an afternoon with marie-claire

At the computer this morning but then made up for it the rest of the day...

Marie-Claire and mum appeared over just before 12. We had lunch and then MC and I walked down to the garden with Leo. We decided to go for a paddle in the river first and threw some stones for Leo - he loves that. The water was cold, but not as bad as it was a few days ago, thankfully, as every time MC bent down to pick up a stone for Leo, she dunked her bum in the water! We walked back up to the garden and picked some cherries from Lucienne's tree. Dad arrived down and joined us.

We then planted some wildflower seeds. Dad has created a few shapes with stones in the garden - different letters for each of the girl's names: an 'm' and a 'c' for Marie-Claire and then an 'S' and an 'E' for Sarah and Elizabeth.

MC planted her little plot and watered the flower seeds in. We then sat down for a well-earned rest and she promptly fell asleep on my knee. Very cute.

Dad took over after a while and I got up to do some weeding and watering. Also, I wanted to move from my sitting position as I was getting bitten all over - clegs, mosquitoes, you name it...wee bastards.

We headed back up to the house and Paddy then took Marie-Claire back over to Entrechaux.

I finished making the sirop de sureau (elderflower cordial)...the 10 or 15 bottles, all filled to the brim with the gorgeous golden liquid, was my other choice of blip for today.

Dinner and wine on the terrace and then dad and I decided to go for a walk back to where we picked the elderflower heads to see if we could find his stick. It has well and truly disappeared. We beat down the grasses and briars and thistles and still couldn't see a thing. Between the bites I got down at the garden and the scraping I got on the stick hunt, my legs are in a sorry, scratched state.

Walked down to the riverside to see if we could see the beavers that have a lodge near where we live. Again, walked through rough grasses and thistles to try and get a good view. We think we maybe saw something moving, but can't be too sure. Maybe tomorrow evening?

Back home for a coffee and now to bed...