10/01/2021 Trying to catch up......

   Maximum temperature here today 3⁰C, minimum -2⁰C.  Dry  26km/h North-easterly winds with gusts up to 52 km/h.  

I apologise for not answering comments on my last post but feel now, that it is far too late.  There were no questions to be answered, so to all of you now I can only say Happy 2021 and let us hope that the vaccines will soon work, and the rising numbers of COVID cases will soon drop.  The numbers now are beginning to have names and I have lost one friend in South Africa to date.

Much has been going on and time never seems to be on my side.  I will though try to get a few blogs done over the next few weeks.  These photos were all taken in December, I still have to work on January!!!

23 December Nigel had an appointment in Soyaux the other side of Angouleme, we really picked a bad day for the drive!

Sunset, not the same day as above.

I just liked the reflection in this muddy puddle seen out walking.

The Gorse seems to have the dates all wrong as do many other plants!

Common Holly (Ilex aquifolium).

Our garden on a very grey day when a glimmer of sun suddenly poked through a cloud

Flowers on the rosemary.

Seen out walking, the farmer's way of hooking up the telephone line!!

Ivy in an oak tree.

Striped Toadflax (Linaria repens).

Sitting Bull!!

The local, quite small chateau.

Box Holly (Ruscus aculeatus).

Mistletoe.

Puzzle that we both did over the Christmas week - not easy!!

Take care everybody, keep well and stay safe.

See also my

 Bird blog

Joining up with My Corner of the World.

 

12/10/2020 Out for a drive.

  Maximum temperature here today 14⁰C, minimum 5⁰C.  2 mm rain measured this morning but more forecast..   10km/h South-westerly winds with gusts up to 23 km/h.   

I thought I had caught up with September photos, but I realised yesterday, that I had not edited the photos from a drive that we went on in the middle of the month......

A country road and lots of trees.

Our first stop where I took a walk to take some photos was at Exideuil-sur-Vienne.  This is a photo of part of the Vienne river...

As above  The oldest parish in the town registers dates back to 1606.... 

The old bridge in Exideuil-sur-Vienne which I can find no information on!!

It has a blue line down the middle, but traffic can only travel one way at a time. First come first serve, it is only wide enough for one vehicle.

This looks like a mini covered market which we saw from the car just as we were leaving the town. Apparently, it is a meeting point.

A map of the Charente Lakes which is where we stopped next.

This is the lake on the left of the map, Lac de Mas Chaban.  The water level was extremely low when we were there.  After all the rain in the past few weeks, I would hope this has risen considerably.

The same lake framed through the trees but the sun was in front of me!

We then travelled on to the second lake, Lac de Lavaud.

A very similar outlook to the first lake, again with a very low water level.

Autumn starting to show in the tree colours as we finally drove back home.

My local list of wildflowers. (90 Species 23/08/2020).

See also my

 Bird blog

Joining up with My Corner of the World.

Photo competition running until 31 December - colourful photos.

B u n t

Let us all join in great fun.

10/02/2020 Join us on a drive through the country and lunch at Bouton D'Or.

Maximum temperature in the Charente today 15C, minimum 10C. Rain measured this morning 6mm.  Total this year to date 117mm.  31km/h south-westerly wind with gusts up to 75 km/h.

Leaving home we headed out on an empty road towards Saint Claud...

Saint Claud.This road used to be the main N141 trunk road before the bypass came!

Soon all these trees will be sprouting; the only green at present is the ivy which is taking over.

Through the village of Grand Madieu.

The narrow roads of Champagne Mouton.

We crossed over the L'Or (gold) river.

Through the village of Benest where we saw this 2CV minus a wheel...

and at the war memorial, we turned here towards Chatain on the D4

Hmmm, somewhat narrow streets in Chatain; we just managed to get out of the way for the truck to come through...

To drive past the church of Saint-Pierre.

Over the 17th century vaulted arch bridge called Pont de Chatain that crosses the Charente river..

The beautiful avenue of trees that should have taken us to Charroux; somehow the satnav missed the village going this way, but we discovered it on our way back home!

Finally the sign to Saint Romain, our destination. There is another of the same name 4 miles away, so it's confusing!

 The church in Saint Romain...

and the restaurant - Bouton D'Or, with its baguette machine outside for the convenience of local residents.

Inside the restaurant.  We were early, so I managed this photo before any more arrivals.  We actually had a bit of a floor show later with a gentleman on the piano, and presumably, it was his wife singing along!

We started out with soup, not a very interesting photo, followed by this charcuterie, and of course French bread...

The main course was sausage, meatballs and haricot casserole; it was very tasty but did not make a very good photo.  Then came the famous French cheese board with dried fruit, nuts, chutney and jam. Delicious.

Dessert was a crepe with some fruit, flavoured with cognac.  Not forgetting the bottle of red wine that came with the meal.  All followed by an espresso coffee.

A bargain at only €16.50 each for the lot!

Returning home, we went through the town of Charroux which we somehow missed on the route going !!

The colour of this photo was very odd so I decided that black and white would be better.

You can see part of the ancient covered market on the right, and beyond it is the Charlemagne tower, the remains of the ruined Charroux abbey. You can read about it HERE.

The beautiful covered market. 

and finally you can see just how much rain we have had, by this shot of flooded fields.

See also my

 Bird blog

15/06/2017 Join us on a drive in the country yesterday ending up with a delightful luncheon. Part one.

Maximum temperature today 20C, minimum 10C.  Rain measured this morning 4.  19km/h North-westerly winds with gusts up to 43 km/h.  

Rainfall now up to 343 mm this year almost 100 mm of this is in the last fortnight.  Still far less than last year but this is about the same as 2017.

We went for a drive yesterday and I planned on putting all the photos into in one blog, but when I discovered just over 30 were useable, I decided it would have to be two posts with our slow connection.  Part two is around the town and in and around the church.

The countryside is so green,

Somehow the farmers have managed to bale their hay despite the rain.

Rochechouart in the distance.

Rochechoart chateau.

Driving past the church in Biennac.

A very twisty road  into Saint Auvent,

Auberge de la Vallee de la Gorre in Saint Auvent.

The list of menus...

We picked the €19 one.

Inside the restaurant.

We had a window seat and I thought this view was pretty good!

My choice rosé wine.

Nigel's starter, sautéed mushrooms...

 Smoked duck salad, my choice.  A meal on its own!

Nigel chose Chicken breast with a ginger sauce...

and I had salmon with a mango hollandaise sauce.

I finished off with cheese (eat your heart out David, I was very good and only had a little of each!)

Nigel had apple crumble.

Part two to follow very soon - holiday photos slowly getting there!!!!

See also my Bird blog 

and My life In the Charente