Complete with fire-eaters, jugglers, drums, fireworks and beer, it's just about the perfect evening out.Simon
Wednesday, 14 July 2010
Bastille Day Photos
Punk Samba. What a great invention!
Complete with fire-eaters, jugglers, drums, fireworks and beer, it's just about the perfect evening out.
Simon
Complete with fire-eaters, jugglers, drums, fireworks and beer, it's just about the perfect evening out.Simon
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
A Day Early
I know it isn't quite Bastille Day yet, but like a lot of small towns in this part of the world the Bastille Day celebrations in Preuilly sur Claise happen on the 13th, the eve of Bastille Day. Pictures of 2008's celebrations are here.
There are a couple of possible reasons for this: they could be assuming everybody will party hard and need the public holiday day to recover, it could be that the crowds gathered on the 13th of July before storming the Bastille, or more prosaically, it could be that if the celebration in Preuilly was held on the 14th no-one much would attend because they would all go to one in the big city.
Anyway - at 9.30 tonight we will all set off from the Mairie to walk a circuitous route to the chateau, then across the river (twice) before ending up at the plan d'eau for fireworks, beer, and line dancing to "Just a Gigolo". All this will be accompanied by a band (maybe samba, maybe calypso - or maybe something else entirely) and flaming torches held by the pompiers (firemen). Maybe this year I will buy a Chinese lantern (for charity), but probably not.
Accompanying us this year will be Elizabeth and Vic, my sister and brother-in-law. They arrive this afternoon and are in town until Sunday, and are the reason for the concentrated burst of activity in the guest bedroom (now very nearly finished). When they arrived they will probably have to make their own bed, which may include actually making the bed (if you see what I mean).
The roofers have gone one further, and have actually finished: they departed at about 3.00pm yesterday, taking their Merlo (which had been parked in the courtyard all weekend) with them. The roof looks good, and we even have a new épi (finial) over the staircase.
Simon
There are a couple of possible reasons for this: they could be assuming everybody will party hard and need the public holiday day to recover, it could be that the crowds gathered on the 13th of July before storming the Bastille, or more prosaically, it could be that if the celebration in Preuilly was held on the 14th no-one much would attend because they would all go to one in the big city.
Anyway - at 9.30 tonight we will all set off from the Mairie to walk a circuitous route to the chateau, then across the river (twice) before ending up at the plan d'eau for fireworks, beer, and line dancing to "Just a Gigolo". All this will be accompanied by a band (maybe samba, maybe calypso - or maybe something else entirely) and flaming torches held by the pompiers (firemen). Maybe this year I will buy a Chinese lantern (for charity), but probably not.
A defunt and derelict grain chute in the granary.
This was one of a number of grain chutes, but we had
to demolish it to make room for a doorway to seal
the house off from howling winter winds.
This was one of a number of grain chutes, but we had
to demolish it to make room for a doorway to seal
the house off from howling winter winds.
Accompanying us this year will be Elizabeth and Vic, my sister and brother-in-law. They arrive this afternoon and are in town until Sunday, and are the reason for the concentrated burst of activity in the guest bedroom (now very nearly finished). When they arrived they will probably have to make their own bed, which may include actually making the bed (if you see what I mean).Our new roof
The roofers have gone one further, and have actually finished: they departed at about 3.00pm yesterday, taking their Merlo (which had been parked in the courtyard all weekend) with them. The roof looks good, and we even have a new épi (finial) over the staircase.The Merlo departs, with about four inches clearance.
Simon
Monday, 12 July 2010
Simon Makes Some Dust
Once the guest bedroom walls and ceiling were painted (didn't we mention that?) it was time on Saturday to sand the floor. Previously it was stained and varnished - either that or it had tinted varnish applied. An added treat was that over the years it had been coated with lots of lovely wax.
To remove the resulting sludge I bought a belt sander and plenty of 40 grit belts. This is a really fast way of sanding, but it does require constant attention and plenty of muscle power, otherwise the sander runs away from you and gouges holes in the floor. Luckily I was feeling pretty attentive, even though it was very hot on Saturday: well over 30° and very high humidity.
After seven hours on my hands and knees the floor was sanded, and we were able to sweep up the dust, of which there was quite a lot.
All that was left for me to do was give it a quick run over with some 160 grit sandpaper on an orbital sander, and the floor was looking smooth and ready for the next step.
