Sinuous landscaping
This is the job I have been doing while waiting for the Presidential election count. Like many of you this week, I have decided to do something strenuous and involving. And away from my computer screens.
And believe me when I say I have yearned to do this bit of landscaping for a very long time.
This rock pile has been here in front of the house since December.
It has grown. It has caused no end of challenges trying to get past them on the way to the potager. Uphill, trip hazards. Unsightly.
You might have spotted the cafetière on the pile. That was the sweetener for Nicolas.
He thought he was making a low sinuous wall that would link the main one in front of the house with the new extension.
He did it beautifully.
But these were all the stones left over.
(I was pleased to get rid of the last chestnut beam hanging about the courtyard. That became the top of the new garden bed.)
So at the end of a long, but thankfully warm sunny day, he agreed to make a new low wall below this terrace and hide all these holy terrors.
And at last, at long last, I could landscape the whole area.
See that smooth expanse of dirt? That was a rubble field.
I raked, I picked out stones, I hoarded bucket upon bucket of the good soil for the raised beds. I found a cache of gravel under a tarp.
I laboured.
I stood back with an aching back and a big smile.
And then raced upstairs to the new extension to look down on the project from above.
Yes. Feels great. I will be transplanting euphorbias and nepeta to fill out the bed. It is crying out for more lavenders, but I am so disenchanted with the the scraggly look of these mediterranean shrubs I might wait a bit for those.
Meantime I am just delighted with dirt. We can’t sow grass seed because the ants steal all the seeds. So I will have to sow the trays of grass in the potting shed again.
Okay, now I can go back to refreshing my browser and checking on the vote.
6th November 2020 @ 9:45 pm
Oh, Lindy. Your enthusiasm, energy and resourcefulness never fail to leave me smiling and inspired. If ever a home and garden reflects the personality and passion of its owner, it must be your beautiful French retreat. How it has evolved and flourished under your loving watchful care and industry.
You must be feeling so satisfied with this latest project.
I enjoy reading about each one, with the accompanying photos so I can imagine it all much better.
Overseas travel, that we once took as a given, now seems like a far away dream. How the world has changed this past year. I will reply to your personal and lovely message on Messenger over the next few days. I haven’t heard any news today about the US election result. Hoping there is a definite result today. I am over it. If Biden has won, Trump is going to be a bad sport and fight it in the courts, trying to smear the democratic process with all kinds of claims of foul play. How long will that all take!
I am off to the local peony farm for its open day today. A beautiful sunny spring day, a trifle cool but with daylight saving, the mornings take a while to warm up still. I will take my camera of course.
Enjoy a good rest after all your hard work. I wake every morning, serenaded by a continuous loop of songs from my neighbourhood blackbird, proclaiming his ownership of a particular tree across the road. He, also puts in a long day and takes his job very seriously.
Mick and I are going to our local French Patisserie this morning for galettes or crêpes.
More in my private message.
Much love
Your cousin, Marg.
7th November 2020 @ 5:47 am
Dear Lindy, although I didn’t contribute a shred of back-breaking labour to your most recent project, I can feel how gratifying it must feel! Bet you’re glowing with happiness and, yes, pride. I loved the little coffee tray – what a thoughtful perk! Yet again, we’ll done you! Xx Alice