St Avit de Tardes Mechoui !!

Saturday night saw us at the annual Mechoui! Lamb is roasted for eight hours over a fire pit dug into the ground, a marinade of spices is constantly dripped onto the lamb as it cooks, it is just so tender and delicious. We arrived at the Salle Polyvalente at 20.30 hrs, with Phillipe, Brigitte, Virginie, Fabien, Roland, Lydia, Caroline, Manu, Pascaline and lots of others, we drank Ricard for the first hour or so then the banquet began, we returned to La Petite Maison around two in the morning after finishing the evening drinking 'Eau de Vie' (water of life) with Dominique. We had a great night, the photos are of Joanne, Virginie and niece Caroline.

Hirondelles are flying !!

The Housemartins are now flying each day, they leave the nest at dawn and return an hour or so before dusk, it is so funny when they return in the evening, they are almost adult size and cannot all fit in the nest. They fly around the village, they visit Jacqueline and Gerards house and perch on the telephone lines. The goldfinches have also returned to the garden and have just hatched their second nest in the Mirabelle tree (small golden plumb), we will try to take some photo's

Housemartin Heaven !!

Look at us now, we feel great, we have lost our baby feathers and have found ourselves with the most beautiful colours on our feathers, Mum & Dad continue to feed us with lots of insects. Joanne & Chris come to see us every day and make sure we are ok. Our nest is a little cramped now we are growing, there are five of us you know ! We feel so safe with Uncle Chris & Aunty Jo looking out for us. Sweet Dreams !!

Clafoutis !!!!!

Well wouldn't you just love a slice of this, and it's not finished yet but Chris couldn't resist the early photo and the thought of a great big scoop of vanilla ice cream next to it. 20 more minutes in the oven and voila !! The confiture is cooling, nine jars in total, we are happy with the quantity and will go picking next week with Jacqui & Dave. Chris is just starting to bottle some Haricot Vert that Danny kindly gave us this afternoon. Bye for now !!

Blueberry fields forever!!

Phew ! time to relax , it's Wednesday and boy have we been busy, La Petite Maison has been full and our guests have had a great time, we are so pleased, it has been wonderful.

This morning saw us harvest our honey (miel), a little less than expected but 8 kgs all the same, it is now safely maturing before being potted. In the photo you can see Joanne decapping the frames before them being placed into the centrifuge, it's a great job, all that honey to lick from your fingers, yum yum !!

By 10.15 hrs we were in a field just outside Blessac picking beautiful Blueberrys (myrtille) for the first 5 minutes we just ate them, absolutely delicious, 4 kgs later we were on our way home, we laughed and laughed due to us both having completely blue tongues and fingers. Joanne is now busy making Blueberry jam and clafoutis (a type of batter full of the fruit of your choice) Chris is off to hunt for Chantrelles with Jess & Bonny, no rest for the wicked hey !!

Good morning !!

Friday 30th July and all is well, our guests slept peacefully and have made off for the 'Mas du Clos' it is Alpha Romeo weekend, tomorrow night all rooms are booked out, we have had to turn people away today, such a shame, it really pays to book in advance. A beautiful morning sky, the clouds disappeared in under an hour and the temperature soared. Joanne will look after the guests tomorrow morning for breakfast, Chris is off to Gueret to take the first part of his hunting certificate, if he passes his theory, he can then advance to the practical and hopefully, will receive his French gun licence by mid October. Have a lovely evening !!

It's a Dogs Life !

Last night was BBQ night at La Petite Maison (so is every night in Summer ha ha) we ate potatoes, carrots, cabbage, courgette, brocolli & apple sauce, all from the garden picked fresh. Chris cooked everything outside in his new garden kitchen, he has been buying the various equipment from the vide greniers, we BBQ'D pork steaks and topped it all with a mustard and plumb gravy, yum yum. Afterwards we lounged until after dark, our citronella torches burning brightly, the bats silently feasting on the wing, the owls hooting, toads croaking and the tranquility that a new full moon brings was just splendid, Jess and Bonny enjoyed it to !!