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And now, how have things been dans cette petite partie de la France? Since the very hot period last month, September has brought lower temperatures and some stormy weather .... not altogether unwelcome, given the dry conditions; and there have been some dramatic touches to the landscape:
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And now, how have things been dans cette petite partie de la France? Since the very hot period last month, September has brought lower temperatures and some stormy weather .... not altogether unwelcome, given the dry conditions; and there have been some dramatic touches to the landscape:
But the weather has not been all bad; as ever here, we tend to get short and swift stormy interludes and then it returns to sunnier and warmer periods. So, over later August and the first weeks of September there has been plenty of opportunity for garden produce to mature - it has been a great year for figs and we are surrounded by fig trees. Our neighbours don't seem to like figs very much - so we have 'free run' on picking from the many trees that are around the hamlet:
- we are using them for 'entrees' and tapas - so, put them under the grill for a minute of so, having snipped the tops off and placed a little bit of feta cheese in the fig .. yum! And we are about to try bottling figs in brandy syrup - which sounds good for Christmas and New Year.
Tomatoes have been very prolific this year - a bit late in ripening, but now we have loads to provide tomato sauce and soup to freeze and last over the Winter, triggering little memories of Summer on any dismal days.
In the fields around us we have noticed that the walnut trees are bearing a lot of noix - so, we may have a go at picking them early (in fact we may already be a bit late, as the shell may have started to form) and pickling them ... one doesn't see pickled walnuts so much nowadays, but they can be very tasty and especially good with cheese:
Tomatoes have been very prolific this year - a bit late in ripening, but now we have loads to provide tomato sauce and soup to freeze and last over the Winter, triggering little memories of Summer on any dismal days.
In the fields around us we have noticed that the walnut trees are bearing a lot of noix - so, we may have a go at picking them early (in fact we may already be a bit late, as the shell may have started to form) and pickling them ... one doesn't see pickled walnuts so much nowadays, but they can be very tasty and especially good with cheese:
In the vegetable garden there are still late potatoes to dig and there are some Winter crops, like leeks, making progress .... and the remains of the (always!) prolific courgette/marrow crop lie strewn around, giving the appearance of some vegetable battlefield or final resting place for these elephants of the vegetable kingdom:
In the wider garden the pond has been a particular focus of attention. In later August we had a Chambres D'Hotes guest who is a waterways ecology expert. He very kindly took a close look at the pond to see what sort of state it is in. We learned some fascinating things about oxygenation, plant growing patterns, fish types and aquatic species generally. Happily our pond was declared to be in a good state. The plentiful fish are exclusively carp, which are self-regulating in terms of population size and are more tolerant of low oxygenation than, say, trout. Other life in the pond is thriving, with our vociferous frogs, dragonflies, newts, and good variety of other species. It sounds like the depth of the pond, over three metres in parts, is a helpful feature, providing cool water in hot weather. Advice was to do some clearing of over-hanging branches and vegetation; and to re-install our water-pump for the fountain - currently the pump is out of action. So, next Spring we'll install to new pump and position so it can be more of a 'feature' as well as providing a source of oxygenation. As the water-level is currently low after the hot weather we decided to do the branch and vegetation clearing now - as we could get down to the water line to reach up to branches usually half in the water. After a couple of days cutting and clearing there was a huge amount of cut branches, dead water reed and general 'gunk' .... but the overall pond area looked much improved, with more light being let in and much clearer views of what is growing. Here are some 'before's' and 'afters':
- so, a good Autumn job to get done. Speaking of Autumn, one sign that it's truly arrived is the swallows preparing to migrate - we see clouds of them circling high above the electric pylon wires and then settling in longs rows, only to fly up again, circle and re-arrange themselves. Are they forming and re-forming to perfect some sort of orderly line or is it just random activity?:
Somehow I don't think it is random - watching swallows over the months, just high-up in the Summer sky or, when one is in the swimming pool, skimming over your head to suddenly dip and flick water into their beaks, the movements are always so precise and purposeful. Knowing they will be gone in a day or two is always rather sad - but, like the Spring, they will be back.
