SOMETHING TO CHEER US UP

Brexit Day is upon us.  It's a cold, grey and blustery day here in the UK so to cheer us up I have been browsing through some of last year's photos.

 

 

  This is Daisy on one of her favourite perches.  She can keep an eye on what's going on in the field and in the garden at the same time.

 

 

Hugo loves being chez nous.  All that space to run around and chase a ball in the sunshine.

 

 

The Château at L'Islette.  We visit every year and next time must remember to take a picnic.

 

 

A visit to the château at Fougères-sur-Bièvre, always a delight.

 

 

The joy of having visitors is that we get to see so many châteaux again.  This one is at Les Ormes, literally just over the hill from us.

 

 

Village life.

 

 

There's a brocante most weekends.

 

 

A patisserie in Chinon, another of our favourite towns to visit.

 

 

Bastille Day, waiting for the fireworks at Descartes.

 

 

Fête de la moisson at Boussay in August.

 

 

Chez nous.

 

We will be celebrating tonight, but not what you think.

Let all those who believe Brexit will solve their problems and have put their faith in Boris Johnson and his cronies enjoy their fireworks.  We'll be toasting our return to France in a few weeks' time and that thought cheers me up more than anything else.

THE SPY, THE OWL AND THE CHIMNEY

 

With fine weather chez nous the builder has been able to fix our chimney.

Hoorah!

 

 

It was in dire need of some pointing and the gap under the top bit is where the hornets got in to make their nest last year.

 

 

We are thrilled with what looks like a very fine job indeed.

 

Of course, we have yet to see it in person.  The work has been done in our absence, often a good way to get disruptive jobs done, and photos have been sent to update us with progress.

  

Friends pop by every so often to check on the place, sending photos to reassure us that it's still standing.  We also have a new gadget - a spy camera.  That's very exciting.  We spend hours watching the comings and goings of various creatures and birds, cars passing by on the lane and leaves blowing around.  It alerted us to the fact that chimney work was about to start by the arrival of a van and delivery of a cement mixer.

 

 

We are thrilled to see that the barn owl has moved back in.

 

He/she moved out last year when Daisy arrived for the summer, leaving behind much evidence of his/her inhabitation in the form of lots of owl poo and owl pellets.  In case you're wondering what the difference is, think fore and aft - well actually the other way round.

 

We have several minutes of video of the owl swooping around, here and there, or just sitting on the doorstep, waiting.  Who knows what for.  For several hours at a time it sits on the guttering right by the spy cam, the regular twizzling round of its head and flapping of wings triggering the camera to keep taking pictures.