Bokkie's team has reunited!

 Friday 30/10/20

Bokkie's team is back together again and not a moment too soon as we have entered another period of French lockdown.

Great fun to be harvesting crops we grew from seed in Spring.
Look at the size of those beetroots.

Toni managed to get a flight to Nantes via Paris last Saturday so, although it took the whole day, I was able to fetch her in Bokkie in the evening.  Flying wasn't much fun in the packed aircraft, and the drive back in the storm was't great either but is was a huge relief to be back together at the Brittany house.

The wind has a habit of playing skittles with the potted trees

Jasper is making sure I clean the gutters properly!

Thank goodness for the log-splitter as we tackle the trees chopped down while we were away.

New logs seasoning for next winter's fires

It's not all work - we manage to relax as well.

We've been kept busy gardening whenever the weather is good and cooking and relaxing when forced indoors.  The old routines have come back fairly easily and, as we did our shopping just before the lockdown was announced, we are well set up for the next few weeks.

Roasted beets and courgette with Toulouse sausage on the Cadac - Yum!

Microwaved chestnuts from the garden make a great snack.

Friendly neighbours

 Monday 19/10/21

Les vaches

Repairing storm damage in Brittany

 Sunday 18/10/20

The past week has flown past, the weather has been fairly kind and I have managed to get stuck into the garden.  A few mechanical issues tried to slow me down but I have managed to cut the lawns, chop us broken branches and trim the hedges.  It's amazing how just tidying things up gives one a completely different outlook.

I managed to raise the broken Jasmine onto trestles without
damaging it further but would struggle to work underneath.

Fortunately I could build a scaffold tower to
support it until I can rebuild the legs.

The medlar is carrying quite heavily and was listing quite badly
after the wind so I have tried to prop it up until we pick the fruit.

Weeding the potager under the watchful eye of a toad.

It has also been quite interesting being responsible for all my own cooking, I have been so spoiled be married to a fantastic cook but it has been good for me to get into the kitchen again.  Toni and Charmaine have also settled into a good routing back in the UK and, with all French flights currently on hold, we are watching to see how and when Toni can come and join me.

Our family of Ragondin seems to have evaded the attention of the farmer and grown in size since our last visit.

Bokkie's back in Brittany - Autumn 2020

 Friday 09/10/2020

Bokkie is back at the house sit in Brittany after scooting across the channel and driving through France in a socially distant manner, picking up the cats from the kennels along the way.  Toni and I have split up, geographically only and not in a matrimonial sense, to allow her to spend some more time getting Charmaine settled into her new house .  She will follow by air at a later date - assuming the flights to France are going ahead.

Brittany had some fairly severe storms before we arrived and we knew there had been some damage reported by the neighbours.  Last winter we were amazed at how well the trees and garden stood up to (what we considered) quite severe storms so we were actually quite happy to have missed this one.  Luckily no major damage has been done apart from a pergola that has blown over and a walnut branch on the potting shed.  Quite a few oak branches have also broken so there is a fair bit of clearing to be done.

Damage to the walnut tree

Foliage cleared, ready to remove.

All chopped up

The garden is still producing a fantastic crop: I picked another wheelbarrow full of butternuts (on top of the dozen already left here), some huge courgettes, loads of walnuts and other veg and there is still a lot to come.  Not sure how I am going to eat it all - the slow cooker is already slaving away with a full load of vegetable stew.

I still need to figure out what to do with the massive courgettes

Lots of lovely vegetables

It is lovely to be back at LBC again, and  I’m looking forward to cosy nights in front of the fire with Jasper & Jess.