I probably seem to dwell too much on things like vegetable garden prep and wood-stacking chores, but those are important parts of our life here in the French countryside. Not just ours, but most people's. We could decide not to not have a garden, I guess, but gardening was one of the attractions of the Loire Valley when we decided to move here 12 or 13 years ago. And the wood fire, well... we would miss it in wintertime. A small wood fire might be nice this morning, actually.
What's wrong with the picture above? There are no plants in the ground (except those two stray rhubarb clumps) on May 20! I'm not too worried because I remember other years when we didn't or couldn't set plants out in the garden until June 1, either because it was too chilly or too damp. At this point, we are hoping that the warm weather will come back in June. The temperature this morning is just below 45ºF (7ºC) at our house.
The woodpile in process (above) and finished (below) — two long rows of short logs
What's right with the pictures above? The wood is all stacked. Walt did three-quarters of the work, but I did help. It was windy yesterday and I think the wood had a lot of pollen on it. Moving it stirred the pollen up and my eyes and nose started burning and itching. I had to quit and come inside to make lunch. Kudos to Walt for actually finishing the stacking chore.
Callie poked her head out and watched us working yesterday but she didn't offer to come help move logs.
Today we're taking the Peugeot in for some preventive brake work and maintenance. I also hope the mechanic will also be able to adjust the car's clutch by tightening up the cable that operates it. I told him that the clutch and brakes on the Citroën are a lot tighter than on the old Peugeot, and he said he'd try to make it better. But he wasn't optimistic — different car models are just different, he said. It sure is nice having two cars so that I don't have to wait around for the service on one of them to be done. The garage is about four miles from our house.
Since you and Walt have a green thumb, it would be a shame not to have a vegetable garden; and it is so rewarding to eat your own produce which is definitely so much better than the neighbor's! It's good exercise that keeps you young!
ReplyDeleteGaynor, when you read this post...
ReplyDeletere: what we were talking about last night...
this is the way to stack the 33s or 50s...
between two "towers"...
this is a beautiful example!
Ken, we are the same this year with plants....
the only things really going are the "overwinterers"...
shallots, onions and garlic...
there is still a little chard left, too...
and the "springers"...
the broad beans...
Pauline hasn't even sown any of the Cucurbits yet!!
but she got the new chard and some beetroots in yesterday...
fortunately, we managed to get a cover on...
else with yesterday evenings rain they'd've been plastered to the ground!
Tim
I hear ya about the temps and the garden. I waited until this past Saturday to put in my (4) tomato plants, but, still, we had temps around 49° the night before last! And 50s last night. Pfff.
ReplyDeletebeen into the 80's here & lots of pollen....sinus headache going on day 4 too !
ReplyDeleteIf you ever decide you don't want a garden anymore, let me know and we'll buy a place nearby and do your planting and gardening for you. Meanwhile, here in balmy Maine, I'm about to go out and plant my tomato plants. Of course, we have different standards here about when it's safe to plant. It still gets into the 40's most nights, and maybe even low 40's this week, but that's fine. Just no basil plants yet.
ReplyDeleteLots of Callie pictures this week, it seems. She is such a beautiful dog.
ReplyDelete