We came back on the 8th of January. Not sure we would make it, the Dutch stopped flights and the French closed their borders just before Christmas in response to what is now the “Kent” variant Covid. But things settled down, and armed with Covid tests and the knowledge that our French residency cards were awaiting us in Lalinde, we ran the gauntlet of test result checks, sniffer dogs and Border officials, and were allowed in. It is at present less clear that we will be allowed out again, as Covid restrictions are tightened, but we have at any rate no desire to submit to being locked down in a hotel room for 10 days quarantine alongside people who may actually have Covid.

No vaccine to be had in France, of course, but the weather, although wet and intermittently cold, has been better than the UK snowstorms. As an added bonus we have reached that time of year when I am treated to sunrise on my morning walk to the boulangerie, and the colour spectrum has been stunning.

The garden was looking fairly sad in January when we returned, very sad in places where the wild boar had visited, fortunately they have been giving most of their attention to what passes for lawn, although they have excavated some of the prairie massifs as well, impossible to decide this early in the year if plants have survived or if i will need to re-plant.

First flowers in the garden, in time for Valentine’s day, were the Lenten roses, both in the bed by the gate

and in the bed underneath the hornbeam, and Sarah’s bed across from it.

Daffodils abound too

and the blue flowered plant in Walnut terrace was as ever early into flower.

I had another go at growing crocus this year, but when I had cleared the dead leaves off the plants found only an occasional flower, not sure if the deer eat them as they do tulip flowers or if they just don’t like the climate!

I have done some planting, clearing the moss off the wall below the Beach and supplementing the selection of Sempervivens I started adding in the autumn. Although it is dry there, there is a good depth of soil, so hopefully they will survive and spread.

I have also added to the roses in Walnut terrace, climbers which I hope will be vigorous, but it is a bit hope over experience, as is the addition of some red Coreopsis to the prairie. I have never forgotten the glorious glow of colour, on a summer evening, from the Limerick Ruby that were included in the original prairie planting, but did not survive to flower another year. I also added some hemerocallis to the prairie beds, in places where the sanglier had dug up the planting Dan & Gilles achieved in the autumn, replaced a time expired Cistus in the gravel garden with a dwarf wiegelia, and planted a greengage in the orchard.

So all looking good apart from the weeds, the battle continues.