My new garden.........................

The weather has changed to winter again with rain and cold winds. The cats venture outside but don't spend much time there as it is so cold. They spend most of the day hiding under blankets either on the bed or the couch.
I have added some pictures of various parts of my new garden. This tree is an ancient apple tree with a split at the base, a doorway into the world of the fairies. I feel like adding doors on both sides to make their home a little weather proof! I have planted a blue forget-me-not at the base of the tree as an introduction to the fairies, hope they like the tiny blue flowers.

And as the seasons come and go, here's something you might like to know. There are fairies everywhere: under bushes, in the air, playing games just like you play, singing through their busy day. So listen, touch, and look around - in the air and on the ground. And if you watch all nature's things, you might just see a fairy's wing. ~Author Unknown

Further up the tree is this old wooden bird house, not sure if it is ever occupied perhaps when the weather warms up a bit I will find out. I have found the remains of bird's eggs in various parts of the garden, presumably babies have hatched out in some of the many trees in the garden.

Most of the old properties seem to have wells in the gardens some of them quite decorative with pretty walls and accessories. The one in our garden is very basic with a dry stone wall, fortunately there is a layer of fine mesh wire built into the stones or it could be a 'pussy in the well' story. Apparently this garden was totally overgrown and when they owners had it cleared some one almost fell down the well. When I cleaned all the leaves off the wire mesh I could see the water at the bottom, not sure how deep that is but it is quite a way down.

These are some of the primulas I have planted in pots at the front of the house. The colours are quite bright and cheerful and they seem to thrive in the cold weather.

When we lived in Natal and I was growing herbs and wild flowers, I managed to find wild forget-me-nots. They are low growing and very often have pink and blue flowers on the same stem. When we went to the Monday morning in Pontivy this past week I was thrilled to find some for sale and of course had to have them. When I got them home I realised that I had no pots to put them in and there is really no garden as such in which to start a flower bed. As I don't want to start buying pots for my temporary home and necessitity is the mother of of invention, I had a look through the rubbish on the next door property and found an empty paint drum. Painted white this is the perfect container for my lovely blue flowers (except for the one plant which I donated to the fairy tree). I have been thrilled to find all sorts of wild flowers growing along the roadside when out walking including tiny forget-me-nots. There are deep ditches along the side of the road and they are full of wild watercress.

In one of the nearby fields there is a family of four donkeys, one is quite young. They are very friendly and braving the long grass and brambles I managed to get close enough to rub their noses. They are very shaggy and need a good grooming. Feel quite sorry for them as they do not appear to have any sort of shed to shelter from the inclement weather. As donkeys are actually desert animals they should have somewhere to hide when the weather is bad. Presumably they have acclimatised to the weather here but I do feel sorry for them. There are also three beautiful retriever type dogs which are kept in a shed near our house. They belong to someone who does visit them daily but it bothers me as it is a dark and cold place with no outside area for them to run and play. The owners of this house apparently spoke to the Mayor (the usual French procedure) about the dogs and he came and investigated and they are apparently well looked after so nothing needed to be done. Being a farming community animals are viewed quite differently and are part of the working environment. Not an easy transition for an animal lover!
I had a good working day with some completed bears which I will photograph tomorrow, one for e-bay perhaps and some for the webpage. Megan has sent me some ribbon for my one prototype bear which hopefully will arrive on Monday so that I can complete these as they should be ready by the end of March! One thing I do miss is the various factory shops which I found in Cape Town with an endless supply of ribbon and stuff. There is just nothing like that here at all that I have found so far. However, at the antique market there were a couple of stalls with cheap ribbons and trimmings so they must source them somewhere in this country.

Despite the gardener's best intentions, Nature will improvise. ~M P Garafalo