Spring Eggs

Our araucanas  (Ginger and Marmalade, otherwise known as the velociraptor sisters) have reached maturity and winter has ended, all in the same week.

I have had two araucana eggs this week.  Lovely olivey green coloured shells. 

Also our dwarf hen has laid two eggs this week.  We are laughing because her name is Apricot Chicken, and she laid pale apricot/pinky coloured eggs.....

The legbar egg is full sized as they have been laying for a while now.  The araucanas should get bigger as they develop.  Am hoping that Apricot's eggs don't get any bigger as they are already huge in comparison to her tiny body!  She is smaller than a bantam, but her eggs are much bigger than bantam eggs.

We have had a glorious weekend of sunshine.  The lawns have had their first mow of the year, and everything has just sprung to life. 

I have bulbs forcing their way through the ground everywhere, and pink and white violets flowering under the trees in the orchard.  My daffodils are looking splendid in teh sunshine.  Bright and gorgeous and they scream "springtime".

Must get out and take some photos next week to capture it all.

Fruit blossoms

The orchard smells heavenly at present and looks like something out of a fairy tale. 

Petals float on the breeze and bees and butterflies are flittering around by the dozen.  We have beautiful sunshine and a light warm breeze ruffling the fresh new grass.

The breeze is swirling petals through the air.  I told my neighbour it was the snow of spring. 

Actually felt up to a slow walk today.  We walked down to the river, la Dive, and then back up to the house.  Not very far normally, but exhausting for me at present.  Still a long way to go before I am well again.  It was bliss to be outside in the fresh air and spring sunshine though.

Of course Sophie had to walk part way with us.  She posed beautifully in the orchard for a few photos.

Forsythia

Unfortunately I am a bit unwell at present, so no posts.  But here is a lovely pic of one of the forsythia in our garden to keep you going.

I think they really represent spring.  Bright and sunny and fresh, all very welcome after a long winter.

Finally, the rain has stopped

We have had 2 months of almost continual rain.  Fabulous, I can hear all the family and friends in Australia saying.  Miserable and depressing for those of us here in Europe.  Spring has been a long time in coming this year.  Up until a week ago we were still lighting the fire each morning in an effort to stay warm and dry.

Combine the rain with hail almost everyday, and gale force winds, and you have a scenario that is not good for the keen gardeners.

Luckily, my garden has pulled through without too much stress.  Sadly, I did not get the riot of spring bulbs that I had hoped for, however other plants have benefitted from the rain and are showing a glorious array of flowers.

The irises are particularly good this year.  I have a pale violet, and a deep dark chocolate with hints of orange.  Both are a mass of colour and scent at present.  The dark iris was a surprise.  I had been given it at a cemetary in the Somme Battlefields (they were replacing the plants and throwing away all the old ones.... what a waste!).  No one could tell me what colour it would be, so it was nice that it is such an unusual shade.

My tiny - and very spindly - elder tree is flourishing also.  I have already picked a huge amount of flowers and they are fermenting away in the cave to make elderflower champagne.  An experiment.  We shall see if it works or not.  All depends on how much natural yeasts are floating around in our garden.  There are plenty of flowers still on the tree to turn to berries and make gelées and sirop later in the year.

The pea shoots have been galloping ahead.  So much so that I have taken to picking them and adding to salads and as garnishes to our meals.  They are nearly 2metres tall and only just starting to flower!  I have been picking rhubarb and strawberries already, and my herbs are looking lush and green.  Tomato plants are in as well as butternut and queensland blue pumpkins.  We shall see if they grow here.

We went to a bbq last night at a neighbours house.  It was a great night, but it was even nicer to be able to go in to the garden and cut fresh flowers to make a bouquet for the hostess.  The roses are magnificent this year, and the sweet peas are heavenly.  I made a pretty posy of pink roses, lavender and deep burgandy sweet peas and pink and burgandy dianthus.  Beautiful and fragrant.

Le brassage (beer brewing) has commenced this weekend with the start of the warm weather.  I am starting with a bitter, to get my hand in and refresh my memory.  It has been a long time since I home brewed!  Hopefully I will be able to bottle next weekend and in 2 weeks after that we will be able to commence sampling the brew.  Tshirts have been made to commemorate the occasion and I have 3 official taste testers waiting (impatiently!) to pass judgement and select the next type of beer brewed.  Think they are going to keep me occupied over summer with requests for new batches.... Photos will follow in a future post.

The last photo is of a neighbours garden.  She has 9 different colours of iris planted in groupings under the fruit trees.  It is spectacular!  I think it rivals Monet's garden at Giverny actually.  Hope you enjoy the colours as much as I did.

Les Lilas

One of the joys of living in Europe is being able to see, and smell, lilacs in flower each spring.

These plants flower in a variety of colours ranging from white, pink, lilac (funny that) through to a deep purple.  Some are solid colour, while others have the petals outlined in a second colour.

This is what I purchased.  A beautiful medium purple with white outline.

I have been impatiently waiting for it to flower, and over the past week it has blossomed, leaving a tantalising hint of scent on the breeze in the garden, and a shot of colour.

A neighbour has kindly given me some lilac seedlings from her garden, so next year I will have white and lilac coloured lilacs flowering as well.  Something to look forward to.

To let you know.  It seems our internet problems are not making huge difficulties for us at present.  The problem is the cabling under the street..... so unless the works is approved to rip up the street and replace the cabling, then we will have to live with dodgy internet, phone etc.  A small price to pay to live in such a beautiful place I think.

Spring has (almost) Sprung!

What a week. It has flown by as if it had wings.

Much like the birds which are starting to make themselves known around the quartier.

The jasmine plant on our bedroom windowsill has put forth new shoots and is looking vibrant and vigorous.

The crocus bulbs which are pushing through the grass in the house opposite, and the earth of our window boxes, all tell me that spring is almost here.

No budlets for leaves on the trees yet, but you can just feel that they are not too far away.

We have averaged 10C each day this week. Almost a heatwave! The only worry is that we will have a late snowfall or the temp will drop very low, very quickly, and all the signs of spring will be killed by frost.

Even if we do get a killer frost, I will still have spring inside. I have two hyacinth bulbs being forced on (hopefully a pink and a purple) and they both have lovely strong flower stalks with tightly furled buds at present. Another few days and it will look and smell divine and springlike chez Pitt.

Stay tuned for pictures as spring shows its face more clearly.