21/10/2018 Trying to catch up but it will be slow!!!!

Maximum temperature today 21C, minimum 9C.  Dry; 16km/h North-easterly winds with up to 36 km/h gusts.  It gets much colder tomorrow!!!!

I have the computer back with a new hard drive, but I am still trying to load programmes and get myself back to (sort of) where I was before the last hard drive crashed out totally leaving me with nothing.  I have lost all the early October photos which I had not backed up!  Also, all the photos of our holiday last month that I had edited are gone, but I have the originals so I will have to start all over again (sigh).  I will get back to comments I hope in a few days!

Cattle at the special farmers market yesterday in Chasseneuil...

Horses and donkeys...

a young foal...

Horse at work...

taking children (and some adults) for a ride....

Many different tractors and odd bits around...

as above...

also equipment...

An apple farmer, I think they were also sampling apple juice.

Back home the lizards have not hibernated yet...

Sparrows taking a bath...

Watch out I am taking a dive.

Female house sparrow (Passer domesticus).

Choisya ternata.

Bees on the cosmos...

also hoverflies.

Pampas and cosmos flowers.

Holly.

Kalanchoe

Climbing rose.

16/04/2017 Yesterday there was an Equestrian event at our local village and we went to have a look.

Maximum temperature today 16C, minimum 9C.   Dry other than a couple of drops that did not register in the gauge; 6 km/h South Westerly winds with up to 12 km/h gusts.

Total rainfall so far this year now 437 mm.

Not sure what breed this is but one of the cart horses and what a beauty.

I think that these two are Percherons.

  

Possibly a Friesian with a very young foal...

As above...

As above.

Horses and cart. 

Two horses working on a long rein.  This method used to be used a lot in training, but I have not seen it in use for a very long time, maybe it is coming back into fashion

Two ponies waiting to take children for a ride happily giving each other a scratch with their teeth. 

This little skewbald was hardly bigger than a Shetland, but the children were enjoying going for a ride as you can see by the happy face.

Horses and cart.  A dun and a chestnut not sure what breed.

I was captivated by this nanny goat, she was so good-natured and the children were queuing to go for a ride...

The happiest goat I have ever seen...

she really was adorable and I gave her a scratch behind her ears and she loved it.

Three ladies dressed for the occasion outside the 800 year old village church.

I showed this house a few weeks back covered in scaffolding.  Looks like a job well done and the facade looks excellent.

Loved this magnolia which was next to one of the barns.

N.B. My new bird blog is HERE 

Part 4 of the birds I saw last year in Africa.