The happy couple!

A bit blurred i know but taken on max zoom, this is the two swallows who are nesting in the boiler room of Les Granges, must be having a break before serious egg laying and rearing takes place!!

Many thanks to Geoff in Harrogate who came to my rescue re my last blog who found out that the item could be an Alambic still used in the process of making armagnac or cognac, link to explanation below

http://www.essentialspirits.com/history.htm#Origin

Help needed!

Any ideas what this may be? It's been in the downstairs cloakroom since we took over and i took it out for clean this afternoon, it's all copper, 2.5ft high ish and the bit above the round bowl at the bottom detaches, must be some sort of still, who knows!?!

One of many....

On my way back from Sarlat a few days ago i took a 'scenic route' back and managed to find this surprise this view of the Chateau de Commarque, nestled in a valley that runs parallel to the main road that leads from Sarlat to Les Eyzies the very large and impressive (although not as pretty as some others that are on the Dordogne) Chateau is open to the public for most of the year.

 www.commarque.com

Non-paying guests!

Spotted early yesterday morning, one of two new residents here at Les Granges. They seem to like the barn and all its nice places to hide although i don't think they realised they'd be in there all night after i'd closed the barn doors for the night!

Me old bamboo...

A neighbour called to introduce himself last week which was nice, as we are finding with living here, it's very much a case of you scratch our back and we'll scratch yours! John had bought an old farm with 25 acres and many out-buildings about half a mile away on the other side of the Vezere and needed some mature bamboo for screening some areas around his property....help yourself was my very quick reply!

At the front of the house is a very large mass of 6 metre+ high bamboo which over time has spread towards the road blocking some of the view toward La Roque, John arrived a few days later with his own digger, trailer and helping hands and over the day took away a lot of the bamboo, roots and all making a big difference to the outlook, especially from the Roque Terrace gite and main house.

In return for the free bamboo he levelled the area and supplied new top soil for the cleared area...result!!