and meet Nono le Noisetier also:

Charles le Chêne is an oak tree and Nono le Noisetier is a hazelnut tree. I gave them French names because they’re both from French-speaking Belgium.

But I planted them here near the Arctic circle. Oak trees and hazelnut trees aren’t indigenous to these parts, but there are a few that eke out a living here.

I love oak trees and hazelnut trees. I grew up with them, and I miss seeing them badly here in our new home in the North. Our gardener reckons they have a 1 in 5 chance of surviving the winter, and if they do, they should be okay.

I hope they make it. If they do, they’ll grow very very slowly here compared to their counterparts in Western Europe. I’ll be long dead when Charles le Chêne and Nono le Noisetier are fully grown, and I like thinking whoever lives here in 50 years will enjoy fresh hazelnuts under the shade of the oak tree and wonder who had the funny idea of planting these trees here long ago.