers using fans and candles to try and keep the temperature up. Malheureusement, notre glycine bien-aimée a souffert de deux nuits de gel. Le gel n’est …