Here Come The Girls......................

here come the girls!

It's official Spring has arrived at last. I know this because the girls are back in the field next to our home!!

Theoretically they're not really back at all.
The 2012 heifers went on to become mums and with their babies went to live somewhere else. These lovely young things have that event to look forward to. In the meantime they are settling into their new abode and delighting us with their company.

The view from my bedroom window today at 9.00 am.

Pink Blossom

This week we saw warmer weather returning to Normandy and with it came our summer resident house martins who have been busy fluffing last year's nests in the rafters over the garage.
They fly so fast overhead it is impossible to be sure just how many have returned this year from Africa but I think there's at least three nesting pairs making their home with us, once again.

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The sunshine also brought out the beautiful blossom on our fruit trees.

The espaliered apple trees are looking particularly beautiful this year.

The ornamental cherry tree which is now almost as high as the house roof is a mass of vibrant pink blossom.

I love to look at it through my bedroom window as a sip my first cup of tea of the day.

Wishing you a beautiful start to the weekend, too.

Sharing the pink with Beverly @ How Sweet The Sound

Pink Saturday
and
The Tablescaper for
Seasonal Sunday #149

Sunday walk and other delights

The Normandy countryside is awakening to spring, at last, and I decided earlier in the week that it was safe to start sowing some veggie seeds in propagators ready to plant out into the potager in a couple of months time.

Whilst we were in UK last month I went overboard at the garden centre and stocked up on many different varieties of salads, tomatoes and courgettes but when I went looking for said seed packets they were nowhere to be found. After three days of fruitless searching the SP finally found them hidden in plain sight in one of the storerooms outside, how I'd missed seeing the bright green plastic bag that they were in I have no idea, but hey! I was sooooooooo glad they'd finally been found.

I took these shots whilst on our walk today.

Jacques new lambs

ajonc

wild purple orchids, can you see their spotted foliage

stream bank full of primroses

It's not just the countryside that's waking up, the Brocante season began this weekend, vendors selling all types of second hand, vintage and antiques items filled the St Clair car parks with their stalls.

this young man looks cold and bored!

assorted bric a brac

anyone lost a wheel off their wagon?

there's always a piece of Vallauris pottery on one of the stalls!

We slowly walked around looking at pottery (I'm always hopeful that one day I'll find a rare piece of Quimper) but I only came away with this book.

A Grammaire Anglaise dating from 1907 which cost the princely sum of one euro!

Leafing through it's water stained pages I think it will be a useful addition to my book shelf that's if I don't scrap it for an altered book project!

bon dimanche............

Sunday

This morning we took a drive over to the village of Vouilly to mooch around the small Foire de Printemps, hoping to bring back some plantlets to get my potager started.

Now that the days are beginning to warm up it's time to start planting, maybe!
I came away with 25 mixed lettuce, 5 celeriac, 6 tomato seedlings, a pot of thyme and a large bag of earthy potatoes for eating, not planting.

40 potato plants went into the plot when S the G came up to wake up the potager from it's winter slumber by mulching and rotavating last week.

After stashing the plants in the car we drove by the village church and I was seized with the urge to go inside to take some photographs, to share with you all.

Imagine, if you will, getting out of the car, walking over thick, crunchy gravel and encountering the most amazing place you have seen for a very long time.

I hope these photographs allow you to experience this very special place in the same way that it moved me today.
That's enough talk, just walk with me....................................................

 Mind the step, then look up.

and up.......

.

 I wonder how many babies have been baptised in this font?

Should we sit for a while and just take it all in?

Every place that your eye rests there is something wonderful to hold your gaze.

On the floor and on the walls.

By the door there are exhibits showing how the church was restored in the 1980's. These have faded over time but I was able to make out the story behind this strange object.

It is the only remaining example of a 12th century Normandy acoustic vase, made of terracotta they were placed in the choir to improve the church's acoustics.
I really enjoyed sharing this hidden gem, tucked away in a tiny Normandy village, with you today.
We must go for a walk together again soon.
bon dimanche.......................................................

Scenes of Swaledale

After suffering for over a month from a bad case of bronchitis, two courses of antibiotics later I'm beginning to feel like blogging again.

Despite the infection we did enjoy our trip to the Yorkshire Dales.

The scenery is stunning, the people are friendly, the houses are so characterful, it's all very much like something out of a novel by the Bronte sisters.

We stayed in the tiny hamlet of Healaugh just 5 minutes from Reeth the heart of the two dales, Swaledale and Arkengarthdale.

Our cottage is on the left in the above photo.

 The tiny front door leads straight into a cosy kitchen.

The views across the dale from the two large front windows were breathtaking.
Can you imagine lying in bed savouring the first cuppa of the day and gazing out of that upstairs bedroom window?
I don't think I'll ever forget watching the snow falling and covering the fells on the opposite bank of the River Swale.

The Hudson House Community Centre in Reeth is housed in a building which dates back to Victorian times. Prior to becoming the hub of the village it was once a branch of Barclays Bank.

In 2002 a group of local volunteers joined together to restore the derelict walled garden behind the property into a productive orchard, a quiet and peaceful place for the Swaledale community to enjoy.

Even in March the garden was looking lovely, a hidden gem.

The old privy (there was no indoor plumbing apparently when the house was first built!) now houses a small exhibition of local artifacts.

Wherever we went I saw quirky things to photograph and couldn't resist taking a shot of these twin doors of a neighboring cottage.

bon weekend tout le monde..................................