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SuomiWelcome to the June/July Post - it has been an interesting six weeks or so since the last Post. In particular we have been fascinated by the continued appearances of hedgehogs. You may recall that in April we had a brief visit one evening from a magnificent (in the sense of size, we cannot vouch for its character) hedgehog and we wondered whether more were around. Well, about ten days ago we were doing an early morning check on the swimming pool and saw from quite a distance that there was movement in the pool. Could this be a tiny but highly active neighbour, we wondered? … but no, it proved to be a medium-sized hedgehog swimming furiously in circles, at some considerable speed. Our pool is salt-water, and the water quite benign (hence the marbled newts that we have in it from time to time), but we were worried that the hedgehog was probably exhausted and so we quickly got him out of the pool …. by getting into the water and gently lifting him out on to the side. We do not have a photo of her/him in the pool as we thought it best to get him out immediately, but here she/he is immediately after 'rescue':
We then got the hedgehog - we shall call her/him 'Hedgie', it's just simpler - we got Hedgie to a pond with fresh water, to try to compensate, if necessary, for the salt water. Hedgie seemed quite happy for 30 minutes or so in this, so we then arranged a box, with a water bowl and some dog food and put this in the bread-oven barn, which is quite open, but sheltered. Hedgie stayed in the box for a few hours and then, having eaten one portion of food, just disappeared … so, we hope she/he is safe now and knows where the water supplies are (we have a number of water bowls out and around now):
In the last previous Post we mentioned that the birdlife this year was very active and that we had some of the birdboxes 'inhabited'. Well, this has continued apace and we now have various young families appearing, being supported and trained to feed and fly …. and we caught some nice photos on one of the bird tables:
So, what is going to be 'Wildlife of the Month'? Despite the appearance of Hedgie and the hyper-active bird population we have a new visitor to the garden (and, indeed, to the house) ….. Leonard the Locust! At first, spotting him on the curtains in the bedroom we thought this was a cricket or particularly large grasshopper but, on checking it out, it did seem that it was a locust. We found out that this area of France has had swarms of locusts arrive in considerable numbers - the last significant occasion being in 2005. Over the next few days Leonard, or one of his friends, appeared in various locations - in the house and garden .... but, we're pleased to say, no signs of any swarms!:
So, we have to say that Leonard the Locust is this months' Wildlife
of the Month'!
Now, while we're on the subject of locusts one's mind turns to Biblical plagues in general and while we have not had any boils and our large numbers of frogs are pretty benign, what we have had in the past month has been 'thunderstorms of hail and fire'!! Around two weeks ago, in later afternoon, we could feel the heat and humidity suddenly increase and the sky took a turn to black:
Within ten minutes or so large raindrops started to fall and the wind picked up and only a few minutes later the rain was torrential and the wind was swirling and eddying and then sizeable hailstones cascaded down. It did not take very long at all before we could see that the fairly comprehensive drainage systems we have (taking rainwater down from the front and back of the house into pipes that flow into the small lake) were starting to have a problem and the water levels were rising alongside the house:
Of course the electricity had gone, but fortunately it was still light. Going outside the wind was remarkably strong … so we rescued things like parasols and the large 'tonelle' and saw that various items had just been blown all over the place, including a canoe lifted right across the garden and dropped into the lake … luckily, 'un-toastlike', the right way up. The water was now lapping up to the top of the steps into the house, so we were expecting it to flood into the house - but, most fortuitously the rain now eased off and gradually the water receded. We saw our neighbours outside their farm and went across to see how they were - water had come in their roof and blown some electrical appliances, including their fridge, but not too bad. We then decided to do to check out the elderly neighbours just down the lane - it was good to do so, as the water had entered in front door, gone through the corridor and out the back door, but had flooded the kitchen in the process. So, some brushing and mopping and all was well after an hour or so. Overall we got off lightly - although our vegetable garden suffered, and the flowers and roses had their petals stripped off, so that the walkways around the house looked like the aftermath of a Roman banquet:
With some degree of irony, a day or two after the storm (i.e. plenty of water!) the large borehole pump in our well decided to pack up … a real nuisance, as we have used that for watering all the garden. The pump was down deep - some 20 metres, but on hauling it up it does seem, for some reason, to be kaput. This is a photo of the tank that the pump fills from the well, and then the well itself is alongside that … not exactly a brilliant photo of the well, you can just see the water glinting at the bottom … it is deep!:
So, a new pump is needed … and in the meantime we have put a small, submersible pump in the lake and this feeds the vegetable garden for the time being:
At the end of June, before the stormy few days (fortunately) we had a celebration lunch in the hamlet for Marguerite, who has lived in and around Le Bruel all her life - it was her 90th birthday. It was a happy occasion, but an emotional one, as her daughter, Nellie, is recovering from a very severe accident at work and her attendance at the party is the first time she has left hospital for four months. Nellie is one of the key supporters of the BruelFest that we now have each June, and of the BruelFilmClub, and our WinterFest. So, the hamlet decided to postpone BruelFest for this year and maybe have an event in the Autumn when Nellie is more able to join in again. Once again, the community spirit here is so very much in evidence:
SNAKE-BITE DRAMA!
This morning Oska was taking his usual, early (because it's cool … in the sense of lower temperature) morning ramble around the garden when we noticed he was shaking his head a lot – he sometimes, this hot weather, has bothersome ears – so, we gave those a clean, but he was still shaking his head and we then noticed flecks of blood on his big, furry white front. On examination, right inside the thick fur, we found two big puncture marks which definitely ‘said snake bite'. So, we took him very swiftly indeed to our vet in Carmaux – brilliant, he was seen inside three minutes and they confirmed it was a snake bite, but due to the puncture wound size was probably a grass snake that, if cornered, can deliver a fierce bite, but is non-venomous. So, the treatment was immediate, with temperature and heart checks and then a number of injections – anti-coagulant, anti-inflammatory and anti- venom. All very calm and collected and we were away inside an hour …. and Oska seems fine, if a bit surprised! But we have friends who have lost a couple of their dogs to adder bites, so we were quite worried to start with. But all is well and Oska is fast asleep in the shade, letting the shock recede:
Of course, as you know if you read our Blog, we have a long-established habit of calling animals, both domestic and wild, fanciful names. And we have had a snake living in one of our walls, which is a harmless Aesculapian snake .... he is called 'Gove' (depends what you mean by 'harmless' I suppose). There's 'May', the stringy, half-feathered chicken; and a particularly wild-eyed goat who lives down the lane, called 'Hunt' (who's always worried by the French reaction to 'Hunt the Goat'); and of course there is a singularly ugly, vociferous and puffy toad .... yes, you've guessed - Johnson.
Toodle-oo .... we'll be in touch soon ........
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