la Ferme de la Baie

How do I know it’s autumn?  I have to wear a coat when I walk the dog; most of the dog’s coat is on the floor as he has just been moulting; the butter stays hard all day.

We had a very busy summer, and most of September was spent making blackberry and apple jam.  The jam is yummy and I think people must eat it by the spoonful at the breakfast table.  I have recently been inspired by the Great British Bake-off (English TV) and have been making more cakes than usual.  My diversion into bread will give us somewhere else to put the jam… it’s not great for the waistline though.

I had a fleeting joy at spotting mushrooms on our walks.  I lugged the camera around for one walk and some of the evidence is attached.

School holidays are about to start and we have been inundated with requests for short breaks next weekend, as it is a long weekend in France.  Time to look at relaxing photos of mushrooms, and some autumn raspberries too… a technical fault means I can’t upload them.  Maybe tomorrow…

The sheep have lost weight today.  The shearer came this morning and gave them a good hair cut and trimmed their toe nails at the same time.  They weren’t too happy about it at the time, but recovered from the shock very quickly.  Here are some photos of Betty and Big Steve.

It has been dry and sunny here since March with only an occasional shower.  We could really do with some rain.  Despite the impending drought, the garden is flourishing.  We ate our first peas from the pod yesterday in the garden; the winter squashes have been planted out and look happy; the French beans have germinated and the potato patch still looks more like a coriander patch.  But weeding is so hard when there is no rain.  The upside is that we are already eating raspberries from the garden, and the crop is abundant!

May is unusual this year here in France as for once there are no bank holidays, due to 1st and 8th May falling on a Sunday and Easter being so late (which means Pentecost and Ascension are in June).  So we have experienced a bit of a lull.  It is also an opportunity to tease my English friends who seemed to have more holidays than work days at the end of April.

Jack is finally too fat to follow the chickens through the gap in the fence.  Henry lets him out for a cuddle but he’s not really that interested in people any more

.  So the animals have settled down and it’s the turn of the veg patch – nowhere near as cute and a lot more work to maintain!

After a disastrous start with some duff compost, the veg garden is starting to take shape.  We are not particularly neat in our gardening and weeds are prolific.  What is fun is that the coriander I planted last year has seeded everywhere.  In particular this year’s potato patch has a huge crop of coriander growing on top.

New for this year are peas, which have germinated, green beans, which still need to be planted, and spring onions.  I cheated with those and bought the plants.

My flower bed is a dazzling array of purples.

Jack is weaned.  He asks for milk every time he sees someone, and is happy to come for a cuddle, unlike any of the other lambs, who like to keep their distance.  He sometimes stands at the garden gate, bleating.  He has met Frodo a few times and although we don’t think they will be the best of friends, he doesn’t run away.

The chickens and ducks are very comfortable and the supply of eggs is continuous.

The garden has shot up, weeds and all in some cases.  It’s been very dry for a few days, so the veg patch now needs watering.  At the moment we are walking Frodo in the evening when the temperature is cooler.  The bluebells are out in the woods and the swathes of blue look gorgeous in the dusk.

It’s a very busy time for us now until the middle of May and sometimes the hardest thing is deciding what to do on the list of chores.  Unfortunately gardening doesn’t always make it to the top of the list.  At least all the rooms are ready before the guests arrive… so far.

He doesn’t think much of weaning.  He’s down to a bottle a day, and starts bleating as soon as he sees one of us in the garden, just in case we have forgotten.  He’s tucking into grass and all the other things sheep eat, so he’s not starving – just got into the habit.

We are now down to 8 chickens, having found the evidence of where one had decided to sleep out.  I think white chickens are the most stupid, even if they do lay the most eggs.  Unfortunately, they are probably the easiest for the fox to find at night time!

Baabie had twins last week… another boy and girl.  Clyde and Bonnie we thought, after dismissing Mint and Jelly!  They are both thriving.  Bonnie looks like she will take after her dad, a Rouge de l’Ouest.  The breed has a hairless face, which is quite red in colour, hence the Rouge in the name.  It has been mistaken for sunburn.

So the field is full of lambs, and Jack is the only one who runs towards us when we go to visit.  He has a great appetite, and is starting to fatten up.

The new chickens are very at home.  They have discovered the main garden and enjoy digging over the places I have been working on during the day.  I don’t fancy the chances for my vegetables.  The chickens are laying regularly.  9 eggs a day is just too many in low season.

Jack the lamb is doing very well under Henry’s care.  The number of feeds has just gone up, and Henry spends a lot of time in the field holding a bottle upside down.

Jack’s sister Jill is a solid weight by comparison with Jack, but Jack now knows where to get fed and bounds across the field as soon as he sees his new ‘mum’.

The first lambs have arrived.  Betty had twins on Tuesday – a boy and a girl – and mother and baby are doing very well.  Well Jill is doing well.  Jack is not very popular with mum and spends most of the time bleating because he is hungry.  If he goes for something to eat his mum head-butts him.  So today Henry resorted to bottle-feeding!!  Fingers crossed.

The new chickens are here and are settling in well.  They arrived on Wednesday in two smelly cardboard boxes and we put them in their new home.  On Thursday I opened the pop-hatch and sprinkled food along the ramp to coax them out.  7 chickens made it to the great outdoors and 3 made it back home at bedtime.  I managed to catch the others and pop them in the hen house too, before locking them up for the night.

On Friday they were all outside for most of the day and they all managed to get to bed by themselves.  We just need to decide how long to wait before we give them access to the great outdoors beyond the chicken wire.