We arrive in Denmark to the thriller of molehills. An explosion of earth mounds picked out within the automobile headlights like a compound of pyramids. Henri is just not pleased. They're cellular, the moles, shifting home from one nook of the meadow to a different. An historic Aztec metropolis of soil.
The great neighbour is obsessive about them. He has an annual petanque event and is lined-lawn loopy. For him it's warfare. I don’t precisely welcome them, however determine they’re extra resident than me.
Anyway, the soil they unearth is helpful right now for topping Ina’s winter window field. Most I transport to the outdated hearth pit and some different spots across the border. Final 12 months, these have been a cheerful house to snaking nasturtiums, calendula and rampant borage.
I prepare dinner meals for the feral cat, a raggedy long-haired ginger tom deserted at a 12 months outdated a decade in the past when one other neighbour moved. I put out bowls of Christmas goose fats and make him hen giblet stew. I determine so long as I draw the road at shopping for tinned meals it’s nice. We aren't right here typically sufficient to be a dependable supply.
We've got come to see Ina, however there’s winter pruning to do. The fruit bushes: redcurrants and blackcurrants, the latter for Henri’s favorite jam. The redcurrants we depart for passing selecting and the birds.
The most important jobs are the roses: two outdated Danish climbing varieties and a number of crimson and white rugosa that additionally grows in all places alongside the shore. The Danes have a love-hate relationship with these. There was darkish speak of the rugosa not being Danish sufficient – plans for uprooting them from the seashores. This, although, has receded.
We arm ourselves with thick jackets and gloves and sharp secateurs. Henri is extra fierce at pruning than me, so I content material myself with wheeling away her cuttings. The low winter solar shines. It's good backyard work.
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