Showing posts with label forest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label forest. Show all posts

Monday, June 29, 2020

29/06/2020 Out walking and in the garden.

Maximum temperature here today 21⁰C, minimum 14⁰C. Dry.  15km/h North-Westerly winds with gusts up to 31 km/h.

My apologies for not keeping up with my blogs or yours but we just seem to be extra busy!!!

Looking through the forest.

The track where I was walking.

A hoverfly.

Somebody's insect hotel.

I walked down to the closest dam in the hopes that I might see something of interest.  Not a bird or an insect in sight.  Well, there were some water skimmers on the water but!!!

Back home a rainbow, look closely and you can see the second one.

Plane number F-HCG0 flying over the garden.

The vegetable garden.

Too big for lizard's lunch I suspect but they seemed to be aware of each other.
Hornet (Vespa crabro) and Common Wall Lizard (Podarcis Muralis).

Small stallion seen on a farm on another walk.  He posed perfectly for me!

Red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris).  A protected species and they can range from Red to almost black.

Marbled White (Melanargia galathea).

As above.

Peacock butterfly (Aglais io).

Speckled wood (Pararge aegeria)

Wall brown (Lasiommata megera).


My local list of wildflowers. (82 Species 25/06/2020)

See also my

Monday, April 1, 2019

01/04/2019 No April Fool - just yesterday's walk 6 kms.

Maximum temperature today 20C, minimum 7C.  Dry, but light rain forecast for later.  11 km/h North-easterly winds with gusts up to 22 km/h.
The temperatures drop again tomorrow with possible rains forecast.

Just before my walk, seen in the garden. Little Owl (Athene noctua). More photos to go on next weeks bird blog

Cowslips (Primula veris) everywhere in the fields and the roadsides.

Unknown tree with spring shoots.

Sun Spurge (Euphorbia helioscopia). ID thanks to Susan.

Greater Stitchwort (Stellaria holostea)

Peacock butterfly (Aglais io)

Twins growing up....

Some of the younger lambs...

Is it really that much easier to kneel???

Winter wheat.

Fields of yellow, a mixture of celandine, buttercups, dandelions and cowslips.

I would love to amble down this leafy path but it is on private property!

Mallards on the dam at Russas.

The Chateau at Russas, the pigeonnier on the right...

A closer look at the pigeonnier. (Pigeon house).

Horses in the field at Russas.

The hedge is hawthorn blossom,  but the flowering trees behind I am not sure about.

A closer look at the hawthorn,

Poppies outside someone's house...

More poppies in a very overgrown flower bed.

I have taken photos of this little pony before, he is barely two and a half foot high. (7.2 hh in equine language)...

nearly as broad as he is high!

This cow was keeping a wary eye on me.

Last, but not least, this Bank Vole (Myodes glareolus) was stealing some of the bird seed when I got back home. ID also thanks to Susan.


See also my Bird blog 



Monday, August 20, 2018

20/08/2018 This was supposed to be yesterday, but now a belated birthday post.

Maximum temperature today 29C, minimum 16C.  Dry; 13 km/h North-easterly winds with up to 33 km/h gusts. 

We have been cutting up more of the (very hard!) old oak platform stripped out of the barn and another batch of plums has been picked, de-stoned and put in the dehydrator.  Yesterday we took the day off 'work' as it was my birthday and we went out for lunch at yet another new restaurant!

Getting there but still masses to do!

We left home yesterday late morning and we had to pass through Saint Sornin on our way to Le Petit Restaurant at Rozet.  The violent hail storm that hit the town on 4 July has well and truly left its mark.  July and August are holiday months in France, so most builders and roofers are "en vacances'.  Every roof in the town has been smashed and they are for the most part still protected by plastic; so sad for the village, which has so many pensioners living in it.
Plastic sheeting in a number of different colours but mostly black...

as above...

as above...

I feel so sorry for the people here...

Next to the war memorial...

even the church did not escape the from the massive 'tennis ball' hail storm.

Further down the road, even surrounding villages were no better off...

This one looks as if work has begun,  though maybe they are also still waiting for the return of their roofers from holiday.

Travelling on. the sunflowers are now bending their heads.

Passing through the pretty village of Grassac, which was beyond the storm-damaged area.

 
I love these leafy and almost deserted roads! 

Crossing over old narrow bridges, after the disaster in Italy one wonders how safe these little bridges now are, though they have stood the test of many centuries ...


The TomTom then decided to take us on a shortcut and we had a couple of kms through this state forest on not the best of roads; it was pretty though!  Thankfully we did not meet anyone coming the other way!

Arrival at the restaurant - a converted house...

As above...

Walking down the entrance path, I loved this multi painted psychedelic pig and the old plough.

We chose to sit outside as the weather was so good.

The menu.

My starter - tarte d'oignon et fromage de chevre. (Onion tart with goats cheese).

Nigel had pate Grand-mere.

He followed this up with Boeuf du Limousin (cooked blue as usual and how we like it!) which he said was very tender.

and I had Selle d'agneau (lamb) which was also delicious.
 So as not to upset my Canadian follower, David, I will refrain from showing you the cheese platter and the yummy dessert 😉

The Dutch family on the next table kindly offered to take this photo of the two of us...

While Nigel took the photo of the birthday lady.  Cheers, this was a delightful pineau rouge before the rose wine which we had with our meal.

For those that might be interested in the alterations to the barn we have just bought, I have posted the photos on my other blog My Life in the Charente.



My bird blog

has been updated HERE