Festive greetings!

A very Merry Christmas to all of our blog followers, wherever you are in the world!

We hope you have a wonderful time over the festive period.

Is it a bird, is it a plane....

...no, it's the I.S.S. (International Space Station)!
As some of our guests will know, I do like to point out things of interest that are happening here and one of the things I make sure of telling everyone is the times that the ISS travels over Les Granges. Given the superb clear sky here it's usually pretty easy to spot the bright dot that is the space craft speeding overhead at over 400 kilometres a second, or put it another way, over 14,100 miles per hour, no wonder then that 90 minutes after this picture was taken, it passed over us again after doing a full circle of our planet...amazing!

Winter early evening at Les Granges

After a couple of weeks in England we have now returned home for the winter and are planning all the latest work that needs doing over the next few months. Lots to do as usual including some new user friendly steps from the gite courtyard up to the Haybarn, new wood terracing near the gite swimming pool to name just a couple of things.
The weather here at the moment is very nice, after cold nights and chilly mornings the afternoons brighten up followed by as the sun sets, early evening mist (as pictured above) creeping slowly up the valley towards Les Granges, at which point it's time to light the house lounge fire and get settled indoors for the night...lovely!

Halloween special!

So after being away for a week, the first thing we had to do was stock up the supplies of food etc so we had a trip Intermarche in Montignac and this was what greeted us in the fruit & veg department. I couldn't even lift this pumpkin and was pretty sure it wouldn't even fit in a trolley anyway, I take it it'll make a lot of soup or one hell of a large Halloween lantern for someone!

A week away!

 After another busy year we finally managed to get away and drive down for a week of rest and relaxation in Spain at a place called Gandia, south of Valencia, a destination we have now been to 3 times. The weather was reasonably kind to us for half of the stay but it didn't matter, we are now much refreshed, after the first few days we did a lot of cycling around the area.

These two pictures were taken early on one of the mornings, as the saying goes, 'red sky in the morning shepherds warning' was pretty accurate because after this we had a couple of days of windy wet weather!

We're back in France at Les Granges now, still much to be done as always, the walnuts are still dropping off the trees!

Autumn sunset

A couple of recent pictures for you all, taken late afternoon yesterday as the sun was just about to set, shows just how all the leaves are slowly but surely turning yellow at the front of Les Granges. Getting quite cool in the mornings now, down to about 6 degrees this morning but day time temperatures are in the nice low to mid 20's.

Below, taken on a bike ride to Fleurac a few weeks ago, an alternative view of Chateau du Peuch which is situated between our village of Le Moustier and Plazac further up the Vimont Valley, taken from the road at the rear of the property that most people don't get to see when travelling from us to Rouffignac..

Autumn is here!

After a few days of not so nice weather, this morning we've woken to the usual autumnal early morning mist over the river Vezere but by 10.30am the sun has burnt it away leaving us with a beautiful blue sky. Aircraft can be seen clearly above us and I just wonder as the passengers look down on their flight back north from Alicante to Copenhagen what they are thinking, maybe 'what sort of weather are we going back to' could be one!

Possible stowaway!

Another wildlife post, two recent finds, first, above, one of the largest spiders we've ever seen before whilst being here, I put a british 50p coin (aprox 15mm wde) next to it to give you an idea of the size, so big was it that when I got a pint glass to catch it, it's legs wouldn't fit inside the rim of the glass. We were wondering as we had some families from South Africa staying with us last week maybe it had hitched a lift over in their luggage!

Below, another first sighting, a sleeping bat has taken to spending it's daytime hours in our big barn, Never having seen a bat so close up before it's amazing how tiny its feet are that clasp to a minute splinter of wood. I'm ok with it sleeping there for now, maybe I'll be more concerned if there is more than one!!

Make yourself at home!

Just before retiring to bed last night I decided to go outside and check a few things, on drawing back the curtains, this is what greeted me, a rather large toad sat on the door mat looking straight at me as if to say 'how the hell do I get out of here?!' Immediately I opened the door he (or she) leaped into the darkness to freedom.
Looking through the photo files, another picture below taken by guest Tony Marsh of a juvenile peregrine falcon, reminded me that we haven't seen any of the falcons for weeks now, maybe they have gone off on their own now they've grown up and are feeding themselves, hopefully they will be returning soon.

Montignac bridge repairs.

The old bridge in Montignac has been clad with scaffolding for quite a few weeks now, slowly but surely old crumbled stone is being replaced and the new can be seen clearly on the first nearly completed support above.
Looking into the history of the bridge, a wooden structure was swept away in 1620 by flood water and was replaced by the stone bridge that was constructed between 1766 and 1777, between the woodern structures end and start of the stone building, a kind of boat/ferry was used for crossing the river.
Hopefully it won't be too long until all the work is complete.

Somewhere down the crazy river....

