blossom and snow
A few weeks have passed in the year 2021.
We slammed the door of 2020 with a big bang.
Whether the new year will get better? No idea.
The virus seems to have entered into a mutation with major consequences for everything.
But there is also a vaccine. There are pros and cons to vaccination.
We wait patiently here in France, will notice when it is our turn for our vaccination. Not yet anyway.
The hurray mood of light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel disappears a bit, because it is still difficult for guests from the Netherlands to come on holiday in our gite.
We do have a few bookings, but whether they can go ahead, we will notice by then.
So: plenty of time to make new plans for the gite!
It is now winter in Normandy.
The temperature is quite cold for this area and time of year. And wet.
We even had frost with some snow!
It resulted in some beautiful pictures, especially since a frosty cherry blossom appeared on a tree stump near the gite.
The tree itself is gone, but there is still a crooked stump.
Excavate and remove or not?
And suddenly you see some pink blossom.
In the snow.
I fear that there will be no cherries coming this year on it, but who knows we can grow a decent tree that will one day give cherries at the gite!
The sun is nice every now and then. Yet it is not pleasant to be outside. (Sometimes it is. Then I am sitting in the sun with a nice cup of warm coffee)
I wonder if the herbal plants I planted last fall will last in the winter and will grow again in the spring.
I hope so, otherwise I will have to buy new ones again. It's also nice to go back to the 'pepeniere'.
Think it will be one of the few outings that are possible at the moment.
I also long to discover 'vide greniers'.
Looking for an old cupboard for our own kitchen, some authentic French items for the gite, and some odds and ends...
And well, I really want to sit on the lawn mower again!
Make the fields beautiful again around the gite.
And busy with the wild plant garden.
Picking dandelions for the jelly.
Just enjoy nature and the sun outside again.
With a glass of wine.
Until then, thinking up new plans for the guests in the gite (if they are allowed to come)
For example, the idea has already come to build a 'barefoot path' where guests can, as it already says: walking barefoot, over various structures.
In any case, I have also ordered clogs in the Netherlands.
No, not for the barefoot path.
But I want to make a field for the so-called 'farmers golf':
In the Netherlands this is already done a lot: with a wooden clog on a stick, like a golf stick, to hit a ball over various courses, and then finally get it into a hole for points, just like with 'normal' golf.
I have the clogs. Now on the road for different colors to paint them, and then attach the sticks to it.
That way we get through the winter creatively!
For the time being, despite the cold (and oh well, it is now all over Europe, because even in Spain it was snowing!) We still enjoy the nature around us.
The sounds outside are starting to get a bit spring-like again.
More birds are chirping from our valley, and we have hung food balls near our windows which are well attended.
The great tits and wrens eat it and then sit by our windows, much to the delight of our indoor cats!
Also coming up with some plans for our house: I really want to give the old windows a different color. (They need maintenance anyway)
The black is nice with the pattern of the beams of the typical Norman house, but I find it rather gloomy.
So I bought a pot with a beautiful typical French color.
And if I can ever find some old shutters on a vide grenier ...
I'll keep you informed! ;)
