Waxy

It’s happened once more. Just before we go on holiday, my ears block up with wax. I’ve hastily put in some olive oil & the wax seems to be flowing out.

It is particularly frustrating at this sort of time. It’s bad enough going half-deaf when you are in an English speaking country, but we’re off to France. Although my French is normally sufficiently good to have a conversation in French with French people, it does help if I can hear them properly. I do have to concentrate more on what’s being said, which is difficult when your ears are blocked with wax.

My consolation is that at least we’re not flying. Having ears full of wax & flying can be very uncomfortable. A long train journey shouldn’t have any effect.

We were relieved to see Carol, our new gardener, arrive yesterday. She’s rapidly tidying the garden & is intending to come while we’re away. She’s even taken my basil pots away to look after them for us for the duration. It’s still too cold to leave them in the garden, but they would die left inside without regular watering. They would either drown initially or dry out later on.

Everything is nearly done now. Today we’re having Salmon Kedgeree to use up a last half tin of tomatoes. Tomorrow will be a day to use up some peppers - either a prawn/chicken stir fry or a pork & egg sauté I’m not sure which. For me it will be a last bed change & washing session this afternoon. Then it will be sorting out what to pack.

I confess I’m a little anxious about the trip. We do seem to be rather more ambitious this trip. I’m just hoping we’re up to it. My confidence wasn’t much reassured when the Fox got a letter from the surgery telling him his blood pressure (BP) was rising too high. Hopefully after a few weeks’ holiday, & a bit of relaxation & leisure, his BP will have gone down in time for his next reading. And that mine will be down, too, for that matter when I next have mine read. We’re beginning to wonder how much longer we will feel up to this travelling abroad. As it is we’ve rather dismissed the idea of long haul holidays much as the idea of another trip to Australia & the Far East appeals. There are times we undeniably feel old & very, very, tired.

The spring garden

The new garden is really taking off now as buds open out into flowers & leaves. There is a bit of me that’s almost reluctant to go away to France & miss some of the show. However, the other half of me acknowledges we’re both bone weary & need a break. France should buck us up to cope with the coming summer & the workmen changing all our windows & doors in June/July time.

At the moment our walled garden is dominated by the tall holm oaks which have yet to knit together to form a screen. Below is a line of bright yellow flowers of mahonia. In front of that is some viburnum. These are just coming into pinky white flower whilst one still has its brilliant blue berries as well. The berries are quite glossy & jewel-like. The colour of the berries seem to have got bluer & brighter as the winter’s gone on. We’ve sat out in the walled garden a couple of times & can’t wait to get on to sorting out some colourful pots to make it a thoroughly welcome area. We’re even contemplating putting in a solar powered water feature to provide the gentle tinkle of moving water.

As for the main part off the garden, the most noticeable feature is the wild garden area. The stand of silver birches are getting a green haze. Below is a sea of creamy whites as all the narcissi are in flower. The scent is wonderful. I suppose I would have preferred yellow daffodils. To me that would be more in keeping with the wild theme of this part of the garden, but the creamy whiteness does echo the other colours in the garden in the garden at this time of year.

Nearer the house the pulmonaria is just about coming to an end. The white flowers are beginning to scatter across the beds. However, the mottled leaves still give interest. Behind them are a few coppery saplings with beautiful delicate white flowers.

Further up the garden some hellebores, both greeny white & dusky pink hang there heads. Then there is a spiky green plant, I’m not sure what it is. The flowers are limey green with a tiny bit of deep crimson in the centre, rather lovely in a subtle sort of way. In the bed near the wild garden is a low lying plant, full of little pale yellow & white bells, almost like miniature daffodils. Again I don’t know their name.

On one pergola the clematis is beginning to open out. The flower seems small, but a wonderfully deep purple with a white & yellow centre. When it is grown a bit & covers the pergola, mixed with the wisteria also growing on the pergola it should look fabulous. Now it is not even a third of the way up the uprights so it’s got a long way to go.

Buds are everywhere & we’ve not yet even seen some of their colours as the garden wasn’t planted until the autumn was on its way. It is all very exciting. It is also pretty mysterious as so many plants lost their name tags, if they ever had them, over the winter months. What is more the actual planting was changed from the plans we were given last year with the result some plants aren’t in the garden or if they are they moved position.

 It’s going to be an adventure as we discover what’s out there.

All go

Another day of waiting around lies ahead. This time we’re expecting the surveyor from the double glazing company to come round to do the fine measuring of the windows & doors.

Yesterday we got the main food shop done avoiding buying anything that may go off quickly. We’ll do that when we get back from France.

Our excitement is growing. We’ve now sorted out our euros, the travel insurance, cancelled Linda, our home help, for the duration. Later today we’ll go along & collect our holiday medical supplies. My hair will have its cut on Friday. I’m hoping to have another wash session tomorrow – to maximise our choice of clean clothes to take with us.

My days seem to be spent between making paper petals for the flowers, finishing a jigsaw to return to the library & reading about Paris. I’ve done my reading on Burgundy.

We’ll soon be off. After our flurry of activity this last couple of weeks we’re definitely feeling the need to get away & relax a bit.