Happy May Day - and apologies to those in the UK as I gather the weather isn't too great - here it is lovely and has been for a while. Sunshine, gentle cooling breezes and blue skies, which of course also means hosepipe bans and water restrictions. It is the earliest I remember there being a ban on watering non-essentials using well or tap water. Fortunately we have stocks of rainwater, and vainly hope that it will rain sometime soon - the earliest forecast is for around the 13th May!!
The sunshine does mean that there are some lovely things to photograph at the moment - distant chateau before they disappear behind foliage, but are nicely framed by green, orchids (although the bee orchid season will start soon and I'm sure that will get boring), lizards, butterflies, tadpoles and a vide grenier (literally empty your attic - the French version of a car boot, and all day affairs).
The wildflower meadow is really coming into its own, with oxeye daisies, linseed, and bright pink clover - the bee orchids will join in shortly as they seem to go well alongside the clovers. We mowed a trail round, so that you can walk round without worrying about treading on something precious or getting too many ticks on your clothes, as the hares and deer also like the meadow. You can't take a decent photo of a wildflower meadow really, as the camera can't work as well as the eye for taking it all in. By contrast, I show an area by the fruit trees where we haven't mown, and nature is springing back with all the "best" things in life - nettles, mares tail and bramble.
We now have aubergines planted out under individual mini-cloches and some lettuce under protection from cat bums - I am hoping the resident thrushes will do the needful with slugs and snails as I found this year's well used anvil.
Anyway, I also said something about badgers. We moved the trail camera to near the set in the hope of getting a sight of cubs at dawn or dusk. For the first few days there was no action at all. Then a couple of days ago I checked and there were lots of files, although on my phone they didn't look like much - but I downloaded a few photographs and a couple of videos anyway. Away from sunlight and with a pair of glasses, I could see there was actually quite a bit of action, so today I downloaded a further random selection and there is quite a lot of activity. The following five short films show the hunt for food as young cubs need sustenance, all done at night.
And finally...
Have a good week!
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