We had rain yesterday, yes really, from early morning until mid afternoon, it actually came down quite hard at times but it has made little difference to our grass and plants, even the river Vezere, pictured, is still at the lowest we've ever seen it this morning when we did our walking circuit.
Customers are still having good fun on the canoe trips down the river, even more fun when they run aground and have to get out and drag their canoes over the river bed stones to get to deeper water!
Rain is forecast again for tomorrow afternoon but temperatures returning to the mid 30's by Monday.

Is that rain?!

This picture taken by our son-in-law David as he and our daughter Charlotte took off from Brive airport last Saturday to return to England, shows what must be the closest we've been to rain since mid June as rain fell over the north of Brive area.
Temperature as I write this post are now up to 35 degrees in the shade, even a family who are staying with us who live in Dubai are struggling in these conditions, although it looks like a change tomorrow for a day of showers, something that has been predicted before but has come to nothing so far!

Our favourite tipple!

Last week we had to take a trip to our favourite vineyard as our wine stocks were getting low in our barn. Domaine du Grand Mayne is about 20 minutes south west of Bergerac in the Duras wine region, the area is amazing with mile upon mile of vines and this years growing is looking as though its going to be another good year for the area.

We managed to purchase some more 2009 Merlot Cabernet red which is proving very popular with our customers along with some more Rose and White, So from field to barrel to bottle, it's all on show when visiting and all ready here for our customers to try on arrival!

Stunning pictures!

 A few weeks ago we had a couple of guests arrive here and it soon became apparent what his hobby was when he unloaded his car, a keen wildlife photographer with all the equipment needed to take these stunning pictures. He was out early most mornings to capture some amazing shots of the wildlife that surrounds Les Granges.
Above, taken from the road side in front of Le Roque St Christophe, the young peregrine falcons sit in the early morning sun on a dead tree branch 200 feet up on the rock face waiting for their parents to bring some food.

A hare sits in the field  over the road and this wonderful picture below of a butterfly taken in the orchard.
Many thanks to Tony Marsh from Cumbia in England for sharing these and many more of the photographs he took, more to follow in the future on my blog!

Dead wood!

Some of you may remember a year or so ago I did a post about the 'dripping wisteria', unfortunately, this year, after a bit of rather over pruning it has decided not to flower or leaf from the main trunk, but has from the younger branches as you can see over the front door on the picture above. The decision had to be made to cut out all the dead branches which took us quite some time having to untangle it all. All will be well as new shoots are already working along the wires to fill in the gaps.

No such problems for the Pink Mimosa tree in front of the barn which has flowered very early this year and looks amazing!

Next weeks arrivals, take note!

Just for our guests arriving next week, this is a screen shot of the weather forecast from next Monday onwards showing the minimum and maximum temperatures, as I write it's a mere 22 degrees rising to 30 this afternoon ....don't forget the sun cream when you're packing!!

7 brothers and sisters!

I can't resist putting yet another picture of the recently fledged nest of swallows in the barn and before you think I can't count, another young one joined this group just after I'd taken the picture!
There's another nest in the barn with young in plus in the house boiler room, a second batch of eggs are being sat on as I write, you can imagine at dusk as all the young return to their roosting places close to their original nests it's all a bit frantic!

By special request!

Just to show we do take note of any suggestions given to us by our guests, this is for customers Pat & Bob who have now safely returned home to the USA, they stayed in the Roque Terrace gite a few weeks ago and Pat commented that a planter would be a good idea to create a screen from other guests, therefore giving a bit more privacy whilst sitting out on the terrace. Before they left we had bought the planter and have since managed to get to the garden centre to buy a good stock of plants for this and the many hanging baskets that Philippa plants to put up around the grounds.
We hope you like the final product Pat and thanks once again for your constructive thoughts.

A little reminder of things to come!

After 2 days of mid 30's heat it's inevitable that storm clouds will gather in the early evening, thankfully these passed us by with some threatening loud reminders that they will be back at some point in time!
Not that any of that sort of thing bothers the baby cardinal beetles who have taken over the gaps in the bark of the lime tree at the front of Les Granges, they're more than happy in the sun that is still shining!

Nest evacuation!

The Black Redstarts have just left the nest that was at the side of the gite pool area, 5 of them are now causing their parents some grief as they flit about from one place to another, two of them above were taking in the afternoon sun, oblivious to the fact I was only a couple of meters away doing some gardening!

Les Granges 'complet' at the moment!

It's a beautiful morning here and since all the poplar trees have been cut down and cleared it now gives us an amazing full panoramic view of le Roque St Christophe, especially good in the early morning sun and also at night when the rock face is illuminated.
Great news is that we now have customers in all the gites so we are full and as of now we will be moving accommodation as and when needed to suit our bookings, all part of living and working in the tourist industry and all good fun!

Non-paying guest!

