Totally agree..but could not make my mind up so having Galgo as well! Just waiting for a cat proof one! Olga the manager of the Refuge says they get alot of black ones because the French won't take them. I belong to a Cat Rescue Association and we always get left with black cats and kittens. Deemed unlucky in France. Crazy country sometimes. Fingers crossed for rain your way, looks hopeful on the weather map. Two more Melons and some Runner Beans that I left in last year have sprouted. Mulberry thriving. Lots of gooseberries and redcurrants coming. How are your fruit GWRS?
Odd about black cats and dogs. Probably superstition about witches' familiars.
Our dogs are due their annual vaccinations this pm. That'll be fun. Rasta (wheaten terrier type) is too old to get in and out of the car on her own now and Bonzo (Labrador) is just doolally in cars and at the vet's.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Hi Everyone Well we've had a drop of rain..drop being the operative word..have you had any? The sky was purple last night ànd lots of thunder, but nothing to show for it in the water barrel. Still, yesterday I potted on my Cucumbers and the last of this year's tomatoes. Spotted first flowers on outdoor tomatoes and first flower on melon. Huge molehill next to greenhouse...makes excellent potting compost but still called on Chief Moler Tom to do some 'moling'! Now is the perfect time to collect flowers to make tisannes..Choose a rising Moon in front of Aquarius ♒ Perfect days are today 11th June then 6/7 and 8th July. Gather just the petals in the middle of the day when the dew has dried lay them on a tray in a dry shady place and then pop them into paper sachets or jars. Alternatively pick them with stems, tie with an elastic band and hang them up in a dry shed with a bag underneath to catch any fallen petals. Today is the Village BBQ (Méchoui) Odile & Denis are supplying the lamb for the Spit Roast. Local Farmer Pierre with the Calvados . Lucien is taking his Goat Cheese . Gilles his wonderful bread , and other villagers are taking Salad from their gardens and making Crêpes.I am taking my Mint & Lemon Balm Jelly. The Wine is supplied by the Mayor. Apparently there are going to be 83 of us..so quite a turn out. Did all my gardening yesterday as lunch is at 12.30am and won't finish before 10'ish tonight!! 😊 Happy Gardening.
Biofreak , village BBQ sounds like a great event , enjoy
Still no rain , so this afternoon I’m going to fill the home water butts from the Stream
This morning we are going to a Farm event , looking forward to it in fact it’s owned by Dyson ( the vacuum company ) they are a major land owner / farmer in Lincolnshire Then on the way home call into allotment and water
Hear is a picture of repainted garden bench and new sitting area in garden might be upside down
Hope you have a great time at the village BBQ @biofreak. Can you share the recipe for mint and lemon balm jelly?
We had lots of thunder on Thursday night and all day Friday but not a lot of rain here tho OH's golf did get rained and thundered off. No rain at all yesterday and temps into the low 30s so we tend to retreat from 2 to about 5pm.
As I can't get loam based compost here I've been mixing molehill soil with fibrous compost for potting on treasures such as some first year roses, cannas and clematis and potting on mints. Got some PSB planted out in a new bed and they'll be joined by cavolo nero today.
Need to decide where to plant my new grapevine too but will wait for a fruit day.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Very smart bench..most impressed! No rain here either, but heavy dew which helps alot. Just made Lemon Thyme Jelly as leg good enough to restart Farmers Markets. Mint & Lemon Balm Jelly (makes 5 x 212ml jars)
350g Mint and Lemon Balm tips (don't take larger leaves. Too bitter) Juice 2 Lemons
500ml Cold Water
3 x 25g Sachets Agar Agar
Recipe says 1kg but I use 700g White Sugar
Put all ingredients except Agar Agar in pan and bring gently to boil. Simmer for 3mins then turn heat off cover and leave overnight. Next day sieve Leaves and return liquid to pan. Bring to boil. Add Agar Agar (stir in a little cold water first like cornflour). Stir all the time and allow to boil 3mins. Have faith still looks very liquid! Pour into sterilised jars and leave to cool before labelling.
My luck is changing back to 'good'..been offered a Galga (Spanish greyhound) this afternoon good with cats. (Video and photo proof supplied)Have said yes so little Uno will have a pal called Carlotta. Told cats.. completely ignored me and went back to sleep in shade as really hot this afternoon. Have moved Courgettes to shady spot.
