08/02/2022 - 12 Years of Blogging Today..

 The maximum temperature here today is 13⁰C, minimum 0⁰C. Dry but cloudy. Wind 10km/h North-Easterly with gusts up to 21 km/h.   

This blog will be a bit different today, as I am reminiscing on 12 years of blogging!

When we first bought the house in France in September 2005, we had no internet at all, but after a year or so I managed to get dial-up!  Wow, it was many years ago that we had dial-up in South Africa, so I had forgotten just how slow it was.  I was only coming to the house for 7 months a year from March until September, as at that time Nigel was still working in the UK. Later on, we got 'a proper' internet connection, although that was very slow and so it remains today, at a prehistoric 0.5mbps!  There are rumours we might have fibre by the end of 2022, but I will only believe it when it happens!!

To cut a long story short, I started my first blog as My Life in the Charente on 08/02/2010. That was about the restoration of our house and all the lovely places that we visited in the surrounding area. 

The Chateau of La Rochefoucauld

It also included a few of our holidays overseas and a fabulous Mediterranean cruise on the Liberty of the Seas, arranged by our great friend Gunter, who was working on the ship as Hotel Director (second in command only to the captain!)

Gunter and I at the Captain's Table!!

By March 2018 this blog was so slow (possibly too full) I started My Life in the Charente 2.  Because this was supposed to be mainly about the Charente, the last few years have seen very few entries, as thanks to COVID we have just not been anywhere!

A visit to nearby Balluet cognac distillery

I mustn't forget of course my third blog My Life Before the Charente which includes our overland trip from the UK to what was then Rhodesia, in 1953! 

On 22 January 1953, leaving the UK to drive to Rhodesia. David my brother, Mum Dulcie, myself and Dad Don.

While these 3 blogs were ongoing, I started up Photodiarydps which originally had daily entries, but this got a bit too much and I never had enough time!  More recently, since COVID the updates have been even less than that; I seem to spend a lot more time in the kitchen! I am only managing  2 to 3  entries a month but it is still alive and the subjects are mostly nature around the garden, except on the rare occasion we now go out for a drive.

White Admiral - (Limenitis camilla)...

Just a few years back, I decided to take the bird photos from the photodiary and start a fifth blog that was just birds!  Again I have been struggling to keep it up to date weekly, but most of the time I have managed, with help from Christelle who has sent me photos of birds from South Africa. Sadly we do not visit there often enough, and COVID has certainly prevented visits/holidays anywhere!

Little owl (Athene noctua)

I also joined Blipfoto on 14 September 2012 on which I enter one photo every single day. It is very seldom that I miss this one daily entry under the name of "Charente"  It is a great community and I now have so many Blip friends from around the world as well as blog friends! So much easier to blip a single photo!!

Blog friends that I have met are very special, and outside of France, I have had the pleasure of meeting bloggers from Australia, UK, USA and most importantly South Africa.

A few of my favourite photos from photodiarydps follow :-

Green Lizard (Lacerta viridis). We used to have a number of these about the garden, but a few years ago they suddenly disappeared 😢

Broad Bordered Bee Hawk-moth (Hemaris fuciformis)...

European green woodpecker (Picus viridis).

Our delightful birdseed thief, Bank Vole (Myodes glareolus).

Elephant twins, a rare sight while on holiday in South Africa.

Our 40th Wedding anniversary last year.

I am so grateful for all the help, editing at times and encouragement Nigel has given me over the past 12 years of blogging, and my learning curve with new cameras and lenses.

I would just like to say thank you to all my followers, many of who have been with me right from the beginning.  Some of you I have met, some I feel as if I have met, and some I still hope to meet.  Thanks for being here, and for all the great comments that I have had over the years.

P.S.  Oops also forgot my recipe blog - My Favourite Recipes.  Probably the one I use most these days!

My local list of wildflowers. (91 Species 02/12/2021).

See also my

 Bird blog

Joining up with My Corner of the World.

A few more photos from our last years trip to South Africa.

