Early evening surprise!

A bit blurred i know but i took this rather quickly when i spotted a group of 12 or so wild boar on the opposite side of the river Vezere whilst on a walk, after being here for a year this was my first sighting and was only too pleased i wasn't on the other side of the river with them all heading towards me!!! 

A bit fresh!

One way of clearing the head after a christmas eve do is a nice walk in the sub zero temperature countryside...very bracing!

A very Merry Christmas to everyone all over the world who are following our blog and we wish you a happy 2012.

Red sky in the morning....

 A couple more pictures from another early morning walk yesterday, a break in the clouds as we left Les Granges walking down the track opposite shows the Le Moustier cemetery shrouded in mist whilst further along the pathway, the beautiful Saint-Pierre de Peyzac church, built in 1317, sits on the opposite side of the vezere river. The weather here is ok compared to this time last year which was sub zero, at present it's not gone below 6 degrees so very mild...so far!!

 

Serious pruning!

Over the last week we've been taking advantage of the unusually fine weather and have been cutting back lots of overgrown (another word for out of control) trees & shrubs, the bonfire has been burning for 3 days non stop, that is until it started to rain yesterday afternoon, next big project is to reduce the height of the hedge around the house pool by a metre or so....pictures to follow...eventually!
We have also been getting out for early morning walks every day since our return from England (something to do with all the good eating and drinking done whilst we were away!), most mornings have been misty but now most of the leaves have fallen the views are so different, as you can see below, the visitor centre at Le Roque St Christophe usually completely obscured by the foliage is now clearly visible clinging to the side of the cliff face.

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Fungi season

I took the picture above during our early cold and misty walk this morning, they were spotted in the grounds of the campsite up the road, Le Paradis, unlike other mushrooms we've picked and eaten over the last week, somehow I don't think we'll be having the above for breakfast!

Roast chestnuts!

It's cold here but the fire in the house is glowing and have found a novel way of roasting the chestnuts infront of the fire, the nuts had to be rescued shortley after the picture was taken as the log caught fire...as it wood...sorry, would!

Answer to spot the difference - the caravan at the rear of the house has gone....hurray, it all looks so much better at the back of the house now thankfully!

Another spot the difference!

After 3 weeks in England we returned a couple of days ago to a now mainly leaf-less autumnal Les Granges, still very nice weather here, great for clearing up the leaves and gardening before the really cold weather sets in.
A nice surprise on our return also was something missing from the view above, nothing to do with the house but something has now gone that our visitors this year will have seen.
I'll let you know soon if you can't see what's gone!!

Free-bees!

 A nice problem to have after all the news about bees and their reported decline recently, ever since we purchased Les Granges there's been a bees nest in the main house chimney but  a couple of days ago something must have upset them and they swarmed out of the chimney and relocated themselves to a tree branch at the front of the property. After a bit of research this was a sign that they were on the look out for a new 'home' so were a bit concerned, we called a local bee keeper from Montignac who came and cleared them to add to his collection of 30 hives. He told us in the small picture above there was at least 10,000 bees and it was very rare for this to happen so late in the year. At least they will be looked after now and will carry on producing the ever popular honey from this area.

Autumn watch!

Just watched autumnwatch on BBC this evening and want to let all interested know that this evening we had the first 'fly-over' of geese migrating south for winter, hundreds of geese in one 'v' formation, no picture captured as it was about 7pm our time but an amazing sight especially as it's very much earlier this year than last....pictures hopefully tomorrow if more waves come over.

UPDATE Sunday 16/10/11 - apparently they were Cranes not geese that flew over!

Autumn is here!

All of a sudden, the mornings have changed, fresh (another word for cold!), mist covering the valley, followed by clear blue skys during the day which is warm enough to still sit outside for meals. we went for a walk a few days ago and the footpaths were covered with sweet chestnuts, collecting half a carrier bag full of the nuts they're now drying with the walnuts in the daytime sun ready for the first open fire that can't be that far away!

A couple of very nice knockers...

 ....door knockers that is, photographed during our last trip to Sarlat a few days ago. As you can see from the wood of the doors that they are mounted on they are very old and both very heavy, cast iron moulded pieces, i'll have to keep my eyes open for any more unusual examples on my future trips!

Local insects!

Spotted yesterday, this little (ok, not so little) preying mantis on the wood gazebo next to the gite swimming pool, about 4 inches long he (or she) posed very well. Must do a bit more research on the internet to see exactly what they feed on!

Heading for the sun.....

....or are they!

