Afternoon tea

Posted by Rosie

Whilst on holiday at Eco-Gites why not really treat yourself and have one of our indulgent afternoon teas, delivered straight to your door at a time to suit you. 

 

Your teatime treat will include:

A selection of home-made cakes, biscuits and scones

Fresh fruit

A baguette

A pot of home-made jam

A bottle of organic “Bubbly” (not the real thing I’m afraid)

A bottle of Orange Juice

A selection of Teas

Afternoon tea

If however, you want to eat your tea elsewhere for the same price I can offer the tea in a traditional wicker picnic basket.

 

Picnic tea

Prices start from €25 for 2-3 people and the teas are available every day except Monday. Please note that I require 24 hours notice to prepare the teas.
Full details are available in the gite.

Snap-shot of a June Day

Posted by Rosie

Outside my window - I can see green grass after the rain of the last few weeks.

I am thinking - I really should be fruit picking but the boys insisted I play Coppit (and then beat me twice in a row)

From my kitchen - I can smell bread cooking (only in a machine but it still smells good).

I am wearing - Green trousers and a rather mucky T-shirt.

I am going - to have to go and remind Simon that it is nearly time to take the boys to athletics.

I am reading - Le journal de Victor Dubray au Viet-nam

I am hearing - Our bottle fed lamb bleating loudly. He would appear to be unhappy with the fact he is now only having 2 bottles of milk a day rather than the three he was having! I have told him they are two larger ones but he doesn't seem to understand!!

Around the house - there is much less mess than normal thanks to a massive tidy I made the boys undertake this morning.  Now I suppose I should tidy up MY mess.

One of my favourite things is - the veg garden which is finally producing a decent amount of veg and LOTS of fruit.

 

And here is my picture for thought -Why is Barney hanging from the top of the swings?

 

When it's 30 degrees in the shade ....

Posted by Rosie

Blaze and Perky keeping cool

....what does any self-respecting piglet do to keep cool? 


Sit in his water trough with his brother of course!!

Fete de la Musique

Posted by Rosie
The French celebrate the longest day (June 21st) with music festivals of all different types in most towns, either on June 21st itself or on the nearest weekend.  Last year there was a bit of a mix up with information - one poster said the music fete at Aunay was on Fri evening, the other said Sat evening - we went on Saturday so guess which was the correct night!! This year we doubly checked the details and went to a different town on June 21st itself .... and we were not disappointed. 

As we arrived in Condé-sur Noireau there was a band playing in the village square but as it was still early there wasn't much else happening. So we toddled off to our favourite restaurant (Les Trois Ecus) for delicious pizzas and then came out to enjoy the 3 bands that were then playing.  All were very different and all very enjoyable.  Tom was particularly impressed to see his music teacher in the jazz band (the lady in the back row) and now he is even more keen to start to learn an instrument.  He fancies the guitar, she wants him to learn the clarinet and I reckon either the violin or flute. I wonder what he'll end up learning?

New Doors

The bakery and garage cum workshop now have new doors, so another step in the right direction, although they do need painting.

Also the garage had an entrance right next to the gite so I have converted that into an outside cupboard/storage space so gite guests can use it.  At the moment a very useful addition for hanging wet rain coats and putting wellies in!

So you've guessed it - it's still raining here.

Bakery - On Going

Ady (our HelpX) and I have had a good run on the bakery and are very pleased with the results.  It was hard work and both of us had aching shoulders from lifting up the stone and mortar mix. We have finished the stone work - mainly due to Ady challenging me to get it done in two days - two very long days (thanks Ady!).  Now have the timber work to do - so doors etc are on the agenda for tomorrow.

When finished it will be a good area for storage and butchery plus Rosie is hoping to get a 'meat safe' in there, so we can hang meat for a few days without flies taking their part in the process.

I only wish Rosie would do an 'anti-rain dance' now, so we can get on without the soaking we got today!

