Lots of brandy, and I'm not allowed a drop

Hi

Sorry to have been rather quiet for a few weeks. This is, of course, GP's fault- something to do with him teaching, but in fact he only has 6 lessons a week. I ask you!

Life in Mesnay (Arbois) has been less hectic after the harvest. The leaves on the vines have turned brown and the autumn tints look spectacular this year with stunning reds amongst the browns and greens- a few photos appear to one side. The weather has apparently been much better than the UK and during Granny and GP's visit at half-term they both got sunburnt. Apparently this is unusual with snow at the end of October a more usual occurrence than a reading of 31 degrees on getting into a car which had been parked in the sun.

Whilst less hectic Daddy has nevertheless had plenty of work to do. Nearly all the primary fermentation has finished and there is now some malolactic fermentation where the slightly more acidic malic acid (think green apples) is converted into lactic acid. This makes the wine rounder and more buttery. Alongside this D has various wine varieties in a dozen oak barrels which he will use to add some flavour and roundness to his eventual blending.

Slightly disappointing at harvest was the quantity of wine achieved from his Savagnin grapes, at the lower end of expectations, whereas the other varieties had produced better volumes than anticipated. This was put down to insufficient pressing at the time. The upside of this was a greater quantity of grape skins which were placed in various plastic tanks. The largest of these did not, unfortunately, have a lid and despite valiant efforts with a plastic tarpaulin the fruit flies attacked it (in their thousands) and it turned to vinegar. Or so we thought... Not for nothing did Daddy spend 2 years at Montpellier University becoming an oenologue.

With some input from fellow vignerons in Arbois, D took off the top layer of liquid and brought forward the next activity - distillation of the grape skins. Expecting only a modest amount of 60% spirit- called marc in the Jura - lo and behold nearly 4 times as much as expected has been produced, without a hint of vinegar. So perhaps not pressing all the juice out was the right thing to do. Unfortunately D will have to pay about £10 per litre duty on the spirit when it is sold in 2011 as Macvin, blended with 70% wine and some oaking,- a sherry-like aperitif, and jolly good too.

The current plan is to produce the first bottles in May/June next year with aromas of raspberry, redcurrant and some pepper, if GP has got his translation of D's email correct! GP is getting excited....

My news hot of the press is that I can now move, an achievement which has not been entirely positive in that I roll over, always on my left side, with the result that several gyrations will often leave me further away from my intended destination than I was when I started. This has led to a certain degree of angst and so I propose to explore other methods of transference over the next few days. However it has precipitated a trip to Besancon for Mummy and Daddy to purchase rails to prevent my imminent demise over the ledge down to the dining room!

I am apparently still a bonny baby, which is good news, and have more than doubled my original birth weight. Mummy is reluctant to give me solids until 6 months old and so it's now 14 days and counting to my first Morteau sausage and Comté cheese. What? Baby rice? You must be joking! After all this time waiting for a Jurassic specilality. I ask you.

Oh well, Christmas soon. I'm looking forward to playing with the wrapping paper and my first Xmas pudding................

Still no decision on the Wine Label name... www.hughesbeguet.com with suggestions. Bastivin?

Love from

Bastian xxx

How exciting was that?!!!

Well, readers, it's been a roller-coaster since I last wrote. At that time Daddy, Papi and Uncle Gilbert were plastering the garage, installing RSJs, and a team was sandblasting the cellar below the garage. Since then a dozen Vats of various sizes and various oak barrels (£500 new!) have arrived, piping has been installed connected to a former milk-cooling tank, concrete has been flowing, an enormous press resembling a rocket launcher at 20 degrees has been installed on the patio, a de-stalker acquired and two pumps with some 100 boxes/trays/buckets/secateurs, 6 tons of gravel has been spread about the cellar which now has a concrete pathway, and so much more!

During the first weekend of September after some unwanted rain, Daddy had to make the decision whether or not to stick to the scheduled 3 picking weekends when friends from all over France would descend on Mesnay to help with the vendanges. After testing grapes from the four plots for sugar levels it was "all systems go" for the weekends 12/13,19/20 and 26/27 September.

And so it was on a glorious 12 September that some 20 souls set off to the vines just up the road to pick some Chardonnay grapes later moving on to Pylones (an unofficial name describing the proximity to electrical conductors).

