Our place in France Chapter 97

It seems to me that we have reached that stage in our life in France where there is only something of interest to comment on in every second week and that the intervening weeks are pretty mundane. So, as this is an in-between week, there is really little news. The weather, always reliable as a topic, is at long last warming up a bit and we have had a whole two days of blue-ish skies and (some) sunshine. The thermometer balanced on the windowsill outside has discovered that there are degrees above the red zero line and has actually risen to 18 yesterday and 16 today. Positively tropical! There is definitely a touch of Spring in the air although we are only too aware of the pitfalls of ditching the winter woollies too soon. The well-known British saying tell us to ‘Cast not a clout ere May be out’ and with that in mind we will just enjoy the sunny days as they appear. I have to say that although the days are sunny, there is a still an icy wind blowing in from Siberia and we will be delighted when it stops.

To help in spreading the warmth through our house a little more we were hugely adventurous and bought a Stove Fan off Amazon this week which was delivered on Friday. This is a remarkably simple gadget that we have heard of before and saw in a friends’ house last week. Made of cast iron, the fan stands on top of the wood-burner and as the hot air rises and the stove top becomes hotter, the fan begins to rotate and blow extra heat into the room. It is a bit more complicated than that with bi-metal strips and a small electric motor, but it appears to be a very simple thing and it works! Anything that heats without using more plug-in electricity is a real boon. In fact anything that makes the house warmer without using more electricity is a boon!  Of course, now that the days, and nights are warming up a little, we don’t need this so much anymore but it is nice to have for that expected cold snap later on.

We expect to see the first signs of spring appearing on the trees and shrubs soon with the first one being the lovely bush with white blossoms whose name I have never discovered. All I know is that is the earliest flowering tree in the area and that very soon after that we can expect to see signs of the various fruit trees showing their pinks and mauves, along with the pale green of leaves appearing. A daffodil bulb that I ‘missed’ last year when a took up all the others has made itself known by suddenly pushing up through a tumble of mesembryanthemums and will make an interesting show. I also have a hyacinth that has decided we should really get on with the year and is sticking up about 5 cms above the ground. The mint plants survived unaffected in spite of being frosted and snowed on, but I expected nothing less. We fought the mint in our garden in Onrus for all of the twelve years that we were there and never got rid of it. Also a miniature rose plant has managed to come through unscathed which surprised me, but a pleasant surprise for all that. Also the day lilies that we didn’t dig out at all have suddenly made their appearance and have multiplied ten-fold. They are going to make a great show this year. However, as soon as the ‘Nursery garden tents’ start appearing outside the big supermarkets we will be there to get some new geraniums and a few basil plants to replace what didn’t survive. Every year at the official start to spring which I think is the 1^st May, these huge marquees are erected outside the supermarkets and are filled with everything you might want, or need, to have the best garden in the village. French people are very garden-proud and I have to admit, it shows. Towns and villages are always decorated with flower boxes and beds full of colour so we feel that we have to do likewise, as far as we can.