Old Roots and New Shoots

After having done my fair share of bashing down walls and inhaling copious amounts of dust in the process, I decided to leave the internal renovations to other Collinses and concentrate on the exterior challenge of the garden. I know nothing about greenery, Tony was the gardener, but the sadly neglected acreage needs help. And there’s a lot of it. Half dead trees have sown more trees, the five figs are a prime example (can one make fig wine?) and ivy has claimed much of the rear garden. Yet there is so much potential in what was obviously a once well-tendered piece of land so I’m determined to bring life into her again. Having walked around the tired beds and sprawling weeds with my brother and my Mum, we came up with some ideas which I now have to put into some sort of plan. Excitement at what could be done with all this space however is dimmed by the amount of clearing that comes first. I spent two days pulling up endless lengths of ivy and chopping down dead branches, my body isn’t thanking me, but the sight of little green shoots poking their heads up as the suffocating ivy was removed was worth it.

The other day, Arry and I took a trip up to my younger brother’s house in Cennes-Monesties, a forty minute drive up into the hills. Moth and his partner, Hilde, bought the property (naturally a derelict one as befits our family) and have spent the last six or so years rebuilding what will be much sought-after vacation spots and work is still ongoing. I hadn’t been up there since 2016 so the visit was a long time coming. Like all our family, thanks in part to Pop, Moth and Hilde are passionate about the environment and recycling so as much as possible has been done to the houses (there are three on the land) to reflect this. I was completely taken aback however by the sheer scale of what they had already achieved and how they had rebuilt a pile of concrete. Organic materials fill the walls, a staircase encased in hemp and solid reused wood capture the imagination. The bath that once sat at L’Horte now provides an incredible view into the forest beyond. Arry had a wild time investigating the surroundings although the cat food seemed to be his highlight. Having done the Badens grand tour, we took Moth back to St-Hilaire to borrow our builder’s truck, kindly lent for us to move rubble and bring more stuff back from the old house. Forgetting that this was the first time I had had a dog in the back of my new car, I took Arry over to L’Horte for a quick evening swim. I now have to clean poor Josephine.

Driving back from L’Horte that evening as the sun was going down, I suddenly felt a wave of happiness wash over me. Just like the little green shoots being able to breathe after the dead weight of the ivy was removed. I looked up at the horizon as we weaved through the French countryside and felt Tony smiling down at me through the fading rays as if to say everything’s going to be okay. The road ahead may always be winding but this is my home now and I really quite like it…

“A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows” (Doug Larson)