Thus it was that yesterday morning we vacuumed (again) washed and then I gave the floor two coats of colourless varnish. I think it's an improvement: yes, you can see the occasional furniture mark, furniture beetle marks, parts where the floor is worn, and some water darkened patches, but the floor is now properly wood - and feels really nice underfoot.
Simon
To remove the resulting sludge I bought a belt sander and plenty of 40 grit belts. This is a really fast way of sanding, but it does require constant attention and plenty of muscle power, otherwise the sander runs away from you and gouges holes in the floor. Luckily I was feeling pretty attentive, even though it was very hot on Saturday: well over 30° and very high humidity.
The old and the almost new.
After seven hours on my hands and knees the floor was sanded, and we were able to sweep up the dust, of which there was quite a lot.This is about 10% of the dust I made.
Those wall are actually pure white.
Those wall are actually pure white.
All that was left for me to do was give it a quick run over with some 160 grit sandpaper on an orbital sander, and the floor was looking smooth and ready for the next step.Thus it was that yesterday morning we vacuumed (again) washed and then I gave the floor two coats of colourless varnish. I think it's an improvement: yes, you can see the occasional furniture mark, furniture beetle marks, parts where the floor is worn, and some water darkened patches, but the floor is now properly wood - and feels really nice underfoot.
Simon
Sunday, 11 July 2010
Cutting Slates
They're on to the finishing touches. Phillipe was cutting slates to cover the beams at the gable ends on Friday.
Susan
PS It's hot, we spent all yesterday painting and sanding the spare bedroom ceiling and floor and then went out to the Ecole de Musique annual fundraising dinner, so we are completely flagada today. The floor has to be varnished today though, to keep us on schedule for visitors on Tuesday.
This is one of those jobs that an experienced
person makes look easy, but it probably isn't.
person makes look easy, but it probably isn't.
The hand shaped slates in place.
Susan
PS It's hot, we spent all yesterday painting and sanding the spare bedroom ceiling and floor and then went out to the Ecole de Musique annual fundraising dinner, so we are completely flagada today. The floor has to be varnished today though, to keep us on schedule for visitors on Tuesday.
Saturday, 10 July 2010
Walk this Way
Yannick descends from the roof.
The roofers will be back on Monday, but they have almost finished.Susan
Friday, 9 July 2010
Four Glimpses
A follow up from this.It can't be long now - life for both parents seems solely about feeding the babies, and I have seen the little ones standing on the beam the nest is built on, and flapping their wings. Their first flight could be very difficult as the closest daylight is a "window" covered by chicken wire, and the floor of the granary is still completely covered in building materials.
___________________________
I wrote the above on Wednesday: yesterday morning I walked into the granary and it was silent, and the nest empty. All except for one tardy soul who had made it to the next beam and was peeping pathetically. A couple of hours he was still in the granary, with mummy sitting on an onion box outside and making encouraging noises.
It's big and scarey out there...
Simon
Thursday, 8 July 2010
Sas II
continued from yesterday...
Once we had laid the tiles for the door and we were sure they weren't going to move, the next step was to build a frame and insert the door.
This is a big porte fenetre we bought a while ago at BricoDepot. In fact, it's the big secret thing we bought at Bricodepot that required the hire of a truck (and which Martine asked about a few days later). The door went in easily enough, but required quite a bit of adjusting so it closes properly. This took time and a bit of thinking, but so far so good.
Next move was to finish insulating. We added 50mm of insulation to the already insulated walls, and did other stuff as well, including putting in the powerpoints and light switches.
Now we have an entry hall, although it still needs the joints in the plasterboard doing and painting and tiling. At the moment it's a room with temporary lights where I can paint doors at midnight. Next week we have guests, so I will have to move the door, then we will use the sas d'entrée as a dining hall for a while.
Once the guests have departed this will allow us to move stuff out of the kitchen so we can start work there.
Simon
Once we had laid the tiles for the door and we were sure they weren't going to move, the next step was to build a frame and insert the door.
This is a big porte fenetre we bought a while ago at BricoDepot. In fact, it's the big secret thing we bought at Bricodepot that required the hire of a truck (and which Martine asked about a few days later). The door went in easily enough, but required quite a bit of adjusting so it closes properly. This took time and a bit of thinking, but so far so good.
Next move was to finish insulating. We added 50mm of insulation to the already insulated walls, and did other stuff as well, including putting in the powerpoints and light switches.
