…having spent a week prancing through Provence, I have returned full of high spirits and a ridiculous enthusiam for all things Provencal – goats cheese, wine, beautiful roses, astonishingly good bread, pale blue shutters, fields of lavender, beautifully aged antiques and billowing white laced linen…
…and a few heavenly rainbow macaroons…
…it was with some reluctance that we boarded the plane back to overcast England, however it was strangely marvellous to drive down our old, bumpy track to be reunited with our faithful dogs and feathery chicks. I also felt a child-like surge of excitement at our ever-growing vegetable patch, spying new potato shoots and huge lush cabbage leaves.
Our trip away was made considerably easier by the wonder woman that is The Chicken Nanny. Visiting our home both day and night, she lovingly tended to the girls and loyally watered my vegetables and flowers – she really is a modern day fairy, visiting at night and doing all sorts of good deeds. Coming home to a sparkling coop, 7 full egg boxes neatly lined up in the barn, and the girls running to greet us was a wonderful welcome. I’m assuming they missed us for they have taken to sitting on the front door step causing a bit of a feathery nuisance.
Returning home rather grubby from a hot airport to find there was no running water has been a summer highlight. The novelty of bathing a baby in mineral water and giving the poor animals a slurp of Evian to drink soon waned after 3 days. Joy of joys when it came back on – it has certainly made me think how much we depend on water for absolutely everything and has made me inwardly promise to be less wasteful with water…well I will once I have given my vegetables a good dousing….
…on that note our vegetable patch is certainly thriving and we have already sampled our first deeply red strawberries – well, one strawberry, cut into 5 pieces, and passed around the table triumphantly for all to try…
We have also been making delicious stir frys using the young green leaves from our cabbages, stirfrying them with the bright green shoots from the growing onion tops and lots of fresh ginger, garlic and chilli…
How wonderful to come back to all that veggie booty! Very jealous! Hope Provence was delicious xxx