A spring poulain!
Spring is supposed to have arrived, but on some days? I wonder if I made a mistake with the seasons..maybe we are moving into winter? Noo..n..it is spring, surely. In spite of icy weather, we have lilacs blooming profusely, wisterias drooping low with heavy blooms, tulips swaying their hips and young ones grazing in the fields..like our adorable poulette who arrived this weekend.
On Friday night we saw that Gubi was getting restless, walking up and down, snorting, and we knew the hour would not be far. At 3:00 on Saturday morning it started. She lay herself down in the écurie and those first two feet appeared. It was cold out, raining, wet and we piled on the hay so Gubi’s new poulain could enter the world soft and warm.
After an hour of hard work, the process was over and Gubi could take a break, while the poulain found its strength, its breath and while we could also take a breather!
Of course the first thing we searched for…a girl or a boy..and yippeeee..a little poulette…a little girl! We called her Duméla, which is “hello” in Sotho, one of south Africa’s 11 official languages.
As tired as she was, on shaky legs, Gubi raised and took on her role as mother. From that moment on, we hear the sound we haven’t heard before..a gentle, soft throat whinny, which is of course her mothering voice.
Duméla just went from strength to strength and she is already taking a run on those cute long legs.
Mon chéri is of course blooming too! He is surrounded by girls here on Coin Perdu, but does he complain..non..how can he, when he he has only excitement and challenges and happiness around him!
Duméla is today 2 days and a few hours old and cute as a button!
Sleeping, brushing against Maman and drinking that delicious milk freely, is her biggest happiness at the moment. And what can I say, watching them happy and healthy, is our biggest happiness!
à bientôt!
Ronelle
A garden in the making
I love a garden. I love gardening, no question about that. But starting a new garden from scratch…on raw farmland, on slopes, on rocksolid ground makes me re ask the question…do I really…I mean reaallly love gardening. To my own detriment…sigh…unfortunately, yes I do. I do love a garden and I do love gardening. With all its backaches and dirt and broken nails and sunburnt skin. I’m so crazy, I love even that too! and while I complain with utter self pity at night about my aching back and aching elbow, I think of the smell of fresh earth, of the fragrance of fennel and lavenders, the beauty of white Iceberg roses against the dark soil, the chickens digging just as hard as me to reach the abundance of earth worms in the fertile soil. I think of the infusion of camomile tea directly from the garden, the succulent veggies from our potager…and I complain even harder but wit a wide smile, because tomorrow I’ll be out there again, seeking again the sun, the soil, the fragrances and this pain for all the indescribable pleasure it gives me.
..stairs lading to future water feature with potager at the left and garden to the right – 2012..
1..view on the “four à pain” – 2010..
The garden is far from finished and it will change completely again next season. But this is what happens to a garden, at least to mine..all of my gardens I first have to live in it for a while, before I really know what it asks for.
1..view on the “four à pain” – 2012..
2..view on the house – 2010..
2..view on the house -2012..
3..the very first diggings of the potager – 2010..
3..changing the potager – 2011..
3..potager – 2012..
..view on the garden from the potager – 2012..
..white dahlias in the garden – 2012..
..star dahlia among the echinops..
..dahlias, echinops and Gubi..
..white marguerites around the cherry tree..
..whites, greens and greys for the garden, with touches of blue – 2012..
..the work horse for mowing the lawns on our difficult terrain..
..the work horse for making new beds on farm land..
It will probably..no, not probably, definitely still take some time before we can move into our home and before we will be done with mud and stones and dust, but in the meantime, I can at least pick a rose or two for the house and get my daily dose of exercise by daily digging up the magnitude of weeds that takes over the garden the minute I turn my back. I suppose it is just a normal part of this garden in the making at Coin Perdu.
Autumn at coin Perdu
A spectacular show awaited us when we arrived at Coin Perdu to lock up for the winter. Autumn in all its splendour. Our woods next to the house were blazing with colour and the far off hills were winking to be gazed at.
We have locked up for the rest of 2010 and will start work again in spring 2011. In the near future, some posts will appear on our work done in 2010. We have done a lot of work, but not enough to have our house finished and lived in yet…it will probably take us another season to get to that point.
..à la prochaine..
Ronelle
Tokala and Aiyani
Few things are as satisfactoryas filming or photographing animals. So rewarding.
These two cats run their kingdom with a firm hand. They took us into their kingdom a few years back when they were still tiny kittens and today we still serve them happily…
…two kittens sleeping together…
…Tokala discovering a garden…
…ayiani joining in the dicovery…
…tokala’s first snow…
…ayiani’s amazed by her first snow…
…another year in the garden for tokala…
…another year in the garden for ayiani…
…tokala now getting used to snow…
…ayiani now used to snow…
…another year, another photo…
…photos again!…
…my year at coin Perdu…
…and mine…
…a great life in summer 2009…
…oh yes, i agree – bliss!…
An entry for Sundaystills.
