maison lettre

2013-02-04T09:48:00.001+01:00

Wow. We just had a comment on this blog, which hasn't been used for 4 years. Indeed, I was surprised to find it still existed! If you'd like to follow us to where we are now, then we switched to using Facebook a while back - click here to make the leap... Good bye G & L

Salad Days

2009-11-22T17:54:00.004+01:00

One of my greatest surprises is the beauty to be found in polytunnels!

Infamous infrequency

2009-11-22T15:37:00.003+01:00

Even for our infamously infrequent blog, I know that we've been remarkably inactive!

A number of things have contributed to this...

1) Sloth - hey it's winter, we're nearly hibernating!

2) We're not actually hibernating at all. In fact we're very busy, but European cross-border legal directives (Lindsay) and LP Gas association annual reports (Guy) are not really what this blog is about.

and lastly... 3) Techno-hassle (to quote Neil from The Young Ones - yes, we are that old, and no, it wasn't in black and white). I've been trying to set up automated publishing to our new Facebook page and to date have had little success. I think I may have just cracked it, though - with a FB application called NetworkedBlogs, for those who might be interested.

So hopefully this will auto-publish into Facebook and I can get blogging again. I do actually have a few things I want to post.

But don't hold your breath - see points 1 and 2, above.

Stalled Movie Distribution Career

2009-09-18T12:17:00.006+02:00

I've just been trying to upload a slideshow movie that I've made of the Mas des Grand'Terres highlights, but it keeps crashing halfway through uploading. So, instead, here are a few of the stills used to compile the movie, showing a few of this summer's new features...

I've been framing some of my best photographs of Provence and hanging them in the gîtes.

The tractor shed upgrade is now complete, with floaty curtains, rehung tractor portraits, new lighting and a new floor, plus rustic wooden wall cladding.

See. I haven't had my feet up all summer!

Doh!

Storms and Shocks

2009-08-30T13:14:00.003+02:00

We had our first summer storm a few days ago and after an hour of heavy ran, the sun came out and steam began to rise from the garden. This reminded me of some pictures that I'd taken a year or so ago and I went back to look at them again. Here they are...

I was (pleasantly) shocked to see how much change has happened in the garden since I took this shot back in June 2008. Here's the same scene now...
Obviously, the grass is looking a little less lush, as it's the end of August and it hasn't been rained on since May (excepting the storm). But haven't the pampas grasses grown? Not to mention the cherry tree halfway down on the right. And it's hard to imagine that we've only had our pergolas for just over a year. You can see the posts were in in June ’08. Now the spiky garden is already looking very established around the pergola with the siesta bed in it...

Olive Grove

2009-08-10T11:35:00.004+02:00

This olive grove lies at the foot of the cliffs upon the top of which the 'village perché' (perched village) of Les-Baux-de-Provence sits. This photograph was taken from the ramparts of the medieval castle as the sun sank lower in the late afternoon.

Picasso Underground

2009-07-29T12:35:00.003+02:00

I've written about the Cathedrale d'Image at Les Baux before... a rolling sound and light show in the disused bauxite quarries hollowed out of the centre of the Alpilles hills.

This year's theme is Picasso. Rather than present his work chronologically, it explores various themes that ran throughout his life - his women, war, bulls and minotaurs, and so on.

It's impossible to geta a clear impression of what the show is like with a hand held, still camera. (These are just a stab in the dark - literally.) Images cross-fade and juxtapose all around you, immersing you in them. That combined with the rough hewn nature of the quarry walls, makes this an ideal way to explore the work of the master cubist.
It's 45 minutes, offers an extremely cool respite from the fierce Provençal heat and we urge every one of of our visitors to experience this unique and inspiring spectacle.

Sunrise, Sunflowers

2009-07-24T10:14:00.004+02:00

I got up at dawn yesterday to go and photograph the sun's first rays as they hit the sunflowers growing near Tarrascon, about 15km south from our place, between Avignon and Arles.

The low angle of the first sun rays makes the light amazing - causing the sunflowers to glow.

And if any body doubts that sunflowers face the sun, they definitely face East to greet the rising sun as is shown here.

If you'd like to see more of these shots, click on the title of this post to link to our Picasa web album.

Trumpets of Jericho

2009-07-22T15:03:00.006+02:00

The Bignone has just flowered down at the second pergola. It's common name in French is Trompettes de Jericho - Trumpets of Jericho.

