Old Water Heater

Old Water Heater With Mound of Limescale

As part of the upgrade to our electrics and plumbing we removed our old 3 phase water heater, which will now become another water butt near one of the outbuildings.


With the old plumbing there wasn't a water softener, so when I turned the water heater upside down to empty out the last of the water this pile of limescale tumbled out, accompanied by filthy brown water.  To think that we used this for washing and occasionally for cooking - YUK.

It's not surprising that the water here is so hard as it all comes from bore holes drilled into the soft limestone.

Register an Imported Trailer in France - Part Four

The saga still continues, but it is now looking much better than it did a couple of months ago.

DREAL, the French government agency responsible for testing HGVs, has sent me a examplar dossier showing the required information.  The main requirement is that the manufacturer supplies on headed notepaper a list of the components and their CE numbers.

After some discussion, Towability provided this and I took it to DREAL last week.  I have the stamp to prove that this has been accepted so yet another bridge crossed.  However, this did create another requirement; the weight of the trailer when empty and the weight on the tow hook.

So, hitch up the trailer and head off to the gravel and tarmac works at Tours where they have a weighbridge.  I now have what I hope is the last piece of the puzzle; now it's just a case of taking the complete dossier, including photographs of the trailer, into DREAL and waiting for them to invite me for a test.

Assuming that I pass, it's then down to the prefecture to queue for three hours to get its registration number. 

It's a bit late for us, but this process won't be required in the future as regulations are being harmonised across Europe by 2013, so all trailers sold in the UK by then will be legal across all of the EU countries ...... perhaps we should have waited!

Lightning Kills Livebox

The clap of the thunder and the flash of the lightning woke us up at just after 2 in the morning.  It was a violent storm, but as there were quite a few seconds between the lightning and thunder we weren't that worried as these storms (orages) are not uncommon.  

But, as time went on, the gap between lighting and thunder steadily reduced, until there was only a short delay between the two.  We both shot out of bed and unplugged all the computers and the Livebox.The only things left plugged in to the electrics were the fridge and a printer, which was on a surge protector.  Oh, and we left the telephone wire plugged into the Livebox.

A short while later the whole house shook as a bolt of lightning and a clap of thunder arrived at exactly the same time.  The surge caused the main EDF circuit breaker to trip but not before it had cooked the printer!

After this, the storm rapidly moved away so we went back to sleep with the power still off just in case it returned.  When we got up I plugged the Livebox in, but no broadband connection.  The surge must have come along the phone line and cooked the modem.

So, off to Tours with it under my arm, to join the queue of people swapping their dead Liveboxes at the Orange shop. It seems the death of Liveboxes is not uncommon either.

Changing from 3 phase to single phase

Our electricity supply here has always been a problem, with the main circuit breaker regularly tripping if we decide to put on an electric fire and a kettle at the same time.  This is mainly because we have a three phase supply of only 9kw, which means that each of the three circuits in the house needs only 3kw to trip the circuit breaker.

Not knowing how the house is wired means that we don't know which sockets are on which phase, so overloading (it's hard to think of 3kw being an overload, but there we are!) it is not difficult, especially in the winter.

However, we've not been able to change to a single phase 9kw supply because we had a three phase water heater.  This, along with all of the old plumbing, has now been removed, and ERDF will be arriving in two weeks to change us to a single phase supply. Yippeeee!


We'll still have to count the number of electric fires that we have on, but having 9kw will still be massively easier than being restricted to 3kw.

Ribbit

Rainbow Toad from BBC website

This is a Rainbow Toad, only recently found after a 90-year long game of hide and seek with a group of scientists who had dedicated their time to finding this one toad. The photo is from the BBC nature news website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/14151541

Unfortunately, it was not I who trekked through the ridges of the Gunung Penrissen range of Western Sarawak to find this amphibian, but it was I who managed to sneak the following close-up of one of the many beautiful little frogs here at The Old Farm. You may not think this to be such an achievement, but it was somewhat of an unexpected challenge, since these frogs appear to be terrified of me and me alone. Anyway, this is my achievement for the day, an achievement which took a considerable length of time lying dead still and hiding behind the ridge of the pond until the frogs deemed me to be far enough away to come back up again. I was rather proud.

