Le Couvent Diary

 

 

Today I made a gate. Of course. Without success I'd looked high and low for a gate with which we can separate our bullied hen, Darling, from the others. She's been in a small courtyard under one of the bedroom windows, but, as we're about to re-open, she has to be evicted. Darling is soooo noisy in the morning that we can't leave her there to wake our unwitting, sleep-seeking guests. Hence the gate. No-one seems to make a 1.5 metre by 1.6 metre gate for less than 1,000,000,000,000 euros plus tax, so I had no choice. It cost me 34 euros and took about two hours and a lot of tools. I'm hoping it won't be hell to install. I'll have to ask my pal Teddy to help since I can barely drag it, let alone lift onto prongs, handily concreted into the wall at exactly the right intervals. I do hope Darling thinks it worth the effort.

Just to prove that Summer is finally on its way I sploshed into the glacial, but pretty, swimming pool for the first time this season today. I managed half a length before I thought the heart attack imminent and turned around to safety. I was cowardly, but my recall is that it was a lovely thing to do and I can't wait for my next plunge. Maybe I'll get to the other end.

 

 

Another clue to the passing of the Winter is that the barbecue is on its third outing. Here it is happily smoking away with some chicken sizzling away. Ali's been feeling a bit grotty with a bug for the past couple of days so I'm hoping she can't face it and I can have hers too. For those of you who say 'but that's not a barbecue' - oh yes it is. It's a very wonderful Cobb barbecue for which one can buy magic coals made from coconut shells which light and are ready to cook with in less than five minutes. Wonderfuel. It's smelling delicious from where I'm sitting - out here on the balcony at 7.00pm with gentle chickeny, jasminey, lavendery zephyrs passing by.

I've seen planes passing overhead today and not one of them fell from the sky, so I'm hoping tomorrow will herald the very end of all the no-plane shenanigans so our lovely guests can get here safely.

A further update for fans of Darling the hen, who's becoming a big-chested beauty. She's getting all the best of the table scraps and provides endless entertainment just outside the kitchen door. Unlike our other bully-hens, she's also still laying, despite freezing temperatures and very short daylight hours.

 

The dogs are loving the underfloor central heating and spend entire days stretched out on the kitchen floor. 

 

The tree still has it's baubles as the cat's way too fat to consider knocking them off.

 

 

 

 

The entertainment season is well underway and this household is getting through industrial quantities of mince pies. The gammon arrived safely from the UK and is currently bubbling away in cider, along with leeks, carrots, peppercorns and celery before I roast it in a honey and cider glaze. I'm hoping it will be as delicious as yesterday's wonderful rib of beef.

 

 

 

Thanks for all the kind messages sent to Darling the hen who suffered at the beaks of her bullying sisters. I'm delighted to report that she's obviously much happier since moving to her own quarters - to the extent that today she laid her first egg for a month.

 

 

 

 

Darling is gathering a fan club, so, as her agent, here's some more information about her. She's a 9 month old Sussex Light bantam who adores kicking leaves around.

 

 

 

She was an excellent layer, but her production ground to a halt as soon as the big girls started jumping on her. Her response to their attacks was to run and hide behind a 1500 litre oil tank and refuse to come out until I called her, whereupon she would leap into my arms to be carried to safety.

 

She's an extremely friendly hen and it's a mystery why the others suddenly took against her after a summer of living together perfectly happily. Her favourite food is bacon, but when that's not on offer she's placated by pasta - tagliatelle by preference.

 

 

 

Her current aim is to dash into the kitchen and here's Ali persuading her otherwise.

 

 

 

We'll keep you posted on her progress.

All through the summer our lovely guests ask us how we spend our winters. Well, between wine-making, repairing the house, looking after hens, dogs, cat and garden, catching up with friends, travelling and so on, the winter seems to pass very quickly.

This week we've been trying to find a pair of iron 'eyes' that we can cement into the wall upon which to hang a heavy old gate. We're trying to keep our chickens apart since one of them has become seriously picked on by several of  the other hens. Hanging the gate will allow Darling (the hen-pecked hen) to have her own area away from the bullies. Finding the hinges has proved a hopeless task and has used up a good two days of this week. It seems we'll have to have a pair made. I'm making a last-ditch effort to find them at the flea market this weekend, before commissioning a pair.

Meanwhile Darling has a temporary new home outside the back door in a small courtyard. She now has a ton of leaves to kick around and no big girls to worry about. In fact she seems to have forgotten she's a hen and follows me everywhere, watching my every move through the office and kitchen windows, leaping into my arms the second I go out to feed her. It's all rather flattering.

Here she is in her new billet.