The infamous Brittany weather seemed set to make it a damp experience and indeed made June and part of July just that...then someone flicked a switch and we went from grey 16C to sunny 28C overnight!! Suffice to say it felt like 40C after so long in the mist, the plants suddenly started growing, the bees got busy and we headed to the beach for our first swim in the sea...bar from a few off days that is how it stayed for the remaining weeks, certainly enough for it to feel as if we have had a summer.Sadly the early gloom put pay to any blackberries this year, although my raspberries are still going strong (and HUGE)...
First year in the polytunnel has been a mixed affair, the tomatoes got blight so look alittle worse for wear, the melons are still ripening so not sure if they will actually make it, the capsicums did well as did the courgettes.. and hot chillies!! The two shining stars were the basil and the cucumbers...both prolific. So, we shall take what we have learnt into next year and hopefully have some better results. The watering of a polytunnel is a real pain in the arse (especially when it is raining alot just outside!) so for next year I shall rig up a self watering system from the rain tanks...
Still on the building business! Have now moved on to the big barn having finished the back garden patio, roof etc. It is nice to have a covered outside area (sort of Kiwi style-open walls with a roof) creates another space for a table and we have already had a couple of lovely evenings out there...very nice..
The big news at the moment is the arrival of Sirocco...being a 6 year old Norman Cob X Percheron, he is a big lad, saved from the works at some stage and ending up here via the internet (how most things happen for us it would seem). The idea is for he and I to work together and hopefully over time just share a life... Heleen is on hand to start us off and at times it would be difficult to guess who is leading who but I have a really good feeling about him and the idea of developing something with him. It would be great if I could use him to pull logs out of the woods etc. as he is built like a tank and must weigh in around a tonne. I am trying to think of another name for him as Sirocco is a bit long winded but it is proving to be tricky...he reminds me a bit of Frank Bruno!I shall post some photos of the summer, school started again this week with Lola very happy to be back but Charlie, having spent a lot of the time just in his undies found it not so great! So it must be time for me to return to school too and this year I am determined to make some progress on the language front!!
Well, that's it for now, I must head for bed so I can wake up in time for the kids school run....
