Le Donjon à insectes

There is a second donjon in Loches, perhaps less well known than the imposing medieval structure, but nonetheless interesting. I thought it was a really cute idea to call the insect nesting and hibernation structure in the medieval garden at the big Donjon de Loches a 'donjon' too, rather than the more usual 'hotel'. Donjon in French is not dungeon in English, but castle keep, and so it is the insect keep. I like that.

They don't seem to have any solitary bees using the various holes designed for them yet, but I don't know how long the structure has been up. My advice is not to despair -- even if nothing seems to be using it in its first summer, it will get used over winter, and slowly, slowly, creatures will adopt it during its second summer.

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Food Crisis: A serious situation was developing yesterday in Preuilly. Both depots de pain had run out of bread by midday, and it was the baker's day off, so the boulangerie was closed. To top it off, the butcher had run out of sausages. He said he had been so busy he hadn't had time to make more. It's August and there are still lots of visitors in town. The weather remains superb, sunny and warm, so the barbecues are out. Luckily I had some tortilla wraps in the pantry and some sausages in the freezer.