This picture taken this morning, originally to show the leaves changing to autumnal colours but did see the jet in the sky heading south at the last moment, but what a treat they are missing here, not a cloud in the sky, 30 degrees plus again and no let up until next Wednesday according to the weather forecasters, long may it last, not least for our guests arriving tomorrow!

The day after the night before!

The day went really well for Christian and Alek, the ceremony was at 4pm then the celebrations went on until 2.30am, everyone has said how great the day (and morning) was and all, i think, are rather quiet this morning for some reason after the party!

the Big Day has arrived!

For everyone that we've told about the wedding taking place here at Les Granges, in just over one hours time, Christian and Alek will be having their ceremony in front of the main house under the archway that leads between the house and the gites (pictured below).

We awoke this morning to a clear blue sky, a perfect day forecasted, the family and friends of the couple have been busy all morning and afternoon decorating the archway and pool areas, the hog roast is currently underway, a whole pig on a spit rotating nice and slowly over oak logs and will be ready for serving at 6pm our time. I think there's going to be a bit of a fight for the crackling!!

More pictures to follow soon....

Nice shop front.

Walking through Montignac a few days ago i spotted this lovely old shop, full of one producers canned produce, no frills, lovely homemade signs and antique interior shop fittings, a refreshing visual change from modern day laser graphic clad shops that appear everywhere these days.

Tobacco harvest time - the next stage!

Gone are most of the massive woodern barns with sides that open to allow the dordogne air to naturally dry the tobacco leaves, this has now been replaced by poly-tunnels with large 1 metre diametre fans that circulate the air over the leaves. these are the plants that were being harvested in my last post so they've dried pretty quickly, they'll soon be on the way to the Sarlat factory for processing no doubt!

Tobacco harvest time!

We've been coming to this region of France for many years before buying Les Granges and this is the first time I've seen tobacco being harvested, in this case just outside Montignac. Over 20 years ago it seemed that every field you passed in this area was the same broad leaved plant, now it probably takes up one field in twenty, an obvious sign of the decline in popularity of the cigarette. they do still produce cigarettes in this area, a large factory is still situated on the outskirts of Sarlat

A 2,500km trek!

Early last week we got a call from Henk, an old friend we met in New Zealand a couple of years ago, who told us he'd be calling near by us on his way to Santiago in Spain. Fine we said, when are you arriving, "Friday or Saturday in Perigeux, can you pick me up, i'm walking from Holland to Spain for charity and could do with a couple of days rest!"

As pictured above, this is how we found him in Perigeux on Friday afternoon after he'd completed 1,300 kms out of 2,500kms looking remarkably fit after walking for 7 weeks, the last few days in blistering top 30's degree of heat, he was looking a lot thinner than when we saw him a couple of years ago!

I think after a couple of days we managed to feed and water him, maybe even put a little bit of weight back on him although he's now returned back to his walk, so that's probably all been lost now...good luck Henk on your trek over the Pyrenees and then onward to Santiago!!

Henks web site is -  http://www.henkhelpt.nl/

Temporary move!

All our gites and the main house are full so we've had to move out of Les Granges for a short while, fortunately for us, some very nice friends have allowed us to 'house sit' their home in a lovely small village up the road in Plazac. Their house is very close to the Romanesque church shown above, I managed to get a bit of time off to have a look around and inside the church I found this fantastic old memorial to the men (and boys) of the village who lost their lives in that terrible war. Some beautiful hand painted lettering with a chandelier underneath that looks as though it is as it was when the memorial was first unveiled.

Also on the stone archway into the church, this painting has survived the centuries, if you click on the picture it will open an enlarged view of it, it's certainly not as old as the cave paintings in this area but is just as impressive.

In the next couple of days we are moving out of Plazac and are taking up residence in a tent on the nearby camp site 'Le Paradis', a place we know very well having been customers when our daughters were much younger, so, as they say, the change will be as good as a rest......possibly!

Sunset over Le Moustier

I took this picture a couple of weeks ago when just returning home after an evening stroll, i think it was the last time that we had a nice sunset as ever since its been a bit overcast. But today has been a little better albeit much warmer and tomorrow will be even nicer....here's hoping!

A polite reminder!

I've seen this sign on the main road in to Montignac many times since we've moved here, at last i remembered to take my camera in order to show just how far the AA stretched in their help to its members and other motorists. A very wise owl indeed, it's situated near to the Intermarche supermarket, maybe people we're so relieved to get all their shopping done they were going to forget which side of the road they should be on!

I'm not quite sure how old the sign is but i'll guess at when the AA changed their logo from the classic to the very plain lettering, maybe sometime in the 70's?

New Gite Swimming Pool up and running!

