Chris and Deer Friends ?

What is this ? Chris and a Deer calling a truce ? Yes indeed, Chris finds it very easy to draw the line between hunting for food and caring for all, great respect at all times. Once the hunting season has finished, all efforts are made to nurture our wildlife here in the Creuse, we are lucky to share our lives with such an abundance of wildlife on our doorstep, this fallow deer popped in for a spot of lunch, carrot was the order of the day.

Lambs are not just for eating !

This is Lambsy! A recent visit to friends found Joanne melting with adoration for this abandoned lamb, it's mother had had twins and abondonment is not uncommon. Our friends adopted lambsy and he is coming on well, he feeds every couple of hours and Joanne could not resist baby sitting and giving him his 2 o clock feed, isn't he just adorable. Watch this space, La Petite Maison may soon have a new resident.

Busy Bee Corner

Chris and Michel are always up to something when it comes to the bees, an experiment with this and another new way to do that. Take a look at this one, when a neighbour phoned to say he had found a bees nest in an Oak tree he had just cut down, off they went, armed with smoker and bee suits.

Returning with a great big piece of Oak on the trailer complete with bees and nest inside, they set about modifying one of Joannes new hives so that the bees could rehouse themselves, what will they think of next?

Birthday Boy

Chris celebrated his 46th Birthday here at La Petite Maison last Wednesday, Jacqueline and Gerard cooked dinner at Chez Dormois the Tuesday before, Chris liked just one candle on his cake, wonder why?

Joanne spoiled him as usual and let him make one or two decisions for a change, Ha Ha !!

The first colours of Spring !

After Winter passes it is with delight that we watch the garden burst into colour, snowdrops, daffodils and primroses are now in full bloom here at La Petite Maison, the grass has started to grow, all are sure signs that Spring is well and truly here, officially the 20th March this year. Today brings warm winds from the South, Chris and Joanne have composted the vegetable plots and are sorting through the seeds that Joanne carefully handpicked and dried last year, the first to be planted will be early carrots followed by Spunta potatoes, the leeks that have been dormant through the Winter months have already started to push and the fruit trees have started to bud, let's hope we don't get another spell of hard frosts like last year which saw an end to a good apple harvest when the flowers dropped before the bees had chance to polynate them.

A Fishy Tale !!

Saturday the Glorious 12th, no, not Grouse, here in France the 12th March finds the river fishing season open. Everybody gets excited about the first trout of the season, Chris included, Joanne wasn't dissapointed when an afternoons fishing produced 5 lovely Brook trout.
No need to guess what is on the dinner menu this evening at La Petite Maison, Bon Apetite !!

Spring is in the air !!

Well, sorry folks, we were amazed when we realised that we hadn't posted any new posts since December, how time flies when you are having fun. The hunting season has all but finished, just Sunday morning fox hunts until the end of March, Chris had a great season with 2 Pheasants, 2 Pigeon, 2 Sanglier (wild boar) and 8 Deer. The freezers are full and Joanne has been busy preserving the game in jars, an excellent way to seal in all those delicious flavours. Chris has been busy working in the forest, it's that time of year when the trees are felled before the sap rises, cut and split and then piled to dry in the glorious summer sunshine, Chris calls it the countryside Gymnasium.

La Petite Maison has been redecorated for the 2011 season and Joanne and Chris are looking forward to welcoming guests old and new, the garden has started to change and yes, Spring is definitely in the air.