It is bitterly cold this morning here on the Channel coast, so I am cheering myself up with another look back at France 2017. Done April, so its May next :-). Be prepared for a whole month's worth of photos, lolol.
May 2017, what a wonderful month it was. Our youngest son drove out to visit us very early on in May, he loves the cottage and being surrounded by all the peace and quiet of the countryside so much. The dogs of course, were very happy to see him
The mornings were often very misty and with an eery atmosphere
Our closest neighbours, the Charolais cows, were enjoying all the fresh new greens
and I was enjoying the first flower on my newly planted peony
while Hector was enjoying his first outing on his lounger
10th May, and we planted out some brassica ( and boy, did they turn out great! )
The weather was pretty good and by the middle of May, the grass and wildflowers were growing like crazy. I adore the daisies
Every day, the view from the cottage presents a different scene, always beautiful
and our Poppy girl loves nothing better than sitting in the lower field, admiring the view and watching the world go by
whilst Hector sorts out the settee and plays at being a couch potato
Mind you, they both like their creature comforts. They don't mind sprawling out on the grass
but they do prefer their very own outdoor beds, lolol. Hector has his own lounger, and we had to build Poppy her own sandpit bed, because she kept laying down on every bit of freshly dug ground in the veggie patch or flower beds
Flowers, aaah yes. I don't have a flower garden, our so called garden is more of a field, lol, but I do have a couple of new rose borders and I do love my flowers in pots and baskets. Some of the roses first
another newly planted peony
and my beloved antique flower trolly, flower bed and pot plants
My potted herb garden by the front door
One of the great delights of being at the cottage, sitting outside with good friends, enjoying food, wine and great views
oh, and being able to hang huge pieces of knotted lace on the washing line in the garden, can't do that at home in the UK
Love love love salads for lunch, of course eaten under the trees in the garden
Some of nature's beauty collected to be admired indoors
And I leave you with these amazing shades of green on one of our trees
I love all the seasons, but Spring is really special. Seeing everything coming back to life, the first hints of green in the hedgerows, the little wildflowers eagerly opening up in the first warm rays of sunshine, the wonderful clouds of white blossoms on the wild cherry trees and the hawthorns, thats magical.
We have been quite busy these first couple of weeks. The 'garden' was covered in what seemed like a million branches and bits from the trees surrounding the cottage. Apparently there had been some rather severe storms just before we came out to the cottage. It took my DH days to clear them up. Then the warmer weather arrived for a few days and you know what happens then...... the grass goes mad and you can almost see it growing while you watch. Not the best time for the mower to break down, lol, but my wonderful DH is Mister Fixit :-). Planted the First Early Potatoes, got the greenhouse put up again and planted lots of veggie seeds, stocked up my herb pots by the front door and started clearing out weeds.
We were so happy to get back to the Refuge ( http://www.refuge-adpa-gueugnon.org/ ) again and walk the doggies twice a week. We have missed them, they are our babies as well. I try not to think too much about how long some of these beautiful dogs have been in the shelter, it breaks my heart that some of them have spent almost their entire life there. Little Sam, for example, came to the Refuge when just a year old, such a wonderful little dog, absolutely loves to play with toys, is obedient, walks nicely on the lead, and loves to be loved, yet nobody has ever shown interest in him in, what, eight years! I would so love for him to go to a wonderful loving home, even though I would miss him.
Anyway, enough ramblings, I'll just show you a few random pics from the last couple of weeks :-) -
My precious box full of my treasured gifts from friends. They travel with me between the UK and France all the time
Rain day sorting through an old button box
Morning walks
Spring flowers inside and out
Seeds planted
Loving this vintage bust of a young woman
Sorting out some small religious pieces to list on Etsy
My little herb 'garden'
A freshly laundered, beautifully delicate lacy bedspread drying in the soft Spring air
And of course plenty of time spent with our dogs
Toodlepip xxx
