Lou Recantou

Well, we took a vacation this fall – to the south of France! For years we had heard about “Lou Recantou”, a gite owned by two former Londoners, Susan and Tim Wallis. Finally we took the leap and got there ourselves. What a treat! Check out the website: www.lourecantou.com
I won’t tell you about the whole trip, what I will tell you is that the only thing I planned was our transportation – plane to Paris, train to Montpellier, and rental car to get us around to all of our unplanned adventures. First adventure was, of course, finding Lou Recantou, which is in Oupia, a teeny tiny itsy bitsy town, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, but actually is the centre of everything that makes me want to be in France – history, good food, wine, nature, and the laid back culture of the south.
We stayed in “L’Ancien Pressoir”, the apartment that is associated with Lou Recantou. It is a bit smaller, but a perfect fit for a couple. Susan and Tim have thought of everything you could possibly need to make your stay at their gite comfortable- right down to re-usable shopping bags to take to the market. The kitchen was perfectly out-fitted for any level of cook, the bed comfortable, the bathroom modern, and the balcony sunny and private. The best part is that they also provide you with a binder. We referred to this binder as ‘the bible’ because it had everything you could possibly need to know about the area. This was our tour guide for the two weeks that we were there.
We drove- through winding mountain roads, we cycled –along the Canal du Midi, we hiked – in the nearby hills; we walked- on the beaches, and relaxed to our hearts content. Lots of wine, lots of cheese, olives, baguette, and delicious local food every day. Did we get our fill? Absolutely not, we can’t wait to go back.

New Dog in the Family!

We’re pretty excited because we just got a one-and-a-half year old Great Pyrenees! He is a gorgeous giant of a dog that runs like a bullet and has a deep ferocious bark (that masks his really gentle disposition) and we are optimistic that he will be able to keep the deer out of the edamame! He has fit into our family routine as if he has always been here.

Here is ‘Ace’ (on the left) with his new friend, our 12 year old Akbash, Maggie. Look at those happy smiles!

Sammy

Sammy, our four year old Great Pyrenees passed away suddenly last week after a pulmonary embolism.

It was a very sad day. Fortunately we have many wonderful memories of that crazy dog. As a friend said – he had the perfect dog’s life – well fed, well loved, and freedom to explore every day.  Who knew he would wiggle his way so deep into our hearts?

Chickens – They may look peaceful…

Well, those chickens are always surprising us! Like, ‘surprise!’ they ate all the lettuce seedlings! And ‘surprise!” one would rather sleep outside at night (doesn’t she know how dangerouse that is?) And the other day ‘surprise!’ the pecking order gets vicious. Sure enough one chicken pecked at another chicken hard enough to make her comb bleed. Ick, We called her ‘the bloody head’ for a couple of days, but it is looking better now. I don’t know what the problem is, they have lots of space, lots of food, and really, lots of love!

We do love their fabulous eggs, and the excited clucking they make each and every time they lay an egg, well, that is a joyful sound.

Here they are having a relaxing afternoon under their favourite tree. You can see the one that has been pecked, white one, 2nd from the right, you’ll notice her head feathers are slightly darker. This is maybe 2 days after the incident.

witching for water

OK, so a pipe bursts in the barn. My fault, frost. We start digging up the cement floor of the barn to get to plastic pipe and the coupling. It ends up being just too big a job. We have to cut through 10 inches of concrete and we just don’t have the tools to do it. Plan B; Let’s put a hydrant outside the barn. It will be more accessible, it won’t freeze and spill water everywhere.

So Norm and I start digging and digging until the front of the barn looks like a sight from the first world war. Trenches everywhere; down to four feet. No sign of a water line. We quit for the day, not sure what Plan C will be. That evening I am up at our local welders and I ask him where you can get one of those things the city gas and water guys use to locate pipes. The welder doesn’t know, but says why don’t you get Charlie to witch it for you. Of course this suggestion is accompanied by the welders subtle smirk, not to mention a healthy dose of skepticism on my part.

What do I have to lose. Charlie runs the business next door and enthusiastically agrees to come down to the farm with his two stainless right angle rods. One end of each rod goes through the centre of a small caliber copper pipe onto which Charlie holds. So here we have the coldest day of the year and Charlie is wandering around our farm yard, me in tow with the paint can, marking everywhere that Charlie says there is a water line. Charlie conducts this whole procedure with his eyes closed so as not to influence the outcome.

When Charlie is done we have a pattern of red lines that looks a bit like a major expressway map. On top of that, the map looks like a route no sane water line trencher would ever use. Charlie has marked the line where it goes into the barn in a spot that is really quite unbelievable. On top of that it is a place where Norm and I have already dug down to 4 feet. Just to be sure we continue down to 6 feet; still no pipe. See witching doesn’t work!, really, I had never expected it to!

Plan D ; bring in the backhoe. Bev shows up with the hoe and what the heck, I say ” Bev will you take Charlies hole down to 7 feet”. Bev, the ultimate backhoe master, gently nudges the dirt out of the way down to the 7 foot mark and no guff!, there is the water line exactly and I mean exactly where Charlie said it would be.

We now have a wonderfully placed hydrant outside the barn. Anna and Christine are happier with the new situation. It makes it easier to get the water for the sheep and for the chickens. On top of that we now have a family of converts to witching for water!