Rural Life

Day 17 of 30 Days Wild - but fairly brain dead

Which is really my way of saying that apart from going to the market this morning, I've been stuck indoors either stretching my brain with work, or stretching my brain talking to our French financial advisers about investments. 

John has had the same brain strain, between talking to French financial advisers and then working out how to fix a new to us ride on lawnmower blade engagement system that uses a spring.  We had to get a new spring, and it arrived today - a huge, chunky and impressive thing.  I gather working out how to flex it enough to fit it was an amusing puzzle, but the good news is that Mambo (ride on lawnmower number 5) is now back in service and ready to roll.

So once again I will have to delve into the Guadeloupe archives to find things to please your eyes - birds and chocolate!

So, a pelican in flight.

A lorakeet in captivity (not native to Guadeloupe but to Australia, where every time I tried to photograph one, it pooped on me).

And finally, unripe chocolate.

Day 16 of 30 Days Wild - the weather takes centre stage

Just as a starter, here is a picture of Zola's shame yesterday, before it flew off down the landing, and then away out of the window when I opened it.  Excuse the dust and cat fur!

The weather has taken centre stage today, with numerous thunder storms - not vast amounts of crash, bang, wallop, although quite enough to be going on with.  We have had so far over 15mm of rain today, with more to come.  About a third of it came in this particular storm this morning.

Just look at the water butt by the hovel next door!  And no, I have no idea why there is an upturned sailboard next door either.  I missed the next two or three storms as I was in Skype meetings with colleagues and clients, but after that was all done, we went to the Shack to clear our heads and feed the boys.  There had been less rain there, but it was all still very soggy underfoot although the courgettes, butternuts and weird pumpkins were loving that aspect.  Weird pumpkins?  John planted a couple of rotten potimarrons that we had in the garage to see what would happen.  We expected the badgers to dig them up and eat them to be honest.  Well, one has done nothing, but the other has so far given birth to four seedlings!

We left when we started to hear rumbles of thunder, but at the end of the lane, we had to stop and take photographs of the amazing clouds and vista - here is just one example.

And on that happy note, it is late and I'm going downstairs for TV, key lime pie and tea.

 

Day 15 of 30 Days Wild - vegetables and a feathered visitor

Yesterday I was very excited about butterflies so didn't bother with the vegetables at the plot which are starting to do useful things.  The tomato plants, that John was given in return for helping to fix a ride on lawnmower and I just jammed into really unprepossessing ground, are doing really well and are covered with young tomatoes.  They are ridged and furrowed, so I expect they are some form of beefsteak tomato or heritage type.  If all the rain we are getting doesn't give them blight, I think I will be making a lot of tomato sauce this year!

Most years, the courgette problem is the same, the first flowers are all male and while pretty, they do nothing for our dinner plate.  This year, we have a different problem, the flowers are all female, and bizarrely, that does nothing for the plate either as with the young plants, the female flowers excluding the actual flower bud are no more than 4 centimetres long.  I think it is due to the hot, dry May weather, although I'm sure people will tell me if that is wrong.  Whatever, it is now clear that you need a good mix of male and female flowers in order to get courgettes worth eating!!

Now on to the feathered visitor, and for once it is Zola who has to hang her head in shame.  I was just about to start a Skype interview and the little darling was scrabbling around in the office, making out she had lost something.  I had to assume it was (yet) another mouse, but could do not more than ask her to find and take away her little friend before talking to my victim.  Once the interview was done and I was sitting and thinking, there was a rustling noise behind me, so I got my glass (empty) and went to trap the mouse.  Except it wasn't, it was either a swallow or a house martin.  Zola came to help so had to be locked in a bedroom while I tried to trap the little fellow with a cloth or my hands.  While it was quite happy on the floor by my desk, it was even happier flying along the landing to the front window, which I opened and it flew away.  I hope she hadn't damaged it too much, but it didn't do the baby duck lurch, it definitely flew, so fingers crossed.

It should have been yoga tonight, but once I got off my last call of the day and checked the rain radar, it was clear to me that it wasn't going to be a clear one and a half hours, and frankly, today I didn't feel like getting rained on while doing the sun greeting or other moves with more dodgy names.  I did a bit of CPD instead.

 

Day 14 of 30 Days Wild - rainbows and butterflies

We seem to be getting a lot of rainbows this year.  Yesterday I showed the one that was looking south east from the pub on Friday night when we left.  Today I share with you the double rainbow that could be seen from our back door yesterday evening, this time looking north east.

