Back In Carroll Gardens After A Magical Summer In France

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Dear Reader,

You must have thought that I abandoned this little blog of mine after this incredibly long silence.  I don't blame you.  My excuses to all, but I do have several good reasons for the lack of posts.

The summer weeks in our small village in the Auvergne, France, were filled with eating, drinking, work on the house and garden, and family.  It felt right to step away from the computer and the internet to enjoy one of the most glorious summers we ever experienced there, in the company of our loved ones.

I just returned to New York over the week-end, but before I delve back into news from Carroll Gardens, I'll catch you up on the past few weeks.

Upon our arrival in the Auvergne, it rained incessantly for most of June. As soon as the sun made an attempt to peek through the clouds, the sky would darken again and thunder could be heard rumbling in the distance.

And just as it seemed that the summer would be a wash-out, blue skies returned.  What followed was weeks and weeks of sunshine and the hottest weather I have ever experienced in this region of France.

As I had mentioned back in June, my husband and I had planned quite a few projects on my family's 1866 stone house.  The first project involved re-pointing the stones on the exterior back wall of the house, as well as in part of the attic.

Luckily, we had found two wonderful artisans, the brothers Courtine, to do the work. The project took about two and a half weeks to complete, though it took a few days to dust afterwards.

It was well worth it and we were pleased with the result.

I spent the first few weeks working on the garden, freeing the perennials of surrounding weeds and planting annuals in all the planters and all around the house.

No matter how much I garden, the flower beds still look rather wild. I don't mind. After all, we are in the country.

This hydrangea bloomed for the very first time. It was magnificent.

This Cosmos did particularly well in the garden this year.

So did poppies, which popped up in all shades of red, pink and white,

After some serious pruning on our trees, the wood rack was full of fire wood for the chimney. We will be able to use it next year.

On our list of things to do this summer, was to continue to remove an old terrace made of field stones that my father put along the front of the house years ago, in order to continue a path of pebbles.

For that, Mr. Pardon Me needed to reconfigure a drain underneath the outside water spigot.

Who knew all this planning was necessary to make sure water drained properly away from the house ?

I must say, I am always full of admiration for this man, who seems to be able to tackle just about any project on this old house.

This is what it looked like after he was done: 

all the complicated and ugly piping was hidden under the pebbles.

It looks much better, no?

The summer of 2018 was also the beginning of one of his most ambitious projects on the house to date.  For years, he has been planning to repoint the front façade himself.

He was so inspired by the work the Brothers Courtine did on the back of the house, that he was determined to do at least one section of the front wall.  After removing the old mortar in between the stones, he carefully applied a lime and sand mixture in the joints, waited for it to dry, before removing the excess with a wire brush. Here, he is getting help from our son-in-law, Greg, because everyone helps when they come to visit.

It was tedious work, but before we left, a first section of the wall had indeed been completed.  

As in years past, we spent time shopping at the many regional farmers' markets. This one is in Brioude, a beautiful little town well worth a visit.

The Auvergne is known for its cheeses. Cantal, Salers, Fourme d'Ambert, Bleu d'Auvergne, St. Nectaire...oh, they are all so good and I ate way too much of them all.

The quality and taste of the produce in France continues to amaze me.  The prices, compared to Brooklyn, are downright reasonable. An entire case of these most delicious apricots was 10 Euros.

These huge heads of red leaf were only 1 Euro and had been picked that morning,

Along with all this good food, there was a fair bit of wine and champagne.

The highlight of the summer, by far, was the visit of our fifteen month old grandson Dove.

It was his first visit to France and this little Texan became an Auvergnat immediately.

He was delighted by all the pebbles,

The long winding dirt paths

the puddles

and the mud.

and as the fourth generation of my family to spend part of the summer in this French village,

he was embraced by all our neighbors. Here he is getting a ride on Charlene's pony.  

He was quite comfortable and not scared at all.

But all wonderful summers come to an end, so last week, we closed up the house, and headed back into realty. But not without a last hurrah! On our way back to Paris and the airport, we spend two nights in Versailles to revisit the chateau. It is every bit as magnificent as I remembered it.

I may actually like the gardens even more than the castle.  But then, of course, I love gardening and appreciate the symmetry and all the hard work it takes to maintain such vast plantings.

Now back in Carroll Gardens, the first thing my husband and I tackled was weeding our Brooklyn garden.

It was totally overgrown and it took hours to clean up.

But it's all done now. Just as soon as I do the laundry, sort through more of the mail and get over my jet lag, I'll start posting about happenings in our Brooklyn neighborhood.

I hope you will join me this fall to explore, discuss and engage in what matters here in Carroll Gardens.

Glad to be back home!