How the years vary.  Last year winter flew by amidst howling gales and driving rain. This year the contrast has been striking. Up until the third week of March it was so very cold with unusually hard frosts, sun and not a drop of rain. The grass has only just begun to grow and the fields are unusually bare and brown for the time of year. We fretted and fretted that there wouldn’t be enough fresh grass for the ewes with their new lambs. Then suddenly as we reached the end of the month the temperature went up the rain came down.  Warm sun followed and the whole valley burst into life.

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Traditionally Cottage Pie and Shepherds Pie were made from the leftovers of the Sunday roast. The cold meat was chopped up, mixed with the leftover gravy, put in a pie dish and topped with mashed potato and reheated in the oven. It was OK, but a bit dull!

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“Get your boots on, find the dogs, Barbery sheep’re in Bill‘s.”

I groan, put down my coffee and climb back into my green waterproof wonder suit. It’s Saturday morning and I’ve just finished my eighth day in a row in the farmyard alone as Paul languished in bed with really bad ‘flu. Today he struggled out for the first time and drove over to check our wethers in a neighbours field while I fed, watered and mucked out. I’d been dreaming about the coffee for nearly an hour.

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Cavolo Nero

One of the most versatile and handsome vegetables standing majestically in my vegetable garden this winter is the Italian cabbage, Cavolo Nero. It’s thin, long dark green leaves are the essential part of Ribollita, the famous Tuscan bean and cabbage soup, made a day in advance and “re-boiled”. Yesterday’s minestrone!

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Dear Sally,

That is a long time I did not come back to you but I have been computer less for a long time!

The weather had been terrible in Brittany since before Christmas. Huge storms and now snow and blizzard and each time we have a storm we have power cuts and the computer hate it! You see I think, sometime, that is foolish to try to mix the old world and the modernity and at the moment "Les Eglantines" and the computer are fighting each other very hard!

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Fresh foie gras

• An 800 grs fresh goose liver
• One soupspoon of port
• White pepper
• Salt

Ask your butcher to clean the Foie gras.
Mixed salt and pepper and spay the foie gras. Put the foie gras in a terrine in china, press it, pour the port, and cover with a foil. Put the terrine in a steamer and cover with the lid. Steam it for 25 minutes with the lid then 10 minutes without the lid. Leave the terrine in the kitchen the all night.

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New Years Day 2005 came in on the heals of the wind. Dogs and I walked up to the highest fields and watched the clouds scudding across an angry sky. The wind blew so hard I could lean back against it without falling. Th
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