Apple blossom in Normandy

 

It's that time of year when the countryside in this part of Normandy is at it's prettiest.

 

 

The cider apple trees in the surrounding orchards are a froth of pink and white

 

 

and the delicately scented flowers never fail to delight!

 

 

Some of the flower buds are the darkest pink 

 

 

whilst others are much paler depending on the variety of the apple.

 

 

Some of the trees here at the gites are old, heritage varieties which are less commonely found these days.  Not far from here is La Maison de la Pomme et de la Poire   at Barenton where you can find out more about the heritage varieties and learn  about the process of cider making as well as having the opportunity to sample some local cider. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add a touch of French Vintage Charm to your life

It has been really exciting this week as Julia and I have opened 

a new Etsy shop called

 Vintage Belle Epoque 

which sells all the lovely vintage treasures we find at flea markets and attic sales. 

Also part of the team is Celestine, who is 'our girl in Paris'.  Celestine has been the inspiration for the shop and she adds a touch of her Parisian flair to Vintage Belle Epoque.

We have got off to a fantastic start as one of our items was selected to be in a 'treasury' on our first day of trading.  We couldn't believe that our lovely blue enamel Number 7 had been spotted so quickly!  These French house numbers are not easy to buy as they are not available in French hardware shops so if you want a new one you have to apply to the local mayors office.  Julia spotted this in a 'brocante' near Villedieu les Poeles.  It was one of our first purchases and so far this Number 7 has been very lucky for us as lots of people have looked at our shop via the treasury, which was compiled by Val  who is a Canadian textile artist.

On Day Two, we sold our first item to Wendy, a lovely Australian lady who adores all things French. We packaged  this brioche mould 'toute suite' and it is now on it's way to the other side of the globe.  I love the way that ETSY links buyers and sellers from all over the world!

If you have a love of vintage 'shabby chic' French style do pop in to our shop and see what we have listed at the moment.  We are adding to our stock all the time and listing items as quickly as possible so we hope you find something to treasure!

Tasmanian Talent

This hand-carved songbird perches on my windowsill. 

 It was made by a guest who stayed at the gites in the Spring

 - just when the the birds in the garden were singing their loudest! 

Chris who has a small farm in beautiful Tasmania, 

carves these little birds from old pieces of fence-post.  

There is a label attached to the bird which reads 

' from a sunny garden in Tasmania to sing to you each day..' 

Chicken of the Woods: a-foraging we will go....

Wednesday morning saw us (me, my neighbour Julia, fledgling forager Libby and Fudge, who is a trainee truffle hunter ) marching off down the lane with our foraging kit i.e. a basket and sharp knife.  Julia had spotted a plump juicy chicken nestling by an old tree trunk.  This was no ordinary chicken but a large, free range fungus!!

Undeterred by electric fences, inquisitive heifers and numerous cow pats we crossed the field and collected several chunks of the large bracket fungus, which is otherwise known as Laetiporus sulphureus.
The sulphurous yellow colour of the underside of the fungus doesn't look particularly appealing but it smelt deliciously mushroomy. So what did it taste like?  Well - a bit disappointing really.  It was quite dry and hard so maybe our 'chicken' was a bit old although it looked young and fresh.  I cut it into pieces and fried it in butter and garlic.  I then added tomatoes to help soften it but although the resulting sauce was tasty, the 'meat' wasn't.  I think we have to find a younger fungus next time!

Fudge thinks she will stick to a nice chunky stick!

Sea Kayaking in Jersey

If you haven't squeezed into your swimsuit for quite a while, the experience of exposing tender bodyparts to the elements might be too much of a shock for the less than (fool)hardy.  Sea kayaking seemed like a good idea at the planning stage but I needed a bit of convincing when told to go down the slipway and put on a wetsuit fully exposed not only to the elements but also to any unfortunate passer by who happened to taking in the sea view.

I tackled the task of getting into the damp, impossibly tight neoprene in stages, so that no part of me was exposed to the rain for an unnecessary length of time, only to be told by Caz, our instuctor, that I'd got it on back to front.....already  I was wishing that I had opted to stay in the nearby, cosy cafe eating freshly made doughnuts.  

The waves were slapping menacingly against the concrete as we hauled the kayaks down to the water's edge.  The brief transition from landlubber to seafarer was daunting but suddenly I was bobbing off towards the open sea trying to remember what exactly we had been told to do with the paddle.  Surprisingly, it seemed calmer on the water than it had done on the shore and the kayak was a lot more stable than you might expect.

Caz was an entusiastic instructor and as we paddled along the rocky shoreline he was telling us how he collects seaweed from the North coast of the island to sell to local restaurants.  'Foraging' for wild foods is suddenly trendy but Richard Mabey was extolling the virtues of eating nettles and other 'weeds' 30 years ago in his book Food for Free. I had a brilliant idea out there at the mercy of the waves - why not  hold 'Foraging week-ends' at the gites so that people can come and collect wild foods and cook them.......watch this space - first of all I need to try them myself.

Back to life on the ocean wave. We explored St Catherines Bay and headed back to shore wishing that we could spend more time messing about on the water.  I'd love to try 'coasteering', which involes making your way around the coast on foot, both in and out of the sea.  All of these activities are organised by Jersey Adventures and are great value for money.

We finished off our adventure with a late breakfast at the 'Breakwater Cafe' overlooking the sea.  Steaming mugs of tea and food that has never tasted so good!