New paths

I’m just back in from clearing a path in the forest: it’s the one that links our house and the first house 300 metres down the mountain, le Buisson.   It’s also the path that our neighbour Jean Daniel uses for his horse riding.   And boy were there brambles. And creeping Spanish broom, and small oak trees in the path. So I took a stout pair of loppers and launched in.

An hour later I’m back with a happy, sweaty smile and two wasp stings. I must have wandered close to a nest and the wasps went straight for the gap between my hand and the leather gloves. Ouch.

It didn’t sting for too long, but I am about to launch into some anti histamines as my hand is quite sore.

But the other news on the path front is the one that Nicolas made yesterday. Swift and chic work. This is the new little path that sits above the gite and leads to a new secret garden above the road. A sloping terrace with all sorts of possibilities. Especially now we can reach it without having to trek to the top of the property and slither down the other side.

And how about this for a great day’s work?  The new terrace bank is complete. Enormous logs brought down, pegs whittled and hammered in (sometimes bashing through the rocks underneath). And soil added.   I’m just itching to draw up a plan and see what needs to go where. More sedums, more grasses, lots more flowers for the future.   I can’t wait. But first I’d best get chipping so I can cover these newly created beds and prevent weeds. I’m not ready yet.