Don't count your chickens...

before they've hatched......
Gloria is once again the proud Mum of 6 little chicks....

At first I was afraid..I was petrified!

Thought that I could never hatch without you by my side....


Thank you Tom, our three-legged cat, and Kate, for guiding us to Gloria....

This morning,9 year-old Kate was on animal duty..... she'd to feed the dogs, the cat, check that the horses had water, collect the eggs in the straw ( our hens lay in the straw, always in the same place, and take it in turns to do so !) and feed the chickens...They were starving and chicken run wasn't in it as they appeared from nowhere around the grub. And yes, there she was...Gloria, out for a morning stroll.
We watched her cautiously from the kitchen window and found her hiding spot....amongst the flowers! Tom has been hanging around there for awhile now so, I reckon that when we come back from our holidays, the place will be like something out of Hitchcock's 'Birds'!!!

Gloria's gone again!

For those of you who've visited La Blonderie (the Wilde Kitchen) over the last few months you may be interested to know that our 'Titi' Cotentine chicken, Gloria, has gone missing! Last time we were certain that Mr.Fox had been to visit until one morning, as I fed the other animals, I came across, what I believed to be, one very lifeless chicken in the old hay cart...that was, until she blinked!!! Gloria was hatching!!!
Being from a housing estate in the suburbs of the Big Smoke (Dublin), I'm still learning a little every day about country living, and, believe you me, it's amazing.
Gloria had befriended Tom, the cat,who surveyed her cautiously during her hatching period, while Stevie, her rooster, flirted with Dubh and Dearg, our egg-laying chicks!
Three weeks later Gloria became the proud Mum of 9 little beauties...
and I fully understood the expression 'Mother Hen'...

Summertime and the livin' is easy.....

Well....Let me tell you that when my beloved invited me to Normandy for the very first time (14 1/2 years ago)the sun was shining...apéritifs were taken out of doors as I thought to myself 'la vie est belle'.....and on February 14th......

I arrived here with all my worldy belongings in the boot of the car on June 29th 1993 and it lashed rain all Summer long....

History repeats itself and here we are again.....and I'm quite sure that my favourite photographer Thierry won't mind if I share his great photo with you.....

Anyway who cares? It could be a lot worse. On RTE radio one morning (thank you Internet..I feel I've got a friend or two in the kitchen who speak my language!) the story went that someone complained about a lack of Summer when a caller rang in and stated:'We did have a Summer...it was lovely on Thursday!'

My french pals put that down to Irish optimism so lets get on with it and make the most of what we've got!

And so for a Summer Special.....try out this apéritif:

Add some Tonic water to Martini Bianco, a few ice cubes and a slice of lemon...