A few days ago I was worrying that history would be covered up in terms of the stonework on a house in the village.  I'm actually pretty hopeful that they are going to leave the stonework visible though, as there is a fine repointing of joints, but the scaffolding is coming down, and there is no covering render.  Fingers crossed guys, because I find this quality of stonework beautiful and fascinating.

John had his work cut out cat minding today.  This made it easier for me to tend to the needs of the tomatoes and check up on the haricots and tie in more bean poles for the borlotti beans.  It didn't make it any easier for him when it came to mowing around the plots though.

In places the buddleia is out and providing lots of lovely nectar for the butterflies.  I spent a happy (and Wild) 10 minutes chasing around the bushes, trying to photograph butterflies and got some reasonable pictures this time I think.  This is the one I like the best - it's a peacock butterfly by the way.

Tomorrow it is back to work and also back to the uncertainty over outdoor yoga or not - don't be surprised if there is no blog, as I could be stuck with my foot round the back of my head (boasting), or be spending the evening rubbing horse liniment into my aching joints.

 

Day 13 of 30 Days Wild - bar society

So after writing yesterday's blog, we packed up and went to the pub - because we can here in France!  I'm still a bit concerned about closed spaces with other people, so we sat out on the terrace although it wasn't as warm as it might be, and it was nice to sit and watch the clouds and the birds and the people (shock horror - two people did the Faire le bise!).  It helps to blow away the cobwebs of the week.

As we left, looking over the valley of the Couasnon, we spotted a strong rainbow with magnificent colours.  There was no rain around us, but clearly a few miles to the south east, someone was getting very wet indeed.

The air was very crisp and clear, so that standing in the Place d'Eglise and looking up at the church, it was possible to see every detail of the stonework and the slates on the twisted spire - at its most beautiful I thought.  The flower displays are not yet fully developed, but by August there will be magnificent flowers along the wall below the church.

Today has been remarkable for short but very intense showers.  I drove through one that was like driving through a waterfall.  The country cats weren't stupid and were hiding when I arrived to feed them and didn't come out from their lairs until the rain had passed.  So while I waited for them, I admired my Guadeloupe avocado tree, now it is outside and enjoying the weather.  The volume of rain should surely be reminding it of its ancestral tree in the Caribean!

 

Day 12 of 30 Days Wild - unexpected things

When I said yesterday that I had to go to the supermarket today and that might inspire today's blog, John laughed, and he was right to, as other things have come my way today.  But first I will have a short rant about the supermarket, which does not seem to have worked out yet that lockdown is essentially over and therefore there is really no excuse now for shortages.  Empty shelves where red wine, chocolate, loo rolls, pasta, tea, and cat food should be were kind of acceptable in April, but in June not so much!

First thing this morning I walked up to the boulangerie for our pain au chocolat and baguette (cliché or what?).  There is renovation work going on with a house opposite the boulangerie, and today I got the full effect of the vile concrete render being off.  You can see where windows have been filled in and relish the stonework.  Sadly I expect the stones will be recovered with render next week, but it would be lovely if in fact, it was just the joints that were more fully filled in so we could enjoy this on a daily basis!

Then when I started to work through my e-mails, I found one from a chum in the States, Texas in fact, who had been inspired by yesterday's photos to send me one of the white-wing dove that is sitting on her nest in his garden.  She looks similar to our collar doves but the neck ring is less pronounced.  Thank you!

And then on the wild front - I spotted this in the lawn, after hanging out the laundry.  It is way too early for the cyclamen to be flowering - we aren't past the longest day yet!  Normally they don't start until August.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring!

 

Day 11 of 30 Days Wild - a soggy one

Up until 3:30pm this afternoon I was either at the beck and call of Poirot prior to and during her annual vet's visit, or stuck in front of the computer at the beck and call of my latest project.  I've talked to some very interesting people today, but I can't tell you anything about it because it is confidential.

After my last interview today, we went to feed the cats, but by then the rain had started and it was a very soggy visit.  All four boys were very cuddly and needing maximum food, tickles and stroking with the (one) grooming glove.  When I get near Pets at Home sometime, I need to get another one as they all like having their loose fur helped on its way.  Spooky in particular gets very excited and loved up and purrs like a small outboard motor.  He has the loudest purr of all four, for all he is the smallest!

Anyway, once home, it was back to the computer, so once again I have rummaged in my stash of photos.  As people seemed to quite like the rainforest photo, I had a further look at the Guadeloupe archives.  While there are quite a lot of cats on Guadeloupe, the animal (in the widest sense) that best mimics a domestic moggy here in France is the pelican.  The follow the fishermen's wives around, begging for morsels, and if you leave a boat unattended, it gets sat on.  As they get more comfortable, they splodge down until they become pelican pancake.  I think it's cute.