Maximum temperature in the Charente today 10C, minimum 6C. Rain measured this morning 6mm and still raining. 40mm of rain so far this month.  24km/h South-Westerly wind up to 59 km/h.

African buffalo or Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer) with a calf.

A large herd of buffalo heading towards a river.

Greater kudu, male (Tragelaphus strepsiceros).

Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) lying in wait!!

African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) digging for water in a dry river bed.  They have had some rain since we left but the situation was serious while we were there.

Chacma baboon (Papio ursinus).  Just watching the world go by in relaxation mode...

and taking a walk.

South African giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa).

Sable antelope (Hippotragus niger).

Steenbok antelope (Raphicerus campestris) female, the male has horns.

Three generations of elephants playing in a small waterhole.

African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) or Painted dogs.

Burchell's zebra (Equus quagga burchellii).

The African common toad or guttural toad (Sclerophrys gutturalis). Wow, are they noisy, they were just outside our bedroom window!!

See also my

 Bird blog

A few more photos from our visit to South Africa last year.

Maximum temperature in the Charente today 10C, minimum 4C. 2mm of rain measured this morning but we had a dry day. 23km/h south-westerly winds with gusts up to 45 km/h.

African elephant (Loxodonta africana).
Again, I will not state exactly where animals were seen because of poaching risks.

Note those long eyelashes!!

African hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) out of the water grazing. Usually, grazing occurs during the evening or the night, but looking at the amount of grass around I guess they need more feeding hours.  Recent rains have fallen in many places in South Africa but some are still drought-stricken.

Greater kudu, female (Tragelaphus strepsiceros). Note the Red-billed oxpeckers (Buphagus erythrorhynchus) on her back

As above; see she has an oxpecker on her head.  The birds do a fabulous job of keeping the animals free from ticks and parasites.

Kudu male.  The female does not have horns.

Lion (Panthera leo)...

and lioness.

Common warthog (Phacochoerus africanus).

Waterbuck  (Kobus ellipsiprymnus)...

As above

African wild dog (Lycaon pictus)

Sometimes one has to just relax, hook your trunk over a tusk and close your eyes for a snooze

Last but not least this couple totally ignored us. Females are receptive to mating for three or four days within a widely variable reproductive cycle. During this time a pair generally mates every 20–30 minutes, with up to 50 copulations per 24 hours.

See also my

 Bird blog

06/01/2020 Returning to our trip to Africa last October..

Maximum temperature in the Charente today 10C, minimum 1C. Dry so far today, with frost here this morning. 13km/h south-westerly winds with gusts up to 30 km/h.

These animals were top of my 'to see' list. As before, I will not state exactly where animals were seen because of poaching risks. The African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) is often nicknamed the Painted Dog. Incredibly, each individual dog has unique markings, which makes it easier for identification. They are sadly another of the world's endangered species.  A number of them have died from disease carried by domestic dogs, brought by their owners into game reserves. Rabies is one of the problems, and many others have died a horrible death as a result of being snared.  

 Wild dogs chasing away a hyena which has got too close to the pack.  The hyenas hang around them, hoping to steal a kill that the dogs may have made.

Here they are gathering ready to go hunting. When a pack member becomes ill, injured or elderly, restricting or even incapacitating their effectiveness as a hunter, the rest of the pack cares for and feeds them. 
 Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) in the background.

African elephant (Loxodonta africana) enjoy a water hole.

Here are others with a sable antelope (Hippotragus niger) and zebra (Equus quagga).

Blue-headed tree agama, (Acanthocercus atricollis). There seem to be several subspecies, not very clearly defined!

Lion (Panthera leo). This was one of three old males that we watched walking near to the road.  You can see how thin this one was. We suspected that the three (all in similar condition) were supporting each other to find food.

Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), also known as the laughing hyena.

Two young hyenas...

If you look closely you can see three cubs here with their mother. Females provide only for their own cubs rather than assist each other, and males display no paternal care at all!

The only proof I have that we saw a leopard ! (Panthera pardus pardus).

See also my

 Bird blog