This is a first, a collared dove has set up nest in the gite pool eating area, a flimsy nest which doesn't look as though it will hold eggs let alone how ever many young there is when hatched!
Whilst on the subject of nests, we've got lots going on at the moment, on the opposite side of the gite pool is a light outside the tobacco barn gite where a Black Redstart has nested on top of it, in the main barn, 4 pairs of swallows are nesting (you can imagine the racket) plus the usual pair in the boiler room, Blue Tits are in one of the nest boxes, one pair of Blackbirds have already had a brood of young that have fledged. Other pairs spotted are Goldfinch, Redstarts, Great & Marsh Tits, Wagtails, Nuthatches, Robins and Wrens. The Nightingales and Golden Oriels have returned plus the Peregrine Falcons are in their usual spot on Le Roque.
It's all go!

It always happens!

A few days before guests arrive, there is always something that goes wrong and this year is no exception! We discovered last week we had a water leak, somewhere in the gite area, not a small leak, 2 litres a minute (4 pints!), nearly 3 cubic metres of water in a day. We looked everywhere and amazingly nothing could be found, With the help of our local plumber we located the underground main water pipe feeding the gites and bypassed the original which thankfully stopped the water meter spinning round!
So last weekend we spent digging a trench for the new pipes to be buried in through the gite courtyard, with massive amount of help from friend and neighbour Ken, back breaking work having to shift stone and earth to create a channel.

Two days later, our guests arrived for their stay in the Tobacco Barn gite, water all connected and not one hint or sign of any problem, all's well that ends well!

Mole excavations!

 Whilst we've been busy decorating in the house and gites, this year the moles have been extremely busy doing their own bit of landscaping work for us! When looking at what they'd achieved something caught my eye as the sun reflected off whatever it was that had been thrown up to the surface by our excavating friend!

After picking it up and brushing off the dirt, turning it over this is what I found, a very thin coin made of (I think) silver with very clear markings. LUD XV is the marking for King Louis 15th of France who reigned from 1715 to 1774. After research on the internet I think this may well be part of a counterfeit coin or gaming token as on the reverse it looks as though a different metal has eroded away leaving the silver face. Needless to say, I'm now looking through the other mole hills to try and find the other half!!

Happy days!

We've had a lovely week of weather which consequently has made everything spring (sorry for the pun) into life. Temperatures touching 20 degrees has meant not just the appearance of seasonal flowers but the early return of birds to our area. A few Crag Martins, Bullfinches and Black Kites are back plus many of our favourite Black Redstarts are here jostling for territory! All we're waiting for now is our Swallows to return which I'm sure won't be too long.
Following the mass fly over by the Cranes last week we have only seen one more group fly over and that was only a group of 8 or 9, so it looks like that display is over until they fly south in the autumn.

New gates have arrived!

Yesterday saw the arrival of our latest purchase in our continued programme of refurbishment. The old gates that separate the house and gite areas had finally had their day and were consequently burned on a bonfire in the afternoon!  

Made in chestnut wood by the same carpenter, Gerald Delpit of Montignac, who also hand made the superb house front door, they are also made in the traditional local perigordine style. Time now to get on with the next project.....!

Early return of the Cranes.

Yesterday afternoon was amazing, after putting on my last post about our first sighting of Cranes, hundreds if not thousands flew over us on their journey north. Wave after wave kept appearing over Le Roque St Christophe, the noise was incredible. Click on the picture below and you can see them.    

Every now and then, for whatever reason, the formations would break up and circle (picture below) as if no one could decide which way they should be going, until 4 or 5 set off and all the rest followed!

Who's that knocking!

 After hearing a loud knocking noise outside, we discovered the reason why after spotting a Nuthatch on the nest box next to the Roque Terrace gite, hammering away at the entrance to what is normally the box the blue tits nest in. In fact it's even rounded the corners of the dark top lid as you can see on the picture above.
Finally, after many days of work, it has managed to squeeze itself into the box only then to continue its work from inside of the box!

Yesterday we spotted our first mass formation of Cranes heading north after their winter break, which shows spring is definitely very nearly here at last, no picture I'm afraid as I was too late finding the camera!

Business opportunity!

On a very cold misty morning last week on the way to Perigueux I had to stop and take this picture. At this time of year without any leaves on the trees you can always see the masses of mistletoe clumps. Now I seem to remember hearing that last Christmas or maybe even the one before, there was a shortage in the UK of this very festive decoration, maybe this could be a new business opportunity for us, mistletoe&wine.com!

What a view!

As it was a lovely day and we needed a break from current work, we went on a lovely walk yesterday afternoon, from our house along the river and up the valley from Le Ruth, from the footpath (you can see at the bottom of the above picture) we could see a nest in a new clearing so clambered up the steep hillside to get nearer, a mass of sticks & grass made a huge nest so we're guessing it must have been last years base for a pair of buzzards or black kites that we often see in the area. Having got to the nest viewing point we then realised that we could see Les Granges in the distance, a view we've never seen until this clearing had been made.
Only an hour and a half round trip so will be recommending the walk to our customers this year if they're up for it!