04/03/2019 A few odd photos that I missed at the end of last month.

Maximum temperature today 16C, minimum 6C.  4mm rain measured this morning; as I type this we are having a mixture of more rain plus some hail.  31km/h North-westerly winds with gusts up to 77 km/h.   It is very windy outside!

The tiny church down the road from us at Fleurignac has just had a new/restored bell put in after months of being without it.  Apparently, it had a crack.

Around the corner from the church is this old Lavoir.

Our local village of Vitrac, the local well...

as above, the Mairie and the local war memorial...

The Mairie from another angle.

Our last game of French scrabble at Vitrac where this word gave me a winning streak.  Yes, it is in the French scrabble dictionary!!

Out for a drive near Xambes - grape vines...

The town of Xambes - too many wind turbines...

You can see here just how close they are to the town!!  Thank goodness we did not buy a house near here!

A bee in the garden...

as above...

and a bumble bee.

Even a few lizards came out of hibernation for several days before the weather turned cooler again.

Last week we took a trip to the recycling centre here in the Charente.  It was extremely interesting, but because there was lots of info to go with it, which I do not put on the diary, I have put the post on my other blog HERE.

I have updated my bird blog HERE.

15/02/2018 Nothing much new here except it is a bit warmer!!

Maximum temperature today 14C, minimum 6C.  16 mm of rain measured last night. South Westerly winds; 17 km/h with up to 37 km/h gusts.  

A trip for both of us to the dentist, no problems thankfully.

Interesting house next door to the dentist.

The railway bridge over the road.  Traffic from the other side has right of way but not always adhered to!

Driving off the end of the world 😉

Driving into Taponnat-Fleurignac...

The Mairie  (The mayor's office)...

at the back of the town is this huge property, not a clue who lives there but...

The drive entrance has a huge gateway of which this was all I managed to get as we drove by!

Fleurignac, one of the small villages in the commune of Taponnat-Fleurignac

The Lavoir of  Fleurignac.  Thanks goodness for washing machines, I cannot imagine washing clothes here as they did in the old days in winter, and with floods as it has been this year.

European robin (Erithacus rubecula),

Great tit (Parus major) and Blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus).

If you should be interested after an 18 month break from my blog 'My Life Before the Charente'  I have at last added a new post 😊

08/04/2016 The return of the Green lizard and various photos at home and out walking.

Maximum temperature 12C, minimum 0C.   29 km/h NW winds.  4mm rain measured this morning.

Green Lizard.  Lacerta viridis.

Black bird, I think immature.

Greenfinch female.

House centipede.  Scutigera coleoptrata.  The good guys as they eat insects and spiders!

A trip to the optician.  Nigel's cycling glasses have a cracked lens!

Lavoir at Fleurignac.

Well at Fleurignac.

A beautifully cut hedge.

Curious cattle.  Note they all have their horns cut.

Blackthorn.

Calves.

Wild bluebells.

Muddy horses.

Lambs.

28/01/2016 A drive to La Rochefoucauld.

Maximum temperature 13C, minimum 6C.  32 km/h S winds. Drizzle on and off not measured yet.

Passing the little chapel at Fleurignac again.

La Rochefoucauld  D942

We had our annual blood tests at the lab.

Mairie.

As we had empty stomachs for the blood tests we stopped here for a coffee and a croissant after.

Diesel is cheap(er) here at the present time.  0.936€ per litre.

Bridge over the N1

A 'string' of ambulances, maybe they were new drivers?

Car ghosts :-)

Nearly home and a logging hazard/

Our neighbour.