Unfortunately, the sound of the frogs diving into the water still greets me when I deign to even look at the pond.

Frog in pond in France

* A guest entry by Young Riotlife *

A Visitor Comes

Green Lizard under tomato leaves

The prolonged silence ticked over in my head; anticipation coloured the still air whilst I waited for the inevitable roar.

Silence.

‘COME OVER HERE! QUICKLY!’ A sudden screech made me jump, and the tiny green lizard, not nearly as loud as I expected, scuttled into the tomato plants by my feet.

More than a little disappointed, I snapped back into reality and realised the huge dragon set to eat me was only a little lizard, and was in fact a gazillion times more scared of me than I was of it.

I slowly chased it through the vegetable patch, wanting to catch a glimpse of its incredibly camouflaged body, but then I began to feel guilty because the poor thing must have been terrified.

The highlight of Day 1: my little friend the dragon coming to work in the vegetable patch with us.

* A guest entry by Young Riotlife *

Drought Plays Havoc With Radishes

Big Radish, Little Radish

The drought has played havoc with our fruit and vegetables this year.  Some plants have grown like topsy, like the courgettes, which are 1kg each, and the beetroot where each one is sufficient for a couple of meals.

But, since the drought and high temperatures really kicked in the salad vegetables have been hopeless.  The Spicy Leaf and Rocket flowered without growing any edible leaves and the radish have either not developed at all or grown to be large and tasteless lumps.  Not a great success but we have learnt a lot this year, especially the need to grow the seeds in decent soil, prepare the planting beds properly and, most importantly, have unlimited water available to keep the crop happy.

Swallow and Black Redstarts in the Barn

Black Redstart Chick Fledgling in Swallow Nest

The Swallow and Black Redstart parents are not at all happy that we are in and out of the barn all the time just now getting our renovation material.  The Swallows are at one end and the Black Redstarts are at the other so whichever door we go in we get scolded by one or the other.

The Black Redstarts tell us off by sitting on the swingball pole and making their tch tch tch sound.  The Swallows fly around and around near their nest without going to it and make a rapid chatter.  Amazingly, as soon as the parents start their warning noise the chicks stop making any noise at all.  It is incredible that the chicks have not even left the nest yet but they understand what a warning noise is.

If the Swallows or Black Redstarts are outside when we go into the barn then they won't come into the barn until we leave.  The Swallows are amazing the way that they fly into the barn so fast, see us and turn immediately and leave.  They really are the fighter jets of the birds, quite amazing.  It is very sad that after this brood is a bit older they'll all be looking to migrate south until next spring.

What is particularly interesting is the Black Redstarts have taken up residence in a newly renovated Swallow's nest. Normally they make quite a scruffy, traditional bird nest in the nook of a cross beam in the barn, however this pair have taken over a very smart Swallow's nest. We don't know if the Black Redstarts commandeered it or the Swallows changed their minds and decided to renovate a nest at the other end of the barn. Either way it sounds like the Black Redstarts have quite a brood in and we are looking forward to seeing the fledglings within the next few days.

Swallow Chick Fledgling in Nest

Adult Toad

Toad discovered under plank of wood

We used to have to watch for hedgehogs hiding in our wood piles now we have to watch for toads. 

This adult toad was discovered living under a pile of wooden planks that we had left in front of the Little House until we had time to cut them. I felt a bit mean moving him as he had hollowed out a small depression in the soil and seemed very much at home but staying there he would have been trodden on and baked in the midday sun.

Toads are fascinating creatures and quite different from frogs. They are very difficult to see as their brown skin is perfect camouflage against mud. If they are disturbed they sit tight while frogs hop away. They tend to walk with a lumbering gait rather than hop and they have dry, warty looking skin rather than the wet, smooth skin of a frog. If you ever have to move a toad the best way is to gently bring your hands around the body of the toad, sliding them under the body as you bring them together. Young toads move about in your hands but the older ones just sit put so it is easy to carry them to a safe place. We usually put them either in the wood pile in 'Toad Hall' or under the lavender bushes. You may find you need to encourage the toad to move off your hands when you try to put it down and often they will sit still for a few moments before eventually moving off to somewhere dark and comfortable. Always make sure you wear gloves before picking up a toad as they secrete a liquid from their skin that can irritate your skin.

