Recent March Photos & so on!!

Well, March has been notable so far for the lack of rain and warming temperatures, really springlike and very welcome. We have been lambing, gardening and in general being very busy much as usual.

Booster feeding one of the black twins
Booster feeding one of the black twins

Early flowers 2014 003(a)

Daffodils
Daffodils

Camelias!
Camelias!

I cannot believe it is already March 2014!

The rhubarb decided to grow mid February
The rhubarb decided to grow mid February
Well as many of you may already know, my camera broke & was too expensive to repair, so Mike has bought me yet another new one for my next birthday in April. I have therefore watched several photo opportunities pass me by whilst I have been waiting for delivery of the Nikon Cookpix – now I have it I am very pleased with it – versatile & robust being the watchwords here. I hope you all enjoy my first attempts at using this new item.
The first of our lambs arrived - a good big girl!
The first of our lambs arrived – a good big girl!

January 2014 – Lots of rain but Warm!

January 2014 has been very wet so far after a beautiful December. However, it has been dry since Monday, today is Wednesday and quite warm, 9 – 10dc during the afternoon. This has been a good opportunity to clear up the mess after we had to have a third of a huge ash tree felled. The tree had formed 3 large major trunks, the lowest of which was reaching out over the prairie. This was fine for many years however this branch had become so long and so heavy that it had begun to crack off close to the main stem. Also we had become aware that it was started to lift the rootball which would have demolished our hay barn. Chris, our woodsman, did the felling and we are harvesting the wood for firewood for the stove next winter. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is wasted here if we can avoid it. Also pleased to say that according to the weather forecast, although the weather is likely to remain fairly variable over the next 10 days, no frost is forecast & it is getting slightly warmer.

View of the tree showing the remaining 2 trunks
View of the tree showing the remaining 2 trunks

Mike stacking cut & split logs
Mike stacking cut & split logs

Me dragging waste branches up to be cut & stored to light the fire.
Me dragging waste branches up to be cut & stored to light the fire.

The Garden 2013 & 2014

Winter is a time for looking back with at those things which gave us pleasure during the past and also looking forward to what we hope to do this next year. I was extremely pleased last summer by the displays of lupins & peonies. The long border was a treat most of the year and, due to the annuals, the circular border was also good most of the season. In particular the Everlasting flowers did very well. The difficult wet spring weather inevitably affected the annual plantings & the snapdragons did not come up to the 2012 results. However, I have decided to feature on the following to supplement the perennials, most of them my reliable favorites. Zinnia Geant de California; Aster Duchesse Mix; Capucine mix (Nasturtiums); Cosmos Dazzler; Girofler (Stocks) Beauty of Nice; Eschocholzia Mix (California Poppy); Muflier (Snapdragon) Tom Thumb; Pavot (Poppy) Fleur de Pivoine Dble Mix; Tagetes (Oeillet d’Inde) F1 Zenilo Gold; Phlox de Drummond; and Sauge Coccinneo (Perennial Red Sage). As usual I will propogate these in my own little greenhouse & the weather permitting we will all have the pleasure of them during the summer months.

Lupins, Red Hot Poker & shrubs form the basis of this border with added annuals.
Lupins, Red Hot Poker & shrubs form the basis of this border with added annuals.
The circular border encloses a semi private lawn where it is wonderful to sunbathe.
The circular border encloses a semi private lawn where it is wonderful to sunbathe.

Tour de France 2014

Living close to the Pyrenneas is a huge asset to those of us who enjoy cycling, sometimes the route of the Tour de France comes very close to us and we have had the start of a stage here in Limoux twice in the last 5 years. However, this historic year in the wake of the Wiggins and Froome years, the Tour starts in my home town of Leeds, Yorkshire on the 5th July. Unfortunately I dont think we will be able to go over to watch but we will look forward to seeing all the wonderful footage on the annual DVD of the entire event.
This year the Tour will pass quite close to us on Stage 16 which is July 22nd as they start the stage in Carcassonne & ride the D119 through Fanjeaux & Mirepoix on their way to a punishing day in the mountains finishing at Bagnieres de Luchon. We will obviously go to watch them, probably at Mirepoix, which is probably our favorite french market town, and is only 20 mins by car from our door or even a bike ride away (we often ride out to Mirepoix and back).

Route Stage 16 -22nd July 2014
Route Stage 16 -22nd July 2014

Sunshine and water quality

The winter season brings up some slightly different themes – the water company Veolia sent us a very reassuring report on the quality of our water here at Gary. In brief it all translates to the fact that our water supply here is of excellent quality, if somewhat hard, with little or no nitrates and definately no pesticide residues at all! That is very good because our guests have no necessity to buy bottled water at all. In fact our drinking water is probably of better quality than bottled bearing in mind the length of time it may have spent inside a plastic bottle sitting in the sun!!

Good quality water - no need to buy bottled!
Good quality water – no need to buy bottled!

Prices for the new Season 2014

We continue to bear in mind the difficulties and cost restraints following the financial crisis. We too feel the changes but have decided to absorb cost increases for another year as best as we can. If you have a look at our new Season 2014 Rental Costs Page you will see that we have made no changes except that we have decided to open for April too. We are also planning to instal a heat pump for the swimming pool which should mean that it will be open for use from the lst June instead of the lst July and stay swimmable into October! depending of course on the weather. Please continue to read our blog page so that you keep up to date with how we are getting on.

Cooling off in August!
Cooling off in August!

Criterium Cycle Race at Quillan

Every summer there is a Criterium Cycle Race round & round one of our local towns called Quillan. This race is credited as being the first ever of its type so apart from being interesting as an event it is also a re-run of an historic event. This year is the first time we have managed to find time to go and we were very pleased that we had done so. We were able to mingle with the competitors who represented major teams from all over the world – the race had a sprinkling of established stars but the majority were youngsters starting out on their international careers. Some of them will obviously feature in future major events and it will have been interesting and exciting to see them in such an intimate fashion. They were all, established stars too, very willing to talk to fans and sign autographs in an informal and easy setting.

Waiting for the start
Waiting for the start

Mirepoix Market in Summer

I go to Mirepoix Market most Mondays throughout the year, but summer – by which I mean April through to mid October – is not only special for the additional number of interesting stalls carrying crafts, jewellry & clothes from all over the world, but also because we are visited by what you could call real stolling minstrels. Actually these are usually musicians or performers of some kind who travel France performing at the most interesting markets. They generally only appear for a couple of week and then they are off somewhere else. I now have a new camera which will take a reasonable clip of film as well as good quality photos and I try to take it with me everywhere I go. Over the next few months I will be posting a new photo or film that has been taken during summer 2013 which I hope our visitors to this site will find interesting along with some relevant comments about our own activities, such as the lambing 2014 which should start next February, our gardening exploits, visits we make and things we might do. I hope anyone who reads this will be entertained.

This beautiful old car suddenly appeared parked in Limoux!
This beautiful old car suddenly appeared parked in Limoux!