Despite up to 20% loss through hail, the grappes de raisins looked good and tasted good. These were collected in buckets by the pickers and transferred to bins which were then transported in a pick-up truck driven by the indispensable Patrick who enjoyed it so much he came for all 3 weekends. The Winery team then poured the grapes into the crusher/press with the resulting juice then pumped into one of the Vats.

At 2pm each day the team returned from the vines to a splendid sit-down lunch with starters, main course, cheese (£70 worth per weekend!!) and dessert/coffee/wine beer. Praise must go to Jacqueline/Mami who planned and executed the meals assisted by Mummy, Granny, Papi and Grandpa. A good time was had by all but everyone was willing to return to the vines for another 4 hours thereafter before another feast. Fortunately chairs and tables for up to 28 were available and there was room to spare.

Daddy allowed the "gang" to sleep in on Sunday morning as they were fairly shattered but it was back on Sunday for another round. Worst aspect was the bending and back pain was fairly common, albeit the 30 new secateurs were sharp and sometimes cutting a bunch resulted in fingers being lacerated alongside the supporting stalk. Plasters were on hand!



Unfortunately the second Saturday saw the fantastic weather change and the pickers were subjected to two thunderstorms of cats and dogs proportions. Nothing to do but carry on and feel slightly damp and depressed. The sun came back out (twice) to dry us out and spirits had returend by dinner time and the Vins du Jura.

Following the Chardonnay the Ploussard and Trousseau were harvested and finally the Savagnin last weekend, possibly the only disappointment volume-wise. A pity as this is the premium grape with the Vin Jaune kept in barrel for 6 years and selling for, we hope, some 25 Euros for half a bottle.

The work doesn't finish once the pickers have left as the red grapes need macerating, with regular pige-ing (stirring to ensure breakdown of skins and no drying out). The red grapes actually produce white juice and it is the maceration which introduces the colour and the tannins. Apart from this, the white juice needs drawing off the sediment, the speed of fermentation needs checking, with temperature controls introduced if necessary, top grapes are picked out for the Vin de paille (straw wine), cleaning of the press etc. The straw wine grapes are dried over 3 months before pressing when just a third of the orinal juice is availble, though in concentrated form. After fermentation the wine is fortified with brandy or marc as it is known in the Jura- beats sherry, I can tell you (although I am relying on GP here!).

Needless to say the aroma in the winery is "formidable". GP is going to try to upload a video clip of the winery activity at the end of the first Saturday . First you see the grapes being de-stemmed, then being put into a vat, followed by a quick trip around the winery passing the yellow press.

So it's all been very exciting for a 3-month-old, I can tell you, with 20-odd people sharing my house. I have been trying to grow as quickly as possible so that I can start trying out this wine stuff, and have been succeeding quite well. Indeed as Mummy and Daddy can testify, I am also about to produce some teeth so that soon I can try some of the Comté cheese the region is famous for. I have already been introduced to a Montbeliard cow which is the only breed that can produce Comté- they're very attractive brown and whites. Again some photos should appear- needless to say GP could see the difference after 2 months.

I'll report on the progress of the grape juice turning into wine in my next blog. In the meantime many thanks to all the pickers, who were great.

Love and bisous from Bastian

Oh, hail......

Hi everyone

Sorry that I've been a bit quiet of late, although my parents probably wouldn't recognise that description. I blame Grandpa and his golf, not to mention the Ashes. Not sure the Ashes are as popular in France, even if England are winning (ftb).....

Anyway, I've been growing well and becoming quite used to life in Mesnay as hopefully the photos will reveal; after all I am 8 weeks old now.

Quite a few adventures since I last wrote. Granny and Auntie Vicky came over by Eurostar (first-class on way out - very civilised, Granny thought) a couple of weeks ago. They had a good time with A.Vicky going to two wine-tastings and visiting our outdoor pool every day (our being 500m away, not the back garden!). See pics. Last weekend David and Geraldine got married nearby, with lots of friends staying here. Quite noisy but good fun. Geraldine looked lovely. This weekend one of Mummy's school friends from Ashford came to visit. She's a doctor but only just realised that she was pregnant after three months. Hope I didn't put her off with my "singing" (well that's what I like to call it).

Exciting times here in the house. No, still no banisters (they are promised), but in the meantime Daddy has had the cellar sand-blasted ready for all the vats which he has ordered along with presses and barrels and tubing and pumps. He discovered some marc (brandy by any other name) in one barrel in the depths which will help with some of his fortified wines.