Toad discovered under plank of wood

Deer drinking from the pond

Roe Deer drinking from garden pond

The drought must really be taking its toll on the wildlife as very early this morning we looked out to find a young deer drinking from our ornamental pond in the courtyard. 

The deer are quite at home wandering through the gardens but as far as we know they have never before tried to drink from this pond. We love to see the deer about but do not want to encourage them to this pond as we don't think their hooves will be very kind to the liner. 

Roe Deer drinking from garden pond

As soon as we can (i.e. when it rains for more than 10 minutes) we want to fix the sides of the pond and edge it with some solid oak beams removed from the old barn roof when it was repaired. This will make it much more difficult for the deer to reach the water so should solve the problem. They'll just have to use the natural pond out the back!

Register an Imported Trailer in France - Part Three

The saga continues, but it is not yet clear which way it will end, although it is not looking good.

I've been in contact with the HGV testing station in Tours about what information they require to test the trailer. Basically, if it doesn't have a full technical information pack then it needs to be put through the entire single vehicle approval process, which included destructive testing of the trailer breakaway cable.

Unfortunately the supplying dealer in England, Towability of Wellingborough, are not willing or able to supply any technical information about the trailer. I am taking this to mean that either they are not interested in helping or they did not build it using CE approved equipment.  Anyway, I've gone back to them to ask them to look again and hopefully they'll come through with something.

I'm also talking to VOSA about what information Towability should have provided with the trailer and whether there were any standards that it should have adhered to.  Update: they've just come back and said that they don't hold any information on it.

Tour de France Arrives Today

The excitement is building, with only a few hours to go till the Tour De France arrives.  Our bike tyres are pumped up and the trailer for our chairs and lunch is attached to mine.  Luckily we don't need a Carte Grise for this one so everything is looking good.

We're off to the Friday market in Montrichard in a few minutes to get our last minute supplies as I think that sitting on the edge of the road for 4 hours might make me a bit peckish.  We need to be early this morning as the roads will be shutting prior to the Tour de France arriving and we don't want to be trapped.

The weather is not brilliant, with it being just over 16°C with a stiff breeze and hazy sunshine.  I've put my shorts on as a sign of optimism but I'm not totally convinced.

Broad-Winged Damselfly

This beautiful female Broad-Winged Damselfly was spotted on a bramble leaf on the edge of the woods. Its shimmering turquoise body looked absolutely stunning in the late evening sun.

The Broad-Winged Damselfly is also known as demoiselles.  The Latin name, Calopterygidae is derived from "beautiful winged" which to us sums it up perfectly.

Broad-winged Damselfly

Bees Pollinating Blackberries

Bee flying from blackberry flower

The blackberry bushes are now in full flower and absolutely covered in many different kinds of bees. This is a really good sight at a time when there are so many articles about how bees are struggling for survival. 

With such a large number of bees feeding on the flowers as you get close to them it sounds like the hedgerows themselves are buzzing.

We think bees are fascinating creatures and we also have a love of honey so once the renovation of the buildings is under control we plan to put a hive or two in the fields to really encourage the bees onto the land.

Bee on blackberry flower

Register an Imported Car in France

Our guide on how to register an imported car in France has been updated this morning as we have now registered our second car in France.  The second car was much more straightforward as we knew what we were doing, so we hope that this up-to-date guide will be useful to you.

If you need any advice with registering your car in France feel free to send us a comment and we'll help as much as we can.  Good luck.

Outside Temperature Gauge

Maybe being out in the wilds away is making us appreciate small pleasures even more, but we are immensely pleased at our new weather station with its outside temperature sensor.

We've put the outside sensor on a shaded windowsill facing North-East so that it doesn't get any sun. In this way we get an idea of what the real temperature will be for us outside as with our pale English skin we shouldn't really sit in the sun.

