Logs and vegetable beds

 - Can I have that log?

- No

- Can I have that log?

- No

- How about this one?

- Weeeeell ok then

It’s hard to get a log round here, they are all scheduled for planking!

I managed to score a few to go round the new veg beds. 

I’m trying cardboard to suppress the weeds and horse poo on top, I’ll plant the squash and sweetcorn that are going in them through the card. There’s going to be a 3rd one for tomatoes, possibly with a shelter/polytunnel over as they tend to get mildew round here otherwise...

More wind!

 Storm Barbara blew though with a LOT of wind but no rain. We didn’t get much sleep with it whistling and banging round the house.

Yet more trees have been splatted, a couple on the drive, one by the stables and one on the road at the bottom. Fortunately (for us anyway) the neighbors cleared the one off the road so cars can pass, but we will have to go tomorrow and move what we can of the rest of it. The biggish root ball we might need to rely on either the mairie or the kind services of the neighbors again.

These on the drive are not very wide but quite tall. You can kind if make out that Doug is cutting the tops here. 

Some friends arrived to pick up some strawberry plants and kindly helped move branches while Doug cut them so we could get out to our French lesson a bit later!

Fortunately these missed the stables. Doug had taken off various branches in the year, so that helped.

Tea bush. Camillia sinesis

 I was SO excited when I read in the paper the other day that the bush tea is made from will grow fine in the UK, meaning that presumably it would here too. I had always assumed it was a hot climate plant, but apparently they are good down to -10°C

We are starting off with just one until we see how it goes, but would like to get a few more in the fulness of time if it pans out. Not all plants thrive under our care 😳

I’ve cleared a space for it, but the weeds are jostling to come rushing back in.

It arrived looking very healthy

More Wind!!!!

Aaaargh! We said no more wind!! The poor horses were trapped in the top field this morning by a pretty big oak that had blown over. It seemed perfectly healthy, such a shame it has fallen (not just because it was holding up a meeting of several fences). Many other smaller ones over too. We have cleared the drive and where the cars park of the recently felled trees, but still have a lot to do there, and in cleaning up from the previous storms this winter. We don’t need more fire wood! Never known weather like it! Crazy warm, and now crazy wet and windy. Snow is falling in the ski area though which is good.

It is bigger than it looks in this photo

"This is an outrage! We want to get to our hay!"

Some smaller stuff came down on the paths too

                                     

We have just spend days and days getting started on clearing up the mess from the trees we had felled

This has still got to get started on. It isn't on a path we use very much, just one of the fences. The tree in the middle at the back of the picture is HUGE. It doesn't really show just how big in the photo.