First beetroots

Sunday morning has been spent weeding and mulching in the vegetable patch with the children. We pulled up some wonderful beet root ready to be roasted for Sunday lunch.

More cherries, this time from my favourite tree. Perhaps I will make a cherry pie for pudding?

The most enormous lettuce! I need to remember to plant some new ones this week for continual cropping.

We have also been doing the important job of writing birthday invitations for my eldest daughter. Her birthday isn't until August but here in France the children break up for school holidays very soon and so we need to hand them out before this happens. The invitations are so pretty!

La Ruche

How cool is this? The first beehive at La Cannonerie has been installed and I am so excited. I loved keeping bees back in England but then circumstances got in the way (being pregnant, a hard winter that killed off a lot of my hive, an impending house sale). It was always one of the things I wanted to get back into once we were settled here. Mr L bought me a new hive of Brother Adams bees for my birthday and we collected them from Sainte Hermine today. All 20,000 +

They were pretty cross after the drive home so I waited until this evening to let them out. In all my excitement I didn't quite do up my suit hood properly and immediately got stung on the neck. Lesson well and truly learnt (again).

Bizarrely, this wasn't my only dealings with bees this week as a swarm landed on the neighbours cognac vines. He asked me if I would be interested in removing them so I scurried up the road in my bee suit with my bucket and tools in hand. It all worked out ok and so hive number 2, which is much smaller, have been put into a nucleus box I borrowed from another neighbour. This is all good for next years honey production.

Here is a bees-eye view of me in my suit!

Bon weekend! 

From the garden....

Lettuces, artichokes and courgettes.

Spinach and a few raspberries.

Armfuls of cherries and still more to pick. I've been busy using my dryer this week. Dried cherries are so delicious.

I bought three new Legbar chickens. They are only 10 weeks old so too young to lay but the very nice lady who I bought them from gave me a few blue eggs to take away so this is what my egg basket should look like in the future. 

Around...

A major thing that happened this week was that one of the huge stone arches was opened up. We had all of the permissions in place to do this months ago and I know my husband has been looking forward to the challenge. We need to reuse some of the stone that was coming out of the arch for a new window in one of the gites so it was put to the front of the jobs queue. It looks amazing and such an improvement. We are going to use this lovely open barn area as a relaxing, chilling out of the sun place for guests staying and you get a great view of the house from inside.

The enormous main gates also had a makeover and got the sandblasting treatment.

We drank a little of this, Raspberry with Cognac, in our fizz at the weekend. It's so delicious and made by a local friend's Uncle. This bottle is left over from in birthday and its so good!

We also commenced the cherry harvest on Saturday morning with the kids. We only have a few trees but they are full. These two baskets are from the smallest, but best one, and weighed 14kgs. Jam making ahead this week.

Produce from the garden today....

Spinach, radishes and strawberries. 

Homemade Smoothie Lollies

You've got to love them! All natural fruity goodness, no aspartame and none of that horrible formaldehyde stuff that is hidden in cheap ice creams to make them soft scoop.......i mean really?! It's just gross..... anyway we opt for smoothie deliciousness. You can't beat it on a hot day. 

Pirate Party

My Wiksten Tank Top

So here I am in my Wiksten top that I made. Pretty pleased with it. What do you think?

Pirate Treasure

This is what my desk currently looks like. The girls and I have been making sweetie bags for the upcoming pirate party and for the birthday girl's class (it's a bit of a ritual that if its your birthday you take a couple of sweets for each of your fellow classmates, as well as cake and a juice drink - I think its a lovely idea but also wanted to make it special so included a photo and a bow)

Somehow, I also found time to finish my Wiksten tank top so photos coming....yay!

We have been.....

Testing cake for Saturday's Pirate Party.

Picking Artichoke's from the vegetable garden.

Drinking Mango, Lychee and Strawberry Bellinis with friends who are staying with us from England for a few days.

And making delicious scones with lovely organic flour.

Making something from nothing......Breadcrumbs

Ages ago when watching an episode of River Cottage Hugh, suggested freezing old chunks of bread to bring out whenever you want to make breadcrumbs. Great idea I thought but I upgraded it by whiz zing up the bread into breadcrumbs and then freezing them, which makes it even easier. With a good stash on standby its much faster to rustle up something to feed the hungry kids. 

Voila!