Certainly the most beautiful, but probably the most tantalising, birds are the humming birds.  You can hear their wings, and you might catch a glimpse unless they find a really good nectar source, but photographing the wretched things is nearly impossible.  This is one of my better attempts.

Tomorrow I have no interviews so I hope to be able to take a bit of time at lunch or in the afternoon to do or see something of more interest to share with you.  I know I have to go to the supermarket, so that may bring inspiration!  A demain!

Day 10 of 30 Days Wild - but very tame in fact

Work can be regarded as a necessary evil, although actually, when I have a project running, I really enjoy it.  The one I am currently working on has a very tight timeframe with a lot to squeeze into June, so there are days like today, when once I am home from the market, all I do is sit in front of the computer.  There are also other distractions going on which can affect concentration.  For once that isn't cats on the desk, but that is a first.

I did attend a webinar at lunchtime on how to maintain confidence in work and data when remote working - there was little new in it, but it did help me to realise that actually I do these things quite well and shouldn't beat myself up.  In the new normal, the world could be at my feet!

I have managed to take a short walk around the garden, on the way too and from removing a broody chicken from the coop so I could rescue the eggs before she does something silly (it is the Big White Chicken that is brooding but I sometimes think it is an excuse when she can't be bothered to get up and go out and about).  My first freesia flowers are about to come out.  I nibbled a raspberry or two.  I scowled at the clouds, bringing more rain, but that was about it.

For those that made it this far, I'd better include a nice photo or two of something - what have I got in my stash?  In March 2019 we went to Guadeloupe and did a walk through the rainforest, where we saw this.

Day 9 of 30 Days Wild - I said I might not post yesterday!

The weather was not propitious yesterday for outdoor yoga, but it was good for getting a lot of work done on the computer and by the time I had finished, I just wanted to rest my eyes.  Later in the evening I went out and photographed the rainbow.

Today I have been over to Chinon, which has a very fine chateau that you can see from the house there.

The walled garden has red valerian growing in it, which attracts the butterflies - we saw whites, a peacock, and this which I think is a White Admiral.  And yes, I do know it is sitting on a pink rose, but it started out on the valerian.

 

We also went wine tasting and buying at Restigné again - all very good!

Tomorrow I may be more verbose, but I still have 50 e-mails to read before bedtime!

 

Day 7 of 30 Days Wild - more on large green lizards

The rain held off this morning so we were able to get to the kitchen garden at the Shack to do some essential work.  I cleared out the broad beans - I've got a bag full of beans to pod and turn into old bean and garlic purée.  A couple of the garlic were innocent bystanders in last week's digging event, and need to be used, so it will be all home grown bar the oil.  I also planted yet another butternut squash, as one potato did not come up - presumably got eaten by mice.  I also started to set up the bean frame for borlotti beans and sowed 8 stations.  Not the easiest bean poles to get into place - the bamboos themselves have been "harvested" from clients who have bamboo growing at theirs - there is an art to drying bamboo, particularly the thick ones, and we haven't yet mastered it.  Then there is the soil - clay with builders' rubble from over the past 200 years - not easy to bang poles into, not easy to sow into and full of cracks, fissures, tile and brick fragments and the odd fossilised oyster.  Hopefully the beans will like it though.

Donald tried to help, but the siren call of cuddles with John was too much for him - it's a lurve thing!

Clause, on the other hand, is in disgrace.  After John had done more mowing, and I had put him down twice, once after cuddles sitting on a chair, once with him riding around on my back while I cut down beanstalks, like some maharajah on an elephant, he went off in a huff.  The next thing I know, he has pounced on something and is playing with it.  I went to see what he had found and had to shoo him off another large green lizard.  He was distracted by the still thrashing and separate tail for long enough for me to photograph the main bit of lizard, find a trowel, scoop the poor thing up and fling it into the scrub.  Lizards are not good cat food.  I suspect that he was guilty of the other one too.  He had a long lecture on not eating endangered or rare species, and certainly not eating a (potentially) breeding pair.  He ignored me.

Finally, before going home for a well earned and late lunch, we went to check out another client's garden.  There I got mesmerised by the most beautiful demoiselle I've ever seen - cobalt blue for most of its body length with a blob of bright cerulean blue at the end of its tail.  This is the best photo I managed and doesn't do it justice.

Yoga restarts tomorrow, in the open air (!), so the blog will be late or non-existent, depending on how well I manage to recover from trying to force my body into positions it is not lithe and slim enough to achieve.