(Other) Festival time again

2009-07-13T18:23:00.003+02:00

It's festival time again and the principal activities of our village festival are drinking Pastis and avoiding bulls!

Unofficial, all-inclusive bull avoidance takes part in the streets. I'll try to take some pictures tomorrow.

The more organised bull avoiding is in the village arena, where the Provençal version of bull- fighting takes place. The bulls are not killed. In fact it's more dangerous for the 'Razateurs' who try and cut small string rosettes from the bulls' horns. I've put togethr this little slide show to give an impression of 'Les Courses Camarguaises'...

Festival Time Again

2009-07-10T13:22:00.003+02:00

The Avignon Festival started this week. I haven't had tome to go into Avignon just yet, so I thought I'd put up some shots I took at last year's festival to give a bit of flavour....

Bulls' heart steaks "Margherita"

2009-07-09T11:11:00.005+02:00

We've been buying Coeur de Boeuf (Bull's heart) tomatoes at the farmers' market in Velleron. They are aptly named - heart shaped and enormous, and you can cook hem like meat. They're sweet and flavourful and their flesh is so firm that they can be sliced and grilled on the barbecue.

The other night, we cooked them in just that way and then tossed torn fresh mozzarella and basil leaves over them and finished with some good olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Delicious!

The combination of tomato, mozzarella and basil is called 'Margherita' after the classic pizza topping named Margherita after the queen of Italy, because of its red, white and green colouring; the colours of the Italien flag.

A Purple Patch

2009-06-30T06:59:00.002+02:00

At the end of June, it's a purple patch that we go through. The lavender and perovskia are really going for it and they have been joined by the agapanthus now.

Here they're mixed with cosmos (pink daisy) and berberis for contrast.

And we've got another purple patch going beside the pool (above) with a low growing bed of ageratum, alysum, verbena and lobelia (not in shot).

The perovskia (Russian Sage) provides a great back ground to these dark red hollyhocks too.

Shooting the Cat

2009-06-27T23:06:00.003+02:00

It's not easy, photographing the cat, you know.

Especially when it's a wild one that's adopted you.

She'll let us pet her now, but it took a long time to gain her confidence.

And perseverance pays off in the end.

Lindsay has named her Sweetie-Pie.

She doesn't come in the house. But she does catch mice so she's welcome to stick around!

Roussillon

2009-06-25T14:03:00.005+02:00

This is Roussillon in the Luberon. Until the beginning of the 20th century it was a centre of pigment mining. The pigments were used for paints of all kinds, and Rousillon is a good advertisement for its own product as all of the houses are rendered with various tints and shades of the local red rock.

Indeed, I am told that Roussillon means red earth in the old language of the South of France.

Les Sentiers des Ochres, Roussillon

2009-06-25T13:35:00.009+02:00

These cliffs are the old ochre works in Roussillon. In the 19th Century natural pigments were mined from these hills.

The disused quarries, called "Les Sentiers des Ochres", are now open to the public. The circuit takes about an hour and a half.

First you descend the stairs into the bowl of the quarry.

The cliffs glow with intense reds, yellows and pinks.

Strange pillars of stone are left standing. Perhaps the rock in these columns was not rich enough in pigment to warrant cutting?

Gorges de la Nesque

2009-06-13T10:39:00.006+02:00

Yesterday we went walking in the Gorges de la Nesque. Here we are resting at the bottom of the cliffs that we'd just dropped down to along a steep, narrow and twisty track.

This is the Nesque itself, right down at the bottom of the gorge. In the height of summer, at this point it will completely submerge and only run underground through its gravel bed, which makes crossing easier.

... Lindsay and Ruth making the treacherous crossing!

This is the path back out of the gorge...

Another rest

For more pictures of the Gorges de la Nesque, including the little 12th Century chapel at the bottom, look at our Picassa album for pictures that I took last year when I was there with a group of guests.

Spiky Garden

2009-06-02T11:45:00.005+02:00

This is an allium christophii blooming in May in our Spiky Garden. I've just found that its common name is Star of Persia. I can see why. I, however, having forgotten the latin name over the last year, have been calling it the football flower because its large, spherical flower heads are almost as big as a football.

Just next to it is an Acanthus, also in bloom. Its tall, architectural spikes of flowers reach about 1m50 (5ft) in height. And along side them are two red hot pokers...

I reckon it's pretty obvious why I call it the spiky garden!

