May 2015 - our Dutch visitors

For the first time since we came to Port Vendres in 2002 I did not spend my May halfterm holiday at the Garden Apartment. Instead, a returning rentor, Silja, and her family who sent us this email :
"We had a wonderful week in your apartment. It's a very special place and we all loved it a lot. The garden was beautiful with all the roses. We only missed the mint bush, the leaves of which we cooked tea the last time. But we admired the lemon tree with all the fruits.",

It's interesting how the garden changes: when Silja came in 2012 my lemon tree was struggling against pests and wind and an ambitious Mulberry tree; 3 years on its finally taken full root and its scented flowers herald a crop of lemons that stay on stem and ripen. However I cannot remember the mint. Horticultural lore has it that mint has to be watched or it spreads like wildfire. I must have a poor relationship with mint because I cannot get it to stay in London or France; if only it would over run a bit.

So in lieu of getting to Port Vendres in May, I'm treating myself to a rare long weekend there at the end of June. I haven't been in June for some time because of my teaching schedule, but I know its a special time of the year: everything is in bloom, the heat has not sucked the moisture out of the garden yet, nor warmed the sea, the summer visitors have started but just a trickle, everything has a vitality that only late spring can bring. Can't wait.