This morning it is a balmy 21°C in the house but a cool 13°C outside so we'll give it another few minutes before we go out.

Tour de France Comes Past Our House

The excitement is building with only a week to go until the Tour De France 2011 comes past the end of our road near to Montrichard.  It's not something we've ever been concerned about previously, but this year we've already got our seats booked.

It's definitely not the Alps here with a big hill being a couple of hundred metres high, but our grandstand (well, a couple of folding picnic chairs) is on a long uphill stretch so we should see the cyclists doing a bit of work.  I hope that we don't feel too guilty munching our baguettes and slurping down some cheap wine while the cyclists are working so hard in the scorching midday heat.

The forecast from Meteo is for it to be slightly overcast and 25°C so we're really looking forward to chilling out for a couple of hours while the caravan meanders past us.

Heatwave Ends - What a Relief

Sometimes it seems churlish to complain about the weather when in the round it is so fantastic here. But, and there always has to be a but, Monday and Tuesday of this week were horrendous.

The sky was blue, but it was incredibly humid with a strong, warm wind. These all combined to create a couple of stiflingly hot days where even at night the temperature didn't drop below 35C. Normally on a hot day we sit in the shade, but with the warm wind the temperature was the same in or out of the shade.

Last night there was a fantastic storm, with thunder and lightning. Not only did this water the veggie patch for us (thank you) but it broke the heat. Getting up this morning has been a real pleasure with a bright blue sky and a gentle cooling breeze. Now we're certainly not complaining.

Hoopoe Family

Over the last week or so we have regularly seen what we thought was just one Hoopoe around the house, including this morning sitting on the windowsill (in France,windows open in so the windowsill is outside) about 6 feet from us.  He looked very striking with his long beak and upright crest glinting in the early morning sunlight.  Unfortunately we couldn't photograph him because as soon as we moved to pick up the camera he flew away onto the front lawn.

Amazingly though, this wasn't the most brilliant Hoopoe sighting that we've had this morning.  Later, there was a family group of three Hoopoes on the lawn, picking away at the insects and worms.  A Hoopoe lays up to 8 eggs, but we don't know whether these were all juvenile Hoopoes.  We'd also love to know whether they have nested here or whether they are just coming here for food.

The good news is that they don't migrate back to Africa for another couple of months so we should get lots more sightings of them.

Baby Caterpillars

Scattered within the hawthorn and blackthorn bushes are these nests that look like matted cobwebs.  On closer inspection though you can see that they are home to dozens of tiny caterpillars that look very much at home munching the leaves. It's lucky that they move slowly as they are devastating anything and everything in their path.

Having watched these cobweb structures for a few days now we think the black dots might be the caterpillar eggs though unfortunately we don't know what species they are.

Nevertheless it is good to see them as it is more evidence that we are doing the right thing here by leaving lots of wild patches for weeds and trees to grow in.  It may not be the ideal outcome for the caterpillars and butterflies, but they will also make a tasty meal for all of the birds that are also being encouraged by the wild spaces!

Emerging caterpillars eating hawthorn leaves

Alien Caterpillar

Orange Headed Caterpillar

Leaving the city to start a new life in the countryside means that we are seeing many strange looking creatures. We spotted this tiny caterpillar having a good old munch on one of our hawthorn trees.

It stood out because while the other caterpillars had black heads this one had a translucent orange head.  If you let your imagination run riot it looks a bit like an extra from Aliens.

There are lots of these cobweb-like nests strung between small branches of the blackthorn and hawthorn trees. Last month these cobwebs contained a few chrysalis and hundreds of tiny back dots, while now they are full of tiny caterpillars that are feasting on the bushes' leaves.

We don't know what species the caterpillars are but it is good to see them munching wild trees in the fields rather than devastating our veggie patch.

Register an Imported Trailer in France - Part Two

This is the first update to Register an Imported Trailer in France - Part One and covers my progress so far.

