Winter slumbering
Trees slumber and this quiet time allows them to create majestic frost covered winter monuments in the landscape. I love the detail of twigs and branches now leafless and the parasitic ivy even looks pretty.
Category: Landscapes and trees
Winter wordless
Every morning is a surprise here…some are misty, the coops slowly becoming visable as the sun rises and evaporates the damp air; others are cold, chilled with a tough layer of frost, buckets of water frozen solid and perfect to create ice scultures, the garden filling with little ice discs or the sound of torrential… Continue reading Winter wordless
Front of house
Finally the front of the Farmhouse looks respectable. It’s taken over a year to renovate my studio externally, repair the well and install the ancient well winding gear and repoint the wall. We put in the picket fence, pruned the roses and removed layers of plastic bags in the flower bed, supposedly put there to… Continue reading Front of house
Ice maiden
Well I am not so sure about maiden, I am too long in the tooth for that olde title but today the frosty snap produced a wealth of chilly bucket ice disks and panes that this ‘young at heart’ enthusiast had to install around the goose field. Bonnie the head goose watched me with his… Continue reading Ice maiden
Fallen leaves
As a child my walk to school took me through a rambling footpath between mighty oaks and horse chestnuts. The latter supplied conkers that resulted in many bruised fingers from conker fights. Now this childhood right of passage has been banned. Shame, but it was actually rather dangerous. But also rolling around in leaves could… Continue reading Fallen leaves
Views to wake up to
I still feel exhilarated every time I wake here in France. In fact I have to pinch myself sometimes. The morning light is amazing and filters softly through our trees creating long shadows across the lawns. The air is slightly damp as we live on top of a plateau that drops away South to the… Continue reading Views to wake up to
Curious
Resolutions
I have so many plans afoot for 2020 and wrote about a few in my rather long post – Fridge. Here’s a brief pictorial version for you busy bloggers. Happy holidays everyone.
Oaks
We took the brave but necessary step a week ago, to ask our local tree surgeon to work his magic on the sadly neglected trees at the Farmhouse. My husband was rather doubtful about the whole project, but trees are complex guys. Firstly height. It’s a dangerous job to rope a tree, climb and wield… Continue reading Oaks
Winter firewood
Near our tiny hamlet there are forests. Logging forests for burning and fence making. I drive past here many times meaning to take a photo, but either forget my camera or I am not the driver and too soon we have driven past and it’s too late to stop. But this week Tony’s injured shoulder… Continue reading Winter firewood
Plants for pollinators
Quick post as I am still on chicken coop duty, chief painter and trying to get a flower bed prepped for wild flowers. Saw one bumble yesterday as weather warm nut as yet flowers sparse. But a question for you, for all you gardeners. I have a criteria: Plants to grow to a maximum height… Continue reading Plants for pollinators
Morning snow
Its only short and our first attempt, but here is a little film of our snowy lane and La Petite Maison jardin.
Project Farm
From last March, I have been stalking round my neighbours farm, snapping nervous cows, yapping dogs and farmer too. The seasons brought work to the farm – feeding, ploughing, hay making and calves to birth. Its a lonely job being a beef farmer and most days Christian is on his own, doing what he does,… Continue reading Project Farm
Technology in the countryside
Taking photos on the “big camera” as I call the Canon Mark III is quite time consuming. It’s a heavy camera, especially with the 70-210mm lens to get close-ups – eyelashes of cows for example, and if stability needed, I need to lug the tripod too. One solution for the blog was to get a Tamron… Continue reading Technology in the countryside
How cold my toes
The more it snows (Tiddely pom), The more it goes (Tiddely pom), The more it goes (Tiddely pom) On snowing. And nobody knows (Tiddely pom), How cold my toes (Tiddely pom), How cold my toes (Tiddely pom), Are growing. Winnie The Pooh was right. He always is. It snowed and I rushed out with the… Continue reading How cold my toes
First snow
It snowed! So excited as it isn’t supposed to snow here. Couldn’t wait till morning, had to jump out with camera and rush into the garden. It was so quiet, beautiful and the dark lanes and fields were lit in soft reflection from this new white blanket. The sky is heavy with snow, so tomorrow… Continue reading First snow
Frosted Winter mornings
This week I woke to beautiful white frosted views. These are from my garden. The garden itself is in winter slumber. The grass is covered to ensure the grass dies back for Spring when I will be creating a wild flower garden. The wildflowers need barren earth, they need harsh, they need the support to… Continue reading Frosted Winter mornings
A French Homestead Life 