Spring is stepping out
Spring is stepping out, putting on her finery, dressing the land in colour while the honeybees are about gorging on the almond and rosemary blossoms; the olive trees are pruned, the burning of the excess foliage has been completed and now sawing of what should be sufficient wood for the rest of this century is about to take place. We might even be able to make a few lovely olive-wood chopping boards. Such fine wood and when oiled, they are excellent for the table.
I cannot say that I am sorry to see this February close. It has been a sad month for me as we said goodbye to a dear friend, Roger Lloyd Pack. For those of you who watch British television his face will be very familiar to you. I had known him since my early twenties when we both lived in the north London suburb of Kentish Town. Both of us young hopeful actors waiting for a break.
Two or three years ago, Michel and I were throwing a big summer party here at the farm. As I had not seen Roger in a while I dropped him a note and invited him to come over. He spent four days with us and it was simply wonderful to catch up with him again. My mother sat by the pool taking him through his lines for whatever it was he was in rehearsing… we all had a splendid time together. Now, I am so very pleased that he had that opportunity to see the farm and spend time with us here. Below is a photo of him on one of the balconies, smelling the highly-perfumed flowers of our Magnolia grandiflora.
The funeral service at the Actors’ church, St Paul’s in Covent Garden was extraordinarily uplifting with possibly 800 or even more in attendance. Folk from every walk of his life. My heart goes out to his wife and family.
RIP, dear Roger.
I have been recording the commentary in Paris for a three-part documentary film series on the Great Wall of China. It was quite an undertaking to get it made. The aerial shots are magnificent. If you are interested in purchasing it when the English version has been completed, please do send a mail to me at olivefarmbooks@gmail.com
Quite a few of you have been writing to me asking where the DVDs for The Olive Route film series can be purchased. Here, is the answer. We have them in US and international formats and both in English and French.
I am going to ask my splendid webmaster Bart if we can add a special button to take you directly to where you can buy the films on the Home page here. That should help.
In the meantime, we are two weeks away from publication of my novella Hotel Paradise for Amazon Kindle and four weeks till publication of The Only Girl in the World. More on both in my upcoming newsletter.
Since I started to write this note, the rain has returned. Riviera rain! Well, the flowers and trees are storing up plenty of water for the summer months and we have a log fire going now. Did I say spring is here?
Have a splendid weekend.
Carol
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