Extra Added Insulation

At the end of June I wrote about putting tinfoil on the outside of our windows that don't have shutters. This has worked really well, even though it's fragile enough to need taking down every evening in case it blows away during the night.

I knew there had to be a more durable solution, and this is it. I went into Norauto, the car people, and bought 3 very cheap (2€99 a piece) car windscreen sunshades. They're foil covered on both sides, with bubble wrap in between. A bit of judicious scissor work and the house is as dark as a boot, but 20°C (at least) cooler than outside.

I can fill in that inconvenient gap with offcuts

Yesterday the temperature inside was 26°C, in the shade in the back garden 40 °C, and by the back door 47°C (and climbing). I still have to work out a definitive way of attaching them, but I'm getting close.

There it Goes

Like the rest of south western Europe we spent the past week unsuccessfully looking for eclipse glasses. This meant that yesterday evening we had to resort to holding binoculars up to the sun and looking at the resultant projected image.

19:38

19:51

19:54

20:05

20:13

20:20

And then just when it started to get light again, it started getting dark.

Some of these photos aren't as sharp as I'd like. It's a function of trying to hold the binoculars perfectly still at arm's length, with the correct combination of focus and distance from the target piece of paper.

The precision science team in action.

The next total solar eclipse is in Sydney the day before my birthday in 2028. We might have to start saving.

Revisiting Saint Benoit du Sault

 Once again we ended a lovely day trip into the Anglin Valley in the very attractive small town of Saint Benoit du Sault. We'd been here once before, on a wet day exactly twelve months before. This time it was stinking hot. It's very picturesque, well worth visiting and wandering around its medieval sandstone streets. 

Medieval gateway into the old town centre.

Belfry.

A medieval street.

Further reading: Simon's post on Saint Benoit du Sault from last year https://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/2025/07/saint-benoit-du-sault.html

A New Pump for the Pompiers

 As you can imagine our local fire fighters have been working very hard lately, and in Preuilly they are all volunteers. This summer is the first time in 20 years of living here that the wild fires have reached Australian levels. The other day I surfaced in the public swimming pool to observe them making a fountain of water on the other side of the river. I was too late to get a photo of the metres high jet, but here is a photo of them packing up. I was told they were testing a new pump. 

Breakfast

This was my breakfast this morning (06:30) which can only mean three things:

1 I'm going out early to ride my bike

2 I'm no good at portion control

3 My body is telling me I need more protein

I'm not sure that the distance I'm going to ride justifies a breakfast this large, but them's the breaks. Anyway... Coffee, then I'm off!

The New Normal

You may have noticed from the news that it has been hot and there have been fires in France. None of this is fake news. 

Thankfully it has now cooled down, and maximum temperatures have returned to only 3°C above average, rather than the 11°C above average of a week ago. It has even been cooling down overnight, allowing us to open some windows. This morning it it 20°C inside the house, a relief, as yesterday the temperature had built to over 25°C indoors.

Thankfully also the fires have subsided. The fire near Bordeaux is under control having burnt out 42,000 hectares, and now there are only 582 pompiers (firefighters) on the mopping up exercise. A week ago the France wide situation looked like this:

 ...and the situation near Bordeaux was this:

▪️ Resources deployed:

3,300 firefighters;

24 aircraft;

1,500 military personnel supporting operations;

1,400 members of the internal security forces, including the deployment of 10 Centaure vehicles from the gendarmerie to prevent burglaries in evacuated areas.

 ▪️ Casualty figures:230 firefighters have been injured since the start of this crisis. No new serious injuries have been reported this evening.

▪️ Preliminary property damage assessment: 240 homes are still listed as destroyed. This figure may change as field assessments continue.

(From  https://feuxdeforet.fr/en/gironde-33/saumos-22-07-2026-4367/)

When the fire was at it's worse the clouds over Preuilly-sur-Claise were a dirty red colour, and the air absolutely stank. So much so that we had to keep all the windows firmly closed. This meant we didn't lose heat overnight.

Anyway. We shouldn't complain. The pessimist in me says that this is the coolest summer for the rest of our lives. We should make the most of it.