I'm feeling off-kilter with things at the moment. It's supposed to be Spring, which means I have stuff to do in the garden, stuff to clear out of the garage, and stuff to do on my book.
Unfortunately, despite the sunshine, the wind was blowing in directly from the Siberian steppe and the only thing I had any desire to do was hunker down beneath something warm and do nothing. I tried to be dynamic, honest! I took the boys down to the cycle circuit this morning, wrapped in hoodie and ski jacket and sat facing the sun so at least I might get a healthy glow even if I was a shivering wreck.
I had to get petrol after lunch, and in a wave of efficiency, decided to go to Botanic as well to get tomato seeds/plants. It seems in fact I'm a bit early for tomato plants for the summer, so I got annoyed that I'm too early and that the trip was going to prove to be a waste of time (and dynamism). I looked at seed packets and got even crosser. The blurb described the size and colour of the tomato, but not the taste. What's the point of growing your own toms if it's not to be guaranteed a tomato with TASTE? Good grief, I don't care what it looks like as long as it doesn't taste like a bland mushy piece of crap like the ones in the supermarket.
I was getting ready to stomp out in disgust when I realised that changes had been made in the shop, and there is now a massive area devoted to organic produce and even a little eatery. Mollified, my youngest and I made an in-depth study of all on sale, and bought a bag of cart-wheels pasta (at his request) (last of the big spenders...). The prices were generally on the upper side of high as you can imagine. Still, it was something new, and helped me forget my tomato rage.
After all the excitement, however, and freezing weather, I eschewed all further prospect of working outside, hunkered down beneath a warm furry blanket and watched 'Icon' on DVD while the boys did their own thing.
So I didn't need to worry about planting tomatoes yet. It's too early. Clearly, I should do my homework, then I'd actually know what I was doing...
One day... perhaps...
Showing posts with label Gardening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gardening. Show all posts
Monday, March 24, 2008
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Sup-planted
In my garden, where there was a ground-covering plant with Bordeaux-coloured flowers, there is now a patch of bare earth. Why, is a mystery.
It doesn't look like it was dug up, or scrabbled up by a dog. It was not left to rot nearby; it has disappeared. There is no evidence of someone hopping over the fence and stealing it. Anyway, it was just a plant - nothing special - and there are two others exactly the same, and three others with white flowers within a few centimetres which remain untouched.
I discovered the mystery this evening when I went out to water the garden after deciding that the three drops that fell this afternoon were not sufficient to water a flea pit let alone thirsty vegetables and Japanese grass.
It's been odd weather. Since we put the pool up, it's either been windy, rainy or intermittently pleasant. The boys managed to have a dip today, la Fête des Mères here in France, and I recorded it for posterity to show them having fun on June 3 in the pool! About time too; it's usually revving up for out and out totally annihilating heat by now.
My youngest had made me a beautiful (chunky) red and gold papier maché bracelet at school, and a lovely card, and my eldest drew me a picture with me looking very slim. NG also got a picture from my youngest, looking a bit less slim, which, fortunately, made her laugh, if a little ruefully. Out of the crayons of babes... as they say.
Lunch included some lettuce from the garden which, quite frankly tasted exactly the same as the stuff in the shops. I suppose my consolation is that it's organic, but I'm certainly not in paroxysms of euphoria over the exquisiteness of its delicate flavour.
I wonder if my plant-nicker will come after my veggies too. S/He/It missed the fat juicy strawberries (thanks to buckets of recent rain), so I'm left to wonder if a devastating virus just hit my plant and wiped it off the face of the earth leaving no traces, not even a spot of shaken earth.
Should I call in CSI?
It doesn't look like it was dug up, or scrabbled up by a dog. It was not left to rot nearby; it has disappeared. There is no evidence of someone hopping over the fence and stealing it. Anyway, it was just a plant - nothing special - and there are two others exactly the same, and three others with white flowers within a few centimetres which remain untouched.
I discovered the mystery this evening when I went out to water the garden after deciding that the three drops that fell this afternoon were not sufficient to water a flea pit let alone thirsty vegetables and Japanese grass.
It's been odd weather. Since we put the pool up, it's either been windy, rainy or intermittently pleasant. The boys managed to have a dip today, la Fête des Mères here in France, and I recorded it for posterity to show them having fun on June 3 in the pool! About time too; it's usually revving up for out and out totally annihilating heat by now.
My youngest had made me a beautiful (chunky) red and gold papier maché bracelet at school, and a lovely card, and my eldest drew me a picture with me looking very slim. NG also got a picture from my youngest, looking a bit less slim, which, fortunately, made her laugh, if a little ruefully. Out of the crayons of babes... as they say.
Lunch included some lettuce from the garden which, quite frankly tasted exactly the same as the stuff in the shops. I suppose my consolation is that it's organic, but I'm certainly not in paroxysms of euphoria over the exquisiteness of its delicate flavour.