My world on a Wednesday.
Wednesday is a day like any other day. My world on a Wednesday is nothing special. so why my world on a Wednesday? I don’t know. No spesific reason. It came into my head. When something comes into my head, I must live it. Voici my world on a Wednesday!
Cleaned uo the garden after coming from from 5 months at Coin Perdu. Met my old friends and new friends among the plants and weeds…famous for their presence in eurpoean gardens.
What did you do on this Wednesday? Nothing? Then create something to do on a Wednesday; go for a walk and pick leaves and go look them up at home; try a new recipe; buy a magazine you have never bought before and read it front to back; arrange one drawer; plant a tiny plant every Wednesday,take a photo of nature every Wednesday, learn 5 words in a foreign language every Wednesday; choose any topic and read up on it for 10 minutes every Wednesday(an animal, a culture, a culture, a country’s history…)…there is a lot to do on a Wednesday, simple things that can be fun and can take only 5 minutes. so. What didyou do on this Wednesday? Do show and tell.
Je vous présente:
…Araneus diadematus(European garden spider)-female…
…fleeing…
A second birthday in the French countryside.
August gave way to the celebration of a second birthdya here at Coin Perdu. This time round, we only took a break in between work for early morning croissants and coffee, a gift, a song and continued later the evening with a meal around the fire…where else!
…starting off the day…
The day started off like any other ay the last few months…old clothes, gloves, work and sweat. But no, nowhere on the chantier(construction site) was I to be seen. After all, I was birthday girl! So for this dayI roamed about in pretty clothes(to be simply translated as clean clothes !)
…brunch…
And for early morning coffee break, we sat in the shade of the walnut tree. Took of the gloves and feasted on croissants and tarte peches.
…froth on a cup…
Gifts were unwrapped…no boughs and pretty paper this year though! In the spirit of the working year, they came clothed in newspaper and wrappings from the brocantes where they were bought. I giggled at the gifts, clearly seeing the attention that was paid to my comments on our stroll at the brocantes.
…olde worlde…
And last, but not least. An end to another birthday here at Coin Perdu. A special day with all my loved ones close to me.
…santé!..
Fire bug..Gendarme(Pyrrhocoris apterus)-Macromonday
In English called a firebug and in French very appropiately called gendarme. The young nymphs don’t have their wings devloped yet, which gives them that difference in appearance(smaller bug top left in photo).
firebug(Pyrrhocoris apterus)
nikon D70 camera with AF micro Nikkor lens 60 mm
An entry for Macromonday
Sound – The bells of Nonards
The bells still ring at the church in the little hamlet of Nonards, echoing across our valley, just to be anwered by the bells of Marcillac la Croze…beautiful!
…love song for esmeralda…
…playing solo…
…duet…
An entry for Sundaystills – sounds.
Lizard (Lacerta vivipara) – Macromonday
While taking a break from loading gravel yesterday, this little baby lizard came into our circle of relaxation. It amused us for quite a while with its typical child like behavior and I could’ve sworn it loved the attention!
Photos taken with Nikon D70 camera and AF micro nikkor lens, 60mm,1:2.8D
…looking to see if we’re looking…
…stopping by Macdonalds…
…playing shy…
…finally a smiling pose…
An entry for Macromonday.
Macromonday – Raindrops
After the good rains of yesterday, this morning’s walk provided many opportunities for photos. Drops on plants and fences, water puddles, the snails were abundant and gay in their feasting, the mud stuck optimistically to my hiking boots, making them heavier with each step and I arrived wet and dirty back home. Nothing a shower and good coffee couldn’t fix.
I played around with some water drops on fences and leaves. Back home I realized there wers some dust particles on my lense which shows up on my photos. I was in no mood to go all the way back and redo it all. So it comes down to living with it. I can do that. A lesson for the future: clean lenses more often.
…water drops on washing line…
…water drops on leaf…
An entry for Macromonday.
Elements of life-water, fire, earth, air and ether.
…water…
…fire…
…earth…
…air…
…life…
An entry for Sundaystills.
Macromonday – Scottish thistle
The Scottish thistle(Onoporon Acanthium) is a wonderful source for photography(and painting!). The cows graze all around them and we walk wide circles around the thistle, but it seems the insects are fearless…
Every stage of flowering has its charm and right now, here in France, they are in full bloom and just starting to burst open to set free those feather light plumes…how can we not revel in its beauty, like the insects obviously do!
…fearless!…
(Shield bug)
…freedom…
An entry for Macromonday
