Family visitors

We had my sister and her husband over to stay for a few days.   It was great to see them again and put the world to rights.   They enjoyed the pool, we played table tennis, did a bit of sightseeing and shopping.  All very friendly and laid back.

Anita prepared her usual excellent cuisine, and we discovered a new recipie that works especially well, comprising asparagus (home-grown by me) on a bed of mild goats' cheese, on pastry.   They appreciated the relaxation of a few slow days, and went back stacked with goodies, wine, a plant for Mum (the long-awaited Patty's Plum perennial poppy) and some light fittings that we don't need any more, for Julian's Mum.

The sightseeing we did was at Jublains, site of an old Roman town, complete with amphitheatre, thermic baths and temple, as well as a nicely laid out museum of archaeology.   This was showing a special display of the digs they are doing along the track of the new TGV line out to Rennes, but to be honest it didn't look like they found much.   The hailstorms and intense showers promised to us by the forecasters arrived right on time, complete with lightning.

And so, here's some pics:

Tucked up

We had guests in the gîte this last Easter weekend, grandad and grandma were celebrating their golden wedding anniversary with their family.  We did a special celebration meal on the Sunday evening, apéros, plus four courses, all the trimmings, and, as part of the decor, smart napkins folded into holders.   Being Easter there were little bunnies on the table of course, and one of the kids did this with hers. Well, it made me laugh.

Hard work

It's finally sunny again today, and I'm sitting out under the Wisteria, in the countryside quiet, pricking out seedlings into little trays so they can get bigger.   Meanwhile, here's a few pictures of the garden.

A pear tree

There's an old pear tree in a forgotten corner of the garden.  It didn't do much in the first few years we were here, but I pulled away the brambles and clematis that were smothering it, and gave it a bit of light.  It produced a few pears last year, and this blossom is covering it this Spring.    Even the bark is attractive in its strange way.