Le Couvent Diary

The forecast has been dreadful for the past few days, but the heavy rains just haven't come - yet. So this week we have taken up 450 vines that were on a slope too steep to manage. We're wimps really, the old boy who used to own our vines did it all by himself with the aid of a mule. Having nearly lost Queenie the Quad on an escarpment we gave up on the Cinsault vines at the top of the amphitheatre. So they've been pulled up.

But today was bright, hot and sunny so, albeit too late in the Spring, I planted two plum trees, one more cherry and three peaches. If the forecast rains come the trees will get a decent start. If it just turns hot I may lose them, but they were cheap so I'm giving them a whirl.

Around here they say if you can see snow on the Pyrrenees it's going to rain within three days. This photo was taken this morning at Rochelongue by my good friend Chris Kemp. Looks like the trees may get their chance.

In preparation for the new season I've been making jam.  We get through lots during the summer - just delicious on hot croissants at breakfast. This week I've been making strawberry and mint. I thought I'd invented the recipe until my pal Alex dismissed my imagined imagination with the phrase "Oh, you've copied L'Entrepots in Pezenas - they serve it there"  Actually, I didn't, but I'm relieved to know such a fab restaurant also thought it worth experimenting a bit.

 Always on the lookout for smart gizmos, my eyes fell upon this little beauty. 

In case you are on the lookout for one of these 'what on God's good earth can it be' they are on sale at Lidl later this week.

Captions please.

Yesterday was a 'stay in front of the computer all day' kinda day. It was raining, so the garden maintenance was out of the question. There's always plenty to do to get ready for the new B&B season which starts on 1 May each year. So yesterday we trawled through websites looking for new bath sheets. Big fluffy Egyptian cotton ones. We'd already searched in more local shops, but no-one had the 18 we need so we settled on the lovely John Lewis in Oxford Street, London. Maria, my new friend in the export department,  has secured us a big parcel and they are on their way. A mere 500 quid including delivery.

That's the problem with a B&B. Everything you need to buy comes in large numbers. When we were setting up six years ago we would find a really beautiful bedside lamp at £100, then realise we needed ten of them. Eeek. And things wear out fast. For example, we have struggled to find good poolside sunbeds. I'll guess that in the past we have bought at least a dozen that were absolutely hopeless after one season. So last year we went to the people that supply all the sunbeds they use on the big beaches here on the Mediterranean. We bought a dozen - more than the number of people we have staying - and they were cripplingly expensive. But, mercifully, they look the same now as they did at the beginning of last season. So, the moral of this whingeing tale is, spend the money, buy the best. Don't hesitate. It's a saving in the long-term and you'll enjoy the item so much more.

Yep, it's my fault. I'm responsible for the rain here in Languedoc today. Yesterday was bright and sunny so I was eager to take the cover off the pool to start its pre-season warming-up. Ali and I spent the entire day working on it. Ali jet washed the paving - a long and noisy job, while I set to cleaning the pool. It looks fantastic and the sun shone so brightly I was tempted to take a dip. I'm guessing it's around 16 degrees so it'd feel like the Arctic. I resisted.

Still, the vegetables in the kitchen-garden are happy.

Today we're going to do repair jobs round the house. You know, all those niggly little jobs you don't do unless someone's coming. And we have lots of people coming - all through the summer, to Le Couvent, Roujan - the best bed and breakfast in Languedoc. There, the day isn't going to be entirely wasted. I managed to get in another shameless plug.

Today we had the Roujan Foire, an event where around sixty or more stallholders sell stuff in the streets of the village amongst lots of noise and milling people. Someone on a microphone talks right through the day - irritating, but it keeps the buzz alive. The weather was fantastic so everyone looked in a jolly frame of mind.

I was thrilled to find a chap selling exotic citrus plants. He had some extraordinary stuff, and I'd have loved to have bought lots, but where to put them? So I settled for one beautiful lime tree.

Ali couldn't resist the charms of the saucisson man, so we have enough to last for a month.

I bought aubergine, tomato and pepper plants and they are all now planted in the potager at  Chateau Malaudos. One could take a lesson in Archery (Ali and I were both too embarrassed to have a go) or Fencing (both of us felt at least 40 years to old for that too), but the bit we had been very much looking forward to was a display of old photos of the village. In the event it was merely some copies of very familiar postcards so a little disappointing. However, I was rather taken by this one which I hadn't seen before. I especially like the look of the chap on the right.

So beautiful was the weather, we took lunch in our, now customary, new spot in the garden (thanks to the new bridge).

All in all, a very good day.