For customers who visited us before June this year, we thought you'd like to see how the gite swimming pool has turned out following it's new liner fitting. It's already being used regularly by our present customers, which as the temperatures as i write are in the mid 30's, you can imagine is very refreshing when cooling off is required!

Butterfly Ball!

Another macro picture taken earlier this week, the buddleia's are now nearly in full bloom so the butterfly's are very visible now.

There has still been very little rain in the area and some of our guests who have been canoeing on the Vezere have said that during their journey they've run-aground 3 or 4 times because the water level is so low, needless to say, storms are predicted this weekend so it may be a different story soon!

Phew - it's a scorcher!

Well, just as predicted and warned of by the weather forecasters today has so far reached the dizzy heights of 38.6 degrees and the next 2 days are going to be hotter, somehow i think we're in for a 'spot' of rain on Wednesday accompanied by a very spectacular lightning display!!

Oh, and we had a visit in the house of one of the young swallows that mistook our open front door for the boiler room entrance, thankfully no mess though!

Market day in Sarlat

Last Wednesday Philippa & I went to Sarlat and decided to have the morning off and have a look around the market. Athough it's early June the town was very busy with tourists and locals alike. Some amazing stalls with beautiful fresh produce, one stall we went to to get some canard for the bbq we queued behind a family who bought 125euros worth of duck - now that's some bbq!!

Swallow up-date!

All 5 of the baby swallows have now left the nest as of this morning, albeit about 1 metre across the boiler room onto the top of the linen cupboard, i'm sure it won't be long until they venture outside, i'll update you when they do!

Boiler room babies!

It seems ages since i put on a post saying that swallows were nesting in the boiler room, well, here's the result, there must be at least five young swallows getting bigger by the day, usually they are sat on the side of the nest stretching and flapping their not quite fully feathered wings, as soon as we appear in the room they crouch down to hide from us, amazing that one of them doesn't get shoved out in the process but they are all well so far!

...somewhere down the lazy river....!!

Last week Philippa & I, for the first time since we moved here, went on a canoe trip with our daughters & their 'fellas' who were visiting us from England, we set off from nearby St Leon Sur Vezere, a beautiful village 5 minutes away from Les Granges. above is the lovely Chateaux on the banks of the river just upstream of the departure point, we proceeded down river, passing Le Roque St Christophe (and Les Granges) and many other sights. Two and a half hours later we arrived at Thonac where the canoe company were there ready to transport us back to our cars at St Leon. A fantastic time was had by all, needless to say, some of us were rather wet at the end of the journey after some cooling off drench paddling by some members of the party!!!

Les Grangeswatch!

After emptying the gite swimming pool ready for a new liner to be installed i found this little devil in the empty pool struggling to get up the 1.25 metre walls and so too safety. Now i'm not great with snakes but this was only about 40 cms long (which is long enough) and after some research on the computer by Matt it turns out to be a juvenile Western Whip Snake. They can live for 20 years and grow to a length of 100 - 150 cms, now that's long enough!!
More info at:-
http://www.herpfrance.com/reptile/western_whip_snake_hierophis_viridiflavus.php

Ice hockeys turn!!

After the Germans and their clubs football scarf being displayed out of one of the bedroom windows in celebration of winning their league, last night on the eve of their departure from Les Granges it was the turn of our Canadian guests to adorn the front gates with their team logo who have reached the Stanley Cup plays offs for the first time in many years. Apparently tonight is the first of seven games and they are playing Boston so good luck to Vancouver and we hope they give 'em some welly!!

A-maize-ing....sorry!

 On a walk to the boulangerie in Le moustier this morning i was amazed to see how quick the crops in the fields between the house and the river have grown in such a short space of time, considering we've had no rain now for a few weeks. No shortage of water though in the Vezere below where the weed is still in full flower and the fish have now been joined by some very large and vocal toads, which if i see any will be on the blog as soon as possible!

All well in the orchard!

With the good weather we've had here over the last 3 or 4 weeks, the orchard is really doing well at the moment, the cherry tree is full and the fruit is already ripening, other trees include, pear, apple white peach, peach and fig. The walnut trees are also looking good...not quite sure what we'll be doing with all the fruit yet but we'll think of something!!

The Vezere in bloom!

Taken yesterday morning from Le Moustier bridge, the picture above shows the water plant or weed in full flower making an amazing moving display as the river flows quickly under the bridge, the plant also makes a good feeding ground for many fish which leap onto the top of the flowers to snatch any insects etc (well, i think that's what they were doing!), one of the fish (picture right) was at least 2ft long and we also spotted several ducks with their ducklings in the same stretch of water.