Now we have an entry hall, although it still needs the joints in the plasterboard doing and painting and tiling. At the moment it's a room with temporary lights where I can paint doors at midnight. Next week we have guests, so I will have to move the door, then we will use the sas d'entrée as a dining hall for a while.Once the guests have departed this will allow us to move stuff out of the kitchen so we can start work there.
Simon
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
Sas d'Entrée
What to do with our front door has always taxed us. Two years ago I managed to just about stop it leaking (as long as the rain came from the right direction) but we have always known that there is no way we could make it properly weatherproof. It's warped, which only adds distance to the gap between the door and its frame. Last winter the door was about as effective as a lightweight curtain at keeping out the cold.
We have also always known that if at all possible we wanted to retain the door. There are a number of reasons for this, some economic (it's a big door and any replacement would have to be custom made) and some aesthetic: it's an old door and any replacement just wouldn't look the same.
This led to to creative thinking, the result of which was a decision to insert a sas d'entrée.
Making the decision was comparatively easy, putting it into practice was a whole new matter. The floor of the entry halls turns out not to have been level (quelle surprise!) which means that any door wouldn't open properly (something we had already noticed with the existing door). The fall over the five metre length of the hall was almost seven centimetres. This was fixed with careful application of cement.
The entry hall had previously been lined with placo (plasterboard), but it was poorly erected, had never been painted and was quite badly damaged. When we were clearing out the old placo we discovered a row of old posts. We decided to make a feature of them, as you can see on the right of the photo below.
The floor of the hall will be laid with carrelage en terre cuite (often mistakenly called tomettes). I laid a row of tiles across where the door is to go so that we got the level right. Eventually most of the ground floor of the house will be laid with a larger size of terracotta tiles.
Of course, once the tiles were laid work had to stop on this part of the house for a couple of days until the glue (it's a sort of cement, really) set. This gave us a chance to catch up on some other works: as usual we have at least three things all happening at once.
Tomorrow, more progress....
Simon
We have also always known that if at all possible we wanted to retain the door. There are a number of reasons for this, some economic (it's a big door and any replacement would have to be custom made) and some aesthetic: it's an old door and any replacement just wouldn't look the same.
This led to to creative thinking, the result of which was a decision to insert a sas d'entrée.
Making the decision was comparatively easy, putting it into practice was a whole new matter. The floor of the entry halls turns out not to have been level (quelle surprise!) which means that any door wouldn't open properly (something we had already noticed with the existing door). The fall over the five metre length of the hall was almost seven centimetres. This was fixed with careful application of cement.
The blue stuff is primer. This ensures
the new cement sticks to the old.
the new cement sticks to the old.
The entry hall had previously been lined with placo (plasterboard), but it was poorly erected, had never been painted and was quite badly damaged. When we were clearing out the old placo we discovered a row of old posts. We decided to make a feature of them, as you can see on the right of the photo below.Stéphane lays the cement. There will be a
step up as you enter the inner door
step up as you enter the inner door
The floor of the hall will be laid with carrelage en terre cuite (often mistakenly called tomettes). I laid a row of tiles across where the door is to go so that we got the level right. Eventually most of the ground floor of the house will be laid with a larger size of terracotta tiles.
Of course, once the tiles were laid work had to stop on this part of the house for a couple of days until the glue (it's a sort of cement, really) set. This gave us a chance to catch up on some other works: as usual we have at least three things all happening at once.Tomorrow, more progress....
Simon
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
Fiery Clearwing
I noticed this lovely little day flying moth busy in the back garden yesterday. It was so busy, and there is so much material stored by the roofers in the garden that I had a lot of difficulty photographing it.
Fiery Clearwing Pyropteron chrysidiformis (la Sésie de l'oseille in French) like open, sunny places, and the caterpillars live in the roots of dock Rumex spp plants, and indeed this was the plant the moth was most interested in, so I assume it was laying eggs. Obviously, the fact that it found a dock plant in the garden means that the garden needs weeding, but now of course I have a dilemma. Clearwing moths are uncommon, this one especially, and it seems a shame to uproot the food supply for the next generation. Perhaps I will just have to cut it off periodically.
Susan
Fiery Clearwing Pyropteron chrysidiformis (la Sésie de l'oseille in French) like open, sunny places, and the caterpillars live in the roots of dock Rumex spp plants, and indeed this was the plant the moth was most interested in, so I assume it was laying eggs. Obviously, the fact that it found a dock plant in the garden means that the garden needs weeding, but now of course I have a dilemma. Clearwing moths are uncommon, this one especially, and it seems a shame to uproot the food supply for the next generation. Perhaps I will just have to cut it off periodically.