Surprisingly, the bureaucracy is working at full steam and I got a response in a couple of days from Service.public.fr who told me that I had to write to DREAL (Direction régionale de l'environnement, de l'aménagement et du logement).  I had come across this organisation previously when I was looking at how to get my cars through their Controle Technique if I couldn't get their Certificates of Conformity.  However, whenever I went to the site the transport section seemed to be focused on heavy vehicles.

Nonetheless, I sent DREAL an email outlining my problem and they've responded asking a pile of questions, such as when was the trailer first registered, who is the manufacturer, what sort of body does it have?  On the face of it, these are all perfectly reasonable except that I either don't know the answers or there isn't an answer.

For example, how to respond to the question about when was it first registered, when in the UK trailers are not registered.  I could say when I bought it, but that feels like a case of not letting a question get in the way of a good answer.  

I suppose that there is no other option but to spend the weekend contemplating the best response and then bang it off first thing Monday morning.

Register an Imported Trailer in France - Part One

They always say that pride comes before a fall and I am beginning to think that it might just be true.

We were preening ourselves at having put our second car through its Controle Technique on Monday and registering it on Tuesday.  How brilliant we were, anticipating the roadblocks that the functionaries would put in our way and deftly steering around them.  

Until that is we went to the insurance broker and the subject of the trailer came up.  Being from the UK, it never occurred to me to mention the trailer to the broker previously as it didn't really seem relevant.

Wrong.  Now, I know that this will come as a real surprise to all of you, but in France there's a rule about trailers.  Actually, being France there are quite a lot of rules, but the main one is that if the total loaded weight is more than 500kg then it has to have its own registration document.

No problem there, just go to the prefecture and get one, the French wouldn't want to make it difficult would they?  Well, strangely enough it's not that easy.  First, you need to provide the Certificate of Conformity, but of course in the whole of Europe only France requires this, so no trailers sold outside France have one.  It crossed my mind that this is a bit like a trade barrier, but France is at the heart of the EU so that can't possibly be the case.

So, if you can't get a Certificate of Conformity how do you register the trailer?  Simple, you get it tested and authorised.  But, by whom?  When you go to the website of the government agency that is responsible you find that it has been disbanded and there is no useful information on who would be responsible for the tests.

So, I've written to Service-Public.fr, le site officiel de l’administration française, to ask them who is responsible.  I can't do anything else now except wait and see.  Ahh, the joy of starting life afresh in France!

Toads At Home

As avid followers will know, at the beginning of May we put a box in the ground in which to put the earth connection for our electrical supply.  Since the picture was taken we have put a lid on it so that it looks like a square manhole.  Nothing exciting there.

As we walked past the box this morning though a little head popped out of the cutout that acts as a handle.  "There can't be anything living in there", exclaimed Mrs Riotlife as I lifted the lid to show two toads.  One of them was small, dark and almost smooth so we think that he was very young, while the other was much more toady; brown, warty, baggy and about twice as big.

It is incredible that they can get in and out of the hole as it is about a foot deep with vertical concrete sides. Though having watched them climbing fence posts in the past we know they are very good at scaling vertical surfaces.  It is excellent that they have found somewhere safe to live as too often they live somewhere that is not safe from us, like under the car wheels.

Thunder and Rain

I wondered why the old combine harvester was out until after 10 last night harvesting the barley on a nearby field.

Normally these musings of an ex-pat are left unresolved but this morning I was woken up before 7 by the most wonderful sound of gentle rain cascading down the roof and and thunder rumbling across the sky.

I was so excited that I couldn't help but get up and, figuratively speaking, put pen to paper.

Now you might think that this is a bit strange being happy at this turn of events, but since the heatwave broke a couple of weeks ago we've had grey skies, high winds and humidity but no rain to speak of. Which meant we have still been watering the shrubs and veggies.

I'll give it ten minutes before I go out to check the water butts.  They need to be a bit like Goldilocks' porridge; not too full, not too empty but just right. 

Better Bureaucracy

Like most people, both ex-pats and locals, I find that the state in France intrudes too much into my life and is generally unhelpful.  However, having now successfully transferred both our cars onto French plates there are signs that the central government's modernisation programme may be helping to reduce the power of individual functionaries who make up the rules as they go along.

