Living and Gardening in Brittany

I now have amazon Prime thanks to my grandson which means I can watch live tennis or even catch-up if I miss a match. I also have the internet and what's app on my smart phone. I don't think I mentioned the floods of yesterday but access to most of the town by foot was mostly flooded. However today it is sunny and warmer. Sunnier weather has been promised for most of the week. RESOLUTION- Must walk every day. Too much TV watching is no good for my health. Must begin gardening. I am waiting for my son to put down a base for a small shed. The cats refuse to use the cat flap as yet. Cheeky is happy but refuses to use the cat flap. This is my walk to Tesco. This is the view from my front door. I can't see it through the frosted glass window only when the door is open.

I bought window boxes and compost and daffodil bulbs and tulip bulbs. I can't relax until the starred items in the last post have been completed. I began to deal with the neighbour who has extended his garden into council land and around the back of my garden. He parks his lorry and trailer behind the house which fills all the space from the road up to the rear of my house. I have taken photos of it and visited a solicitor to see if there is anything I can do about it. The wall is my boundary. My neighbour has erected the fence behind the wall. The gate is the entrance to my garden. The fence erected by my neighbour extends into council land. This is the gate which the council has installed. It is frequently blocked by the neighbour's lorry and trailer. In fact, his lorry is so wide that it is impossible to squeeze past it to access my back gate. 

So the state of play on this date - 1) The house is still mine 2) France Telecom/Orange still continues to send emails and probably bills - I daren't  look 3)The buyers are yet to sign* 4) I haven't received the insurance money* 5) I am still paying for a) Water b) rubbish collection c) electricity in France* 6) I am paying here for a) Council Tax b) Gas and Electricity 7) Must check water Yesterday I received a bill from the plumber in France. They said that they had fixed the leak. So much to unpack. 

Looking  back not just recently but over my life I realise I have experienced episodes of near insanity. It starts with panic and in the panic I try to resolve a problem quickly without taking time to think through the options. This then leads to more problems and more panic and episodes of near insanity.  So the situation which caused my state of imbalance was accelerated one day when Gwen , the buyer turned up with an "expert" to inspect the beams for parasites. I lost it. He hadn't asked if he could come and I was in the throes of dealing via emails ( always stressful for me) the cancelling of all services. I told him to leave saying, "It is not your house, the beams have been treated and you saw and accepted the diagnostic."   He said that the diagnostic had only dealt with areas that were visible. He didn't leave immediately but his wife came the next day and  apologised. Apparently no parasites were found. Marie-Pierre had the cheek to imply that I ...

I spent the week mopping up, ringing plumbers, paying plumbers, contacting insurance company and peeing and pooing in the garden as the water was turned off. Then the nightmare commenced. I awoke on Friday morning and listened for the drip,drip dripping. Silence.  I went downstairs to find this -- The ceiling had collapsed. I can't remember exactly the sequence of events but it involved more plumbers, experts to find the leak, insurance investigators and finally informing the buyers of the catastrophe which of course led to delaying the completion date again this time for two weeks.

I sold my house- well I thought I had. We signed the compromise and I was delighted. I searched for properties in the UK. There was nothing that I could afford to buy with the proceeds of the sale. I remembered that my son owed me money. If he could repay me then there was a possibility that I would be able to buy something. I discussed possibilities with my son. He proposed that I should buy a house that he owned which was let. I was sent photos of the house which looked good. I thought I would be able to make it even better by adding a window and creating a beautiful garden. I booked a flight to see the reality. Unfortunately, as the tenant was still in residence, I cancelled the flight and the buyers agreed to delay the completion for 2 weeks. I had been prepared to move. I had been steadily packing bags and boxes and giving things away, taking stuff to the dechetterie and the charity shop. Patch seemed undisturbed by it all as she could sleep comfortably in her favourite spot. O...

There is always colour no matter what time of year and no matter the weather. I bought one packet of  nasturtium seeds 15 years ago and now they pop up everywhere and anywhere in a variety of colours.

After spending all day sitting inside in an armchair I decided to take a turn around the garden. I had a lovely surprise. Another water lily.  

Some years ago there was a bumper crop of plums. I ate as many as I could and gave many to my friends. I froze the rest but I found that frozen plums lose their sweetness. The advice to prevent the branches breaking from the weight of a heavy crop is to thin out the crop before the plums get too big. I think I have to do that this year. Perhaps the plums will be bigger and sweeter if I thin them out.

I really can't remember planting this red-hot poker and it seemed to appear overnight.

This is a view into Shangri-La so named by my granddaughter. One of the 12 rooms I have created in my garden.

Cutting the grass is one of the hardest and most time consuming jobs in the garden. However it is also the most rewarding.  I love looking back and seeing the long lines of newly cut grass. I know it is nothing like Wimbledon but it is mine and I cut it myself.

So, thank you sun you have helped my water lily to open. How beautiful it is.

Whenever I plant anything in the garden or sow seeds I am surprised and delighted if they grow. I do think nature is magical. The latest magic that has occurred has happened in my new pond. The first plant I bought for my pond was a water lily. I really and truly did not think it would grow and certainly I didn't expect it to flower. I didn't even see that the leaves were slowly spreading out on the water it was a friend who pointed them out. Then yesterday I noticed a tiny flower bud.  I was more pleased than if I had won the lottery.  I know it is tiny but the pleasure of monitoring its progress and  looking forward to the flowering is exciting.

