Home again

The piano festival was once again of high quality.  The Bartok piano and percussion piece was great fun - and James and Janneke, the pianists, were quite pleased to be opening the festival, rather than doing the grand finale as they had in previous years.  The cabaret evening was particularly enjoyable, with Yshani at the piano - but we are unashamedly partisan, of course.  A nice innovation was a session - piano à volonté - competent amateurs could book a short slot at the Steinway, including a number of young students from the conservatoires of Carcassonne and Narbonne.

I get a little fed up by the chronic disorganistion of the event, but fortunately the musicians managed to put up with it.  The highlight for us was the chance to host Yshani again: she is such good company.  We held hats for most of the concerts, but as there was nothing in the programme to say donations were invited, far less notices to that effect, we looked rather like random beggars as we stood at the exits from the square.  Once again I had to do a spot of policing of people who chattered away during performances, including one of the musicians.  All in all, I think that the programme was just a bit too long, running over six days, and including some events at 11:30 pm (we didn't go).

We spent a night at Puylaroque with Jan and Mark, and discovered that we haven't forgotten how to swim.  The pool was a rather pleasant 32 degrees!  Mark, retired builder is still building away like mad.  He has enlarged the terrace, and is building a porch and dining room where the original terrace used to be.  Next project: double garage, but he has decided to GSI to do the ground works.

Talking of which, we've got the builders in here at Forges-l'Evêque this week, putting down a base for a garden studio (OK: posh shed...) and a paved path up to it.  The shed itself is ordered and due to be put up before the end of the month.  We are using the landscapers who did such a good job of relaying the terrace and building the raised bed, and are impressed with their work so far.

As for the raised bed, onions, herbs and leeks are doing pretty well.  I thinned and re-planted the leeks today, and am hoping for the best, having not succeeded this far before.  The fuchsia cuttings have made really good little root systems, so will probably edge the new path when it's set.  One of the white Royal Mail potentillas (from cuttings I helped myself to from outside the Tonbridge sorting office years ago) was a casualty of the building work.  As the other's roots are full of pencil grass, it is going to have to come up, so I've taken cuttings.  The other cuttings I've taken are from a rather pretty rose pink penstemon.  My other horticultural efforts have been in the slash and burn department (except that one doesn't burn these days).  The grass got a cut on Monday, since it is to be fed and weeded tomorrow.  The builders have taken out another two leylandii trees from the back hedge, and I've started squaring up the one nearest the shed base.  I noticed this morning that the cherry tree was overhanging the footpath at the side, so I've filled a barrow with prunings and stuffed it somehow into the now overflowing composting bin, which, mercifully, will be emptied tomorrow.  We have to hide on the days when it's emptied...