Our local prefecture in Blois has one young man who is responsible for granting you a French registration document (Carte Grise).  The first time we went to him, he sent us off as we needed to get a Quitus Fiscal.  Having got that, we then did some research and found that we also needed a Certificate of Conformity, which he hadn't mentioned.  It is quite clear that the intention was that we would return to the prefecture and be sent away.

Never mind though, we waited weeks to get the Certificate of Conformity and went back to Blois with all of our papers in order to get a provisional registration certificate.  Ahh, he said after taking all of the information off the Certificate of Conformity and issuing the provisional registration certificate, it is in English so you need to get it translated by an authorised translator for the full registration document. 

Knowing that this wasn't really needed we took the documents, including the newly granted Controle Technique, to Tours where, other than the three hour queue to be served, there was no problem with any of the documentation and we were given our Carte Grise there and then.

Now for car number two; we'd been through the process once so we knew what we were up against.  Back to Blois (it's much closer than Tours) and up to the booth where the young man makes his pronouncements.  One by one to his chagrin we peeled off the documents.  We were smiling inside thinking that there was no way he could refuse to issue the Carte Grise.  Oh, how foolish we felt when he got to the Certificate of Conformity.  It's in English he says, but that's fine it doesn't need to be translated, but it can't be a duplicate.  But we pointed out, this is what Saab sent.  Maybe in England, but not in France was the response.

Dejected and cowed, we beat a retreat knowing that we had been bested by the gatekeeper.  However, we set off to Tours again.  And again, no problem at all.

So, the brilliance of the modernised regime is that while there may still be parochial little functionaries making up the rules as they go along with the sole intention of making the public's lives as miserable as their own, you can now beat them by bypassing them.  Impeccable!

Second Car Has Its Controle Technique

We've had a massive success today, getting our UK registered Saab through its Controle Technique (French MOT).

We thought that we had to have French registration but both the prefecture and the MOT centre confirmed that we didn't, although I'm sure that this was not what they said for the first car.  However, the first car was stressful and we're a long way from being fluent in French so we may have misunderstood.

Now with that one ticked off it's off to Tours one day this week to see if we can get a French registration.  If they accept that the Certificate of Conformity is OK in English and as a duplicate then we are home and dry.  They accepted it for our other Saab so we are hopeful, although expecting consistency from the prefecture is a bit of wishful thinking.

However, we go to Tours for most things these days as it is much more cosmopolitan than Blois, our local prefectural town.

This article details the steps we took for both the first and second cars 

Forester Moth

Forester moth on flower

We had trouble identifying this moth as to us it looked more blue than green and there do not appear to be any blue moths in our part of the world. However after trawling the web we can confidently say it is a green Forester moth.

The Forester moth is very beautiful and certainly one to watch out for. A day-flying moth, the iridescent greeny-blue wings really catch the sunlight making it one of the more eye-catching moths.

I love the contrast of colours in this picture of the Forester moth on the bright yellow flower.

Kitchen Units

Old farmhouse kitchen being renovated

The old kitchen units here are quite unlike anything you would find at B&Q.

The units had sides made of yet more of the ubiquitous plaster blocks that cloak all of our walls.  Attached to these and the floor were bespoke oak doors in wooden frames which we've managed to take off without damaging them.  They will need some cleaning to get rid of 20 years of cooking from them, but they are really solid and they suit the house.

We thought about using them in our new kitchen but the doors are all non-standard size, don't have drawers and are incredibly low but with a bit of tweaking we hope that we can reuse them in one of the new offices cum workrooms. 

Old Postcard of Bridge Over Cher in Montrichard

We bought these lovely old postcards at the Montrichard brocante a few years back.  The postcards show the old bridge over the Cher along Rue du Pont, with the castle ruins in the background.

We thought it would be interesting to try and match the views in the postcards to modern Montrichard. As you can see we were not able to get the same angle as the postcard photographer, who we think stood to the right of the bridge on the left bank, as today there is a private garden preventing us from standing on the same spot.

