Wysteria in Full Bloom

The weather here in the Limousin has been exceptional during March & April, lots of sunshine, high temperatures and very little rain. This combination has led to perfect conditions for Spring time growth and produced the best show of flowers we have ever seen on our Wysteria, the scent is just beautiful and the colour amazing.

Busy Bee Corner

The bees are very busy here in Chassaing Cheval due to the glorious weather we are having, 32 degrees yesterday, the Oak tree experiment has worked well and the bees have began to draw honeycomb, Michel and Chris decided it was time to transfer another swarm from one of Michels old hives into one of our new ones, that gives us three working hives, more than enough honey for La Petite Maison with surplus to sell. We are not sure how the move has gone because they couldn't find the queen but hopefully she entered the hive, more news later on this one, fingers crossed.

We eat well tonight !

Well you wouldn't want this to take a bite out of your leg would you, yes, the hunting season is over and the fishing season is underway, Chris was amazed when he landed this Zander, it is a cross between a pike and perch and they are known for their ferocity. A real delicacy here in France and much sought after, also very expensive in restaurants. We will eat this, filleted and descaled with butter and garlic sauteed spinach, a famous recipe by Michel Lemoine, yummy, can't wait.

Another Fishy Tale !

Chris set out for his first carping session of the season last Friday morning, the three day session on Etang Neuf close to the picturesque village of Dontreix (25 minutes from La Petite Maison) produced 2 Carp for Chris. His first weighing in at 23lb 6oz and his second at 20lb 3oz, needless to say, even though he said it was hard going and slow, he was of course delighted. Hard going and slow my foot, the weather was glorious and he came home brown as a berry, a little fatter than when he left, Ha Ha ! His objective this year is a 30 pounder so watch this space!

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?