Winter snow!

Whist sorting through old photos I came across this photo from 2009, this was before the cottage opened as a gite / holiday cottage and we were still renovating the house. The cottage however looks as good in the snow as in the summer sun although it was very cold. Not unusual to be -12 during the winter months. Apparently it was -17 this winter and the snow stayed for over 2 weeks. Brrrr!

Winter 2009, one of the very few photos we have of les deux platanes in the snow!

200 plants

200 plants on our bathroom window cill

All looking very healthy with strong stems and green shoots

Maureen takes great pride in the garden of les Deux Platanes and our own garden although I appear to take on the responsibility of chief plant watering person during the year! This week we have been to the garden nursery and bought nearly 200 plants for the baskets, pots and flower borders, an increase from previous years so I can only presume the garden will be even more glorious than normal? 2012 is the year of the Queens Diamond Jubilee celebrations so parts of the garden will take on a red white and blue theme. We have also bought a number of new rose bushes which together with new planting undertaken in 2010 & 2011 should look very attractive.

Watering all the plants is not a job for the faint hearted and last year we were using about 110 litres of water per day just for the flowering plants and bushes which is a bit extravagant to say the least. This year we are going to resurrect our automatic drip feed irrigation system which, although it takes a lot of work to set up, uses far less water and delivers the water to the plant rather than the surrounding soil. 2012 also promises to be a dry year so using less water from our well will be important.

I have recently added a few new links to our gite website, the link to the Abbey of Fontevreau, (Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine and Richard are interred there) is particularly informative with lots of detail to help with holiday planning.

My good friend and neighbour Michel presented me with a very nice 1.5 litre bottle of 2008 Saint Nicolas-de-Bourgueil  and during a recent meal with friends in the UK we opened the bottle! It was an excellent wine to accompany a very well prepared Beef bourguignon, Maureen took a few tips from the Michelin chef Raymond Blanc and it was indeed a bourguignon sublime!

Thank you Michel

Queens Jubilee Celebrations

Our many French friends need little excuse to turn any occasion into a dinner date and in the 40 or so years we have been visiting France we can recall being invited to dine in celebration of a wide range of events. This summer however we need little reason to invite all our French neighbours and friends to celebrate the Queens Jubilee. We are planning an 'English' afternoon tea in a large marquee we have bought for just such an event and we are sure everyone will flock to number 20 after receiving the invitation. The text below is in English but this will be translated for the printed invitation.

 INVITATION

Diamond Jubilee Weekend

John and Maureen Hindhaugh would like to invite our neighbours and friends in Le Breuil aux Gittons to an English afternoon tea and a vin 

d’honour to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth 11.

Sunday 3^rd June @ 16.00hrs

20 Le Breuil Aux Gittons

On the Monday we are planning another event that will include a big screen projected programme from the BBC so if you are staying at Les Deux Platanes during the Queens Jubilee weekend you can join everyone for the celebrations. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am sure Maureen will have to produce some Cherries Jubilee

Both the UK and France could have some serious water shortages this summer unless we have rain in abundance in the next six to eight weeks and that is unlikely. Our well is always a good indicator of ground water levels and last year the water level dropped 2 metres and a friends well dried up completely. I think we will have to treat our water supply with some respect this summer rather than taking it for granted.

 

Spring 2012 news

February at last, I hate to wish my life away but I do so look forward to the spring and summer and 2012 promises to be another wonderful year at Les Deux Platanes. The reorganised garden for the cottage and new flower beds will be in full glory this year building upon the planting from previous years. The two large Plane trees received a top cut last year and I am sure this will assist in filling them out further and providing great shade on those hot summer days for the cottage residents. As you will know from looking at the website the cottage is completly self contained with its own parking, gated entrance and gardens so guests are not bothered by other gite users as is the case on so many shared gite complexes. You can all make full use of the garden be it for a barbecue, sitting reading or whatever especially enjoying a nice glass of wine with a good book.

NEW WINE BOOK: The gite has a good selection of books including some excellent books and guides for wine lovers plus charts and maps for those wishing to visit vineyards in all sectors of the Loire region. For 2012 I have bought a new book specifically about the wines of the Loire. Written by award winning author Jacqueline Friedrich and entitled 'Earthly Delights from the Garden of France'. This text, full of background and easy reading for the non specialist provides an insight into the wines of the Sauvignon Blanc category, specifically Sancerre, Pouilly Fume and all the Sauvignon satellites. It also provides guidance on where to visit etc. Jacqueline is so impressed with the wines of central France she intends to write another two books eventually covering the entire region. Winner of the Wine & Spirits book of the year.

