16/03/2018 Catching up with the last two days.

Maximum temperature today 13C, minimum 4C.   15 mm of rain measured this morning and it has been raining heavily on and off again all day; 6 km/h South Westerly winds with up to 16 km/h gusts.  

352 mm of rain so far this year!  The cold is returning again next week!!

Out to buy paint yesterday, the flooded house has left marks so we might as well redecorate!

First blossom of 2018 seen by the roadside, I have no idea what it is.

At Brico 16 where we buy our English paint, I also saw this blossom.  (French paint does not cover as well, or last as long!)

The long and winding road.  Winter wheat planted at the sides I think...

Driving past the Mairie (Mayor's office) in St. Angeau...

and the church of Saint-Michel.

Today's photos of an Eurasian blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) in the rain...

as above.

Great tit (Parus major) female checking out the stone owl...

as above.

The large and the small. Common wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) and male chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs).  The yellow back ground is calendula taking over in the uncut lawn!

and joined by male and female house sparrows (Passer domesticus).

Despite the rain we still got a sort of sunset. Thanks to the reflection on the wet road it gave it an interesting look.

15/03/2018 Looking back at Tuesday! Scrabble at Vitrac.

Maximum temperature today 14C, minimum 7C.   6 mm of rain measured this morning and it has been raining heavily again all day; 11 km/h South Westerly winds with up to 32 km/h gusts.  

337 mm of rain so far this year!  The cold is returning again next week!!

Sorry I am behind again.  Firstly the WiFi went down.  Then when we got it back, my computer updated, and then decided that it had lost all my personal settings!! Frustrating!!

The church Saint-Maixent (eleventh and 12th centuries). The first stone was laid in the year 1080 under the tutelage of the powerful lord of Chabanais. The church of Vitrac in the 12th century was as important as his sister in Chasseneuil-sur-Bonnieure.

Rivaillon, not as flooded as it was but normally this is a very small stream.

The bridge on the main road into town.

Looks like some one is having repairs done in the town with scaffolding up.

Heading into the Salle Communale to play scrabble....

The new kiosk at the back of the hall which will be nice when we have luncheons on sunny days with the doors open.

The people at the back are playing belote, a card game that is very popular here - too complicated for us!

We will stick to our French scrabble which is not easy, but I did actually win a game this week with a little help on a couple of words :-)

07/03/2018 Gone shopping.......

Maximum temperature today 11C, minimum 4C.   11 mm of rain measured this morning and we have had some more rain today; 17 km/h North Westerly winds with up to 50 km/h gusts.  (316 mm of rain so far from the 1st of January).

 Looking across the newly ploughed fields, not sure how they have managed with all the rain we have had.

Eglise Saint-Remi de Fleurignac.  We dropped some bottles off nearby so I hopped out of the car to take this photo.

Built in 1845 This modest church of Romanesque origin has a single nave. 

The sky is getting darker by the minute.

Crossing the railway line,

Welcome to Leclerc supermarket...

I always love this reflection of the sign and the sky.

Inside in the entrance are parts of what was a working mill.

Driving home via Pont d'Agris in the rain that arrived while we were shopping...

The wet road home through the scenic route...

as above...

as above.

13/09/2016 A visit to Vitrac play French scrabble.

Maximum temperature 34C, minimum 16C. 91 km/h SW wind. Rain coming down as I type this (21h00) but so far not a lot.

The reading on the car thermometer as we left scrabble at 17h45 was reading 40C!!!!

Last nights sunset....

The village of Vitrac St Vincent...

as above any buyers out there...

Around the village...

The well in the centre of the village, bet this was busy in the olden days...

the narrow streets...

and still a trickle of water in the river....

The church Saint-Maixent Vitrac, a Romanesque building of the 12th  and 13th centuries....

the capitals at the doorway... 

the font... 

and inside. 

In the salle de fete, everyone settling down to play either scrabble or belote.

20/03/2016 Yesterday today!!!!!

Maximum temperature 14C, minimum 3C,  25 km/k NE wind.  Light drizzle.

Blackbird this morning, one lucky shot as I missed the bath and he was gone before I clicked twice!

Today's veggies from the garden, not bad for this time of the year.

All photos following, were taken late yesterday when we went to the concert in the church at Maisonnais sur Tardoire.  The sun was low and did not make photos easy!

Maisonnais sur Tardoire church.   Eglise Saint-Cyprien 11th century.

Inside and the altar.

The choir singing - our friend  3rd from the right...

There was a little acting with some of the songs, note the hats here!

I was more than a little impressed by the singing - it was superb and I am not easily impressed!!!!

The church taken from the other end of town.

This house was built in 1905 - it was built with Charente Limestone and not the usual granite....

Stone carving over the front window.

Gateway into a very large house see below with a second gateway...