04/05/2021 Lockdown remains much the same.......

 The maximum temperature here today 15⁰C, minimum 5⁰C.  Dry though 90% rain is forecast!! Maybe tonight. (Yes, it has started 20h09).  22km/h  South Westerly winds with gusts up to 56 km/h.    Rain forecast for most of this week and the temperatures rise again a little.  The garden I hope will be happy!

Please Note if you follow me by email the old feeder is closing down. I have tried to change servers but for some reason, it is not working!  Update: it appears to be working now let me know if there is a problem with adding your address!!

Spanish Bluebells.

Buttercups (Ranunculus bulbosus).

Camillia (Camellia Japonica).

Geranium.

Spanish Iris (Iris xiphium).

Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera Buckleyi) with its dates a bit mixed up!

Cymbidium Orchid.

Thirsty Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera).

As above.

Fire bug. (Pyrrhocoris apterus) better known as the Gendarme beetle.  I always think they look like African masks!

Eristalis similis (Glass-winged Dronefly) a member of the Hoverfly family...

I was fascinated watching it as it appeared to be stretching and cleaning each part of its body. A video would have been good but I could not send it anywhere as it would have taken a week to download it on this WiFi speed...

As above.

The caterpillar of the Jersey Tiger Moth (Euplagia quadripunctaria).

I wonder now what the time is 🕤😊

Take care everybody, keep well and stay safe.

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

See also my

 Bird blog

Joining up with My Corner of the World.

24/11/2020 - Out walking finding several surprises.

  Maximum temperature here today 14⁰C, minimum 3⁰C.  Dry today, with a light frost this morning.   20km/h South-westerly winds with gusts up to 40 km/h. 

I have managed to get out walking every day over the past week.  The vegetable garden is now quieter and little work to do there, and no preserving to keep me in the kitchen.  The weather has been very pleasant, not too hot or too cold with the sun shining out of a very blue sky.  Of course, I still have the lockdown limitations but it is still good to get out.

Caterpillar of a Fox Moth (Macrothylacia rubi).  It was on the road so I gently moved it to grass at the side.  It rolled up tightly but refused to unroll for me to take further photos.  I only have 1 hour allowed out at present so this was the best photo I had.

Possibly Bush Vetch (Vicia sepium ).

Mushroom, but I am not good with fungal IDs

Mid-November and a Red Admiral !! (Vanessa atalanta).

As above.

Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus).

Teasel or Teazel (Dipsacus).

I could not fathom out why this sign was placed on a farm track that is generally only used by tractors!

Vapour trails which we have seen very few of this year due to the lack of flights

A pair of Great Egrets or Great White Egrets, (Ardea alba),

Hey mum come and help me,  I have an itch.

Man at work. Despite the lockdown they have to keep going.

Clouded yellow. Possibly (Colias crocea) but there are several of these butterflies in France which are very similar.

Moth - latticed heath (Chiasmia clathrate).

As above.

Are you looking at me?

Dandelion clock.

Well he does not have a problem with flies around his eyes 😊

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.

16/03/2020 Last weeks walk.....

Maximum temperature here today 15C, minimum 9C. Rain measured this morning 15mm.  We are now at 257 mm this year, more than double what we had at the same time last year.  23km/h South-westerly wind with gusts up to 51 km/h.  

This was a walk that I did on Friday (7.9 kms) and I have only just had a chance to actually put fingers to keyboard.  As things are at present it seems this will be my last walk for some time, total confinement to homes is expected to be announced tonight.  Not sure what will happen with shopping as we have nowhere nearby and none of our supermarkets deliver.  We have enough food in for a few weeks, but what we have could get a bit boring.  Sadly this is the only time of the year that our veggie garden is bare.  We are not short on wine, so if we don't get the coronavirus we could just die of alcoholic poisoning!!!

This walk was after shopping in our local town, (only smaller supermarkets) and I decided to walk home afterwards while Nigel drove.  I took a back road which makes the trip a bit shorter than what we drive.

The main street in our local town of Chasseneuil.

The building with the mural used to be a flower shop but it closed down some months ago.

I quite like this house but not where it is situated.  Right in the centre of Chasseneuil, car park one side and supermarket on the other side!

We have never been to this little restaurant but it was always busy.  Presumably now, as with all other restaurants in France, it is closed because of Coronavirus.

Looking down a one-way street, the cinema at the bottom of the road is on the right.  Also closed at present as with all other public places in France.

I have not walked home this way for some time and I was surprised to see what appeared to be an assault course in a wood just after the hamlet of La Peyrelle.  A tube crawl up high in the trees...

A handheld swinging trail...

and a sort of overhead ladder.  On the ground were climbing obstacles and nets. 

A little further on these cows were having an after-lunch nap.

What looks like irrigation equipment, I guess they have not been in use this year so far!!

A small lavoir with running water. A public wash place which was set aside for the washing of clothes in the olden days. So glad that washing machines were invented!

A well still with its old rusty bucket!

A public track through farmland and forest.

The resistance memorial seen across the fields.

Bullrushes in a pond.

Dandelion clock with a bug.

More photos of this walk to follow.  

See also my

 Bird blog

28/02/2019 Out for a walk in the sun yesterday. (6 kms)

Maximum temperature today 15C, minimum 6C.  Dry with a bit of damp in the air; rain was forecast but it did not happen.  21km/h North-westerly winds with gusts up to 45 km/h. 

Yes, more lambs, but it is the first thing I see as I leave home in our neighbour's field.

The cow jumped over the moon Ooops, the lamb jumped over the lamb...

Baaaaaaa, wait for me Mum....

Ah, there she is.

Looking back across the fields, there is our hamlet on the horizon.

I love these country walks.

A sleepy calf next to the road...

Mum is looking on.

All the green at this time of the year is either ivy or mistletoe, this tree has both.

Walking through another forest area.

Calendula (Calendula officinalis) growing next to a small house I passed.

Lawn daisies (Bellis perennis) are everywhere, note the 2 small beetles.

The very first cowslips (Primula veris) of 2019.

A dandelion clock.

Fields ready for planting.

A farmer's dog.

Reflections in the dam with a farm in the background.

I saw several Red Admiral butterflies (Vanessa atalanta) but this was the only one that stopped for me. There were also a lot of Brimstone Butterflies (Gonepteryx rhamni) around but they were all in a hurry!

Back in our hamlet a neighbour's Pigeonnier...

and daffodils next door.

I have updated my bird blog HERE.