One never seems to achieve the intended jobs. I usually don my wellies with a specific location in mind, and more often a section to weed. Yesterday I set off with a barrow load of weeds etc towards the compost and discovered that my way was prohibited. I couldn't understand how the greenery barring my way had appeared overnight.  As I cut my way through, I realised that I was cutting away the branches of a fallen poplar. It must have been blown down by the wind.  It had very short roots which seemed to be rotten. Not only was it uprooted it had landed on the roof of the shed, then across a pergola and through a fir tree and on to span the part of the drive where I park my car.

The recent weather has turned my garden into a jungle the problem is that everything is growing. I am trying to cut back the larger shrubs so that I can get to the weeds only to discover that the weeds are hiding my precious recently planted flowers. And don't mention buttercups. Every year I think I have won the battle of the buttercups only to discover that they have returned with a vengeance. The danger now is to identify the butter cups among the geraniums and then to dig out the roots without damaging the delicate flowers.  La météo récente a transformé mon jardin en une jungle, le problème est que tout grandit. J'essaie de couper les gros arbustes afin de ne pouvoir accéder aux mauvaises herbes que pour découvrir que celles-ci cachent mes précieuses fleurs récemment plantées. Et ne parlez pas de boutons d'or. Chaque année, je pense avoir gagné la bataille des renoncules pour découvrir qu'ils sont revenus avec vengeance. Le danger maintenant est d'id...

I took this video yesterday; it is on U-tube. But I don't know the name of this butterfly. Must find the video. https://youtu.be/Khto1XyzBaw?si=_O8bLjNZSwCC_5ST https://youtu.be/wmKfS2XTqR8?si=5Fk-Odkv7rKHYLXW

Je ne suis pas toujours dans le jardin. J'aime bien aller à la côte. Il y a trois semaines, quand il faisait très chaud, mes amis m'ont emmené à St Pabu. J'ai passé l'après-midi à lire pendant que mes amis marchaient le long de la plage. Ensuite, nous avons tous joué à la pétanque.

Cet arbre m'a été donné. C'était assez petit quand je l'ai planté. J'aime la nouvelle croissance. C ela ressemble à un arbre de Noël avec les bougies qui sont si jolies.

J'essaie de faire pousser des clématites depuis des années. J'ai dû en perdre au moins 6 plantes. J'ai été étonnée de voir cette Clématite du Montana que j'ai plantée il y a 2 ans en pleine floraison. Je suis heureux d'avoir pu ériger un support pour cela.

Je pense que le petit bassin se développe bien. J'ai encore besoin de mesurer le produit pour le garder propre, ce que je dois utiliser car je n'ai pas de pompe électrique.

J'ai acheté cet érable japonais il y a quelques années. Il est resté dans le pot au moins 2 ans. Je l'ai finalement planté et il a fallu 2 ans pour qu'il s'installe dans son nouvel emplacement. Je suis heureux de le voir au milieu des myosotis.

J'ai un grand genista blanc. C'est l'une des plus belles plantes de mon jardin. Cependant, les pluies torrentielles de ce matin l'ont dévasté. J'ai coupé quelques branches et j'ai essayé de le soulever avec des supports.   Je ne suis pas sûr qu'il survivra. J'ai une pivoine arbustive qui tente de fleurir cette année pour la première fois. La pluie empêche les bourgeons de s'ouvrir.

Le temps n'est pas propice au jardinage, en particulier pour la coupe de l'herbe. Il y a tellement de choses à faire à cette période de l'année et je suis sorti ce matin alors que la pluie était annoncée.Les premières minutes étaient sèches et j'ai même pensé que le soleil pourrait briller. Comme j'avais tort! Une averse a commencé mais n'était pas trop grave alors la pluie est devenue plus lourde, puis torrentielle. Enfin, les pierres de grêle sont tombées. J'ai persévéré parce qu'il y a tellement d'arbustes qui ont besoin d'une taille sévère et drastique. Quand je suis entré dans la maison pour le déjeuner fatigué et trempé jusqu'à la peau, j'ai dû changer mes vêtements. Est-ce que ça vaut le coup? Bien sûr que ça l'est. The weather is not suitable for gardening, especially for cutting the grass. There is so much to do this time of year and I went out this morning even though rain was forecast. The first few minutes were dry and I t...

Les tulipes de cette année sont très belles. Les couleurs sont surprenantes et inhabituelles. Cette année est la première fois que je vois des fleurs jaunes et roses.

Association Chalonn Isa est la présidente de l'association. Elle fait une quantité incroyable de travail. Elle travaille tranquillement sans attendre aucune récompense autre que celle d'aider les chats. AGM ChalonnSamedi dernier était l'assemblée générale annuelle d'un organisme de bienfaisance auquel j'appartiens.J'ai été très impressionné par la quantité de travail accompli chaque année. Les membres travaillent très fort pour que les chats sauvages soient stérilisés et si possible adoptés. Ils travaillent sans relâche pour collecter de la nourriture pour les animaux également. Last Saturday was the Annual General meeting of a cat charity to which I belong . I was very impressed with the amount of work that is achieved every year. Members work very hard to have wild cats sterilised and if possible adopted. They work tirelessly to collect food for the animals. 

How welcome is the arrival of the sudden appearance of the host of golden daffodils accompanied by the forsythia and primroses. The garden appears to shine like the sun.  Comment bienvenu est l'arrivée soudaine de l'armée de jonquilles dorées accompagnée de la forsythie et des primevères ? Le jardin semble briller comme le soleil.