Mosaic Monday # 99 - bucolic Normandy

According to the Meteo Autumn officially began on September 1st and certainly here in Normandy we are beginning to notice some changes.
Although the weather is still dry there is a definite chill in the air in the early mornings and quite often there's fragrant wood smoke on the breeze as folk start to light cosy log fires and wood burning stoves in the evening.

As I went to make a cup of tea one afternoon recently I got quite a shock when I looked out of the window and saw a cow happily munching away on the lawn that last year replaced my vegetable garden.

Earlier in the day the farmer who's cows graze the fields surrounding our home had transferred some to another field and apparently after they left this one decided to go walkabout. The SP drove up to the farm to let him know that we had an escapee in the garden and he swiftly arrived with a couple of helpers to escort the heifer back to where she belonged.

I did video the procession as they headed back to the field but sadly it has since been deleted from my phone, the next morning I saw that she was back with her friends looking none the worse for her adventure.

Our generous neighbour called round on Thursday afternoon bringing with him masses of juicy red grapes from the vines in his garden. 

As a thank you I gave him a jar of the plum and preserved lemon chutney which I'd made the previous week.

Trying to explain to a non English speaking Frenchman just what chutney is was extremely difficult.
"You can eat it with cheese," I said. "Quoi?" he replied.
"It's good with curries", I said. "Quoi?" was again the response.
"Cuisine Indienne" I replied. "Je n'aime pas le curry" he stated!
At this point the SP interjected with the suggestion that he buy some English cheddar cheese at the supermarche and make a sandwich!
You can imagine how well that suggestion was received.
The GN (generous neighbour) then asked if I wanted any apples this year and no sooner had I said "Oui" he promptly drove back across the lane to his house, returning with a very big bag of them.

This time I had a better "swap" to barter with - a large bottle of pommeau, an apple aperitif, produced by a farmer friend of ours.
"C'est pommeau Normand?" the GN inquired, "Mais oui, bien sûr" was my reply, no further explanation was required!

As Keats once said...……………..
"Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, 

   Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; 
Conspiring with him how to load and bless 
   With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run; 
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees, 
   And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core; 

Normandy Life

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Mosaic Monday # 81 - saturday

Although Saturday got off to a cold and dreary start by the afternoon the sun was out and there were blue skies up above. Perfect weather for wandering around the garden, iPhone in hand, to capture some spring flowers.
The early daffodils have now gone over, been deadheaded but not tied back, the leaves left to continue to store energy into the bulbs before dying back in about six weeks time.
It's a different story with the "Cornish" daffodils however.

This delightful daffodil is

 "Cheerfullness"

Seven years ago the SP and I visited The Lost Gardens of Heligan (click on the link to read a post about our visit which features both shopping and a Cornish Cream Tea!)) and I bought a good number of different daffodil species in the shop there.
The Cornish daffs  flower at least a month later than the earlies extending our daffodil season from December to April/May and brightening Normandy's cold and dark winter days.

damson blossom

Also bringing beauty into the garden this week are the blossoming fruit trees, damson; cherry; pear and apple are all doing their very best to outshine each other. As I walked around taking photographs I could hear bumble bees buzzing above my head but couldn't get a single one of them to sit still long enough for me to take a snap.

espaliered pear tree growing against the garden wall

P.S.
Thank you for all your comments on the ballerina's tale last week, so many of us have the same dilemma it seems when it comes to disposing of our once loved treasures. The good news is that my ballerinas may have found a way to brighten up someone else's life in the future as a UK cousin, who deals in antiques and collectibles, has shown some interest.
All he has to do is come and collect them!

Normandy Life

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Mosaic Monday # 69 - letting go of hygge? No, I didn't think so.

I first heard about hygge, the Danish lifestyle concept of comfortable coziness,  about two maybe three years ago when the internet was suddenly buzzing with ideas of how we could incorporate hygge into our daily lives.

The Oxford English Dictionary included hygge in it's list of words of 2016.

A quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture.

I heard a rumour last year that a Swedish word "Lagom" which means "just the right amount"  had replaced hygge as a life concept, I wasn't personally ready to abandon cosy but I liked the sound of lagom too.

It fits right in with the Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy philosophy, which has been on my bedside table now for more years that I can remember, a reminder to always show gratitude especially for the small every day things that make life good.

Incorporating hygge into our daily lives this week was easy to do from the cosy warmth of the kitchen, the heart of the home.

I made a wonderful broccoli and cheddar cheese soup from a recipe that I saw on Diane's  Lavender Dreams blog, which she shared @ MM # 67.

I baked a simple rustic Irish loaf, in the oven, to serve along with the soup.
Click here for Diane's recipe, if you make this soup you won't be disappointed.

Seville orange marmalade always seems to be something that people make in January so I thought I'd give that a try. I gathered all the ingredients together to follow the Delia Smith method but was shocked at the amount of sugar in the recipe. 2kg of sugar to 1kg of Seville oranges!

I called the Senior Partner in for a second opinion and his reaction was even stronger than mine, something along the lines of "are you joking, we can't eat that much sugar!"