I wonder if my plant-nicker will come after my veggies too. S/He/It missed the fat juicy strawberries (thanks to buckets of recent rain), so I'm left to wonder if a devastating virus just hit my plant and wiped it off the face of the earth leaving no traces, not even a spot of shaken earth.
Should I call in CSI?
Monday, March 26, 2007
Changing Hours
I did not cope well with the time change today. It felt like I got up at 6am and I was thus thick-headed all day. Some might say this was 'situation normal' in which case they'd get a clipped ear.
I took my youngest to school complete with swimming gear. When I asked where to put the bag, I was greeted by gales of laughter. The water classes start after the holidays. Oops. Actually, I'm not sure they are actually going to swim. It seems like a it's going to be a class to get them used to water. As my youngest has been taking swimming classes for the last 18 months, I think I can guarantee that he is well-used to water, in which case, I suppose he'll just be mucking about.
I have to prepare a gouter for the whole class on Thursday. Parents take it in turns to provide for all the children so we are not obliged to find something every day. It's a nifty system, I think, as long as the parent remembers. I did forget on one occasion, and had to dash to the shops to buy fruit, bread and chocolate and deliver it at lunchtime. Last time, I prepared pancakes for all with Nutella or jam in them, and they went down a bomb.
This time, I asked my youngest what he wanted. He told me that normally he doesn't get enough, so, bearing that in mind, I have to provide :
I am not just suffering from the time change, but also an excess of gardening, but the garden is starting to look splendid. I planted some geraniums (pink) after work to keep the mosquitoes away (haha) and threw out (into a box) yet another hundred-weight of stones and pebbles. The soil is incredibly stony. They are not, however, being wasted as I am making a stone path out of all the little buggers so they will turn from being a pain in the seedling butt to a useful member of the garden keeping my feet mud-free. NG is quite upset that I have found a use for them, as she is on a mission to fill her garden with stones. Most people want to get rid of them, but she is making a decorative garden with lots of stones imitating the garrigue. This is to avoid the un-ecological task of watering the garden, or regularly weeding it. Lawns do not do well here.
Tired and aching, then, that's me, but also highly amused by my youngest and his mission to eat a sufficient gouter!
I took my youngest to school complete with swimming gear. When I asked where to put the bag, I was greeted by gales of laughter. The water classes start after the holidays. Oops. Actually, I'm not sure they are actually going to swim. It seems like a it's going to be a class to get them used to water. As my youngest has been taking swimming classes for the last 18 months, I think I can guarantee that he is well-used to water, in which case, I suppose he'll just be mucking about.
I have to prepare a gouter for the whole class on Thursday. Parents take it in turns to provide for all the children so we are not obliged to find something every day. It's a nifty system, I think, as long as the parent remembers. I did forget on one occasion, and had to dash to the shops to buy fruit, bread and chocolate and deliver it at lunchtime. Last time, I prepared pancakes for all with Nutella or jam in them, and they went down a bomb.
This time, I asked my youngest what he wanted. He told me that normally he doesn't get enough, so, bearing that in mind, I have to provide :
- biscuits ('Petit Prince') with vanilla centres (not chocolate ones)
- yoghurts
- rolls with whatever I wanted inside
- jus de myrtille
I am not just suffering from the time change, but also an excess of gardening, but the garden is starting to look splendid. I planted some geraniums (pink) after work to keep the mosquitoes away (haha) and threw out (into a box) yet another hundred-weight of stones and pebbles. The soil is incredibly stony. They are not, however, being wasted as I am making a stone path out of all the little buggers so they will turn from being a pain in the seedling butt to a useful member of the garden keeping my feet mud-free. NG is quite upset that I have found a use for them, as she is on a mission to fill her garden with stones. Most people want to get rid of them, but she is making a decorative garden with lots of stones imitating the garrigue. This is to avoid the un-ecological task of watering the garden, or regularly weeding it. Lawns do not do well here.
Tired and aching, then, that's me, but also highly amused by my youngest and his mission to eat a sufficient gouter!
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Muddy Fingers
We've had a windy weekend. Trees have been blown down, garden centres have feared for their greenhouses and cypress trees have been left lounging at 45°.
I was out in it, oh yes! Having trundled around Botanic buying ground-covering plants, a birthday card for my sis-in-law (must remember to post it tomorrow!) and a gardening tool, I was keen to get everything into the soil and looking good.
When we came back from Botanic, the old lavender and rosemary plants which had been dumped on the path up to the door had been blown about the road making me think of those tumble weeds that you see rolling their way over the Texan desert. I meant to take them to the dump having decided not to burn them, despite the nice smells they would produce. For the moment though they are lurking in front of the house... sooo smart...
