Work and play between the showers!

Everyone tells me its the 'jet stream' , the weather should be fine and hot but the 'jet stream' has pushed the good weather south and brought the bad weather over the UK and most of France.

However life continues and the commune is as busy as ever with the local farmers trying very hard to second guess the weather so that the hay, animals and the crops survive.

Last week the local orchestra from Clion came to visit so Friday evening was spent listening to an excellent selection of tunes and enjoying a glass of wine with local pastries.

You will of course notice that the ochestra is surrounded by farm equipment and yes that's a combine harverster behind the trombone player.

The renovations of the rear wall of the house are nearly complete and I am very pleased with the result.

Its amazing what you can do with a camera, The picture on the left looks like the finished article, but the picture on the right shows that work is still underway and hopefully the roof terrace (where the blue plastic is located) will be finished before the end of the summer and the scaffolding will be down after several years!!!!

The variable weather has its benefits in that our strawberries and other fruit is available in abundance. Maureen has made 19 jars of absolutely mouth watering strawberry jam and another 8 jars of gooseberry and elerflower jam. Fortunately both gooseberries and elderflowers were available together unlike last year when Maureen had to use elderflower cordial.

Its only the end of June so I can see that the store cupboard is going to be well stocked with jams before the end of the year. Just as well we supply the cottage guests - Maureen's strawberry jam with nice fresh breakfast bread or warm croissant - lovely.

Next up she tells me it's the turn of the blackcurrants which are just about ready for picking.