I've planted the spiky garden to surround one of our shady pergolas. Along with the acanthus, red hot pokers and alliums, I've mixed in several grasses, gladioli, agapanthus, rosemary and honeysuckle for year round interest.

At the moment, our antique iron day bed is under the pergola and the honeysuckle with its heady perfume is blooming too. All of which makes this an ideal spot to put your feet up and chill for a while...

New Pool

2009-05-30T14:00:00.009+02:00

So it's been some time coming, but here it is; our new swimming pool.

And very chuffed we are with it too!

It sits in the same position as our last pool, just adjacent to the house. But it's one-and-a-half times as long - 12m or 40ft.

It's been finished since the second week in April, but we then had a lot of work to do in fixing up the garden to have the pool presentable for our first guests who arrived on May 4.

When it was finished, after the passing of various diggers, delivery lorries and a pile driver, our courtyard looked like this!

3 weeks, 12 tonnes of gravel, 5 tonnes of “clapisette” (a fine powdered limestone, from which our paths are made) and an enormous amount of hard graft from us and Debbie, and it looked like this at the beginning of May...

If you look hard enough, you can see that the grass that Lindsay and Debbie had seeded only 2 weeks earlier was only just coming in and that the flower beds were bare.

This is what it looks like now.

I think we have the right to a little feeling of chuffedness?

Jerusalem Artichoke and Carrot Soup

2009-04-18T07:01:00.006+02:00

Debbie made the soup, I Polloked it up!

Here's a soup that our friend Debbie made. It's simple but delicious...

1 onion chopped and fried in olive oil. Then add equal amounts of peeled and diced carrots and Jerusalem artichokes, fry a little more and then cover with water and boil until the veg is soft and mushable, then mush it. Add more water to gain your preferred viscocity, bring back to the boil, and serve.

I added drizzles of pistachio oil, to bring out the nuttiness of the Jerusalem artichokes, a little cream, to add a little richness, and a good grind of black pepper, for spice. It all looked very Jackson Pollock.

Jerusalem artichokes are called topinambours in France. They have a bit of a reputation as poor people's food here, as it was all that was available abundantly during the winter months of the war, so older people tend to shun them. They also have a reputation for causing flatulence! (Although we've never noticed the effect.) So another name for this picture is "Art for Fart's Sake"!

The nicest photograph of a polytunnel that you'll see this side of tomorrow (probably)

2009-03-07T16:42:00.004+01:00

I took this yesterday evening, out walking our friends dog. If you'd like to see more, you can in this Picassa album.

Hibernation Over

2009-03-05T09:23:00.004+01:00

Hi. We're back! Nothing much happens over the winter apart from we knuckle down and get on with graphic design, legal consultancy etc. None of which is particularly bloggable.

Actually it's been a particularly wet and cold winter, with over six inches of snow on the Vieux Port in Marseille at one point! We got away skiing a few times. A good snow year, that's a positive.

But the garden's stirring now and the Euphorbia seems first to have woken.

Expect Mimosa and Almond blossom soon and then the whole thing starts all over again.

Things to look out for in the next few weeks:

Snow chez nous, skiing photos and our new pool! (Just being finished, pictures at the end of the month.)

Supernature

2008-11-17T13:07:00.005+01:00

These images were made by nature....wonder if you can guess what they are....answers below the photos......

Number 1 - Lizard skin? Someother reptile? In fact when we dismantled the above ground pool that we have, this pattern was impregnated in the carpet under the liner. It's the mosaic pattern from the liner photosynthesised into the white carpet by the sun and algae...wierd.
Number 2 - when I took the dark red cover from the wrought iron daybed, this is the pattern bleached into the fabric by the sun.....art - who needs it....

Hanging in there

2008-11-15T16:36:00.006+01:00

This little chap was clinging to our door the other day. He's a tree frog and they seem to have colonised the garden. They're very cute and make lots of noise, sounding remarkably like ducks when they get going and give us a proper frog's chorus. Here's what he looks like the right way up.

Blooming October.....

2008-10-20T12:11:00.003+02:00

The end of September and the first two weeks of October were glorious but today, there's a definite chill in the air. I suppose we are approaching the end of October, but I'm a little disappointed all the same. We normally manage warm, sunny afternoons until the end of the first week in November.

Despite the chill, the roses are giving us a last, glorious blast of colour. I took these photos this morning. Wonder how much longer the flowers will last....when they go, winter will officially be here.