Last week's blog was very brief as i ran out of time to say anything interesting or find any nice photos and videos. This time last week, I was on a ferry from Dieppe to Newhaven to visit pastures old and take some contributions for an upcoming exhibition.
The drive from here to Dieppe seems a long and boring slog - in reality it is probably only about three and three quarter hours, but it seems like more. Then the ferry journey itself is four hours - not long enough for a cabin and sleep, but too long if you are on your own and the food is pretty boring and the weather is bouncy. Now I like a rough crossing, but I get annoyed at having to hold onto a table to stay in my chair, and when they said they had to turn the stabilisers off to get into harbour, I was surprised they had stabilisers on in the first place!
Then there is driving in East Sussex. I swear they are preparing for a Russian or Iranian invasion - most roads are being dug up and it is impossible to know what diversion signs relate to the route you want to travel. Those that aren't being dug up, should be, given their condition. In France a pothole is called a nid de poule - a chicken nest - but I'll swear that the East Sussex potholes would house not just a chicken, but several turkeys, an ostrich and probably a large flock of velociraptors! But then if you go to the seaside, it is beautiful!
I'd not been to Seaford for over 45 years, so it was nice to spend time sitting on a bench, watching the sea and eating high quality ice cream. There were some lovely benches - presumably a Heritage Lottery or Millennium project - really in keeping with the area.
And the artistic benches were in keeping with my main mission for the visit - handing over materials for a forthcoming exhibition at the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne. It is an impressive building and the standing exhibition is a homage to Eric Ravillious and his chums. He was actually a contemporary of my father's, which was interesting if a bit tantalising at times.
The exhibition opens in May, and if you are interested, follow this link - Comrades in Art: Artists Against Fascism — Towner Eastbourne . From my discussions with one of the curators, I think it is going to be a pretty special exhibition and I will brave the journey later in the year to go and see it.
I got home on Thursday and did not miss out on the fine weather here in France. It is stunning and warm and bright, and the air is poor quality and full of pollen, so I am on antihistamines a whole month before I would expect. Having said that - look at this cherry tree, seemingly in full blossom, and you can see why!
Actually, only half the tree is in blossom, the other half is burgeoning, getting ready to go. The half that is in flower produces miserable little fruits, with a lot of colour but just a skin of red over the stone - it is a wild cherry, and looks to have come from below the graft point on the tree. The other side, which isn't out yet, has lovely lush fruits that the birds get before we have a chance to try them. Cultivated cherries are rather behind, as can be seen in this photo.
However in both cases, it is too early for this sort of thing, but that seems to be the way of it this year.
Other things are happening in the productive gardens - the first asparagus spears are starting to show! Telling them apart from new shoots of mare's tail can be a bit challenging at a distance and without glasses, but all becomes clear close to.
And as we are getting to that time of year, I was able to harvest the first of our 6 cauliflowers - bijou and compact - for our dinner tonight. This has been in the ground since August last year - if anyone chunters about the price of caulis, this is the reason, they take ages to develop!
So there we have it - an exciting week with lots going on at home and away. Next week I will talk local elections perhaps, but can't this week as the polls are still open in some places.
Have a good week!
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