Rose resurrection

Just amazing; the rose in the courtyard has had most of its existence removed with a sharp pair of secateurs and it rewards with two mighty blooms, even in November It was obviously dying for a good prune. Back after a week away and I am just amazed to see all the progress. Parked in the garden are two enormous bulldozers. There is scaffolding on the house, piles of soil and rock everywhere, and even the beginnings of a garden. Well the area behind the pool is now quite something. Such space. Mostly in the shade I think, but it will mean we can do some creative gardening back there. Maybe plant more birch trees too. The one stately tree right behind the pool is lovely and imperious (so much neater than the scruffy chestnuts nearby) and a bit lonely.

I feared the worst about the vegetable garden when David told me about the digging in of the electricity cable. But actually they have missed the onions and garlic bed quite nicely. And we now have a wide path at the bottom of the plot. So there are ideas there. Must go out again and take pictures. The autumn colours have really progressed in just the week I was away. The cherry trees have all turned a subtle shade of orange, and the hills across the valley are fascinating.

I threw a bucket of water on the Daphne which looked a bit droopy on the bottom leaves, (the Mahonia is fine  if a bit shaded by the scaffolding  and am soaking the extra sage and thyme which I lugged over again this month. Reminder to self: avoid the Paris connection. Both the Gare du Nord and the Gare de Lyon smelt of urinals. And none of the escalators up to the platforms were working. Thank god for strong arms. My bags were heavy as usual. And the clumsy drag of bags up steep non- functioning escalators had me yearning for the tidy train connection at Lille.

I ended up weeding the top potager in the dark as the day just raced away. First we had a long, long walk  exploring walking paths, we found a great apple tree on the lower path between our property and the neighbours at Le Buisson. And even noticed where our property began over the bridge. You can tell as the orchard next to us is neat and controlled and then wham   there is a jungle of brambles and saplings and weeds. Only about a hundred metres of land square I think, but it needs tending to. Next year.

We spotted a wild boar up on our walk to the ecomusee (our neighbour’s land –  it’s a good round trip walk through the autumnal forests). Well it looked more erratic piglet than what you would call wild boar. And it pelted off into the woods at our approach. There are lots of hunters around these parts, so it was a good thing the only weapon we were carrying was a camera and a walking stick.

Finished the day with a good walk round with Nicolas. We are planning walls and plotting paths and he is starting at 7am tomorrow. Egad and I am to be his assistant in the stone collecting. Oh boy and I going to be sore tomorrow. But to see progress at last is so invigorating.