Bad news however in the shape of hail which has damaged some 10/20% of the crop. It happened last year as well and hopefully will have got it out of its system. As it struck quite early in the season when the grapes have not developed too much sugar, the damaged grapes don't look as though they will rot and ruin the bunch and hopefully will just shrivel and die, so fingers crossed. Agriculture is always at the mercy of the elements as daddy is becoming to appreciate.

I think that's about all the news for present. Mummy and Daddy have managed to persuade some of their friends to sign up for the grape harvest 19/20 and 26/27 September. Feel free to join us -mailto:-patrice@hughesbeguet.com

Love from Bastian xxx

20 days and counting..well, smiling anyway

Hi

Thought that I'd update you on progress which has been pretty much according to the book; in other words, quite unpredictable. Some days I'm hungry and tired, other days I'm hungry and not tired. The latter has caused a few sleepless nights, but Mummy and Daddy are still smiling (most of the time, anyway). I'm putting on weight - now 3.7kg - and have been smiling occasionally which is pretty neat at my age, I think.

I met my cousin Alexis last Sunday who was supposed to be two weeks younger than me but turns out is a week older. Seems a nice chap, with a full head of black hair(unlike mine which is similar in quantity to GP's). I expect we'll be great mates. Also met Auntie Christelle and Uncle Nicolas who live in delightful Annecy which I look forward to seeing and peddalo-ing on the lake there.

As to my inheritance, the vines are also growing- Daddy had to spray again last week as the rain had washed off his previous application. He put 1.5 litres of Yarrow soup, made by Mummy, into the mix which is apparently for water management of the vines. GP isn't entirely convinced yet about the organic (biologique)/bio-dynamic methods, calculating, fairly roughly admittedly, that that means about a molecule per vine leaf, but time will tell, and if there are less noxious chemicals being used, so much the better. It does mean extra spraying for Daddy as the applications aren't systemic like the non-organic vintners'. Thank heavens for Daddy's tractor, which he hasn't modified this week, although he gave a couple of vines a bit of a headache.

The good news is that the dreaded blue string has been deployed, mainly thanks to Granny and Papi who seem naturally gifted in the unwinding of string, unlike GP who will be walking down the row and then suddenly disappears, pole-axed as he finds himself lassooed around the ankles. Now all the vines in Mesnay (6000'ish) need to have clips inserted at every post to draw the left and right strings together and then the shoots brought up in between them. Then all 20,000 vines need trimming manually to reduce leafage, the weeds attacked (manually of course, being biologique), spraying every 2/3 weeks depending on rainfall, and Robert's the brother of your mother. Picking volunteers still sought for the last 3 weekends in September............. patrice@hughesbeguet.com

The bad news is that Daddy slipped in his new shower this week and aggravated his tennis elbow which will make his shearing of the vines even more painful. Along with a raging toothache and my reluctance to sleep last night, he wasn't a particularly bouncy bunny this morning, but he has picked up during the day as the antibiotics have taken effect.

Granny and Grandpa are back to Blighty on Monday- seemingly they have had a good time seeing me; Granny is back in 3 weeks with Auntie Vickie (who is seeing Neil Young and The Pretenders tonight, and Bruce Springstein tomorrow, in Hyde Park- it's a hard life!) GP may not be back until harvesting- I expect that I will have changed by then. He'll be putting up some photos when he returns. They do like this area- the people are charming, Bonjouring all the time. A couple of young lads were ruuning by the side of the local stream the other day about to jump in and yet they stopped to Bonjour us all, depite being complete strangers. The Post Office assistants even bonjour everyone when they merely walk in the door. Doesn't happen at Tesco!

Oh by the way, I like my baths. In fact I am really a jolly good little fellow, all things considered. I'm off to my first wedding in July-looking forward to it. Daddy's at the stag night now, very sorry that he's on antibiotics, and orange juice!

Love from Bastian

Back home with the bells

Hadn't realised how much I missed those bells.

Well, it's all quite different being a little person, rather than a bump, but I must say it's all going remarkably well. I wake up, stretch, give a little murmur and bingo - milk. For what more can a chap ask? Apparently some bloke called Maslow has decided that milk won't necessarily keep me content (see -learning French already) for much longer but ftb it's the bees'! Apparently I am a very happy baby, am putting on weight and look a lot like GP (poor mite-GP).