WEBSITE UPDATES: We are constantly updating the cottage website with new information and links to help plan your holiday, Maureen has also added some new favourites to the menu for 2012 and provided desciptions for all the main courses available. You will see that we now have links to the L’Hermitage restaurant at Buzançais so you can see the menus before you come on holiday and maybe plan a visit.

CROSS CHANNEL FERRY OFFER: I see that you can now book cross channel crossings for £39 in high season with DFDS and LD lines and remember you can use TESCO vouchers to pay for channel tunnel crossings.


More news soon!

Winter news

Not a lot of activity over the winter months, the cottage is sleeping nicely awaiting the warm spring weather, new buds on the trees and birds all working hard to build the latest desirable residence for a fresh brood.

Ryanair have just announced a new route from Machester to Tours, and Tours is 50 minutes north of Les Deux Platanes and our nearest airport, our son has just reserved a seat in April for just over £20 including all tax etc - now that must be a bargain.

Those following the BLOG will remember that the small field at the rear of our house was seeded in October so hopefully 2012 will see some great grass cover rather than a sea of weeds that formed after the instalation of the new septic tanks and filter in 2007. In fact 2012 should see the finish of all the renovation work in the house and at the rear although the guests staying in the gite would never know that everything was not complete.

I have just bought a new Wi-Fi modem so hopefully this will provide a good signal allowing guests in the cottage to access the internet.

The cottage has 10 weeks booked already so anyone looking to visit in 2012 should take the opportunity to reserve any weeks they would like before its to late!

That's all for now

Mushrooms and Walnuts

Autumn is traditionally the time when the mushroom pickers are out in force, and every year there are the inevitable 'accidents'. In fact our neighbours were caught out recently. They were taking a little 'promenade' through the village, when they spied some lovely specimens and duly took them home and had them for dinner. Unfortunately, they were not the sort you should eat, and they were both taken to hospital where they spent 3 uncomfortable days. So, the Salon de Champignons et Noix could not have come at a more opportune time!
I was asked if I would make some cakes to sell, so I scoured my recipe books and the internet and found a few recipes, and set to. I made some coffee & walnut slices which always seem to go down well whenever I make them, some walnut fairy cakes (or papillon cakes as the French called them), some biscuits and a cherry and walnut cake.

One room was given over to mushrooms and it seemed every mushroom in the vicinity had been picked, identified and displayed for everyone to see by the local mushroom pickers organisation (yes, there is a club for enthusiasts!). There were cards explaining what each variety was, and whether or not it was 'Edible'; 'Leave in the ground' ; 'Toxic'; or 'Mortal' The one eaten by our neighbours was labelled 'toxic'!









Just a few mushrooms on display


Guy ate one of these!

They organised a mushroom picking randonee on Sunday morning, and lots of people came back clutching baskets full of nature's bounty.
The event was well attended, and most of my cakes sold, but I'm not sure they knew what to make of Cuisine Anglais!
As for the mushrooms - well, I think I'll stick to Champignons de Paris from the local shop!

Autumn jobs

You may remember a photo on our blog a couple of weeks ago which showed John and Dominic (our neighbour) being supervised by Poppy as they prepared the drive between our houses. Well, the calcaire (limestone) was delivered last Friday, so John & I set to - with Poppy supervising, naturally - and started spreading it, as the weather was fine and rain was forecast for the Saturday. I discovered muscles I didn't know I had, or thought I had lost! 

The lorry left us 10 cubic metres, but when it was dropped, it didn't look much!

However, once we started moving and raking it we realised there would be enough. 
On Saturday morning, John and Dom finished off and then tamped it down with another neighbour's machine. Doesn't it look good?

                                       
We've also seen a great improvement in the grass on the field. It's still a bit patchy, but by next spring it should be fine. Daniel, the neighbour who helped to prepare it, even suggested it might need a cut before we leave. However, it's been a bit wet lately, so I think we'll leave it.

Finally, the leaves are starting to fall in abundance from the 2 plane trees in the garden, and I seem to spend a lot of time raking them up. Guess who likes to go diving in to the pile? Not John or I, but Poppy chases her ball in there. I've got a video of her, but for some reason it wouldn't upload. I'll try later...