No Pleasing - With the Weather

Ben's New Bed

With quite a few little jobs that had to be done and having to make a bed-cum-desk for Ben's birthday, at the end of May, I have been quite busy. Ben's bed also took longer than planned!  Moving rain water around from filled water butts to various other water containers also seems to have taken a chunk of my time.

But now I have had a chance to get back to the renovation works of the old bakery. Well I would be if the rain stopped! And the good news is I have some help.  We have a HelpX, Ady and he has good experience in building, plumbing, electrical works plus other talents.  So in between the rain showers we are getting on building the walls back up.  The internal block work is done and now we are doing the exterior stone work. One side is now finished and we are working on the gable end.

Old Bakery Works

Due to the rain, we have put the floor boards in and built a sink/work top area.  And we have finished one or two other 'out of the rain' jobs but we are running out of indoor jobs unless I start on a whole new project - which I don't want to do at the moment.

So you see one minute we're moaning that we have no rain and now I'm moaning that we have too much or it's timing is wrong - well at least it is the right type of rain!!

Swallowtail Butterfly

Posted by Rosie

Swallowtail butterfly - June 2011

Unlike in England, where they are rare and confined the Norfolk Broads, swallowtail butterflies are relatively common in France.  I have seen plenty of their caterpillars feeding on my fennel and carrot but my only sighting, until today, of an adult butterfly has been a couple of very fleeting views as they fluttered away.  Today however, I found one in the polytunnel and managed to catch it.  

It's a really quite large butterfly and exceedingly beautiful.  I quickly took this photo and then released it back outside.  Hopefully this won't be my last sighting of this lovely creature.

Winter Pig Food

Posted by Rosie

Way back in late March I had the idea (probably pinched from some-one else on the internet) to try and grow some winter crops to feed the pigs. The pen where Boris resides is plenty big enough for him and which-ever lady he has "visiting" so it could be divided it into two, giving a large, well manured area for growing crops.  The local agricultural merchants sells large boxes of various seeds including maize, green manures and sugar beet so I bought a box of sugar beet and Simon set to dividing Boris' pen into two and turning over the already rather dry soil with the digger.  The digger cannot give a fine tilth necessary for seed sowing and as the weather continued to be dry and hot we were left with a dug-over field of steadily hardening lumps of soil.  Enter the old noisy rotovator and farewell to the biggest lumps.  This left us with an area of dust dry soil and small hard lumps and no way was any seed going to germinate there.  

   

Firkin and the pumpkin crop 2010

In the meantime I planted all my left over seed potatoes in holes I soaked with water and sowed all my remaining pumpkin seeds with a view to planting them out later.  March had become April and rapidly turned into May.  No rain.  Then last week we finally got the rain we so desperately needed.  Simon quickly re-rotovated the soil to give a fine tilth whilst I planted out the pumpkins.  Then, in time honoured pre-agricultural revolution style, I wandered up and down scattering the seeds as evenly as I could.  I felt I should really have  been wearing a long frock and apron not jeans and a sweatshirt and my seeds should have been in a lovely wicker basket, not a plastic yoghurt pot but I did feel a certain affinity for generations of people before me who would have sown crops like this for hundreds and hundreds of years.

Now it is just a waiting game, hoping we continue to get enough rain for these crops to give us a sufficient harvest for the pigs to justify the work involved. And to be honest, the spuds there are doing better than the ones in my veg patch at the moment. And it is raining again :-)

Our Family Friendly Gite

Posted by Rosie

Whilst Eco-Gites of Lénault was first and foremost to be an eco-friendly, sustainable gite we soon realised that many of our guests would have children and so making the gite family-friendly (from babies to older children) would hopefully make it appealing to a wide audience of holiday-makers.  

