Apologies for being a day late with the update - Easter visitors and fun took over yesterday and I hope you consider the wait worth it, as we are dealing with national news in a bit.
The week started fairly quietly, with a magnificent view of a full moon from the garden when I went to close up the chicken run. This isn't to keep the wee darlings safe, as they sleep 4 foot off the ground on a suspended perch, but to ensure that they don't roam around the garden from first light, killing my plants more than they have to.
A couple of days later, we were treated to a magnificent sunset, with rich colours. This is normally an autumn phenomenon, but we enjoy them whenever and aren't going to complain!
Spring has sprung and the cowslips and oxslips are looking fabulous in the Orchard, with the red and orange variants adding vibrancy to the mix.
So given all that mellowness, Storm Nelson was a bit of a downer, with winds whistling around the corners of the house and one of the sheets of metal on the chicken run roof deciding to submit to the forces of nature! John had to miss a hot cross bun party in order to fix it and shelter the chickens from the worst of the rain.
But the big story is the flooding. Not so much around us, although people did get caught out in Saumur as they foolishly left cars overnight on the quayside. Yesterday was spent keeping an eye on a red alert on the River Vienne - a tributary of la Loire - running through Chinon. Some reports were getting quite scary, and although the worst didn't happen, a few hundred people had to be evacuated from the part of the town to the south of the river. As we were returning our visitor to Chinon, we had to go and have a look (it would be rude not to!).
The speed of the river and the height (5.3 metres at lunchtime) were dramatic, particularly by the old bridge in the centre of town.
In the direction of the Eifel bridge (yes, that Eifel), there is a "low road" to a village called Cravant. Walking through the park by the river, it wasn't immediately obvious, but the river had taken the opportunity to sneak through a gap and fill up a road, blocking access to a community centre (not the one taking evacuees) and a driving school.
Back in early March, I wrote about flooding in Chinon here, with a fine photo of a Stop sign up to its waist in water. Well the Stop sign itself was completely submerged, but the top of the higher sign just by it can be made out sticking out of the water here.
The height of the flood has now passed at Chinon and is heading for la Loire, where the peak is expected at Saumur at about midnight. The Loire valley is so wide, it shouldn't cause too many problems now, but I saw that two further departments are on red flood alert, for tributaries of the Seine, so no doubt Paris will have a big flap about it all very soon.
The moon will change in the next week and I hope that brings less rain, a bit of warmth to dry things out, and a chance to get into the garden and get the onions planted and the potato bed rotavated. Things are starting to get a bit delayed! Have a good week.
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