But September's Wildlife of the Month is not the swallow. The accolade goes to a little creature who turned up one early evening by the front gate:
She (or 'he' - sexing hedgehogs is not one of our strong points) appeared to be wounded, but this was not a new wound and she was walking quite well. So, we prepared a bowl of water and a dish of dog food (with Oska's permission) and placed these and the hedgehog in a cardboard box in one of the barns:
On returning to check on her after a couple of hours quite a lot of the food had disappeared, as had the hedgehog - so we hoped all was well and she had refueled and gone safely on her way. We do hope so, as we see very few hedgehogs here, either alive or 'on the road' and they seem quite rare - and as I write this I realise it now means I must go and check the data on 'hedgehogs in southern France'.
Hedgehogs aside, there have been a few changes in the commune recently - with one particular event attracting interest. The biggest house in the commune, La Ferrudiere, has been sold. It really is big - well over 1000 square metres, enough space for ten 'starter homes'! It was owned by a farmer who, we are told, bought it just for the barn storage areas it offers - but he has never lived there and the house has remained empty for over 10 years. It contains some gites, alongside the main house and the massive barns. It has been a source of interest for us (and for some of our guests), because of its size and being empty and because you can see it quite clearly from our garden, sitting high on the hill across the little valley - the view in Summer is partially obscured by trees, but in Winter it is fully apparent. It is also a bit of a mystery, as we cannot get a clear 'history' of the house from any of our neighbours, we're not sure why.
Hedgehogs aside, there have been a few changes in the commune recently - with one particular event attracting interest. The biggest house in the commune, La Ferrudiere, has been sold. It really is big - well over 1000 square metres, enough space for ten 'starter homes'! It was owned by a farmer who, we are told, bought it just for the barn storage areas it offers - but he has never lived there and the house has remained empty for over 10 years. It contains some gites, alongside the main house and the massive barns. It has been a source of interest for us (and for some of our guests), because of its size and being empty and because you can see it quite clearly from our garden, sitting high on the hill across the little valley - the view in Summer is partially obscured by trees, but in Winter it is fully apparent. It is also a bit of a mystery, as we cannot get a clear 'history' of the house from any of our neighbours, we're not sure why.
Anyway, we are told that the buyers are a young French couple from the Burgundy region and that they plan to develop a Chambres D'Hotes business. The sale price, it is said, was 230,000 euros and one of the neighbors reckoned renovation would cost over 300,000 euros. But whatever the plans, it will be a very considerable development and could be really interesting for the commune. We will train our telescope to follow progress on the building!
Finally, 'how is Oska?' we hear you ask. He thanks you for your interest - he has been very well, losing a little more weight to put less strain on his back, and although the condition remains 'what it is', he seems rarely in pain and is in good spirits ..... greeting our frequent guests, going on a couple of short walks each day and, as ever, enjoying a reasonable quota of adoration ..... speaking of which we had a request a little while back that we provide a close-up of Oska's eyes, as all the shots of him were rather too distant. So, for those of you who would have asked for the same, but were to shy to request it ... here we are:
Finally, 'how is Oska?' we hear you ask. He thanks you for your interest - he has been very well, losing a little more weight to put less strain on his back, and although the condition remains 'what it is', he seems rarely in pain and is in good spirits ..... greeting our frequent guests, going on a couple of short walks each day and, as ever, enjoying a reasonable quota of adoration ..... speaking of which we had a request a little while back that we provide a close-up of Oska's eyes, as all the shots of him were rather too distant. So, for those of you who would have asked for the same, but were to shy to request it ... here we are:
A final thing: this afternoon I lost my wallet when shopping near Albi. I had only gone to the one shop, paid by card, returned to the car and headed for home. Half-way home I had a feeling that my wallet was not in my pocket ... and it wasn't. We returned to the shop, thinking I had left it on the counter, but it was not there or anywhere in the car park. We got home and I started the process of contacting the banks (French and UK) to stop all their cards (and also deal with the lost Health Card and Driving Licence) - as I was doing that a car drove up to the gates and hooted, so I went out to see who it was. It was a young lady who had found the wallet, found our address details, and had driven the twenty two kilometers to our house to return it. I thanked her profusely - 'c'est normal' she said. But I did not have the chance to offer her a reward for her kindness as I was so surprised and she was in a hurry to go home. But I did ask her where she lives and it is a village not far away - so tomorrow we are driving there, to the mayor's office, to see if they can let us know who she is, so we can thank her properly. It is so heartening to be somewhere where such kindness and honesty is 'c'est normal' ........
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