Lots of coo-cooing and "who's a lovely baby", but at least you can get a sensible conversation with GP, usually along the lines of: Do you think Shearer's the man to get them back up? Wouldn't 4-4-2 be a better system? Will Newcastle have 3 managers again next season? and other similarly pressing and important world topics.

Lots of attention yesterday with all grandparents here, with Daddy managing to get most of them into the vines. Current task is to unwind the blue string, which was rolled up in February, to give support to the up-to-2m shoots which have emerged. This will also clear a passage for Daddy to drive his tractor up and down the rows without pulling the vines out. Estimated to be a 5 man-day task, the actualité is a tadge different. As diligently as the string was rolled up, in accordance with hundreds of years of experience, it seems totally impossible, however delicately handled, not to create an impenetrable 25m bird's nest within the first 5m of unravelling. Only another 500 strings to go by which time an asylum will be beckoning....

But on a positive note the grapes are formed, are looking good, and there seem to be the required amount. Only another 90 days to avoid mildew and various other diseases. Fortunately Louis Pasteur, who lived in Arbois, undertook a deal of research into vine/wine diseases, although, being pre-organic, Daddy can't use the chemicals since established; garlic and other sprays seem to be working at present. No doubt the wild boar which particularly enjoy the ripe grapes just up the road here in Mesnay will feature later this year. Hopefully GP will have been "let out" by then having disentagled himself from the fil bleu...

A picture of Daddy on his new tractor appears above, French technology permitting. Since then Daddy has undertaken a few modifications (a doddle,French), but most have been repaired, although the poor thing now has a squint. More photos of me shortly.

http://www.hughesbeguet.com/ is still w-i-p. Domaine names also seem to have dropped temporarily off the menu, but it will be another 10 months or so before the first bottle hits a store near you (OK- near me. Actually the store will be in the garage/cellar but will also hopefully be available in other discerning local outlets). If you want to join the vendanges as a picker in this glorious countryside at the end of September, volunteers welcome, and you can also meet me.

Bastian Leon Hughes Beguet has arrived....

Hi

Glad that I am now able to greet you in person rather than by proxy. I arrived yesterday, 7 Jun, at 6.14am, weighing 3 kilos, so quite a long haul for Mum who was pretty exhausted after what can only be described as a "difficult" birth. I was fine and so far seem quite happy with my new surroundings. Happily Mum and Dad have had some much needed rest and they too are doing well. We're probably going to be in hospital until Thursday or Friday.

Being a boy came as a bit of a surprise, but I'm getting over it, and I'm even getting used to my names, Bastian Leon. There aren't many Bastians about it seems, although one does play for Bayern Munich. Great great Uncle Peter used to work for Bayer, so a link there. Leon is the name of Mami's father and the middle name (Leonard) of GP's father so a bringing together of the two branches of the family.

Apparently I'm due to get my first "bath" this morning. I don't know what a "bath" is yet, but it sounds pretty ominous. Aren't boys supposed to run around and get muddy? Sounds a bit girly to me! I'll let you know.

GP is putting up a picture taken by Papi yesterday of me waving to the crowds. GP thinks I am pretty nearly the best-looking grandson there has ever been, and hey, who am I to disagree?

Will keep you posted on the bath episode. Still no sign of the wine, but am beginning to get the hang of milk....

I'm on my way....

Just to let you know that I have decided to join you all, and so I woke Mum up at 5am this morning to give her the news. We're now at the hospital but the contractions are the rough equivalent of hiccups at present so I am likely to arrive on D-Day, albeit 65 years late.

Hope they've got some sensible names ready- Cadwallader indeed.....

In the meantime my cousin Alexis has already arrived. Congratulations to Auntie Christelle and Uncle Nicolas. I look forward to meeting you all soon.

Wine-making in the Jura

Hi

Today is Liberation Day in France and a Bank Holiday. Mummy (M) and Daddy (D) are playing in threeconcerts at Schools/local towns. M plays the flute and D the trombone, so already I'm pretty musical. Can't wait to have a go myself. Still no sign of me emerging into the big wide world, but I'm beginning to get a bit restive and M has her bag packed. D is likely to be in the vines on the other side of town when I decide to venture forth and the hospital is 20 miles away, so it could be a close-run thing.... The names are narrowing down too, and so I may not be called Cadwallader or Cressida. Pity, as I was getting to like them.

