Highs and Lows........

August has been a busy old month and its not my favourite time of the year......birthdays let you know your getting older along with the drawing in of the days, the holiday makers slowly disappear, the television is rubbish, the night markets have finished and Bob has had his three weeks holiday but for once we had fantastic weather, so with no major jobs to do we spent the first week sat in the sun listening to the cricket.

We seemed to have eaten out a lot this month three birthday celebrations and umpteen times with visitors has left me feeling like a heffalump.......GREAT!

At the end of July my English neighbours decided it was time to put their house on the market with a two year plan, both over 70 they felt the need to put the wheels in motion......can you believe two weeks later its sold and they will be on their way at the end of November.  I will miss them terribly they are the most bonkers neighbours you could wish for no matter what I needed they were always there from Christmas cards to jars of coffee using the computer when mine died, taking me shopping when snowed in to phoning me up if they hadn't seen me all day which is a comfort when you are so rural and live mostly on your own, well I wish them Bon voyage and on the bright side it's a new place to stay in the UK.

Late summer sunset over Belle croix

We're having a heat wave ......a tropical heat wave

The temperatures rising its hardly surprising we're having a heat wave.......

I am actually coping quite well with the heat the routine is.....get up early get things done and by 2pm take a siesta, nanna nap, keep doors and shutters closed then in the evening open them all up again and let the cool air in and the hot air out, drink lots of water and just chill.

Bob has gone to the UK on his annual road trip with a long list of  "must bring back" surprisingly not a food item in sight, then it's 3 weeks en vacances.

Been to the Monday evening Farmer's Market at  Ségur le Château where You can buy many locally produced things. There is seating for about 500 or so people and a barbecue run by villagers to cook your meat on. Fresh grilled trout from just up the road and, of course, plenty of choice in the beverage department along with live entertainment it's a must do through July and August.

Ségur-le-Château is situated on a peninsula formed by a loop in the River Auvézère and is, as its name says, a "secure place" in which the Viscounts of Limoges chose to set up their fortified castle. Although only a keep of that 12C building remains today, many noble houses with turrets or half-timbering bear witness to the opulent period the village lived through from the 15C to the 18C when it was the seat of an Appeals Court extending jurisdiction over 361 seigniories in the region

La fete Nationale.........

Bastille Day is the name given in English-speaking countries to the French National Day, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. In France, it is formally called La Fête Nationale

The Bastille is a medieval fortress and prison in Paris. Many people in France associated it with the harsh rule of the Bourbon monarchy in the late 1700s. On July 14, 1789, troops stormed the Bastille. This was a pivotal event at the beginning of the French Revolution. Fête de la Fédération was held on July 14, 1790. This was a way to celebrate the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in France.

Heat....And Hay

For the last 10 days the weather at long last has turned into high summer and what a difference the heat has made, my roses and petunias have looked so limp and sad with not many blooms now they are romping away as is the grass.  Being the owners of a micro tractor a sit on mower and a petrol mower it's sounds excessive to me........but thank goodness we have them.

The hay has been cut and I have never seen the rows so high the 3 fields around me have all produced 3/4 extra rollo's , driving around its just field after field of hay 

Perfect day........

I was awake early on Sunday with the sun streaming through the window and by 10am I had made a quiche, picked some salad leaves and had a crack at making mayonnaise which was quite good for my first attempt with 4 hens all laying I had a basket full of eggs to make use of.  By lunch time it was feeling like the hottest day this year with the temperature hitting 29deg. 

The garden is the best it's ever looked mainly due to all the rain we have had and the poor laurels that every year fail to put on any growth have finally had enough water to kick start them into growing as does the grass which now needs cutting every couple of days. 

After pottering around weeding, dead heading and ball throwing for Molly a fruit cocktail sat in the sun followed by a snooze made it a perfect day!

Soleil..........

Had a nice trip out to a friend from French class today and thank goodness the sun was out we sat and caught up on the gossip with a glass of wine and a delicious cake.

Carols house is next to an equestrian centre and she happened to mention they had a team at a cross country competition at Saint-Jory-de-Chalais so after coffee she pointed me in the right direction and I managed to find the concours hippique it was late but I arrived just in time for the presentation it was so nice......a podium presentation for 1st 2nd & 3rd the huge rosettes were attached to a huge brown bag full of horsey goodies a white saddle cloth and an equally huge pot of flowers??....everyone cheered and clapped the winners.......brought back many memories.

A lovely day out :)

pluie.........

Well this picture says it all.......poor sister has had 10 days of this 

So all we could do was lunch at flunch 

Flunch restaurants are operated on a self-service basis, where customers select their food and proceed to a checkout where any items are paid for prior to their consumption. Specific hot meals, namely cooked meats, are prepared to order in front of the customer at 'la grille', which is the part of the 'Flunch experience' the chain is known for.