Making the most of the good weather - while it lasted!

In the time since my last post the weather has deteriorated and while we're still getting some weak sunshine, we're getting our fair share of rain plus the mornings and evenings are much colder now.  We haven't had our central heating on yet but we are using the wood burner from late afternoon onwards now.

Fortunately the weather remained reasonable long enough that we could still get some jobs done in the garden.  The area in the front garden (where you may remember we removed a huge spreading conifer) has now been seeded and grass is starting to appear.  This was Danny raking it over - with a little help from Finn!

After it had a few rakings and the earth was ready for seeding, Danny built this framework for protective netting.  Now most people buy this netting to keep away the birds but in our case, we had to make the area dog-proof!

Incidentally, the rocks you see were too big for the digger to remove and certainly too much for Danny and I to lift!  So we plan to make them something of a 'feature' - I won't spoil it by telling you what we've planned.  If it works out, I'll show you in a few months' time!

Having spent considerable time tidying up the garden, as I showed you last time, I decided to buy some winter flowering bedding plants just to give the garden some colour.  Here are just a few pictures to give you an idea of what it looks like right now.

The good weather held until the day after my birthday when the heavens opened!  But on the big day itself we were able to sit outside of a restaurant, in a town called Parthenay, and enjoy a pleasant lunch.  I know some of you will have seen this picture of me already on Facebook but for those who haven't, here I am enjoying a birthday glass of wine in the sunshine!

As I say, the very next day, the heavens opened and it rained solidly for a few days!  Well, we can hardly complain in November!  And it's made us start thinking about getting started on some of the projects we have planned for the winter. 

Last Monday saw us buying this trailer load of wood.......

Uh oh! I hear you say. What has Roz got planned for Danny to do now?

Well, a few months ago we decorated the room which is to be the utility room or  la buanderie as my French friend tells me it is called in France!  But the room had just been left as it was, needing worktops and storage to complete it.  So Danny has spent most of this week doing just that.  Here are a few pictures to demonstrate the progress he's made.

 

 

 

It was actually at this point that Danny ran out of wood to continue making the slatted shelves!  So this afternoon's job is going back to the shop to replenish supplies!  We're still quite a way off finishing the room completely as all the wood will need staining; I want shelves on the wall and I will be making curtains etc. But at least it's well underway now!

 

Before I sign off, I want to show you this.  It's just a tart I made recently for our lunch but it was made with figs and red onions from the garden (and goat's cheese from the supermarket!)

 

 

I still get a kick out of using the fresh fruit and vegetables from the garden.  Although this year was not all I had hoped it would be as far as the fresh produce was concerned, when I look back we had new potatoes, lettuce, beetroot, radishes, cherry tomatoes, onions, green beans, peppers, squash, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and figs.  Not a bad crop for a beginner!

And finally, for those of you who may be interested to know how Danny is getting on with his London bus model....this is where he's got to now...

 

Until next time then,

à bientôt tous