So, I put everything away again but not before taking a photo to show my good intentions.

Since buying my bread maker I have been wanting to make a British classic tea time sweet treat and a childhood favourite - Chelsea Buns.
It took me 30 minutes to gather the ingredients together, the bread maker took two and a half hours to make the enriched dough. Preparing and adding the filling to the punched down dough whiled away another 20 minutes then I read my book for half an hour in front of the wood burner as the buns, sitting in a baking tin on the hearth below, doubled in size.
Finally it was into the oven with them for 20 minutes, after they had cooled slightly I drizzled them with vanilla icing et voila!

Was it worth it? 

Absolutely - pure hygge.

Normandy Life

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Mosaic Monday # 58 - fall foliage, fungi & family

Looking back through October posts from previous years I noticed a theme...............conkers/horse chestnuts; leaves and mushrooms.

October in Normandy is special to us because that's the month, 21 years ago, that we moved into this old house.

early June 2017

The Virginia creeper that covers the front of the house is green no longer.

It seems that almost overnight the leaves have turned a million shades of red and gold, they remind me of how the house looked the day we drove up with the removal van close behind.

The horse chestnut tree in the back garden has once again, true to form, literally covered the grass with fallen leaves and conkers.

I brought some indoors to display in an antique pewter dish on the hall table.

After a couple of days of back breaking raking and wheel barrowing the Senior Partner and I called it a day because today our brother in law and nephew are travelling from the UK to help us get the garden sorted before winter arrives.
Hopefully the weather will be kind to us as we'll need to have a garden bonfire before they leave.
There are also plans to empty one or two attics of unwanted possessions junk, the garage space will be getting an overhaul too, if time allows.

A large white van has been rented, they'll collect it in the morning, to take everything to the dechetterie (recycling).
We're also expecting deliveries of gravel for the driveway and pine bark mulch for the flower beds.
It's going to be a very busy week, hopefully I'll have some photos to share next time.

A selection of fungi found growing at the bases of trees, in the grass and also on the compost heap this week.
Although they look pretty harmless some of them might not be so the closest I got was to capture them with my iPhone, they will not be making an appearance in the kitchen!

Wish we had a sweet chestnut and not a horse chestnut tree in the garden, at least then we'd be able to eat them.

À bientôt.

Normandy Life

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Mosaic Monday # 55 - S is for..............................

Trying to be organised and not swamped by the enormous number of photographs sitting on my phone I recently sifted through them looking for blog inspiration and discovered that in September the subjects that most caught my eye began with the letter S!
Just a coincidence, I wonder?
S is for September and also for sky; sunrise; sea; sand; ships (well boats really); shellfish and shadows.
Here are just a few............................

shadows

on a house wall, a field of maize and a simple stone calvaire

at this time of year we experience stunning sunrises

sea fishing 2 ways
shellfish 2 ways

After being mainly wet and cold September finally treated us to some lovely fine days which we made the most of.

Walks on the beach and al fresco dining are two of our favourite pastimes, in picturesque Port en Bessin we often indulge in both.

17th September saw the start of the hunting season here in Dept. 14, Calvados.
As I've often mentioned before M'selle Fleur is not a fan of loud noises so we are trying our very best to avoid country walks which we know from past experience will make life less stressful.

I captured this big blue sky on a visit to a quieter, more peaceful, location earlier in the month.

A favourite lane to wander down in summer but definitely one to be avoided when the shooters are out, no matter how inviting the shadows may be.

and that's a wrap for September.

Normandy Life

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Mosaic Monday # 44 - Commemorating 73rd Anniversary D Day Landings 1944.

Since the end of May and going through until the end of July towns and villages throughout Normandy have been Commemorating the 73rd anniversary of the D Day landings.
Here is a link to the program of events list on the D Day Overlord website, it is very extensive.
The first event listed was an afternoon concert of the Choir of the French Army at the Cathedral of Bayeux.
Some of the over 150 events taking place during June and July include historical walking tours; guided tours of the beaches; reenactments; parades of military vehicles; picnics; fireworks and bagpipers.
On Saturday morning the 10th of June as I was driving through Cerisy I saw a small ceremony taking place at the Memorial for the 2nd Infantry Division on the "Avenue de la 2ème Division Indian Head, Cerisy-la-Fôret.
This memorial commemorates the American 2nd Infantry Division which liberated Cerisy-la-Fôret on 10 June 1944. The command post of the division was also in this village, from 15 to 29 June 1944".
So I stopped to pay my respects.

Also attending the ceremony was a British veteran of the D Day landings Mr Edwin Jeffery aged 94, his daughter who lives in the village, introduced us after the ceremony was over.

She very kindly took photographs of us together and also with two other gentlemen, decorated British veterans of later conflicts.

Click here to meet Edwin Jeffery a hero who was awarded the Legion d'Honneur in 2014 for the part he played in liberating France in 1944, serving as a 21 year old seaman on Royal Navy HMS Vanquisher on D Day,.

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