However you can see there are a number of building that help match the images from over 100 years ago with the images from today.

A couple of interesting differences stand out.  Firstly there are a lot more trees in the modern images. Have a look at the ridge on the left of the of the castle .... quite a difference!  And the postcard photos weren't taken in the middle of a drought so don't show so much of the river bed and bridge supports.

More old postcards from Montrichard can be found in this blog about Postcards of Rue du Pont and Bridge over Cher.

Postcard of Montrichard posted 1908 with view of river, bridge and castle

Photograph of Montrichard with view of river, bridge and castle

Postcard of Montrichard with view of river, bridge and castle

Postcard of Montrichard posted 1915 with view of river, bridge and castle

Photograph of Montrichard with view of river, bridge and castle

Postcard of Montrichard posted 1909 with view of river, bridge and castle

Photograph of Montrichard with view of river, bridge and castle

Blackberries 2011 - In June!

Blackberries June 2011

Incredible as it may seem, quite a few of the blackberry bushes are fruiting. The first couple that we tried were not very nice, but then we came across this larger patch in a south facing field.  Let's just say that it was just as well that we took the photo before we started eating them as there weren't any left afterwards. 

We'll be keeping a close eye on this patch as there were lots of unripe fruit, so with a bit of rain (please) and sun we may get a good crop.

Nonetheless, it is strange to have fruit on some plants when the majority are yet to flower. I presume that this has been caused by the weather, with some plants taking advantage of the hot and dry conditions to fruit while others have been held back by the lack of water and the intense heat.

Blackberries June 2011

Rabbit Chasing Hare

We were amazed yesterday evening to look out to see a small rabbit pouncing on a hare as if to shoo him away. 

Strangely, the hare didn't seem all that bothered, he just moved off a couple of metres and started eating until the rabbit moved him on again.  This was repeated three or four times before they both settled down quite happily to munching on our grass.

Walking Through Old Doorway

Standing in old doorway discovered behind partition wall
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The doorway that we discovered behind the plaster walls and kitchen units is now fully opened and we can walk through it.

Taking down the plaster walls to show off the tuffeau walls is giving the house back its old-fashioned look and feel.  Having the old doorway with the rebates for the door carved out of the stone and a wooden lintel is a fantastic bonus.

We have also taken off the very old green plaster that was directly on the wall behind the modern plaster blocks and generally tidied up the wall.  We will now lime mortar the joints in the tuffeau and also render the lower 2 courses of stones with lime mortar render to stop the tuffeau deteriorating any more.

Mixing Concrete

It is amazing how something mundane and monotonous can suddenly become interesting.  When I was mixing concrete the other day to repair the bathroom floor I was mesmerised by the movement of the concrete as it was picked up and dropped by the blades.

More Tuffeau Walls Revealed

Tuffeau wall of old farmhouse being uncovered

A few weeks ago we found an old doorway between the bathroom and kitchen that had been bricked up and then plastered over.

We have been itching to open it up on both sides so that we can get a really good look at it and, silly as it may seem, we wanted to walk through it. The plaster walls have been in place for something like 20 years so we know that no one has walked through it in that time.

We have knocked down a 'breakfast bar' across the kitchen made from house bricks and cleared part of the wall that hides the secret doorway. The next job is to clear the kitchen units and the rest of the plaster from the wall so that we can see what state the tuffeau walls are in.  At first look, it is the same as the other walls that we have uncovered with the first couple of courses eaten away and then the rest are solid.

This is the sad aspect of taking the plaster off, seeing how the tuffeau walls behind have deteriorated because the plaster has not allowed the stone to breathe. Tuffeau is incredibly light and porous, but that means that it can absorb its own weight in water, and if it cannot wick this away then the tuffeau simply crumbles.

Balloons

Balloon over hay meadow in France

Settling down for a restful evening after a hectic day of renovation we looked out of the window and saw this brightly coloured balloon appearing from behind the barn and drifting across the end of orchard. As it was so close and looking like it was about to land we shot out to watch. 

