... haring along....

We hear the weather up north isn't too wonderful at the moment.  We must confess it's still a little coolish down here for this time of year, and we're hesitating before bringing out the less than hardy potted plants such as the orange trees and pelargoniums, but the sun is at least visible and there's definitely a sense that the worst of the winter is now over, especially as we now have that extra hour of daylight in the evening.  Time for that massive spring-clean in preparation for our first workshop next month.
We've been working hard in the garden, too. 

 A talented garden designer friend, Julie Squire, drew up a wonderful plan for our new herb-garden to compliment the existing potager,  and we've been digging and planting and generally reorganising the whole space so that we can grow far more organic vegetables this year to feed the various workshops.  It's been massively hard work, and we were incredibly lucky to catch a local artisan, Matt Meers, between projects to erect three living willow arches for the scheme.

No, it's not a small arch.... Matt is about 6'2"  and a bit of a hunk.

After honing his willow skills in the UK and gaining a well-deserved reputation for superb workmanship (including several prizes at the Chelsea Flower Show), Matt  moved to this part of France a decade ago where he now produces all his own willow for crafting.  He and his wife, Wendy, also offer luxury eco yurt accommodation during the warmer months so if you're interested in something a little more exciting than a camper van this could be just up your street.

Deliberately alternating diagonals give a cross-effect when looking through the arches.  In a year's time, the green wood will be sprouting lime green leaves.

Kyoko Imazu, Bob the hare

Did you know that there are four collective nouns for hares:  flick, drove, husk and down?