27/08/2020 Out and about, insects and skies.

 Maximum temperature here today 27⁰C, minimum 13⁰C.  Dry, but rain forecast.   17km/h North-Westerly winds with gusts up to 39 km/h. 

Sorry that I am not keeping up with blogs or comments, but we have had continuous slow WiFi, at times being only 0.1 (sigh).  The garden is also being very demanding, especially with two fig trees loaded with fruit and the dehydrator being on the blink.  I am spending many hours in the kitchen bottling.

Sunflowers.

Interesting clouds, do you see the teddy bear face?

Genus Calliptamusa member of Short-horned Grasshoppers Family Acrididae...

as above.

House sparrow (Passer domesticus) - I just liked this shot!

Comma butterfly (Polygonia c-album)...

As above...

See the white comma and why it is named as such.

Orchids in the house. Cymbidium.

Lesser Purple Emperor (Apatura ilia).   Think this is the female, the male (of course) is the pretty purple one!!  She is still pretty good looking though!

As above...

As above.

The setting sun after a stormy day. 16/08/2020

Florentine Woolcarder (Anthidium florentinum)...

As above.

Bumblebee.

As above.

Peacock butterfly (Aglais io)...

As above.

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta).

Common social wasp (V. vulgaris).

Yellow‐legged hornet, (Vespa velutina) - another bee killer that appears to be rapidly spreading in France!! First identified here in 2004 😡

The first rose for some time appeared especially for my birthday 19/08 ....

We met up with friends and had a 'distancing' picnic at a friends house with a very large garden, and a very pretty farm wagon.  Despite the fact that we had not seen each other since February, and we had all been in lock-down, there seemed to be a lot to talk about.  Thirty-nine years anniversary tomorrow!

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

See also my

 Bird blog

Joining up with My Corner of the World

20/07/2018 A few photos from the garden.

Maximum temperature today 27C, minimum 16C.  Dry; 16 km/h North-westerly winds with up to 37 km/h gusts.

Poppies...

As above with a bumble bee.

Calendula.

Nasturtium.

Rosebud.

Grasshopper.

As above...

Good looking guy.

Last but not least; haricot vert from the garden.  I suspect we are both going to look like a bean quite soon judging by the number of beans appearing!

N.B. My bird blog is updated  HERE 

Part 17 of the birds seen in Africa.

30/09/2017 It started raining as forecast early this morning, so here is the rest of Thursday's outing.

Maximum temperature 20C,  minimum 12C.  7 km/h NW wind with 21 km/h gusts. Rain not measured as yet.

Cavernous barn style restaurant with a lovely view of the Limousin countryside.

Cattle themed seating area. The Limousin is an area around Limoges reputed for its top quality beef cattle.

Waiting for lunch to get going!

A 1960's record player which was actually in use, but the sound was drowned by the noise of the many patrons in the hangar-like space.

There's that lovely view from the restaurant!

A contour map of the fortress of Chalucet, built and occupied in the 12th and 13th centuries by local titled families in the times of Richard the Lionheart

 ,

An immense operation in the days before mechanical assistance, to drag and lay so many stones on a hilltop!

Two hundred years after the fortress was founded, a troop of bandits took advantage of the fact that the building's owners had moved away and occupied the fortress as a base for their highwaymen's activities.

They were only evicted by the French king's forces after 13 year long battles and payment of an enormous ransom.

Towards the end of the Wars of Religion, in 1594, the Limoges council demolished the fortress to prevent Catholic extremists taking possession, It only took 4 days to achieve this ruinous state...

 The vegetation takes over.

 Entrance to the cellars, too dangerous these days for public access.

And back at home, a grasshopper on the wall!

13/09/2017 A rainy day on and off. A few photos taken during a break.

Maximum temperature 22C, (I do not believe it!) minimum 15C. 21 km/h SW wind with 51 km/h gusts. 7 mm of rain overnight.  

Autumn is here.

Grasshopper.

Bee, plus a little bug behind the bee on the Garlic chives.

Bee on the garlic chives.

Calendula and two small bugs.

Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) that I chased around the garden.  I decided that it was a female but it was so fast!

As above...

As above.

Hoverfly.

 Fly on the sedum.

Finally a lizard (Podarcis muralis) braving the weather, it must have been cold as it let me get quite close...

As above.