Hay Time

One of great joys of living in a farming village is watching the seasons change and the repeating cycle of farming tasks.  This last week it has been the turn of hay making.  I wrote about it here last year but couldn't resist the temptation to post some more pictures of this years work.

This was the hay field before mowing - full of buttercups and grasses.

I know I'm biased but to me this is one of the best views in the world; words cannot describe just how much I love looking at it.

Mowing begins.

 Hay bales drying in the sun.

The Nu checks out the quality of the farmers work - she approved.

 The field was even more delightful in the golden light of the summer evening.

 Look at the quality of that light - gorgeous.

 In the next field over we have some equally photogenic cows to delight us.

Breathing in deeply and sighing hugely in contentment.

Sometimes it's the simplest things to be grateful for.

Arrakis, also known as Dune

Friday night and one of Jean-Luc's favourite films is on.  Dune, based on Frank Herbert's novel of the same name.  Made in 1984 by David Lynch; this sci-fi epic had a stella cast including Jurgen Prochnow, Max von Sydow, Sian Phillips, Francesca Annis, Patrick Stewart and Freddie Jones, not to mention a young Sting.

The film is an epic Game of Thrones type story set on a desert world.

The next day Jean-Luc and I took advantage of the glorious weather and went to a local National Trust site, where, like two children, we spent three happy hours wandering the woods, beach and sand dunes quoting cheesy lines from the film at each other.

I make no apologies for the following pictures of Wormsign, the Great Erg and other silly things.

 Dune!

The Great Erg depression - we navigated our way round the edge of this dangerous territory.

Wormsign - Usul has not called a big one!

Only the Fremen can walk the deep desert.

And then thankfully we got to the other side of the dunes and saw this....

 

Miles and miles of lovely  beach 

 And the sea - deep breath and sigh.

We pottered along the shore, beach combing and enjoying a brisk exfoliation from the wind and sand and then headed back inshore for a picnic of sandwiches, salad and fruit, all lovingly prepared by Jean-Luc, (sadly devoured before I even thought to take a photo).

Once we were back in the sandy grasslands I got my own geek on and did some plant spotting.  I haven't done any plant surveying for about 15 years but was thrilled to recognise some of these beauties.

Hounds-tongue, a relative of Borage

 Hairy Birdsfoot Trefoil

 Wild Asparagus

Storksbill, a relative of Cranesbill geraniums and Herb Robert.

Little pink stars scattered across the sand.

We moved into the woodlands and saw.....

Alkanet

 White Campion

 Red Campion 

and the gorgeously named Spring Beauty.

Tired, happy and full of fresh air we made for the obligatory ice cream and the knowledge of a day well spent.

Blue and Green should never be seen...

... of course they should; especially in a bluebell wood in May!

Bank Holiday Weekend and Jean-Luc and I headed off to one of our favourite places for a walk.

Imagine our delight to find the woods were full of bluebells.

The scent was delicious.

 The camera doesn't do justice to the colour - a dusty, deep blue that verges on violet set against the most vibrant spring greens all set in dappled light.

Hmm I feel quilt inspiration coming on. :-)

 We wandered off our usual route and went exploring and found this lovely beach with a very picturesque stream and bridge running down into it.

We walked through beautiful spring woods and picnicked by the side of the reservoir; sadly the camera ran out of battery so we only have a few pictures of a glorious day.

We followed the streams from the reservoir and came to the river that runs through the wood; it wends it way through sedimentary rocks and boulders creating channels and mini rapids and pebble beaches.

Beautiful, serene and completely enchanting.

 

Recycling

Jean-Luc has been busy recycling over the last few weekends.

It started when he went to mow the lawn at the Bank Holiday weekend at the beginning of May; only to find that the shed was leaning so much that he could barely get the door open far enough to reach the rake but definitely not the lawn mower.  

The shed had been engaged in a slow collapse ever since we moved in and had spent most of its life with us wrapped up in blue tarpaulin in an attempt to keep the rain off.

Jean-Luc decided its time was up and so down it came.

We piled the wood in the yard and then Jean-Luc had a brain wave.

'You know I was going to use pallets to build that compost heap?  Well that wood's only rotten at the ends so I'll use that.'... and so he did.

After some careful measuring and work with the jigsaw there was a back, sides and centre wall.

It was cuprinoled and the lids were added.

The little pegs you can see drying inside are to hold the slats that make up the front in place.

Jean-Luc then felted the lids.

Notice how the lids slope from front to back to shed rain off the lawn - brilliant.

And here's the finished bin -  the pegs hold in the front slats that are movable to enable me to add material without taking the lids off.  When the time comes for turning or emptying I can easily remove the front and top to get at the compost.

Simples.

The much smaller pile of waste wood.

It's amazing what you can do with a tape measure, a saw, some nails, screwdriver, bolts and a very able and talented man.

Jean-Luc - carpenter and wonderful husband-type guy.

Hereagain, Goneagain, Backagain

Well that was a bit of an unintended break!

I suddenly found myself without any inspiration to write.

And then I woke up this morning and though ' Oh for goodness sake, pull yourself together and get on with it'; so I have.

In the Interregnum Jean- Luc and I took a much needed holiday.  After a winter of what seemed continuous virus's plaguing us and a very hard time at work for Jean-Luc, we decided to set off for warmer climes.

We went here.....

 This is Mahe, the largest island of the Seychelles.  Beautiful doesn't even begin to describe it.

Granite islands covered with rain forest, ringed with palm fringed white coral beaches and turquoise seas.

I say turquoise, actually it's every colour of blue and green you could imagine.

 Massive granite mountains sheltering outcrops of rainforest.

 Lush rain forest full of bamboo stands, lianas, vines and exotically coloured flowers.

 

Views that would make the gods of Olympus weep with joy.

 Sunsets of sheer perfection.

This is taken from a bar that overlooks Beau Vallon beach.  We would go and drink beer here most evenings just to watch the sun set.  The sheer magic of watching the sky catch fire over a silver sea and then slowly fade to indigo night was breath taking.

Beau Vallon beach market.

The Seychelles has some of the most delicious food you will ever taste.  Fishing is a massively important trade here and we often bought dinner from the beach stands of freshly caught and cooked fish and home made fruit juices; along with eye watering chilli sauces and wonderful chutneys.

We came back refreshed and relaxed; the bronchitis which had been plaguing me disappeared by our second day in the warm, soft air and our frazzled nerves were healed by two weeks of life at a much slower pace.  I learnt the Seychelloise saunter - vital in a place of over 90% humidity and over 30 degrees C temperature.  We also learnt you can never drink enough water and that wet flannels kept in the fridge overnight are the greatest luxury after a walk in the rain forest.

More of this beautiful place later .... interspersed with more everyday happenings.