Lizzie Ballantyne 🖋️
@lizziebally
The edible garden, books, food, wine, politics, fountain pens, hens. Lefty Humanist European living in the Parc naturel régional du Haut-Languedoc, France, & Béziers. Gregarious hermit. Married to a fine woman. No DMs unless I have met you in real life.
Pals, do you recall bees swarming at our previous house, in the crook of the arm of the Virgin Mary? The noise was akin to lawnmowers on a Sunday in the UK suburbs. The bees arrived, swarmed and left. Four hours and the entire performance was over. I longed for honey to pour from the Madonna’s foot.
Spring is definitely on the way. Just saw eight toads cavorting in the pond. Amplexus incoming.
This little willow warbler flew into our terrace window and landed on its back. It was stunned so I picked it up and it refused to let go of my finger for quite a while. What a little sweetie.
They can grow up to 2.55m in length. This one is in my potager shed where I’ve been working for the past few days, installing solar panels on the roof. I’m surprised that I didn’t frighten the snake away. My shed is absolutely chaotic. I have no idea how this snake found its perch. cont’d…..
Well, look who I found in my shed. It’s a very young couleuvre de Montpellier I think. This one looks fairly long but I’ve seen sunbathing adults that stretch right across a single track road. The round eyes tell you it’s not one to be frightened of. cont’d….
Invented at The Hungry Monk in Jevington, Sussex, England. I first had it at the restaurant in 1974. I found this in my copy of New Secrets from The Hungry Monk.
I love it when the garden starts coming back to life after the winter. South of France. Herault. Parc naturel du Haut Languedoc. Home.
A round of applause please for Neroli the Leghorn Argentée, who laid her very first egg today. It took and hour and a half of concentration. Her egg is on the left. Small, but perfectly formed. #blueskyhens #leghorn
These are for my neighbour, 9 year old Martha. She loves the hens and their eggs.
We have a tempest going on right now. The hens are safe but their run is going to take a bit of work. #southoffrance #languedoc #faugeres
¡Hola! would like to present her favourite child, Squeaky Mouse. Anything to swerve the relentlessly awful politics.
Today’s dog walk. Our hamlet, ¡Hola!’s chosen today’s rock, a path for a wild boar and a tree making afterlife habitat. #dogwalk #hamlet #southoffrance
Timeline cleanse. This morning’s dog walk. Views north towards the Caroux mountain, through the forest that surrounds our house on the way up to Pic de Tantajo, south towards the Mediterranean and on through the forest and home. 25 minutes of pure pleasure. #dogwalk #faugeres #languedoc #france
Hooray, the wild violets are out. Parc naturel du Haut Languedoc, France
¡Hola! and I did the best dog walk ever in this beautiful place. 1km from home. #faugères #languedoc #france
This morning’s dog walk looking down towards the Mediterranean. #Faugères #Languedoc #France
I love this vineyard. The pruning has been done, ready for the coming season. Rows of vines have been inter-cropped with field beans as nitrogen fixers and fodder. In the distance is Domaine de Cébène, where Brigitte Chevalier produces elegant wines on her north-facing slopes. Faugères, Languedoc.