Great news about Carlotta. I hope they both do very well with you and the cats don't freak out. I shall be picking our first yellow courgettes tomorrow.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Hi Everyone...Gosh your way ahead of me Obelixx, my Courgettes are just getting used to being outside in their Orange Boxes (One each...line the box with newspaper then wet it thoroughly, add layer of lawn mowings then compost and plant one Courgette plant in plus one small empty flower pot so that you can fill this with water when watering and not wet leaves). Mine our establishing themselves in a new spot...sunny in the morning shady in the afternoon. Still no sign of peas, checked packet and saw Use By date 2021...so perhaps they were just too old...teach me to buy economy packs. Outdoor Tomatoes flowering with good strong stems. No sign of Dahlias but Roses splendid. So what to do for the next few days? Well today and tomorrow 14/15th June are 🍑 Fruit Days with Moon in front of ♈ Aries 🐏 so sow Beans outside in pockets of three or five. Lines are fine but pockets work for me. French Calender is too optimistic for me..says pick Cherries/Gooseberries and Currants not forgetting early Peaches. Mine are coming on but not ready to pick yet..how is your Fruit coming on this year.? 15/16/17thJune are Root Days with Moon 🌙 ascending in front of Taurus ♉🐂 Sow Radishes. Red Beetroot.Parsnips and Carrots for Winter Storage. 18/19th June are Flower Days with Moon in front of ♊ Gemini. Remove Roses that are fading and treat with horsetail purin for Blackspot and Aphids. Sour Milk is also a useful spray for this. 20/21st June are Leaf Days with the Summer Solstice on 21st...cannot believe it will be the longest day already😔Sow Chinese Cabbage (it prefers heavy wet ground) Sow all Leaf Crops and sow Herbs in Seed Trays to bring on for planting out next Spring. Rake lawn to scrape out moss. 22/23/24th June shows the Moon descending so an excellent time to plant out everything in pots. Raid the Garden Centres for bargains. Seedsmen will be beginning to try and clear stocks in time to bring on Autumn plants for display and sale. Mowed the lawn this morning despite no rain it's still growing fast enough for attention once a week. Happy Gardening.🏡🤗🌿
Thnaks @biofreak. This year, instead of letting squashes sprawl I'm training them up one of those twirly metal supports for tomatoes. So far two have reached the top and have been cut so they can concentrate on making a few good fruits rather than lots of little ones. One of them then threw out very long arms which i've also trimmed back. It's going to be an interesting experiment.
We've had a few strawberries, lots of loganberries and some redcurrants. The apricot tree has hundreds of fruits forming compared with just 5 last year and the apples and pears have set fruit. Nothing yet on the peaches and nectarines but I seem to remember an untimely frost so we'll see.
There are ruits forming on my young pomegranate for the first time and the purple gooseberries are looking good but the blackcurrants struggle here.
Too hot here to do much aprt form watering at the mo but I do need to get on and get jobs done before July 2nd. Won't be sowing any new seeds for a while as I will have problems getting down to the PT to look after them during most of July - unless I find time to set up a seated potted bench with a leg support...........
Posts
Our dogs are due their annual vaccinations this pm. That'll be fun. Rasta (wheaten terrier type) is too old to get in and out of the car on her own now and Bonzo (Labrador) is just doolally in cars and at the vet's.
Well we've had a drop of rain..drop being the operative word..have you had any? The sky was purple last night ànd lots of thunder, but nothing to show for it in the water barrel. Still, yesterday I potted on my Cucumbers and the last of this year's tomatoes. Spotted first flowers on outdoor tomatoes and first flower on melon. Huge molehill next to greenhouse...makes excellent potting compost but still called on Chief Moler Tom to do some 'moling'!
Now is the perfect time to collect flowers to make tisannes..Choose a rising Moon in front of Aquarius ♒ Perfect days are today 11th June then 6/7 and 8th July. Gather just the petals in the middle of the day when the dew has dried lay them on a tray in a dry shady place and then pop them into paper sachets or jars. Alternatively pick them with stems, tie with an elastic band and hang them up in a dry shed with a bag underneath to catch any fallen petals.
Today is the Village BBQ (Méchoui) Odile & Denis are supplying the lamb for the Spit Roast. Local Farmer Pierre with the Calvados . Lucien is taking his Goat Cheese . Gilles his wonderful bread , and other villagers are taking Salad from their gardens and making Crêpes.I am taking my Mint & Lemon Balm Jelly. The Wine is supplied by the Mayor. Apparently there are going to be 83 of us..so quite a turn out.
