24 September 2007 - Dark evenings and autumn temperatures

How come dark evenings and autumn temperatures creep up on you without
warning?!

We have been back for three weeks now and already I have forgotten the
summer and am thinking of cutting back and putting everything to bed. Having
so much to do in the garden spoils the appreciation of late flowering
plants; I fear I see many as in the way of a clean sweep. However, there are
lots of treats not least being the unexpected repeat flowering of roses,
dianthus and would you believe hellebores.

The orchard is brimming with fruit and we are still enjoying strawberries
and raspberries. I don't feel that I have had my glut of runner beans as
they do not seem to be grown in our part of France, although, French beans
are well represented by golden, string and chunky varieties. Our courgette
and onions have been a disaster with nothing to show for the early effort.
Slugs and snails are almost certainly to blame for they at least have really
enjoyed the wet weather.

The borders have a calm, lazy feel with warm colours slightly spoiled in
part by bindweed that also seems to thrive in wet conditions. Yes, I really
must clear back everything now. We have dug a large part of the vegetable
garden and the knot garden is trimmed and ready for the new plantings of
tulips for our Tulip festival next year.

We have to prune our rambling and climbing roses and clear the most
prominent borders in the walled garden before we start work on our new
woodland area that we are filling with snowdrops, hellebores and Primula. We
are excited at the prospect of starting a new project, even if we are
quietly thinking that we may be mad to increase the area we have to care
for. But it has been a wasted area of the woodland that will make a lovely
spring walk and enable us to show our ever-growing collection of snowdrops.
Drifts of snowdrops are already well established in the surrounding areas
and the planned meandering walk will reach the very centre of the white sea.

Butterflies are very prominent still and we will take care to leave enough
plants for them to enjoy. The bees that were so busy in the early part of
the year have not produced the quantities of honey we had hoped for but it
will taste delicious and may spur me into making bread again.
Looking back it has been a good gardening year with many lovely visitors
even on wet days. In other respects it has been hard with the loss of
several people important to me. Not least my loyal spaniel Megan who died
the day before we came home. I wish I had said good bye and I miss falling
over her in the garden but Jessie is trying to make up for her by jumping
and hugging at ever opportunity.

Our time in France went so fast but was everything that we hoped for. Amy
may have found some of the days moving plaster dust and woodworm a little
overrated but she enjoyed our daily visits to our second home - Bricomarche.
It is amazing how much you can fit in a Renault convertible alongside the
three of us. My poor car carried planks of wood, huge tins of paint and wood
preservative and even a fridge!

The clearing work to the garden that we had done in the spring was not
immediately obvious when we arrived - the courtyard looked like a lawn of
weeds and the lawn was a hay crop. Worse still we found a stage beyond
woodworm in the main house roof. We were not daunted but a little deflated
to start with but with the encouragement of friends and lovely new
neighbours we got stuck in to making our future home.

Removing a small corner of wallpaper in the main room resulted in the whole
wall being taken back to the stone and left Angus anxious every time I said
"I wonder -". It began a flow of change to the main part of the house. We
removed walls and windows and made doorways and even a staircase. We created
a sunroom and made a start on the attic bedrooms. We are clear that many
things will take years but feel confident that we will have a small living
area by next summer and can't wait.

The garden is a learning curve with trees and shrubs that I almost recognise
but note major differences that make identification vague. Other plants I
know nothing of and some things that need the warmth of the south and are
out of reach to Gloucestershire.

We have some large designs in mind but will be working on near solid rock
and creating a depth of soil and a reliable source of watering will be a
priority. It is very exciting and rather frustrating to have to leave but we
have much to do here and making plans for Saby is half the fun.

posted by Barbara @ Monday, September 24, 2007   1 comments (Post a Comment)