52. April 25th.

Horses and quads roaring up the hill path, shouts of excitement; no more hunting so the dogs are restless and noisy, setting up unison howling .

There is an eccentric English woman here who has gone through a few husbands and has lost most of her money. She keeps horses and a quad bike for transport and rides one while trailing the other two behind her, one on a lead rein, the other pony galloping free, way behind. She has adopted some dogs too and to exercise them she tears down the tracks on the bike with the dogs thundering behind her. I haven’t spoken to her yet, but I hear lots.

This has been the wettest winter the locals say they can recall, although the ski businesses are happy with plenty of snow still, @ 2000m., even avalanches.

The annual flower seeds that I've been sowing in the meadow gaps are all germinating; but no sooner do the Cosmos break than the slugs raze `em to the ground. I must use those slug pellets based on ferrous sulphate that the hedgehogs will not mind. . They work by interfering with the digestive system of the molluscs. They die. Snails of course, climb , so will attack plants from the top and sides. Clematis up against a fence or wall, for instance, will suffer from above while the snails can hide during the day in the crannies of the wood, stems or stones. Still, enough Sweet William and Ox Eye Daisies are spreading to cover the bare patches and give a wonderful sward this year. The flowering will be early but I'm optimistic that the Rudbeckia and Echinacea and Corn Marigold will follow on with some Cornflowers and Cosmos surviving for later summer. I can’t wait; amazing how this process can fill me with pleasure and erase the blues