Tomatoes Galore

We now have a glut of tomatoes, far more than even Bryan can eat! - so I have been kept busy making tomato sauces and chutney's to save for when we sadly run out. I have also harvested the red onions and garlic which I have used in the recipes too.  One of my next jobs is to take lavender cuttings to increase the amount of plants we have so that in autumn we can put them down each side of the driveway through what will be our little holiday park. The ones I planted earlier this year have been stunning and the Butterflies just love it.

Bryan is still plodding on with the roof on villa 2.  We now have it felted and lathed and roof tiles are on half of it. It is a big job to do alone and I think he will be glad when it is finished and we can work inside in the shade (note to self - on the next house the roof will be done in winter !).  Once the tiles are all on we can fit the windows and doors. Phew, then its down to the wiring and plumbing - Oh joy.......

La Picholine

One of our photo shoots over the last few weeks has been to take pictures for Laurent Miquel wines at Cazal Viel for their new web site. They kindly donated us a bottle or two of their red wine, to try, and it is amazing.  It is sold all over the world and can be found in the UK in Waitrose, Marks & Spencer, Tescos and Wine Rack. If you get chance to try some I can assure you that you won't be disappointed.

We have had visitors last week of some of our 'little people' and it was lovely to spend time with them. But of course they too were set to work, breaking up all the old blocks and roof tiles, with hammers, to make ballast for in the patio. They thought it was fab and it kept them amused for a while. We also spent some lovely afternoons lazing about by the river in St Chinian. Bryan found us a wonderful shady spot with something for everyone. A pool deep enough to swim, excellent paddling and a waterfall.
We are now back to a quiet, calm, tidy house for a couple of weeks until the next lot arrive. I love summer holidays.

The war on weeds is being won - for the moment.  The hot weather has almost stopped them growing and we have bought a new strimmer for me to play with, so most of the stubborn ones have been chopped down.  The (very) early part of my day is spent by watering anything and everything thats growing in the garden. the lawn we seeded is looking a little bit worse for wear with burnt patches. I hope it will green up again. My petit potager is providing us with lots of veg at the moment and Bryan is now happy because the tomatoes are ready to eat. The taste of them are so superior to anything bought in the shops. The courgette has grown a little larger than I thought it would - maybe I had better pick the rest of them a little bit sooner rather than later..

We were going to try to sneak off in the camper for a weekend (before the rest of France descended upon this area) but last Saturday was fete night here so we spent Sunday nursing our hangovers and vowing never again.....But what do you know this Friday is - yes you've guessed it "fete night"..... so we have to do it all over again. It will, no doubt, be another late night ending with a firework display to celebrate Bastille Day. The French sure know how to party.
Last year Bryan went to Carcassone for the firework display to gather stock images for our web site. The results made me wish I had gone too - until he told me how busy it was. I don't think he will be repeating the exercise this year.

We are still plodding on with the 'genoise' (the pelmet around the bottom of the roof) but it's a 5.30am start each day and it's far too hot to carry on after lunch. Afternoons are taken up with office work and post production on the pictures from the last lot of photo shoots.  We are also preparing for visits from a few of our 'little people'.  The pool, dinghy and numerous other playthings are all awaiting. Lets hope they all have a magical holiday.  I can't wait.