The tale of two castles.

We have often thought that the castle at Montrichard on the banks of the Cher river reminded us of where we used to live in Clitheroe, Lancashire.

The castle at Montrichard was built in 1010 by Fulk III (972 – 21 June 1040), called Nerra (that is, le Noir, "the Black") after his death. According to wikipedia he was not a pleasant character.

Clitheroe Castle was possibly built around 1086 by Robert de Lacy as an administrative centre for his estates in the area. In 1095, Robert de Lacy forfeited all his estates for aiding the rebellion in favour of Stephen of Aumale, grandson of Duke Robert the Second, against William I. It consists of one of the smallest keeps in the country. 

Interesting times these with the links between England and France and an area I would love to explore more about time permitting. We have never been around the castle at Montrichard so we will put it on the list of things to do.

A Patchwork...... (I've started so I'll finish..)

I've been looking through my craft and sewing things recently and it's brought back not only many happy memories but also some despair at the number of things started and not finished. These range from the sublime to the ridiculous.

The most notable is the Patchwork Quilt....

My design features six hexagons arranged around a central one to give the appearance of flowers. These were then joined together to create the quilt. It was going to be king-sized...

I say "was" because it is still unfinished, despite a tell-tale date which rather gives the game away.

 

Perhaps I would have fared a little better if I'd made the hexagons bigger... They were only 1" across so the work was bound to take an age to complete.

I made a habit of working to a small scale as the following creations show.

These little mice were crafted from pipe-cleaners and the clothes made to fit. If you look closely at the 'man' you'll see that his waist-coat is actually knitted cotton thread, knit by using dress making pins instead of knitting needles.

The 'lady' mouse is shown knitting in the same way.

I think all this came from a background of never being allowed to waste time. So much so that years ago when my car broke down about 20 minutes from home, my mother brought my knitting down for me to do whilst I waited for the breakdown services to arrive!!

Perhaps that's why I've never ever actually finish the patchwork quilt???

Potatoes

Seed potatoes first came into the shops a month or so ago. Unsure which varieties to go for we photographed the range in store and then did our homework.

Not really any much the wiser - because we hadn't time to read up on hundreds of options - we eventually decided on two varieties on the basis that they seemed to be neither too late nor too early producing their crop. And besides that they looked the best of the bunch in the photo's. Very scientific we are!

 Perhaps what we failed to consider was quantity.....

We now have 198 seed potatoes chitting away merrily in the grenier

What this picture fails to convey is the back-breaking work of planting all 198...
And then of course, how are we going to get through the combined yield of 198 healthy potato plants?

We will let you know!

However, I should add that Colin bought a tool to aid the planting, so we look forward with slightly less trepidation.....

 

BUT when is the best time to start this task! any guidance would be appreciated. My view is we should plant in stages rather than all at once.  

Thoughts of the Barbecue!

Today we have just ordered our new barbecue below. We did not bring our old one from England as it had seen better days.

It reminded us of the great pieces of pork we barbecued last summer and have frequently grilled during the winter months. The secret though is to buy them when they are on offer - which is quite often - and a piece like the one below will set you back between €3 and €4. Usually this one would set you back around €7-10.

 Then just grill or barbecue; they are far tastier barbecued.---------------

Now thats what I call barbecued !!

But the finished results are great served with a salad. And ALL gluten free!!

Roll on the better weather....  What the  **** get that barecue here!!

The snake and the unfortunate frog

Another of our favorite walks is around the Etang du Louroux a large man made lake in the village of La Louroux. When the water level is lower in the summer it is possible to walk all the way around the etang but at this time of year some of the paths are underwater. There is also a good bird watching hide on the eastern side.

Etang du Louroux

Great Crested Grebe photographed from the bird hide

In the summer whilst walking around the lake I encountered a once in a while photographic opportunity. I turned onto a stoney access and there in the sun enjoying its lunch was a large grass snake.

He just finished up his frog and slithered off into the water but not before I got some magnificent photographs. Poor unfortunate frog !!

A walk in the park

Not far behind our property you can find the wall to Richelieu grand park. The information available gives the wall as being over 7km's in length. The park once contained the grand chateau of Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu but following its abandonment during the french revolution it was demolished in 1835 and all that remain of the buildings today are the Dome or Petit Chateau, the Winery and the Orangery.

The Dome or Petit Chateau

There is however a spendid park area that is open to the public. Whenever we have visitors we generally take them to the park for a walk. Half term was no exception when my daughter and her family came for a visit.

Phil, Sarah with my grandchildren Jasmine & Jamie at the entrance to the park. The following pictures show general views of the park.

We both love the park and have visited many times, so don't be surprised if we write more about the park throughout the year. When we had viewed our house in Braye we came here to sit under the plane trees and contemplate how we could buy it as we both knew it was the house for us. The rest, as they say, is history.

La Main Jaune

One thing that fascinates me about French roundabouts is the amount of imagination that goes into so  many of them. Granted there are the common or garden basic roundabouts but there are also others which are fanciful in the extreme.

I guess my favourite one is the Rond-Point de Pila on the Avenue de Kaya, Chatellerault, imaginatively named "la Main Jaune".

This is a relatively new 'feature', having been completed in August 2010. It's journey to the roundabout caused some amusement amongst the locals.

According to press releases from the time, the structure incorporates cars from a number of countries. An incident involving a 4CV ("une fausse manoeuvre") was not mentioned at the opening ceremony....

 "Sans parler de la 4 CV, l'installation de la Main jaune s'achèvera en fin de semaine prochaine."

It really is an eye-catching feature and can be seen as you approach Chatellerault from the D749 from Richelieu.

Other roundabouts to follow!