Tuesday 7 July 2015

It is hot hot hot!

Most of you will know that we spend most of Spring and Summer at our cottage in France in the deepest Burgundy countryside, on our little hill top overlooking the valley with the village we belong to. It is idyllic, peaceful, stunningly beautiful, but living so far away from 'civilisation' can have its drawbacks. We haven't had any rain for a very long time now, temps are in the very high 30Cs, and in order to keep the veggies growing, we need to water them every day. Because we are so far away from the village and on top of a hill, we don't get mains water to our cottage, we are solely dependant on our well, which is only fed by rain water filtering through the ground. So you can imagine that water is a precious resource up here. We are careful about using water and in order to save what little water there is in the well, we needed to find another supply somewhere.

So, at the recent annual village barbecue organised by the mayor, we asked him whether we could take water from the river ( which is very low ), and he said of course we could, but we could also take water from the old 'lavoire' half way up the hill, where in the olden days the women used to do their laundry. This lavoire was connected to a proper underground water supply and as getting water from the river proved rather difficult due to the steep banks, the old lavoire became our daily source of water. Twice a day, early morning and evening, my DH drives down to the lavoire, fills 40 5ltr bottles with water and I water the veggies and pot plants when he gets back -




The water is so clean and clear -



Got to be careful when filling the bottles though, lol, one could easily scoop up one of the GOLDFISH somebody has put in the lavoire! They were rather miffed at us for disturbing them and hid under the fallen leaves most of the time. I just managed to get a couple of glimpses of them ( you have to look very carefully, lol ) -



It is all so worth it though, because we have an abundance of gorgeous vegetables, which we happily share with neighbours and friends. Every day we eat nature's gifts from the garden. Perhaps lettuce and cucumber, or green and yellow courgettes, green beans, rainbow beetroot, cavolo nero and lovely new potatoes. Tomatoes aren't ready yet though.

I haven't spent much time in the craftavan, because it is like an oven in there, but I did make a couple of tags for Tag Tuesday, last week and this week. Last week's theme was FACES -



This week's theme is FRIENDSHIP -


I picked these two life long friends for my tag, just think of the stories they could tell! I added the clock for all the many hours the spent together, the bingo card for all the evenings they went out together and had so much fun, the measuring tape for all the crafts they enjoyed together, and the emergency ticket for all the times they got into trouble when they went on wickedly naughty adventures.

Have fun wherever you are. Toodlepip xxx

7 comments:

suziqu's thread works said...

Hello dear Liz,
All that work in Andy collecting water from the Lavoire makes your homegrown foods even more precious It will certainly keep him fit doing that twice a day on top of caring for the vegi garden too.
And, of course, the watering of your pots on top just to keep things alive I know too well.
Are the Summers getting hotter over there or is it normally this hot?
I don't know what we would do without our water tanks collecting water from our roof. We are on a creek, as you know, but haven't had to resort to retrieving water from there.
Oh your faces and friendship tags are gorgeous!
Sending some cooling hugs from a freezing morning here,
Suzy xox

Createology said...

You are truly living off the land with your water retrieving and gardens growing your food. And to know you are in the beautiful French countryside is pure bliss. We were in St. Remy Provence and the Luberon and of course Paris last summer. Then we went to Chichester England to Lord Marche's estate for Goodwood Festival of Speed. It was a dream come true summer for us. To think you live in both these amazing places is fabulous.

Marci said...

Love both your tags, but especially your friendship tag. So true! We have had a very rainy summer here in mid U.S. Maybe we got your share. Hope it rains for you soon!

Marci said...

Love both your tags, but especially your friendship tag. So true! We have had a very rainy summer here in mid U.S. Maybe we got your share. Hope it rains for you soon!

Sylvia/LittleTreasures said...

I love it that you share your life experiences...so fascinating how we all due what we have to do on God's great earth. The outdoors and wonderful nature at our hands is to be thankful for. It's a calm that comes about me when people can sit back, enjoy the surroundings, and take the time to appreciate what we have.
Loving your tags. Our Canada fire air is somewhat back to normal here today. Took Mother out for a ride in the country and a small town close by. We so enjoyed our time together.
Have a lovely week

Julia @ Vintage with Laces said...

This must be pretty exhausting for both of you. At least you get rewarded with all those wonderful fresh veggies.
The tags are lovely, Lizzie. I especially adore the one with the two friends. What a fabulous image! Just real life with the aprons and the slippers. I also love the story.
Hugs,
Julia

Betsy said...

Love the pictures of Andy collecting water! Such clear water! The gold fish are quite large aren't they!
I love your tag, lifelong friends...such fond memories they must have!
hugs to you girl,
Sad to have missed the chance to see you. maybe next time!
Betsy