The "été indiene" is continuing and despite an early morning nip in the air we are having some lovely sunny days - Trevor is continuing to swim ( at 18 degs I'm giving that a miss) - and the recent rain has softened the ground enough to plant bulbs and the garlic so we have had a busy day outdoors. New window boxes have been planted up to replace the fading geraniums and some serious pre winter tidying has begun.
Yesterday I decreed was my "stir up Thursday" so today the Christmas puddings were steamed - all very English I hear you say, on the other hand the other task today ( and decidely more French) was bottling the nut wine - a local treat made with green walnuts (traditionally collected between the fete de St Jean and 14th July) and red wine. It's not to everyone's taste ( someone once described it to me as tasting like Benylin) but I really like it especially when used to make fénelon.
So tonight's aperitive was the first fénelon du maison of the year ( nut wine , creme de cassis topped up with red wine) - and very acceptable it was too.
There are some cooler nighttime temperatures forecast for next week so it won't last but this week I'm enjoying the burst of late summer roses and outdoor lunches.
Aiçi sén pla