Thought that I might bring you up to speed on wines in the Jura which, as with every other wine region in France, have their own individuality.Firstly here is where we live http://www.maplandia.com/france/franche-comte/jura/lons-le-saunier/mesnay/ next to the church in Mesnay. Daddy has vines here and at Pupillin, just south of Arbois. Because his wines are in the Appelation area, his wines will be AOC Arbois and AOC Arbois-Pupillin.

The Jura is a department of Franche-Comte, famous for its gorgeous cheese Comté, and it adjoins Switzerland. The Jura mountains dominate the department and Arbois is in the foothills approx 1000ft above sea level. For this reason, the winters are cold with plenty of snow and climatic conditions differ from most other wine-growing regions. As a result their grape varieties are, in the main, unique to the Jura, resulting in fine wines unlike any others.Here is a good guide:
www.jurawine.com/jura-pdf.pdf. Daddy has Savignin, Poulsard, Chardonnay and Trousseau.

M & D still haven't decided on a brand-name for their wines and so GP will continue to call it Ashby Wines for the time being (Hughes Beguet- HB is hache-bé in French). Suggestions on a postcard or by email to patrice@hughesbeguet.com, welcome.
Ashby Organic Wines will probably offer something along these lines:
WHITE
Sparkling White, Light White, Serious White
RED
Light Red, Serious Red
YELLOW
Dessert Yellow, Mellow Yellow

Because it's Year One it isn't strictly organic yet, but Mummy and Daddy are very much into the whole organic and bio-dynamic culture and so they are only putting into the vines and soil what qualifies for organic status. Apparently Organic wine gives you less of a hangover which is good news for GP!

I might get one more post in before I emerge. Clover is a hot favourite at the moment, marginally preferable to Cressida. Should I be a boy, the jury is still out on names, with Auntie Vicky rather dismissing Cyprien, a former front-runner. Ashby seems OK to GP!

Summoned by bells

Dramatis Personae: Me (Ashby for the moment), Mummy/Caroline (M), Daddy/Patrice (D), Grandpa and co-writer (GP),Grandma (GM), Mami (MM), Papi (PP)
Hi
HBHB here again(Haricot Bean Hughes Beguet)hence Grandpa's idea to christen me Ashby as that was becoming a mouthful. Still no decision on names as no-one knows, not even me, what variety I'll be. Apparently my cousin, due a week later, is kicking Christelle, Daddy's sister, like mad and he's a boy. All I do is politely hiccup, so I suspect that I'm a girl. We'll see...

I live in Mesnay, adjacent to Arbois which is one of the famous Jura wine-producing regions and looks like a picture from a chocolate box. M and D moved into the house next to the church in November. It's an old stone house with a massive cellar down precipitous steps- probably 18th Century (some houses in the village are 16th C). The inside has been modernised, but not finished and so one takes one's life in one's hands going up the stairs with no banister or handrail and no banisters around the landing. I suspect that it will be finished before I am able to practise sky-diving from the balcony!

Being next to the Church and being French, the bells ring 24/7. As if that weren't enough, just in case you hadn't caught the number of rings on the hour, they repeat them a minute later. I don't notice them much at the moment - hopefully that will continue. Working in the vines nearby, GP found it rather pleasant, in the sunshine, to have one's time controlled by bells- took him back to his school days.

Daddy has 4 plots of vines in and around Arbois. This being his first year, he had difficulty in acquiring the vines and they weren't his until January/February. Everyone else around had been working on their vines since November and so D was automatically 2/3 months behind. He is also a Maths teacher at a local school part-time until the income starts to grow, and so this created extra pressures on his time.

Firstly one has to remove the string supporting last year's harvest and tie it up neatly. Then the vines have to be pruned to leave two main shoots about 60cm/2 ft long. Then the dead wood has to be prised, kicking and screaming, from the wires. Boy, do the triffid-like tendrils put up some resistance.

Next the posts need to be checked. D had to replace about 120 which means carrying sledge hammers and iron poles up 30 degree slopes and banging the new acacia posts into the stony ground. Then the wires need to be tightened to allow the vines to be attached firmly. In the Jura there is not as much sun as, say, in the South of France and the vines need attaching in a special way to maximise sunlight and bud growth. Normally attachment is not too arduous but, because D got the vines late, some shoots were decent-sized branches and these needed bending into U-shapes over the second wire before being attached to the lower wire. Apparently the sap travels automatically to the end of the shoot but will also hang around at the top, so a U-turn will maximise distribution. Already you can see the sap dripping from the shoots.

