Three strawberries!

Wow! Went out to do some watering and found three delighful little strawberries (apologies - no pic) they're gone....

What would my Dad think, I wonder? Having been brought up on a fruit farm in Angus; the last week in June or first week in July was the norm for the first fruit (pre-polytunnel).

New project Bergere 184.41

After planting out the geraniums (the water retaining granules arrived from the UK - impossible to find here!!)I spent the rest of the afternoon 'alfresco' knitting, trying to set the pattern row on my latest projcect and get the hang of it. I tried three times and it still wouldn't work out; and discovered there was an error in the pattern. I will contact Bergere and have put a note on the Ravelry database.

I know pattern errors are inevitable, but sadly Bergere seem to make more than most. Maybe the translating doesn't help?

So got it to work finally and we're off!

Peas and beans

I have a mixture of peas, sugar snaps, mangetout and dwarf green and purple beans coming on in the other bed. The pumpkins, squash, cucumbers and courgette are round the south side of the house this year.

The nursery

Still waiting to go out are some bedding and the remaining tomatoes, which need good homes.

Tomato plot

This year we have Moneymaker, Gardener's Delight, a pink Italian variety (we saved the seeds ourselves; but no name), Gold Nugget and Yellow Pear, all grown from seed. Apart form the Italian one, all the others are new to us in France, although we used to have success with Moneymaker and Gardener's Delight in Scotland. However, we are still thrilled to be able to grow them outdoors - sometimes, even with a greenhouse it was tricky.

Gardening mode

Everything is looking lovely in the garden. These are the pansies Liz bought for my birthday; they are a superb splash of colour. Today G Planted out his tomatoes. The risk of frost is not officially past until 15th May, but everyone is planting them out, so we just need to watch out for cold nights. A bigger issue is drought. Things are so dry and a regular watering round up is needed.

Summer is here (for this week anyway)

This is the finished white summer cardi; which G photographed today as it is such a lovely day. Actually a bit hot at 25 degrees I'm not quite used to that yet...

So I've retreated inside for a bit of cool.

Pleased with this cardi though, and it will be a very useful addition to the summer wardrobe. (I know it will spent a lot of time in the washing machine :) )!

The Sirdar Luxury Soft Cotton lives up to it's name and is gorgeous next to your skin.

Sale of chicks

Robbie and Shirley, you would have loved this! Last Sunday we had lots of specialist breeders selling chickens and ducks in the village hall. This lovely hen was a surrogate mum to a family of ducklings.

During the week I have been working on an upgrade to Alba Yarns website, which has tested my grey matter considerably and I spent most of the week on the phone to the software helpline or on the Actinic forum. I have made progress, but the very latest vesrion of the Actinic software is due out within a couple of weeks, so I'm not doing a lot more 'til then. With apologies to anyone who tried to access the site during the week, as there was a bit of inevitable down time.

Banana cake

I don't make cakes very often; but had a special request for a banana cake from G, and we had a few over ripe bananas needing used up. I found this recipe on the internet and added a bit of cinnamon and some pecan nuts for interest. It has turned out well and was tested at lunchtime. As a bonus, it forced me into cleaning out my kitchen cupboards when I was searching for the flour at the back of the cupboards.

So I feel quite self righteous this afternoon and am off to indulge in a little alfresco knitting while G at the petanque!

Flower making

We have started working on the flowers for this year's summer events in the village. 9,300 are needed to cover the Place de Mairie. I have been two afternoons this week to work with the ladies and will be back again on Tuesday after the Easter holiday.

In the evenings, I am still busy with the needles and have started a pattern that I have liked for some time; Cari from the Rowan Lenpur Linen collection. I have substituted Sirdar Flirt and this is working well, as it has a lovely drape to it.

Spring knitting

My thoughts have turned to knitting for warmer times ahead and this lacy cardigan from Sirdar fits the bill perfectly. It is now finished and will add a picture later .

Baby alpaca hat

While Tracy was here In early March, she fancied this pretty little hat cum beret in Baby Alpaca. There hhas been pleanty of Cold weather this year in Scotland to get use out of it!

The secret project

This is the finished result of the secret project for Tracy's birthday. Worked in Bergere de Fance Origin' cachemire (origin' #1 cachemire), it was a pleasure to work with such gorgeous yarn and we were both delighted with the result.

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