Saturday, May 29, 2021

Improvements


Some mornings you can just tell it's going to be a scorcher. The family diva heads off into the far reaches of the garden in search of C-A-T-S. Her master reapplies another coat of sealant to the new stone around the pool.

Sophie comes to join me in the kitchen. Her paws indicate she's been digging up the mole hills. You can be 100% sure the moles were not in the slightest bit perturbed.


The last of the Gariguettes. The strawberry lady has been through the polytunnels and collected four punnets for us. ' Make sure you make the time to enjoy them' she says. The soaring heat means that this is definitely the end of the season   :https://www.finefoodspecialist.co.uk/french-gariguette-strawberries


The moorhen mother shepherds her three chicks into the safety of the shrubs that line the village pond. We manage to grab a quick snap of her. Mother and chicks seem to be thriving.


More trees down. Heavy excavators at work levelling the ground. A team of men laying a hard core foundation. The 'improvement' squad are hard at work. Oddly, a stand of bamboo is left completely untouched.


 Another day. Another e-mail advertising a new hotel opening. Europe seems to be a continent of new hotel openings :https://www.oneandonlyresorts.com/portonovi


4 comments:

Lisa in France said...

Today I can see the moorhen very clearly. Unlike the trees, they seem to have managed to deal with the German billionaire. I enjoyed the link about Gariguettes. We have wonderful strawberries in Japan - they were a complete revelation to me coming from America - and I wondered whether there might be a connection. It seems, however, that what we have are "Dutch strawberries" that have been cultivated in Japan since the 1840s.

WFT Nobby said...

Do savour those Gariguettes. After an unbelievably chilly May, the strawberry season is just kicking off in Scotland.
The setting of the hotel in Montenegro is awesome. I wonder how many of their guests are Russian. The coastline around Kotor must be one of the most spectacular in Europe. (And also the most challenging, if experienced on a bicycle. And that's even before we think about Montenegrin driving habits...)
Cheers, Gail.

Maudie said...

Trading trees for a garage - such a loss. I had the pleasure of receiving strawberries that taste like true strawberries this season and I remembered why they were my favorite fruit as a child.

Coppa's girl said...

I shall miss being envious of those gorgeous strawberries. Ours are totally tasteless, even when ripe. Normally they are packed slightly under-ripe to allow for transport (they come from the south) and are woody in texture. It's no use keeping them to ripen - they mysteriously go rotten overnight. This morning in the supermarket the first of the tourists were snapping up the kilo packs, and I wondered if I should say something, but decided not to spoil their obvious pleasure.
The photo of Sophie with her muddy paws is delightful - she looks like a very mischievous puppy!
The location of the hotel is spectacular, but realise, if the video is anything to go by, I'm just not glamourous, or young enough, to go!