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!!

Spring has sprung!

After being in England for 3 weeks we returned yesterday to find all well at the house, nice to see the tree at the end of the drive with blossom and many of the plants and shrubs starting to look more happy after the winter. Only real problem is the grass in the orchard and field has got a bit long...time to buy the sit-on mower i feel.

Also thought you'd like to see this, one of my first blog posts way back in November last year, showed geese heading south for a warmer climate, the picture left was taken just before we left for England, the geese are on their way back, a great and quite emotional sight, spring really must have sprung now....at last!!

Closest shave ever!

Hiding in the cloak room area on the ground floor of the main house have been these 2 swords which for the first time since we took over the property, i took down for a closer inspection. Thinking originally these were display reproductions i think i was wrong! On the oldest looking of the two can just be made out the - Henry Wilkinson Pall Mall London.

Checking on the internet, the swords were made in the late 19th century at the Henry Wilkinson factory that later went on  to become the Wilkinson Sword razor company.

Both swords have inscriptions on which i think indicate that they were cavalry swords used during the reign of King George V. If i can find out any more about them, I'll let you know!