The Inferno

In keeping with most of Europe we have had our second heatwave of the summer this week and we  have struggled. The nurse who came to take my blood described the afternoons as an inferno and I thought that summed it up perfectly! All this week until today the temperatures have been around 40 degrees in the shade and it is energy sapping and demotivating. Guy says we would never survive in Taiwan as it is those temperatures day and night with humidity added.

We are used to temperatures of 30 degrees in July and August but this year not only have the temperatures been higher but they started earlier. Furthermore we have not had rain for two months so there are water restrictions which makes the 2 hours of watering that we both do each morning that much more onerous. However we must battle on regardless or all our efforts the rest of the year will be in vain.

We had a shower this morning and we are grateful for small mercies!!

Most of the flowers in the garden have succumbed to the heat but we have managed to keep a couple of beds going to inject just a bit of colour.

Taking a Break

We've had Guy here with us for just over a week and so our normal schedule has gone bye the bye.  Our time has been taken up with a series of entertainments.

Last Saturday 13th, we went to tour the annual Blues festival in Cahors; a couple of really good bands, one of which included a girl doing tap dancing, hand stands and other energetic moves.
The evening was finished with a massive firework display to celebrate Bastille Day which was the next day.

The Sunday we went to Gourdon to a Salon des Vins.  One of the downsides to living in France is that we have acquired a taste for Champagne.  We bought some from a small producer at a similar wine event about a year ago and they sent us information about this one at Gourdon.  So we went to this charity event organised by the Lions, paid our 3 euros entry fee for which we received a glass and then we went tasting samples of the different exhibitors.  Bad move!  So apart from the champagne, we bought 2 bottles from one vintner and 6 from another who charmed us with his explanations of his wine produced as naturally as possible, with due guidance from the moon and the earth's energies.  Aren't we suckers for a good story!
The redeeming factor in this visit was that, upon entering we were each given a raffle ticket and when we got home, we had a phone call to say we had won a prize.  I had to go back the next morning and collect a basket full of champagne, red wine, rosé, white wine and other assorted bits of dried sausage, macaroons, dried fruits...

Last Wednesday we all went off to Bordeaux for a couple of nights.  We gradually worked out how the Tram system works … even though one of the 3 tramlines isn't running at the moment so we had to look for the bus replacement!  Over 3 days we walked a lot, being guided around by Guy but naturally, as Bordeaux is so famous for it's wine, the highlight was a visit to the Cité du Vin, a very modern exhibition centre.

It was a very interesting, inter-active display which ended with a glass of wine which you could choose from virtually every wine-producing country in the world!

We resisted the urge to buy wine here.

Whilst here in Bordeaux we had some excellent meals but the most memorable was at 'Tante Charlotte' (Aunt Charlotte).  We had found this as they have vegetarian options(for Guy). 

Sorry the photo is blurred but I took it on the way out after a champagne cocktail and then wine with the meal!

We never saw Aunty Charlotte (we think) but the host was an extremely camp although lovely chap who couldn't do enough to make sure you enjoyed your meal.  The courses were superbly cooked with interesting flavours and great presentation.

Sue and I really enjoyed this meal 'experience' but as it is just under 3 hours away, it's s bit difficult for an evening meal!!!

We're hungry, Mum

Just at the moment we feel like we're living in a hide.  We've been watching our Kestrels and this morning I almost stumbled over one of the youngsters.

She(?) had come out of the nest and was walking around on the ground looking for 'home' and food.  She eventually flew up on to the barn roof and we hope Mum or Dad will show her the way home.

At the same time we are watching our wren feeding her brood; we now see there are 4 chicks.

We are so lucky!

Not much room in here

Mind your backs!

We were thrilled today to see how near to leaving the nest our 2 kestrels are!  All of the white feathers have gone and a lot of movement and wing stretching is going on.

We think that they will start flying in the next couple of days.

Sue's Version

The twins, (known to the family as Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum) are about to toddle off. Living here you would think they are John's twins the way he has fussed and worried about them these last five months. I must admit to also being rather anxious at times, but nothing like him!! "Dont open that door, you'll disturb the nesting kestrels, I dont think the parents are getting enough food to support them etc. etc." I dread to think what he would be like if we had grandchildren.

New Life

We never cease to enjoy the priviledge of living in the middle of Nature and we were lucky enough to watch Magpies raise a brood of 4 youngsters and also little Black Redstarts raise young in the wall of our porcherie.  And now we are watching the Kestrels raising chicks in a hole in the rear wall of the house, despite temperatures of over 40 deg C

There are two chicks in the photo … whether there are any more, or whether they will survive remains to be seen … I could only see one today!

As I'm writing this I've just see the male fly in with a large vole in his mouth, so we are keeping our fingers crossed for success.

But now we have a little wren who has made a tiny nest of moss in a hole in the stone wall of our porcherie.  We have been seeing her fly out when we've been going in and out of it so today I set myself up in the window of our bedroom to watch.

As you can see there are at least two chicks needing feeding!

Heatwave

The canicule (heatwave) came early this year. However by and large we and the garden have managed quite well, with the odd exception when the temperature was into the forties. Here are a few photos of the garden at the end of June.

Presumably the visiting deer were also very thirsty as one morning I got up to find that they had eaten everything juicy in the Christo bed, alstromerias, buds of anything, leaves of the young geraniums (pelargoniums) that I had grown from seed. Therefore we had to net the entire bed. The next night they ate the flowers of the impatiens in the alley and all the large begonias which were just about to flower. The joys of living in the country!

We also have to announce another joy of living in the country, the hatching of the kestrels. John has only seen two fledglings but he is delighted to witness their arrival as we were not sure that the pair would raise a brood.

You will recall that I told you in the Spring that we would all need faith that the plants in the sundial garden would grow. With the exception of a few gaps, which I had every intention of filling in but never got round to, they have flourished. The following photos were taken one early morning before the mist burned off.