08/05/2020 Flowers and Insects

Maximum temperature here today 23⁰C, minimum 15⁰C.  Some rain during the day not measured as yet.   14km/h South-Easterly wind with gusts up to 37 km/h. 

Sorry, far more photos than usual but I have at last caught up with April,  I can now move on to May !!

White Lilac out walking.

Violet Lilac also out walking.

Choisya ternata at home.

Wisteria out walking.

Irises at home.

Azalea - home.

Californian poppies - home.

Peony - home.

Iris-home.

Azalea -home

Mirabelle plums - home.

Cherries - home (they are now ripening but with all the rain most are split) 😞

All the following bugs are in the garden.

(Oxythyrea funesta) - chafer beetle.

(Trichodes alvearius) Family Cleridae.

As above.

Crane-fly.

Red Cabbage bug (Eurydema ornata).

Moth unknown

Caterpillar - Garden Tiger Moth (Artica caja).

Froghopper (Cercopis vulnerata).

Caterpillar of the Lackey moth (Malacosoma neustria).

As above.

Eight spotted Ladybird.

Banded Snail.

I have made an extra page on the wildflowers seen at home, or very close by, which if you are interested in, you can see the link at the top of the page under the main heading, on the green line. I am adding to it all the time.

See also my

 Bird blog

Part 3 of the visit to Villbois Lavelette

Maximum temperature today 16C, minimum 6C.   Dry; 3 km/h North Easterly winds with up to 17 km/h gusts.

Looking up to the church in Villbois Lavelette...

A quiet road.

Interesting door and balcony.

The restored house of Francois de Corlieu dates from the 15th or 16th century. De Corlieu was a historian and counsellor to the King from 1544, but unfortunately drowned in the Charente river in 1576.

Under the roof of the covered market looking down one of the roads...

A close up of the Wisteria seen in the above photo.

Leaving the town down the immaculate road.

I do love these leafy lanes.

A bank of bluebells and almost home again.

Now to tell you the reason for the visit.  We had an appointment with the notaire in the town.

Looking at this photo, our house is with green shutters on the left. Opposite us is the house with red shutters that belongs to French sisters. BUT the barn attached to their house between the two houses belongs to the people who sold us our house.  The barn was never part of the original deal, though we have managed to rent it for storage over a number of years,  The owners also have a lot of things stored in there. 

We have asked a number of times if they would sell and there was no interest in the request.  A year ago they decided to sell but the price was too high.  This week we have agreed on a figure, and the papers were signed at the notaire on Tuesday.  We now have to wait 2 months for all to go through the official paths, but by the end of June, we should be the proud owners of the barn.   It is in good condition all but the door, so that will be job number one.  Then we hope we have a safe storage place for wood, bikes, car, trailer etc etc.  We are both delighted that all appears to be going as planned.

😊😊😊😊😊😊

N.B. My new bird blog is HERE 

Part 6 of the birds I saw last year in Africa.

11/08/2017 A walk to the next hamlet and what I saw along the way.

Maximum temperature 22C, minimum 12C.   9 km/h NW wind with 28 km/h gusts.  15 mm rain measured.

The first thing I see as I leave the house and walk around the corner is our neighbour's barn.

I just love these chicory flowers that are everywhere at the moment.

Clover flowers.

Bladder campion or maidenstears (Silene vulgaris).

Daisy with a fly.

Gatekeeper butterfly, female.

Gatekeeper butterfly, male.

Raspberries.

A rose bud peeking through a fence.

Rose hips.

It this a fungus growing on a rose plant?

Cuckoo Pint seeds.  A member of the Arum family and poisonous.

Thistle....

and another thistle with a bumble bee.

 Large Yellow Rest Harrow

Wisteria.

For those that might be interested, I have started my blog on our South African holiday earlier this year.