However, ignoring the rubbish, the front garden is now spruce with heather, new lavender plants to replace those sad old things that had been trampled on by my youngest, and a ground-covering spruce-type plant. I could go and look at the label, but can't be bothered - it's dark, cold and I've had enough! I was aided and abetted with removing some of the thousands of stones from our incredibly stony soil upon which formerly the only things that could grow were pines or vines, by said youngest who is in 'helpful' mode. Nearly six is a very appealing age.
The back garden now has planted: tomatoes, red onions, peas, strawberries, herbs, coriander seeds and the ground-covering plants for the steep edge. We are considering terracing the patch of weeds to grow flowers or nothing except gravel. It's with some trepidation though that I look at the work there is to do. The earth is heavy clay and the weeds are rampant having had a free reign since the autumn. The compost bin is filling up fast as we rid ourselves of the worst culprits - nasty prickly thistles.
By way of respite today, we went for a picnic at Restinclières, got the last available picnic table and enjoyed a simple lunch of crunchy bread, camembert au lait cru, cherry tomatoes, crisps and a nice rosé wine. We then meandered down to the source of the river Lez where the ResidentAdo said she would be camping sauvage with a friend this summer. As there are notices all over the place forbidding the lighting of fires, I wasn't too sure how this would be possible. It's a serious offense, too, those who disobey being liable for prosecution, so I just hope she is not heading for trouble even if the friend did go camping there last year.
Quite frankly, the idea of camping sauvage now leaves me completely cold. Give me free hot showers and clean loos any day. I was never very keen on it, but went along to be with the ex-h on the odd occasion (including our honeymoon!). Now though, it has to have four stars with playground for the boys and a place that sells frites.
Now, that's camping civilisé!
I was out in it, oh yes! Having trundled around Botanic buying ground-covering plants, a birthday card for my sis-in-law (must remember to post it tomorrow!) and a gardening tool, I was keen to get everything into the soil and looking good.
When we came back from Botanic, the old lavender and rosemary plants which had been dumped on the path up to the door had been blown about the road making me think of those tumble weeds that you see rolling their way over the Texan desert. I meant to take them to the dump having decided not to burn them, despite the nice smells they would produce. For the moment though they are lurking in front of the house... sooo smart...
However, ignoring the rubbish, the front garden is now spruce with heather, new lavender plants to replace those sad old things that had been trampled on by my youngest, and a ground-covering spruce-type plant. I could go and look at the label, but can't be bothered - it's dark, cold and I've had enough! I was aided and abetted with removing some of the thousands of stones from our incredibly stony soil upon which formerly the only things that could grow were pines or vines, by said youngest who is in 'helpful' mode. Nearly six is a very appealing age.
The back garden now has planted: tomatoes, red onions, peas, strawberries, herbs, coriander seeds and the ground-covering plants for the steep edge. We are considering terracing the patch of weeds to grow flowers or nothing except gravel. It's with some trepidation though that I look at the work there is to do. The earth is heavy clay and the weeds are rampant having had a free reign since the autumn. The compost bin is filling up fast as we rid ourselves of the worst culprits - nasty prickly thistles.
By way of respite today, we went for a picnic at Restinclières, got the last available picnic table and enjoyed a simple lunch of crunchy bread, camembert au lait cru, cherry tomatoes, crisps and a nice rosé wine. We then meandered down to the source of the river Lez where the ResidentAdo said she would be camping sauvage with a friend this summer. As there are notices all over the place forbidding the lighting of fires, I wasn't too sure how this would be possible. It's a serious offense, too, those who disobey being liable for prosecution, so I just hope she is not heading for trouble even if the friend did go camping there last year.
Quite frankly, the idea of camping sauvage now leaves me completely cold. Give me free hot showers and clean loos any day. I was never very keen on it, but went along to be with the ex-h on the odd occasion (including our honeymoon!). Now though, it has to have four stars with playground for the boys and a place that sells frites.
Now, that's camping civilisé!
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Poisson à l'Envers
It's amazing what you can do with a boy, a canvas, acrylic paints and a nutty granny real artist. My youngest is rightly proud of his artwork.We were creating in the garden this evening; a herb plot. I need to plant my seeds too, plus the red onions, tomatoes and Garriguette strawberry plants. Oh, and the parsnip seeds my mother gave me. My youngest was raking the soil, digging holes for the herb plants and filling them in with terreau, just so he could claim the pleasure of then watering them.
My daffodils are out, the tulips are shooting up fast and it's been raining. Perfect conditions for chucking it all in the earth before March 15. Apparently if you have not done your major gardening and planting by then, you may as well give up; it's too late, and it all turns into a pumpkin.
So saith the oracle down the road, anyway, and she got it from a pro so who am I to argue? Guess what I'm doing this weekend!
