Oh, my, what a wonderful summer it's been! The cover photo on this final blog for the summer is, of course, the sunset from our terrace. We always start with the view from the terrace when we get here, & always say goodbye to it when we leave. We are so lucky to have found this incredible spot to spend our summers. This year, our summer theme was "il faut cultiver notre jardin", & I can say with conviction that we did take care of our garden, both literally (I did spend a lot of time gardening!) & figuratively (we both took time to take care of ourselves).

Le Jardin: Adding & Subtracting (or planting & pruning)

Gardening is half additive, half subtractive. Summer gardening started, as usual, with the purchase of new plants at a lovely local nursery, called "The Singing Earth". When I walked into that place in early June, it was bursting with all kinds of annuals, perennials, vines, bushes, trees, herbs, & grasses, all of them singing away in their summer euphoria. I just returned this week to buy a few cheap plastic pots (for repotting, then distributing, my "orphans" to friends & neighbors), & this time the nursery was singing a new song, for fall.

Planting is the additive part--you add pretty, young plants to your soil, water them faithfully, fertilize them now & then, & they grow, pretty much on their own. This year I added a grape vine, bought at the Sommieres Saturday market. It did really well, all by itself, in a pot. Last Sunday, I dug up a few pavers on our south wall, & stuck it into the ground. It immediately started clinging to the trellis Les had installed for me. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will still be there next June!

But the subtractive part took up a lot of my time this summer. That means pruning, & first I tackled a few annoyingly large bushes that were restricting our view. Now we have a better view, but our yard is so dry, that we are looking at dry grass more than we are looking at the view! The good news is that, after diligient watering, the cut back bushes are doing quite well! As did my now 2 year old rosemary & lavender, cut back for their winter cycle.

After my "cutback mode", I decided to attack the IVY. Good grief, it's everywhere! It climbs, it hangs, it twines, it chokes. It's a constant battle. "Il faut etre toujours vigilant!" with some kind of "desherbillant" (degrassing) liquid, which you usually spray on. It's really a nice way to spend a summer morning as long as you can time it so you're in the shade.

The worst part was the ivy that had taken over within our long hedge, which screens half the yard from the street. Ultimately, I pulled out the very long (sometimes 25-30') from the bottom, twisted them into a ball, & soaked them in the poison & gleefully watched it die. That felt really good! (It's like getting rid of an obnoxious bully!) The only problem was that now we have a big hole in our hedge (which you can see on this week's picture album), from where the ivy really invaded & took over. David, our winter guy, says he'll work on it. I will be more vigilant next summer for sure!

La Vie (Life)! : many more additives than subtractives!

Les & I really enjoyed our 2 sets of foreign guests, & summer lunches & dinners with local friends. And we obviously, if you've looked at our picture albums, enjoyed our 2 summer trips, one to Corsica in July, the other to Perigord (Dordogne) in August. And we love exploring the towns & villages in our region, for concerts, events, & art exhibitions.

But best of all is the daily & weekly routine "stuff" we do here: beautiful mornings on the terrace with coffee & you tube (we watch the US news on delay due to the time differences), & light lunches & sunset dinners from the delicious food choices here in southern France. Our hikes each Sunday morning, & our trips to the mountains & to the sea were all highlights this summer. We did what we WANTED to do, not what we had to do.

While I was gardening most mornings, Les was taking care of himself with his weekly routine. One day he goes to the gym in Nimes, another day he plays golf, another day is "massage day" in Sommieres, & every other morning he runs on the "Voie Verte", a repurposed train line not far from our house. And his French is improving! He can carry on conversations quite well these days. He makes reservations, orders lunches & dinners out, & meets & converses with new people on the golf course.

And then he goes to work! After our lunch, America finally wakes up! Most afternoons Les is in his office, talking or planning with associates & clients via Skype, or Webex, or phone. A working day from noon to 8:00 pm may seem strange, but it works, as long as you can figure out what time it is where!

As I write this final posting, I realize how much I enjoy doing this blog! It's such an easy way to create a journal that we can easily access, to verify something, or just to laugh at something silly we enjoyed. And it's a good way to share our experiences with others. It's fun when people leave me messages--I just had one from a French student from over 40 years ago! She told me she'd just spent the summer in Montpellier studying French at the Alliance Francaise. I have no idea how she found my blog, but I'm so glad she did.

All the plants are fostered out, all the outside furniture is IN, the frig is cleaned out & our bags are half packed. We head to Paris tomorrow, Saturday, Aug. 26, & for Chicago on Monday, Aug. 28. We can't wait to see our children & grandchildren--it's been a LONG time, & they've been all over the place this summer. We're also looking forward to checking in with siblings & Les' mom, before we head back to Charleston Sept. 1.

Waiting for us in Charleston is a new adventure! We will pick up Buster Brown, a 9 week old labradoodle puppy, on Sept. 2. Here we go again!

As we head home, we hope your summer, wherever you've been & whatever you've done, has been a good one, & that you are refreshed & ready for the fall ahead. The circle of life continues!

Hugs to you all,

Elise & Les