As soon as we went out the front door we could hear the roar from the balloons as their pilots fired their jets to lift the balloons over the house.  Walking round the end of the barn we were rewarded with a most wonderful sight; the setting sun reflecting off 6 brightly coloured balloons as they flew towards the foreboding rain clouds.

We often see balloons in the sky of an evening, but not normally as late as these and seldom as close.  Normally they fly along the Cher valley to take in the chateau of Chenonceau and the pretty little towns and villages that lie along the river.

It was exciting to see and hear them, as they are a riot of noise and colour.  When we see them up close like this we can understand why balloon festivals are such a popular outing.

Balloon over hay meadow in France

Balloons landing in hay meadow in France

Luckily the balloons cannot land here due to obstructions on the land, as they are collected by big four wheel drives with trailers. When we are encouraging birds and animals to nest on our land we do not want them disturbed by a great basket landing on top of them or a 4x4 driving over them!

Balloon over farm in France

Sizing a Vegetable Patch

There have been some problems this year with the vegetable patches, with the deer eating the strawberries (I know, not strictly vegetables) in one of them, and the drought, rabbits and moles doing their best to kill off everything else.

Nonetheless, we are very happy with what has grown so far, particularly the spicy leaf, rocket and peas.  So, especially in light of the problems with food safety in Germany at the moment, we are planning a new, larger mole- and rabbit- and deer-proof vegetable patch.

Our ethos for the vegetable patch is that we don't use any chemicals for killing weeds or insects, the only fertiliser is our own nettle tea, and we recuperate from the roofs all of the water that is needed.

Plan for parterre vegetable patch

The overall design is based on the idea of a parterre garden, with its centrepiece a pond of about 30,000 litres which will provide us water near to the vegetables and will allow us to get through another drought like this year's.  

We will then put 5 beds around the pond, each about 10m x 15m.  Having 5 beds will enable us to rotate the crops each year and, if we choose, leave one bed fallow each year to give it time to recover naturally.  This will give us a large growing area, but it means that we can grow less intensively and try out different vegetables that we couldn't if we were restricted for space.

Our next task, other than preparing the vegetable patch, is to work out what and how much we plant in each section.

As we build the new vegetable patch we will provide updates on how it is going, and we will definitely give some details on the yield that we obtain next year.

Bee on Lavender

Bee on lavender

The warm sunny weather has brought the lavender on a treat. The flowers are just starting to open so that we now have a wonderfully fragrant bank of purple and green bordering the front of the garage.

We have been concerned this year as there have not been many flowers for the bees, so we are chuffed that they have found it so quickly.  

When the sun is out there must be 40 or 50 bees busily collecting nectar from the tiny purple flowers. Sitting in the sun, with the smell and sight of lavender and the buzz of the bees, you'd almost think it was summer.  Getting a picture of them is difficult though as they don't hang around on each plant for long. 

Lavender is a wonderful plant for here as it tolerates extremes of hot, cold, wet and drought, and grows well on the clay and chalk.

Also the deer, rabbits and hares do not like it so it remains intact for us and the bees to enjoy.

Rain at Last

Last night we were teased with a fantastic show of lightning flashing across the horizon but no thunder or rain. Then, this afternoon we got the thunder without lightning or rain. All very strange, we always thought they arrived together.

Finally, this evening the rain started, a nice gentle drizzle that will hopefully bring everything back to life. It will be superb to see green and not yellow grass.

We are lucky here as down in the South West of France near Avignon there has been terrible flooding today as a result of the rainstorms.

Bambi in the Back Garden

Roe Deer in back garden

Caught red-hoofed! Is this the culprit who decimated our strawberry patch last month? 

Early this morning we spotted this beautiful female Roe deer in the back garden. She had been sitting quietly amongst the Lupins before she decided it was time to get up for breakfast. Fortunately for us there is nothing but grass growing in the tunnel she chose to  munch from so no harm done this time. 

It is lovely seeing the deer so close at hand and, even though we have had this place for four years now, we still get a buzz from seeing them. It is also interesting that we have at least three different deer visit us on a regular basis. We wonder if they are part of the family group we used to see feeding in the fields in the winter.

Roe Deer in back garden