Quiet June 2020

Farm and Grange new parking area

More of the same this month with restrictions relaxed, we can now travel and visit shops.  School is mandatory (two weeks) until the summer holiday from 23rd June.  The kids are looking forward to seeing their friends.  Bizarrely Tom has to wear a mask, Charlie and Evie not.  Probably due to Tom's school having lots of teachers and 300+ students, the others one teacher, a teaching assistant with a maximum of 30 pupils.  The 150 coronavirus outbreaks in France, since relaxing the rules are under control, while the USA have slowed down testing (no tests, low positive results, Trump again!) and seem to be having major outbreaks after opening up the country way too early.

Evie will start pony riding on Saturday.  Ping pong for Tom has a maximum of eight players, rugby as a contact sport has not restarted and I am not sure it will happen this year.

Steps to Apartment

This month has seen a flurry of activity with the removal of crazy paving at our house, digging two French drains filling, with pipe and filing with gravel from in front of the Grange and Farmhouse.  We then used a mini-pel (digger) to spread 20+ tons of granite chips.  The steps to the apartment have been installed and the road to the barn has new cemented bricks to hold back the grass and granite chips, we will put down a plant membrane before another eight tons arrives next week to complete the road and steps.  The result transforms La Bastide and ties in all the areas, with easier parking and proper road to turn vehicles.

Apartment south view...stunning especially
when the field is planted with sunflowers

Bathroom with bath

Kitchen finishing touches

The apartment has been completed with tiled splash back in the kitchen, new Hisense refrigerator and dishwasher installed. The great news is that the interior is very cool, and a pleasure to be in with the outside temperature at over 30 degrees.  The terrace and pergola will be built over the next few weeks and the exterior walls cladded in Douglas wood to complete the final gite.  I think it will have the best view as south facing and lower than our house.  We had a minor water leak in the apartment with a faulty copper fitting, quickly replaced under warranty by Lionel the always smiling plumber.

Second bathroom

The farmers have been busy with tractors and combine harvesters everywhere on the roads.  They are bringing in the garlic crop and cutting wheat fields.  There is a pungent garlic smell in the air.  I have run into tractors a few times which means backing up or moving on to the verge, which normally has a huge ditch at the side!

The kids have enjoyed the pool this month with very hot days, perfect to cool off in the 26 degrees water, the pool however rose to 34 this week...time for the pool cover to stay off, great for a late evening swim, but I like it around 28 maximum for a refreshing daytime swim.  The solar farm has been strimmed and we have removed all the overgrown shrubbery from around the pool room.  This will be replanted later in the year.  We have picked cherries and apricots, eaten straight off the tree or made into smoothies and cakes.  Evie made chocolate cookies for a sleepover, yum.

Cherry plums at Cambournet

As Evie is riding again after three months,  I took the opportunity to walk to a hide overlooking a lake at Cambournet sur le Sor.  On the way I saw a frenetic weasel, turtles sunning themselves, black kite and cattle egret.  There is a large heronry viewed from the hide with over twelve pairs of heron and thirty plus cattle egrets, all the nests built in about six trees and bushes. Very noisy.

Verbena outside laundry room

Scarce swallowtail

Due to the Coronavirus lockdown, I have collected self seeded plants around La Bastide and either potted them or planted in borders.  The Verbena Bonariensis came as an addition to a potted Azalea from Weybridge that died in the heat.  It is one of my favourite flowers and attracts lots of bees and butterflies such as the scarce swallowtail (fairly common) and fabulous hummingbird hawk moths.

Closeup

We ended the month with Evie's friend Anna's birthday party with a typical outdoor socially distanced Apéro.  Our first guests arrived to stay in the Grange for a few weeks, 30+ degrees, gardens looking fabulous, pool crystal clear and surrounded by clear blue skies.  What a great way to relax from all the madness in the world.