Of The Joys (And Hard Work) Of Taking Care Of An Old Farmhouse In The Auvergne

Though spending the summer here in the Auvergne involves a fair amount of going to the various market, cooking, eating and drinking, it also involves a huge amount of work on the family's stone farmhouse.  In addition to regular maintenance, there are bigger, unexpected jobs that need to be taken care of.  The summer of 2013 will be remembered for all the time spent digging a drainage ditch to (hopefully) keep rainwater away from the back of the building.
This little project involved four days of heavy digging, pick-axing through a ridiculous amount of rock and wrangling meters of perforated pipe into the ground.  Luckily, our son was willing to spend a significant amount of his vacation to help his father.
One advantage?  Both my husband and son now know all french terminology related to drainage. That's one way of learning a language, I suppose.

An equally back breaking job is pruning the giant elm trees that grow on the property.  The branches still need to be cut into firewood, but that will be today's job.

While all this hard work is going on, I spend my time weeding and planting in the garden. Easier said than done, since the high altitude and cold winters in the Auvergne can be rather unkind to plants. But each year, there are more blooms and so I continue to enlarge the flower beds every summer.
I was particularly happy to see that the many seeds I had spread last year actually resulted in some beautiful pink poppies, like the one below.
This year, my friend Alain gave me a shoot from his jasmine, which I planted against one of the stone walls so it will be protected.  I hope it will take.

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A Long Awaited Event: The Yearly Pétanque Tournament In Our Village In The Auvergne

Registration for the Concours De Pétanque 2013 in our little French Village

The official rules

The prizes

The drinks

The spectator

Our friend Michel with his young partner

Getting ready

Let the game begin

My son Max checking on the competition

Getting ready to throw

The importance of a tape measure

Friend Simon

Team Kelly with friend Timo on left

It was a picture perfect day for the yearly Pétanque tournament in our little village here in the Auvergne this past Saturday.
Boules in hand, the villagers started gathering shortly after 2 PM in the main square next to the church. Everyone was encouraged to participate, whether expert or beginner, old or young. In all, thirty teams of two players registered for a chance to win a giant cured ham, bottles of wine and/or umbrellas and t-shirts.
Before even starting, many took advantage of the drinks served at the 'buvette'. At 50 cents, the glass of rosé was the best deal.

The official tournaments began at 3 PM. Since there were so many teams, the competition took place not only on the village pétanque course, but also behind the school.
In all, each team played four games. The winning team was the one with the most points and the most wins.

Of course, after each game, the winners paid the losers a drink, which resulted in quite a few hilarious moments as some ended up having one too many.

As always, it was amazing fun. Thank you to Michel and Patrick for organizing. I can hardly wait for next year's tournament.

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A Sign Of Life From The Auvergne, France

It has been way too long since I blogged last. I apologize. But you see, the days have been flying by here in rural France and there never seems to be a dull moment.  After spending the first two weeks re-connecting with friends and catching up with the neighbors, my husband and I have started some projects around our 1866 stone farm house.  Since we are at least fourty-five minutes away from the nearest 'Mr. Bricolage', the French equivalent of Home Depot, everything takes longer, everything is a bit more complicated.

Since the weather has been absolutely glorious here, despite the occasional thunderstorm. I have also been working in the garden, happily planting anything that is hardy enough to survive the cold winters here in the countryside.

And at night, when the sun finally goes down at 10 pm, we make a fire, open a bottle of red wine, roast a chicken over the open flame and enjoy a home-made cherry clafoutis.

And then, we sink into bed, bone-tired and happy.

But no worries.  I have not forgotten about Brooklyn and will be back in just a bit. And I promise, I will resume reporting about Carroll Gardens. C'est promis.

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Market Day In Ambert

Thursday is market day in Ambert here in the Auvergne.  And though there are lots of Farmers Markets back home in Brooklyn. I must admit that I wait impatiently all year to be able to come back to this one.
Not only are the fruit and vegetables amazing, they are allowed to ripen before being picked, so they are full of flavor.
The Auvergne is known for its cheese, so besides the produce, the market is a great place to purchase such varieties as Bleu D'Auvergne, St. Nectaire and the famous Fourme d'Ambert.
Besides the cheese, the Auvergnats also make some of the best saucissons sec, made of pork, boar, pheasant, or donkey and flavored with nuts, blueberries, cognac and of course, cheese.
For those who have less time to cook, there is an abundance of meals ready to take home.  My favorite is the aligot, made from potatoes, crème fraiche, butter and cheese.  You can see the vendor scooping some of this delicious goodness into a container above.
And if you are shopping for a canary, chipmunk or would like a free kitten, you can find it all here as well.
In case you were wondering, yes, I was very tempted to take the little kitten home, but refrained.

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