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May mumbles in the mountain 3 With Jenny Rhodes 3 Monday 1st May Well I was clever and covered the delicate little things in fleece on Saturday night. So you see the snow didn’t get the better of me. But really this is just not what we all want in May. Things had been going nicely with the odd BBQ in the garden and turning over last years compost heap and finding…….you’ve guessed it…..compost. I have always questioned the idea of compost, you know what I mean…. the idea that old spud peelings and things that you would normally throw away will actually turn into some usable in the garden…..compost. And it’s great, I have rebuilt my rockery using my own compost spread liberally around, and it hasn’t cost a penny. Terrific. Last week whilst walking Lil (or was she walking me?) we found the first gentians down in the fields. The cowslips are also through and the tops of the Narcissi have come to the surface. Even covered in a blanket of snow these hardy little bulbs will still be growing and the buds will be forming. In a couple of weeks the flowers will burst forth and cover the fields in another kind of blanket, this time of fragrant white flowers. It’s one of the magical things about living up here in the mountains. There is something different every month that surprises you every time you go out. Yesterday I heard the first Cuckoo, I thought slightly early but what do I know about birds? When I was a small girl my Mum used to always turn over a silver coin and make a wish when she heard the first cuckoo song. I wonder where that idea came from. Maybe someone will know. Last week Mike and I went up to Lac Boulliouse [forgive the spelling] I can’t find anything with the word and Mike is away in the UK updating his First Aid qualifications, so he is not here to correct me. The Lac was still frozen. It looked so beautiful with breaks and cracks that showed the depth of the ice.The blue, greys and turquoises that appear as the ice moves are stunning. Alright it wasn’t quite as stunning as the pressure ridges of the Antarctic but stunning all the same and well worth a trip up to see. An omelette Paysan at the Auberge is a lovely way to finish off the walk. They are scrummy Lil has taken to singing with the church bells I thought at first she was howling but she actually sings. Very weird dog. She gets very excited and rushes out to listen to them and then joins in and stop immediately they stop.Hmmmmm I’ll find out when they are going to do auditions for the church choir. I have a pile of ironing to do so I had better get on and get it out of the way, I always keep some on one side for a rainy day and now it’s snowing I can’t really get away from it so until the next time take care of yourselves and enjoy Spring when it does actually arrive. PS.You can thank my sister in law, Christine for this Mumble as she e mailed and said I should write one today as the weather was grotty, I thought I would just mention her as she will be reading it and she’ll come over all unnecessary that her name is in print. Thursday 27th May Just thought I would do a last minute May Mumble as I have the joy of getting connected again with the outside world on my internet. We haven’t had it four or five days as the cable broke, the one that leads into the little box that sits on my desk. Sorry to all you technical folks but as far as I know it is a little black box. Had the world come to an end….well it felt like it. I would pace the room looking at a blank screen, sometimes I would just sit in the chair and look longingly at the little lifeless box. Trying to get hold of the supply people [I know there is a technical term for them too but I can’t think what it is] was dreadful. All the phone lines are booby trapped with “press 1 if you want what ever” and so it went on. Being in French made it even worse, but my noble husband soldiered on until he got hold of the correct person and so this morning the cable arrived and we are back in the land of communication. Without my computer I had no way of watching Sav’s wonderful weather updates and so every day has been a surprise. Even without the forecasts I have taken the chance and planted out some seeds for salad etc. In my wisdom or stupidity I had been feeding the birds as the snow a couple of weeks ago left them without anything to eat, so on a trip to the supermarket I spotted wild bird seed and thinking that it was a kind thing to do I bought a huge bag of the blasted stuff. So now the garden is full of bird poop and they are sitting on the fence waiting for a feast on my newly planted seeds. There is no pleasing some birds as they just can’t get enough of a good thing. I was down on my allotment the other day when I had to do a double take as down the road came a man with a horse. No surprise there. But he wore a long coat and a cowboy hat, his horse had panniers and a rolled up blanket attached to the saddle. He looked the spitting image of Clint Eastwood. I thought I had got caught up in the re make of a spaghetti western. Last year a lady and a baby with a donkey walked past and I thought I had gone into a Nativity play. To tell the truth there is a stable next to our allotments and they do B&B, so people come on their treks and the horse is looked after and the people have a roof over their heads …… but we do see some strange sights. I am now going to walk Lil down to the plot as Mike is planting potatoes and Lil wants to go out and stretch her legs. So I will love you and leave you and will return in June with more odd goings on up here. Maybe I’ll see John Wayne next time. |
