Time To Start Harvesting

I think that I have said before that the weather plays a big part in our day to day activities - if it's raining (as it often is !), the animals still need tending to, the dog still needs walking etc, but if its fine and dry, then we try to work outside. The weather tends to be similar to that in the UK, as we are of course very close, but maybe just a couple of degrees warmer. We haven't had snow since we have been here, but know that if we do, we are likely to be stuck. However, due to the location of the house in relation to the sun, if its sunny - IT IS HOT - we have had temperatures up to 42 degrees. In these circumstances, we try to get the work done early, and then stay inside until it cools down a little.

Sometimes, this is not possible, and trips to the DIY shops, Builders Merchants and even grocery shopping have to happen whatever the weather !

Since we sold the bigger van, in order to collect plasterboard etc, we have hired a van from the local supermarket. A big bonus is to share this hire with others who need items as well. We have done this on a couple of occasions, and it proves beneficial to all parties.

Craigs new project was to build a porch and decking on the side of the house. The front door will open onto this, so we felt we needed to give the door (and us !) some protection from the elements. It was a good job to do at this time of the year, as this side of the house is in the shade until the afternoon. Craig always has a plan in his head, and I often can't imagine what it will look like until it is well on the way, so it's a good job I trust his judgement !

The vegetables have started to ripen, and it gave us a good indication of what to plant next year, and how much.......for example, I have made enough potato and courgette soup to feed the whole village, with the glut of courgettes we have. We have tried to give them away as well, but everyone appears to be in the same position, so next year we will plant less of them !! I've made pickled beetroot and red cabbage too - Mrs Beaton would be proud of me. As you can see the onions and garlics are drying well too .....

We do try to enjoy the scenery and outdoors here when we can - not as much as I would like, but when we heard about the shooting stars, we set the alarm for 1am and sat outside in our PJ's watching them. There is no light pollution here, so visibility is great on occasions like this. I bought Craig a telescope before we moved here, and he is determined to set it up as soon as possible. The following evening, we had a visit from friends, and we sat on the road outside the house watching them again at 1.30am - can't imagine doing that anywhere else !

We had some more visitors, who stayed a couple of nights - friends of the family. They flew into Dinard, and then hired a car. They were in France for a week, and managed to fit us in for a visit while they were here. We weren't able to show them around too much as sadly illness struck - not great when you are not in your own home, but it's one of those things. Luckily, everything turned out ok in the end, and they were able to continue with their holiday.

We had some buyers for one of the tractors at this time, who traveled over 11 hours each way to collect. They were a lovely couple, and invited us to stay with them should we need a stop over point if we decided to travel south for a holiday. They were unable to get all the parts onto the trailer, so made a second trip a week later to collect the remainder !

We needed to put the car through it's CT (Controle Technique) again - this is like an MOT, but needs to be done every two years. I can't believe that it's been two years since the last one. However, I find it as nerve wracking as ever. The bonus here though, is that you have two months to complete any necessary works, but luckily, in our case nothing was necessary - just a couple of advisory points this time.

The Onion Fair at Roscoff is a favourite trip out at this time of the year. Roscoff is famous for its red onions, and for the 'Onion Johnnys' who used to travel to the UK and sell onions from their bicycles, door to door. We always buy a sack, or some 'tresses' ( strings of onions), along with garlics, and this time we bought some small onions for pickling too. The next couple of days are spent stringing the onions, so that they keep better for the year. Mind you, with our crop in the vegetable plot, we didn't need to buy so many.