Life scenes from La Chaise
weekly diary of events on a country estate in deepest rural South West France.
Wednesday, January 24, 2024
Beware AI entanglements...!!
Sunday, January 14, 2024
Here comes the cold..
This morning the first cold of 2024 arrived ....approppriatly on the 13th day of January. It was a pretty cold, mostly a light, nearly transparent mist that did not lift until well after lunch time - most un French, it might have stopped many people from going out to lunch, especially if they had to drive anywhere. But even so there was quite a lot of fast traffic going past La Chaise which lies on the top of a hill midway between two market towns - Tocane St Apre and St Astier....both of them in river valleys, Dronne and Isle respectively - they join up later.
One very splendid surprise: I subscribe to the local newspaper whose publishers guaranteed to deliver it by one o clock every day and so far this has been true. It is usually the simple yellow post office van that brings it. An unkindness in me makes me wonder whether the postie does not have to hide somewhere to make the time come true. Occasionally, when I have nothing better to do, I wander up to the road and the post box a few minutes before 13.00 to see if I can see the yellow postal van lurking down the Tocane part of the road. I never have seen anything - but then there is a little hamlet called Chantepoule just down the road, perhaps a friendly resident offers a warm coffee.
Sometimes when I get warning of the van's possible arrival I wander quite aimlessly up the path to the post box and manage to greet the postman, congratulate him on his timely arrival. The usual postman, an elderly man with a Santa Claus beard, goes slightly pink and sometimes we shake hands as I thank him.
However, today's mist did delay the delivery but it was compensated in the most splendid way. Just around 13.30 I heard the rush of an engine coming up from the St Astier side .....a yellow and white van drew up, turned in a circle to face back to St Astier, a young man got out - and put the weekend edition of my newspaper in the box. I could not get there quick enough to shake hands and thank....but I did notice it was not the usual yellow all over post van - it was yellow and white, the colouring of the post office's extra fast and secure delivery service - Colissimo.
How's that for service?
As always mist softens
Wednesday, January 3, 2024
Great Jumping Chestnuts...
So a few days ago, TDH* Martin - who is now fully responsible for woodland management, not least new planting - but that will be another story ---
Well Martin set off with his trusty chain saw to deal with a copse of three skinny chestnut trees. 'Deal with' is of course a euphism for 'cut down'...He cleared the land around the trees, dead branches, excess fallen leaves and a surprising amount of chestnuts on the ground....anyone would think we did not have wild boar who normally hover up such delicious treats, especially once they have cleared all the acorns...but..passons...
Martin settled himself comfortably on his knees, started his chain aw and cut the recommended V near the base of the tree - making sure it would fall well away from him. He says the tree wobbled, its head waved and it moved from its cut root....only to establish itself firmly into the soggy soil a few inches from its rooting place. Martin swears the tree did not look at him with scorn - but it felt like that...
So Martin re-starts his chain saw, cuts another perfect V at the new base of the young chestnut and waited for it to fall exactly where he - Martin - had planned it should fall. The chestnut shudders, wobbles, the head shakes.....and it planted itself again a few inches further into the soggy soil. If young chestnut trees could grin, Martin swears it would have grinned at him.
Now Martin swears he was not cross with the tree, it was just that he had other trees to attend to, other things to do...So once again he cut the perfect V just above ground level on the chestnut's slender trunk.
This time the tree conceded and fell to the ground as pre-ordained. But this leaves me with nagging problems: should I burn the wood of an animate tree in my indoor fire places, should I sell it to someone else, without telling the story...perhaps as the wood dries its soul will drift into another tree...Not a happy thought.
Later I heard that Stephanie (a girl) had got cross and lassoed the trees, then pulled so they would fall..
*= Tall, dark,handsome
Thursday, December 14, 2023
REAL AUTUMN AT LAST
Yes, the leaves are falling fast....this year, probably for the first time, I have noticed that the biggest leaves fall first. I leave it to those much clever than me to make deductions based on this observation.
However I did not realise one of his reasons...just look at this picture of the Virginia Tulip Tree this autumn.....soon there will be leaves, leaves everywhere.
Fortunately Stephanie - la gardienne - is very pleased with the leaf blower and works it hard. Imagine her surprise when I told of gardening advice I had heard from the BBC...Apparently one should NOT blow the leaves away for they are protecting the grass - and other things - from winter frosts. The leaves become mulch.
Friday, November 10, 2023
It has been a wonderful year for figs - if you like figs obviously
We have three fig trees at La Chaise, two either side of the entrance into the Farmhouse barn and a third that just reached over the railing to the terrace alongside my bedroom. That one had to be severely pruned because it suffered from a classic fig tree pest - of which more later.
The two fig trees you see here are either side of the barn entrance. One bears black figs, the other has the classic 'white' figs which are actually green. As well as eating them I made some jam - a new recipe which uses red wine - and I also filled two litre glass preserving jars with whole figs in red wine.
The figuiers are the result of two fig sticks that we were given several years ago with the instruction - 'just stick them in the ground' - because they would just grow roots and get on with it. However, I will admit I did look carefully to see which end was best to shove in the ground. I judged that fig leaves would grow upwards...so pushed the other end into the ground.
BUT it is not only humans who like figs - small birds do as well but one can frighten them away. The real pest that dissuades human visitors is the hornet and the hornet is very territorial about its figs. This means no getting figs when the sun light is directly on the trees - the hornets will go for humans even dressed in full protective gear - face mask and helmet, gloves and boots...Finding figs by torchlight is difficult..
Monday, November 6, 2023
The unprintable, the unseen, usually rare ...except at La Chaise!
As I was strolling up to the road, hoping for post in the post box...something strange in the grass caught my eye but not strange enough to stop me in my tracks. There were several of these strange mushrooms...at least ten on the short way to the gate. See below....pretend to hold your nose because it really is very smelly - unless it is raining.
Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Desperately searching for the flea...
The other morning I woke up - irritable and irritated - even though it had seemed an ordinary night. My restless hands then found the problem - something had bitten me during the night, there were large, red, itchy patches on the front of my thighs. Adult discipline stopped me scratching them raw but it took me a while to remember that - hopefuly - I had a child's remedy in the bathroom cupboard. I did, Apaiysil Baby soothed the redness.
Despite an excellent yesterday's egg from the chickens, even a reasonable cup of (decaf - sigh) coffee and proper toast, I did not recover my good humour and rather hid from people - not that there were any around.
Eventually I overcame my shame and asked Stephanie what could possibly have inflicted such horridness on me. She looked and very kindly did not laugh.
A flea, she said - it was a flea. Then she told me what I had to do....
First I had to wash the sheets at 60 C for a long cycle...OK but the sheets were large and the washer could not cope efficiently with more that one sheet at a time......
So one sheet duly went into the washer at full strength for over an hour. The other I decided to put into the dryer for a long cycle with the pillow cases. The blankets, heavy duty wollen, posed more of a problem. The answer was the washing line and a child's tennis raquet and my strong (huh) right arm.
The spots are still there but no longer itch - nor have they increased in number - but I am still embarassed... still wondering where the flea came from...no indoor domestic animals.
e dryer