Domaine de la Salle

20/12/2024

I would like to wish everyone a Lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year. As I was putting the decorations on this little tree, it seemed as if our year could be summed up by the ornaments. There is a sheep, for all our naughty sheep who keep us on our toes. There is a chicken for our chickens. And a stoat like creature for the one that has reduced them from 45 to 7. There is a duck, like our runner ducks. And a fox that took them all. There is a Parisian shopping mouse, for the lovely few days I had there in November. There is a mouse with a garden fork, and another with some lovely produce. A cow like creature I suppose can represent the young oxen we have recently received. It doesn't show three escapees that are enjoying their freedom in another farmers forest and won't be rescued. What is missing is a little tractor, because there have been a lot of tractor repairs and stories. Life has been incredibly busy here, with the boy here half of the time, doing everything that one has to do when one starts farming for proper. And his many friends who have the energy of young bulls, zooming here and there, transforming everything in a flash. Incredible young people who give you hope for the future.

20/12/2024

I would like to wish everyone a Lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year. As I was putting the decorations on this little tree, it seemed as if our year could be summed up by the ornaments. There is a sheep, for all our naughty sheep who keep us on our toes. There is a chicken for our chickens. And a stoat like creature for the one that has reduced them from 45 to 7. There is a duck, like our runner ducks. And a fox that took them all. There is a Parisian shopping mouse, for the lovely few days I had there in November. There is a mouse with a garden fork, and another with some lovely produce. A cow like creature I suppose can represent the young oxen we have recently received. It doesn't show three escapees that are enjoying their freedom in another farmers forest and don't want to come home. What is missing is a little tractor, because there have been a lot of tractor repairs and stories. Life has been incredibly busy here, with the boy here half of the time, doing everything that one has to do when one starts farming for proper. And his many friends who have the energy of young bulls, zooming here and there, transforming everything in a flash. Incredible young people who give you hope for the future.

01/07/2024

Last post for a long while. The time I will gain in not logging into social media, I will use for gardening and all the things I never have enough time for. X

28/06/2024

Well that almost wraps up another week. A hot one. Everyone was very red and sweaty, and saying they could not manage. Not surprising. Its been quite cool up until now, and then from one day to the next it changes to 29 degrees. I do keep saying to people that 29 is not the 39 we often have, so how will we manage then ? Can there be hotter 29 degrees than other times ? If its humid then yes.. and I think it is.
We have discovered another hen sitting on eggs in the other combine harvester. So we will call them the ‘Claas’ chicks, and the ‘Massey Ferguson’ chicks. Well I better not count my chicks before they are hatched, but it would be funny. I have decided not to meddle as I sometimes do, but just let her get on with it, and if it works, it works. Just hope the fox does not find her.
The sheep are getting very used to me coming with treats in the afternoon. Yesterday I gave them loads of linden branches which they love. The ram, after hesitation, is loving carrots now. The girls are not having any of it. For them its the grains or the linden branches. Yesterday I went in with a bucket of grain and carrots. The ram is so eager that he tries to push me about to get them. I told him to wait, because I wanted to spread it out onto the upside down trough for all to share. ( Sharing is caring is not an expression he was brought up with ). And then it happened. He butted me so hard that I flew to the ground. The bucket too, and he had his nose in the bucket before I even hit the ground, I think. I told him off and realized it came out in french. Funny that. Every animal I have ever had, I speak to in German, but these are obviously very french sheep. I have been told by friends who have sheep, that I have to get the upper hand with this naughty ram. He is so sweet though.
As with every week so far this summer, it is to be raining tomorrow, Saturday. We will go to the market and seek shelter to have a coffee if it does. Rain that is.
I have lost all hope for having the natural pool finished this summer. The people with the liner will not reply. Neither the people for the plaster finishing. I had been in touch with a man who does a mexican sort of plaster finishing that looked beautiful but was really pricey. Only I asked for a reference, and then discovered that the person he gave as reference was an employee. How can you have confidence then ? So I listened to my instinct and dropped it. When someone pushes you to make decisions quickly and has no reference….
Well thats about all. The garden is looking absolutely stunning, though I say so myself. Better go out and do some more maintenance. Happy weekend to all.

24/06/2024

For those of you who don’t have instagram, this is the hen who managed to outfox us. She hid in the underbelly of the larger combine harvester, and on Saturday morning, on hearing a clucking from within the machine, I discovered her and seven chicks. Funnily enough, I was feeding the others, and heard her clucking to me, to say that she also thought her brood needed feeding. First, I had to take away all of the wire netting that we had put there, specifically to stop chickens going in and laying eggs there. Never a dull moment, honestly.

24/06/2024

I sometimes don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Last week, one of the ewes started limping quite badly, and we soon saw that it was because she was in heat and the young ram was not leaving her alone. I called the vet and he gave her an anti-inflammatory. But we needed to move the ram for a while to a spot that was behind the buildings so he could not see or smell her, and so set up a temporary enclosure in the orchard where we had recently cut the hay. That took three days, I kid you not. By the time you have found all the elements needed, and set up all those little plastic screw holders to the metal bars, to recieve the electric wires, and then bashed the metal rods into very stony hard ground, you know all about it. And set up the alternative electric current too. And then for the delight of moving just two of the sheep from the herd. Yes and not you, Shirley, because you are the one thats limping. ( We have called the oldest girl Shirley after Shaun the sheep. Not that shes fat. ) He is really easy to lead anywhere. Just lead with a bucket of sheep treats. But the ewes are all really skittish, and it was a game of patience. I spread a line of sheep treats ( its like co***ne for them), and they had lined up and started properly munching. Thats when I launched myself at one, and managed to grab its back leg. ‘A moi !! ‘, I shouted, and one of our helping neighbours rushed in. So we managed to turn her onto her bottom so that she was not struggling, and I put a muzzle over her. I had just spent fifteen minutes watching an internet video on how to make a sheep muzzle. So now it should be easy. Just walk with her. Haha. She just lay down and refused. In the end, Jono took the two front legs, and Francois the two back legs, and I had her head, and we carried her to the other enclosure. Francois soon found out how strong she can be when she suddenly kicks. In the enclosure however she was happy because she found a fellow prisoner, and a bucket of treats. Phew. Job done for a while. Only… not. Last night the ram escaped, and went to join the others. He had noticed that the electricity was no longer working. I had accidentally wound the cable wrong when putting it back. Now there was a ewe alone in her enclosure. And she didn’t like it. So yes, this morning saw three of us with treat bucket, corralling the last sheep along the track and into the other enclosure. ( Shirley was better by now anyway ). I won’t go into details on how it went, but I got all the exercise I need for a couple of days. And I am not sure how much I like sheep. Happy Monday.

21/06/2024

Camomile from the garden… do you grown your own ?

21/06/2024

20/06/2024

The honeyed smell of the linden trees in full bloom is just heavenly, and as you walk past, you hear the droning noise of all those thousands of bees as if a heavy plane is overhead. I was in the place Colbert in Rochefort earlier this week, and as I walked down the street from the beautiful old post office, past the cheese shop, the ‘charcutier’ and bakery, I searched to see what this amazing smell was. When I got to the corner with the chocolate shop, it became clear. Absolutely heavenly. Here, I walk along the Allee and enjoy the heavenly wafts of perfume. I wish I could share these things, because they are too beautiful to keep to myself.

17/06/2024

All cleaned up now ! Next time I take a photo, I should perhaps open all those shutters…. But these days if you walk by and the sky is blue… take the picture. Don’t wait. Expecting another 20 mm rain tonight.

17/06/2024

All cleaned up !