Bending and tying is what M, D, GP, GM, MM and PP got to do during April. Each vine shoot segment needs careful bending to stop it snapping. Each emerging bud on the shoot, though miniscule, already contains the leaves and grapes that will emerge over the summer. Bending, twisting the shoots under/over/under, often led to snapping and the buds being knocked off, which in turn led to GP using language that I hadn't heard before- it must be English, although mention was made of Anglo-Saxon.

Then the attachment of the vines is done with a neat tool which twists the thin wire using a spring-device which you pull away from the vine. D has a left-handed one- wonder whether I'll be left-handed?

During the school holidays D, MM and PP managed to finish the tying (GP and GM had returned to Kent) on the 20,000 vines which should produce the equivalent of 20,000 bottles, but D still has to prepare his lesson-plans for next term, so he's working quite hard at the moment.... He's hoping to get a little tractor to go between the rows next month, which will mulch, strim, spray, rotovate. Unfortunately some of his rows are on such steep slopes that he will have to continue to tend these vines by hand, which is a shame.

Aaah, I hear the 12 o'clock bells, and yes, there they are again in confirmation. I think I'll have a little snooze. Hope Mummy isn't going to rush around too much like she normally does.

No suggestions for the name of the Hughes Beguet Wine brand yet- suggestions welcome at patrice@hughesbeguet.com

Heir or heiress to a wine empire?

Hi. I'm new to blogging. In fact I'm new to just about everything. My name, is, at the moment, Bean but that's going to change in about a month's time, when I'm born, when it will become something like Cressida or Cadwallader depending on what variety I turn out to be. I got the name Bean because I was apparently the size of a haricot bean when Mummy and Daddy first visited the doctor. Mummy can vouch for the fact that I've grown since then. They're ploughing through name books at the moment- one has 10,000 French names in it (did I mention that I live in France?) but have really no idea yet. I think Cadwallader/Cressida is a joke....?

I'm enlisting Grandpa (GP) to help me with my blog until I'm old enough to take over. That will probably be when I become a grumpy teenager and GP becomes a grumpy old man, so this is likely to be the zenith of our blog co-operation.

OK, some background. Mummy (Caroline) met Daddy (Patrice)at Besancon University where they were playing in the orchestra and they got married 4 years ago this week at Lympne Castle where they were joined by a considerable number of friends and family from both sides of La Manche/English Channel. Daddy decided however that he really wanted to produce wine. I don't know what wine tastes like yet because Mummy hasn't had any since I appeared on the scene. I'll let you know. Anyway he gave up his job as an IT consultant and became a student again at Montpellier University where they moved to from Paris. Mummy was an HR Manager down there. After 2 years in Languedoc Roussillon Daddy qualified as an Oeneologist and 9 months ago they moved to Arbois in the Jura (between Dijon and Switzerland). They have now acquired 20,000 vines which are likely to occupy all of the time they don't devote to me, for the next 20 years.

I'll talk you through the stages in wine production over the next few weeks as GP and Grandma, along with Mami and Papi, Mummy, Daddy and lots of friends have spent many hours in the vines over the last few weeks.

Mummy and Daddy, apart from having to decide what to name me, also have to decide what brand name to use for their wines which, most probably, will be sold mainly within the Jura. GP has suggested Ashby Wines with a sub title of "HB Vins du Jura". HB stands for Hughes Beguet, my surname to be, and in French HB is approximately Ash Bay, hence Ashby. Their website is http://www.hughesbeguet.com/ and when Daddy has time they will be seeking suggestions on the website for a name. In the meantime any sensible suggestions welcome patrice@hughesbeguet.com.

I am due to make my appearance on 9 June which is 41 weeks, which is the French calculation. Apparently if Mummy had me in the UK I would be due on 2 June, 40 weeks, so already I'm confused. Apparently we're going to speak English in the house and French outside, but that probably won't worry me for a few months yet. I rather hope I'm a boy and can help Daddy in the vines and take over the Empire, but I suspect that if I'm a girl, I will probably do the same anyway. Fancy having one's life planned out before it's even begun!

GP is uploading a couple of shots of some vines, one with Ashby vines (and Daddy's hut) in the distance and another from a bedroom window. There are some wonderful views of the church next to the house from the local vines (Did I mention the bells-next time) which I will post shortly, probably with some snaps of me, in person. I can't wait to see you.