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Having had the ResidentAdo ruin the previous evening, the day started tensely. However, the sun was shining and I had plans for the garden, especially having been bugged by Monty Don talking about allotments on the tele yesterday. With the RA out for the morning, we were able to fall upon Botanic, with plans to max out the credit card on plants, seeds and a compost bin.
I wanted to renew some of the lavender in the front, and turn some of the weed-infested garden into a vegetable plot in the back. The compost bin has been on my mind for years. Twice, I've applied to have one from the local authorities who were promoting them as a freebie, only to hear nothing afterwards. Botanic had some lovely ones for 50Eur - 400litres, a discreet dark green plastic and shovel hole at the bottom.
It was Grandmother's Day today, so Botanic was heaving, and actually getting hold of the compost bin of my choice was not easy. In fact, I was given a 700litre one, and only realised it once the 125Eur it cost had appeared on my till receipt. I wondered how I could have possibly spent so much money on a few packets of seeds and lavender!! Needless to say, they had none of the 400litre ones left in stock, so my hanging around risked being for naught until the salesman offered me the one on display. I immediately agreed, but said he didn't need to dismantle it as I have an estate car. Come to think of it, maybe I should have asked for a discount!!
Unfortunately, we couldn't get digging in the garden after lunch as I had to take my eldest to a bowling party. Since it was so far, there was no point coming back home, so the rest of us went to Palavas, to the Parc du Levant to wander round and cross the lagoon to the pretend castle. The bowling place had been so noisy and revolting that it was a huge relief to be outside in the sun, watching (very) young mothers and fathers with their children in the kiddie park. There was an interesting spectrum of Palavasian life there - smoking mothers, fathers decked out in bling, grandparents worrying over other peoples' children and looking disapprovingly at seemingly careless parenting.
Eventually, we went back to the bowling place and suffered the noise and smell for a further hour while my eldest did himself proud on the alley coming in a close second after leading for much of the session. The party was then removed to the sofas, and the cake brought out. It was a quite revolting synthetic chocolate affair, and I couldn't agree with birthday boy's mother who was in raptures over it. Finally, the presents were opened and we were able to leave that hellhole.
Once home, I fell upon the garden digging and weeding in preparation for planting. We couldn't plant today as it got dark before we had finished, but the plot is looking promising. J took his power tools to the useless fence and made a more useful plant support fence out of it.
ResidentAdo has been absent for practically 25 out of 48 hours, has made no apology for ruining our evening last night, done bugger all to help in the house, and, as far as I'm concerned, is on "Going home to mum warning", and I don't care if it is in the middle of the school year!
The iron has entered my soul.
I wanted to renew some of the lavender in the front, and turn some of the weed-infested garden into a vegetable plot in the back. The compost bin has been on my mind for years. Twice, I've applied to have one from the local authorities who were promoting them as a freebie, only to hear nothing afterwards. Botanic had some lovely ones for 50Eur - 400litres, a discreet dark green plastic and shovel hole at the bottom.
It was Grandmother's Day today, so Botanic was heaving, and actually getting hold of the compost bin of my choice was not easy. In fact, I was given a 700litre one, and only realised it once the 125Eur it cost had appeared on my till receipt. I wondered how I could have possibly spent so much money on a few packets of seeds and lavender!! Needless to say, they had none of the 400litre ones left in stock, so my hanging around risked being for naught until the salesman offered me the one on display. I immediately agreed, but said he didn't need to dismantle it as I have an estate car. Come to think of it, maybe I should have asked for a discount!!
Unfortunately, we couldn't get digging in the garden after lunch as I had to take my eldest to a bowling party. Since it was so far, there was no point coming back home, so the rest of us went to Palavas, to the Parc du Levant to wander round and cross the lagoon to the pretend castle. The bowling place had been so noisy and revolting that it was a huge relief to be outside in the sun, watching (very) young mothers and fathers with their children in the kiddie park. There was an interesting spectrum of Palavasian life there - smoking mothers, fathers decked out in bling, grandparents worrying over other peoples' children and looking disapprovingly at seemingly careless parenting.
Eventually, we went back to the bowling place and suffered the noise and smell for a further hour while my eldest did himself proud on the alley coming in a close second after leading for much of the session. The party was then removed to the sofas, and the cake brought out. It was a quite revolting synthetic chocolate affair, and I couldn't agree with birthday boy's mother who was in raptures over it. Finally, the presents were opened and we were able to leave that hellhole.
Once home, I fell upon the garden digging and weeding in preparation for planting. We couldn't plant today as it got dark before we had finished, but the plot is looking promising. J took his power tools to the useless fence and made a more useful plant support fence out of it.
ResidentAdo has been absent for practically 25 out of 48 hours, has made no apology for ruining our evening last night, done bugger all to help in the house, and, as far as I'm concerned, is on "Going home to mum warning", and I don't care if it is in the middle of the school year!
The iron has entered my soul.
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