Looking back to Spring and Summer in France Part 3 ( June )

June started with a beautiful misty morning

June was also the month when all the hard work on the veggie patches started to pay off. The veggies were growing like crazy, you could almost watch them grow. I had a huge amount of parsley, so I made a potato and parsley soup sprinkled with lardons ( small pieces of bacon )

The caulis were coming along nicely, as were the potatoes, and we started harvesting cavolo nero

Of course, the weeds and wildflowers grew like crazy as well :-)

Early June I also found a girlfriend for Gizmo, my son's family's dog, which they had adopted through Paws2Rescue. She came from Romania as well through Paws2Rescue. It was love at first sight, lol, they are inseparable

By the middle of June, there were so many beautiful butterflies and moths around, the lettuces were ready for harvesting, the main crop spuds started flowering, the first cauliflower was ready, and we dug up the first First Earlies, :-)

We went back to the UK for a brief break for some appointments and of course to see the family. Mum was so happy to see us

The dogs are incedibly good in the car. Sometimes they snuggle up together, sometimes Poppy has to watch the world go by while Hector needs a cuddle from me, so he slides his head inbetween the front seats

What a difference ten days make, lol, we came back to many more veggies ready for eating, yellow and green courgettes, radishes, yellow and green climbing beans, potatoes and lettuces, so we were back to our favourite foods, veggies straight from the garden

Of course the flowers had also grown in that time

my dear friend Christine gave me this seed pod, which she had been given by a friend, weird thing, full of huge amounts of fluffy stuff and lots of small seeds, but I failed miserably, they didn't grow, sob sob

Can't remember whether I ever showed you this fabulous old sharpening stone wheel, such an amazing thing

Towards the end of the month, some of the yellow and white patissons were ready as well

And finally, we were able to dig up some beetroot as well. Btw, the beetroot leaves are sooo delicious, I treat them like spinach, so chop them finely and add nutmeg and cream. Baked beetroot, beetroot greens, home grown potatoes ( with pork steaks )

I was very strict with myself and didn't allow myself to go to many vide greniers / brocante, but this one at the end of the month was set in the amazing Roman amphitheater in Autun, and it called me :-). There was one massive stall which must have sourced their stuff from a science department at a school or something like that, there were so many weird and wonderful things to look at, I got totally stuck there

And the month ended with the most stunning view over the valley, a beautiful rainbow way below our cottage

July next :-)

Toodlepip xxx