We have holidayed with our children and know that the smaller they are the more kit they seem to need . All the following are available free of charge in the gite:

• A travel cot
• A high chair
• A booster seat
• Stair gates
• Children's crockery and cutlery
• A baby bath
• A changing mat
• A potty
• A toilet training seat
• Waterproof mattress covers
• A stick blender (available on request)
• A large selection of toys, games and books

The Play Area

Just a few meters away from the gite there is a large play area with double towers and connecting bridge, slide, small climbing wall, swings (including a baby swing) and a covered sand pit. A double boules pitch (boules supplied) is also perfect for riding bikes on and a large netted trampoline has been a firm hit with all our young visitors. For times when the weather is either too hot or wet there is a barn adjacent to the play area with table and seats and a large box of outdoor toys.

Finally, we have one other attraction not available at too many gites, namely our animals.  Children (and adults) have the chance to stroke piglets, collect eggs and feed all our animals. In the spring and summer there will usually be ducklings, chicks and piglets hatching/being born and whilst we are currently no longer lambing ourselves we will still buy in young lambs in the spring.  Next year we may even try and get some bottle fed orphan lambs which guests will be able to help feed.

Some of our younger residents

Eco-Gites of Lénault is well situated for exploring the local area of Calvados with plenty of attractions nearby.  However, should you wish to relax here and unwind you can do so in the knowledge that your children will not be bored and will have plenty to keep them occupied. 

For further details on Eco-Gites of Lénault and information on booking the gite please visit our main website: http://www.eco-gites.eu/

I can't count!

Posted by Rosie

I originally thought that clever Matilda had hatched 15 ducklings.  It would seem however, I am unable to count and yesterday Simon counted 16.  That makes a total of 26 ducklings at Eco-Gites and much as we love crispy duck pancakes and roast duck I think that may be a few too many even for us.  Time to sell a few I think.

Clever Matilda and her 16 ducklings

The Polytunnel in May

Posted by Rosie

Despite the advance of the year and continued hot daytime temperatures and almost no rain, night-time temperatures are still being cold to the point that on 28th May we had a frost here.  The polytunnel temperature was 0.6 degrees C and outside there was frost in the hosepipe.  Luckily there is no apparent damage to tender plants either in the polytunnel or outside but it may well explain why I am having such difficulties getting the likes of courgettes and pumpkins to germinate and grow on.  I do however have one very healthy courgette in the polytunnel which should give us a harvest very soon.

There has been plenty to harvest this month - new potatoes, broad beans, peas, mangetout, lettuces, pak choi, chard thinnings, French beans, baby carrots and overwintering onions.  All these have done very well and I will definitely plant more next year.  One thing I did notice was that the broad bean harvest was much better on the outside of the block of 5 rows, presumably where it was easier for pollinating insects to reach so next year I'll do more rows and spread them out more.  Also the peas cropped very well but flopped over as my twiggy supports were not tall or strong enough.  Note to self - bigger supports next year!

Several of the above plants have now been cleared and whilst some have been replaced with peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes I am wondering what to fill the remaining gaps with.  On the one hand, with watering restrictions and hosepipe bans looming I am worried about how to keep the plants watered (more of this another day) and thus should I leave the spaces bare?  On the other hand I can't bear the thought of the soil not being planted.  I do want to do some overwintering brassicas (cabbages/kale etc) inside this year, in case we have another hard winter, so I may leave the gaps empty a while and plant them up later with overwintering plants.  And I can always put some quick growing salad crops in there in the meantime.

I also harvested the remaining non-bolted turnips but they turned out to be inedible.  Daytime temperatures had just been too hot for them and even the pigs refused to eat them! 

The ring leader - Adventure Pig

A few pests have worked their way into the polytunnel this month, notably green and whitefly and cabbage white caterpillars. The former I have successfully zapped with a washing up liquid  solution and the latter (which seem very early this year) I have squashed.  Oh yes - and there was one other rather larger pest.  Well FOUR actually, namely the piglets!!  They escaped their field, wandered thought the polytunnel munching the odd lettuce before getting a waft of something tastier - STRAWBERRIES.  It was in the strawberry patch that we found them, all red-mouthed and thoroughly enjoying their fruity find.  BAD BAD piglets!!