Did all my gardening yesterday as lunch is at 12.30am and won't finish before 10'ish tonight!!
😊 Happy Gardening.
Still no rain , so this afternoon I’m going to fill the home water butts from the Stream
This morning we are going to a Farm event , looking forward to it in fact it’s owned by Dyson ( the vacuum company ) they are a major land owner / farmer in Lincolnshire
Then on the way home call into allotment and water
Hear is a picture of repainted garden bench and new sitting area in garden might be upside down
We had lots of thunder on Thursday night and all day Friday but not a lot of rain here tho OH's golf did get rained and thundered off. No rain at all yesterday and temps into the low 30s so we tend to retreat from 2 to about 5pm.
As I can't get loam based compost here I've been mixing molehill soil with fibrous compost for potting on treasures such as some first year roses, cannas and clematis and potting on mints. Got some PSB planted out in a new bed and they'll be joined by cavolo nero today.
Need to decide where to plant my new grapevine too but will wait for a fruit day.
Just made Lemon Thyme Jelly as leg good enough to restart Farmers Markets.
Mint & Lemon Balm Jelly (makes 5 x 212ml jars)
Juice 2 Lemons
Put all ingredients except Agar Agar in pan and bring gently to boil. Simmer for 3mins then turn heat off cover and leave overnight.
Next day sieve Leaves and return liquid to pan. Bring to boil. Add Agar Agar (stir in a little cold water first like cornflour). Stir all the time and allow to boil 3mins. Have faith still looks very liquid! Pour into sterilised jars and leave to cool before labelling.
My luck is changing back to 'good'..been offered a Galga (Spanish greyhound) this afternoon good with cats. (Video and photo proof supplied)Have said yes so little Uno will have a pal called Carlotta.
Told cats.. completely ignored me and went back to sleep in shade as really hot this afternoon. Have moved Courgettes to shady spot.
Great news about Carlotta. I hope they both do very well with you and the cats don't freak out. I shall be picking our first yellow courgettes tomorrow.
Still no sign of peas, checked packet and saw Use By date 2021...so perhaps they were just too old...teach me to buy economy packs. Outdoor Tomatoes flowering with good strong stems. No sign of Dahlias but Roses splendid. So what to do for the next few days?
Well today and tomorrow 14/15th June are 🍑 Fruit Days with Moon in front of ♈ Aries 🐏 so sow Beans outside in pockets of three or five. Lines are fine but pockets work for me. French Calender is too optimistic for me..says pick Cherries/Gooseberries and Currants not forgetting early Peaches. Mine are coming on but not ready to pick yet..how is your Fruit coming on this year.?
15/16/17thJune are Root Days with Moon 🌙 ascending
in front of Taurus ♉🐂 Sow Radishes. Red Beetroot.Parsnips and Carrots for Winter Storage.
18/19th June are Flower Days with Moon in front of ♊ Gemini. Remove Roses that are fading and treat with horsetail purin for Blackspot and Aphids. Sour Milk is also a useful spray for this.
20/21st June are Leaf Days with the Summer Solstice on 21st...cannot believe it will be the longest day already😔Sow Chinese Cabbage (it prefers heavy wet ground) Sow all Leaf Crops and sow Herbs in Seed Trays to bring on for planting out next Spring. Rake lawn to scrape out moss.
22/23/24th June shows the Moon descending so an excellent time to plant out everything in pots. Raid the Garden Centres for bargains. Seedsmen will be beginning to try and clear stocks in time to bring on Autumn plants for display and sale.
Mowed the lawn this morning despite no rain it's still growing fast enough for attention once a week.
Happy Gardening.🏡🤗🌿
We've had a few strawberries, lots of loganberries and some redcurrants. The apricot tree has hundreds of fruits forming compared with just 5 last year and the apples and pears have set fruit. Nothing yet on the peaches and nectarines but I seem to remember an untimely frost so we'll see.
There are ruits forming on my young pomegranate for the first time and the purple gooseberries are looking good but the blackcurrants struggle here.
Too hot here to do much aprt form watering at the mo but I do need to get on and get jobs done before July 2nd. Won't be sowing any new seeds for a while as I will have problems getting down to the PT to look after them during most of July - unless I find time to set up a seated potted bench with a leg support...........
Love that blue bench @GWRS.