Redstart visitor!

Here's a young Redstart who posed very nicely for us after it had been looking around our house whilst we were out, we managed to release him or her after its time 'inside' so all's well that ends well!
Also, a massive thanks to all of you who follow this blog. July has been a record month with over 500 'viewings' to this blog from all over the world, it's great to know you're all out there following us. I thought you may like to see the stats....

United Kingdom	234
France	154
United States	71
Russia	40
Germany	7
New Zealand	3
India	2
Japan	2
Australia	1
Canada	1

Where 2 rivers collide!

Walk down the track opposite Les Granges, get in a canoe and a few hours later you will arrive here, where the river Vezere meets the river Dordogne. The beautiful village of Limeuil sits on a hill overlooking the two rivers which is a very popular destination for visitors especially who have children, the young ones can have a paddle in the water whilst their parents can sit and have a refreshing drink at one of the river side cafes.
Ofcoarse, if you stay in your canoe, you'll eventually end up in Bordeaux but that's another blog post for the future! 

Look what we found!

We just happened to stop at a brocante yesterday in Rouffignac and look what I spotted on a shelf, this wonderful old Sonolor radio, a bit well used but it was made in Paris, still in working order (ok just a very load buzz from the speaker), guessing at 1950's but what a beautiful piece.....and look in the back aswell (below), valves and even on the left hand side a revolving aerial that's operated by the right hand knob on the front panel....what a beauty and all this for 15 euros, not quite sure where I'll put it, in the house I think if I can find a spot for it!

Early exercise.

Taken a few minutes ago, this view from the Roque Terrace gite shows the early morning sun hitting the rock face of La Roque St Christophe with a cyclist making the most of the cool start to the day.
The weather over the last week has been much better, a bit cloudy yesterday but according to the forecast, next week is going to be full sun and in the mid 30 degrees so we hope our new guests arriving tomorrow don't forget their sun cream!

Peaches and cream!

The poor weather we had in June hasn't deterred one of our fruit trees from giving us a good crop of fruit. We pruned the White Peach tree last autumn and were a little concerned that after the severe winter the orchard trees endured we would get little or no fruit this year. All our guests were very happy though after we gave them all a big bag full of the very fresh fruit each!

A real splash of colour!

Rather than dwell on my last post for too long, just thought I'd upload this picture I took 3 days ago at a garden centre in Montignac, we wanted some more geraniums to brighten up some areas of Les Granges, as you can see, there were plenty to choose from!

Shame on someone.

Not a post i wanted to put on but feel that even in this part of remote France we're not exempt from what I think is a terrible world wide problem.
For 140 years the bridge at Le Moustier has spanned the river Vezere with the only changes to its stonework being a carving of a flood level in March of 1930. A few days ago, along comes someone with a few cans of spray paint to put his/her 'mark' on these pieces of old stone.
I have never liked the graffiti in places like Barcelona, Amsterdam or anywhere else in the world, all i can say is shame on whoever is responsible.

Cafe culture

Taken a few weeks ago, this interesting cafe frontage took my eye in the market square of Aubetterre-sur-Dronne. I'm sure that anyone relaxing outside this lovely village building must get the feeling they're being watched as they enjoy their drink and meal!

Calm after the storm.

This was definitely a case of quick get the camera, last Friday we had an amazing storm pass overhead and this was the aftermath, an amazing double rainbow over the area (you can just see the other rainbow next to the house chimney stack). It had been so hot and humid that on Thursday and Friday that the storm was inevitable, so even more rain to help all the plants and weeds grow!

Look for the sign!

After a few comments from our guests, here it is, a large, clear sign at the entrance to Les Granges, positioned at the side of the D706, this will make it much easier for everyone to spot us at the end of their sometimes long, tiring journey here.

Spare a few minutes.

We had to go to Terrasson yesterday on some business during which I was able to have a wander around with camera. Most people who come to Les Granges pass this beautiful town in between the A89 motorway and Montignac and most will miss its nearly completely renovated old town centre that lies below the Holy Sour Church. Originally an Abbey built in 560, the Normans destroyed it in the 9th century, then it was destroyed again in the 14th century during the 100 years war and again in the 15th century during the wars of religion...some history!

At the top facing away from the church (above) the view is spectacular and well worth the climb.

Back down at river level, this was taken from the 12th century bridge over the Vezere with the old mill building (now a restaurant) and half timbered houses along the river bank.
So anyone wanting to stretch their legs after a long drive down the motorway I'd recommend a quick look around if you can.

Not quite finished....

....but nearly, already looking much better though, the front gate posts have been fully restored and repaired and the new gate we fitted this morning, just the locking mechanism to sort out on the gate itself plus another lick of paint and it'll be done, at last!

Another piece of history.

 

In a corner of the Walnut Store gite sits an old trunk which since we bought the property I've been meaning to do some research on.

On the lid is a brass plate with the name of it's previous owner, after 'googling' the name I found that quite a lot of CHA Tucks military belongings had been auctioned at Bonhams of London and the listings also contained some information on him-

Lietenant Colonel C.H.A.Tuck, 3rd Gurkha Rifles, late Norfolk Regiment.

Colonel Charles Harold Amys Tuck was born on 6.12.1880 and was educated at Wellington College. He joined the 3rd Norfolks in 1900 and 1st Norfolks in 1901, entitled to QSA with three clasps. Served as Railway Staff Officer 26.10.1900 to 7.11.1900. Transferred to 1/3rd Gurkhas 1905; Captain 1909; Major 1915; Lt Colonel 1924; Colonel 1925. He was MID in Mesopotamia and S.Kurdistan, as well as Iraq where he became C.I.E.

So any relative researching their long lost ancestors may just see this page after putting his name into the search engine, if you're interested, we have his travel trunk!

Amazing the internet isn't it!