Susan
Monday, 5 July 2010
Wire in the Sky*
I was walking up our street the other day and noticed the electricity/telephone wires strung off the front of the quite elegant buildings, and wondered why we can't have underground services like the people who live up by the chateau do.
Mind you, we do have some way to go before we can rival the usual scene in Seoul!
Simon
*This goes with that.
Dad Update: Dad is home. He has been in hospital for 18 days, so no doubt he will enjoy the novelty of sitting out on the verandah over the next couple of days.
Mind you, we do have some way to go before we can rival the usual scene in Seoul!
Simon
*This goes with that.
Dad Update: Dad is home. He has been in hospital for 18 days, so no doubt he will enjoy the novelty of sitting out on the verandah over the next couple of days.
Sunday, 4 July 2010
Pepsi Pays a Visit
A couple of days ago I was in the kitchen making something out of cherries (that's a daily task at the moment) and I kept hearing something banging in the graineterie. I ignored it, thinking it was the wind.
After a few minutes though, Pepsi appeared. Officially, Pepsi lodges with Stéphane and Valérie, who live over the back of us, but he is on friendly terms with all the neighbours and visits everyone daily. Valérie warned me that it wouldn't take him long to invite himself inside the house for a nose around.
His visit was the day after I had cooked whole fresh sardines in the garden for lunch and he had benefitted from a lunch of tasty cooked sardine guts before mooching home. Valérie says it's no wonder he's never hungry.
Susan
Pepsi arrives...
After a few minutes though, Pepsi appeared. Officially, Pepsi lodges with Stéphane and Valérie, who live over the back of us, but he is on friendly terms with all the neighbours and visits everyone daily. Valérie warned me that it wouldn't take him long to invite himself inside the house for a nose around....makes an inspection tour...
His visit was the day after I had cooked whole fresh sardines in the garden for lunch and he had benefitted from a lunch of tasty cooked sardine guts before mooching home. Valérie says it's no wonder he's never hungry....and departs via the vide sanitaire.
Susan
Saturday, 3 July 2010
Bits and Bobs
End of another week, and what have we learned? Quite a bit, actually.
The roofers have been here all week, but have been taking early afternoons off as it's been getting too hot up there. 30° in the shade equals about 50° in the sun sitting on a black slate roof (the alternative being to sit on a roof frame covered with aluminium sheeting designed to reflect heat). Work is progressing amazingly: the side of the back of the house is finished, the back of the front of the house is finished, and the front of the front of the house is well underway.
While the roof at the front of the house was off we took the opportunity to put the timber and placo for the bathroom (literally a room with a bath) in through the roof. The floor will be built on a torsion box frame, and the walls will be placoplatre hydrofuge. All this was delivered on Thursday and loaded into the attic on Friday. Everything else (flooring, insulation) we hope we can get up the staircase. We tested to make sure the bath will go up the staircase (which is does) so here's hoping.
and a day later is taken upstairs
Inside the house, we started work on running electricity lines for the salon, kitchen and dining areas. This involved drilling holes in ceilings and walls and disturbing dust that has been there since Moses was playing fullback for Jerusalem. (My only neo-World Cup reference, ever). Ceiling dust is nasty tasting stuff - you can't disturb it without it getting in your mouth, which is a bonus...
On Thursday we went to visit the hardware shops to look for tiles for the steps up to the apéro terrasse. We want boldly coloured red tiles, but all the exterior tiles we can find are either beige or grey. When we came out of Leroy Merlin (disappointed at the rest of the world's lack of imagination) we got to the car to hear a hissing sound. Amazingly, the valve in one of the tyres had sprung a leak, but this must have happened only 30 seconds or so before we reached the car: by the time we had driven 500 metres to the Speedy tyre shop the tyre was all but flat. A change of tyre, and new valve stem (and €18 later) we were on our way again. Phew.
Next week we hope to sand the floor of the guest bedroom and paint the walls. Then we can move some furniture in there. Of course, the main result of this will be us having to start work on another room, but we are hopeful that from now on we only have to move each piece of furniture twice, rather than relocating it all from room to room every week.
Weatherwise, it's been hot and humid, well over 30° every day, and very humid. Last night we had the storm we have been promised just about every day: lots of thunder, plenty of lightning, and some rain. Then at about 4.00am this morning we had another storm with lots of thunder, but this time quite a bit of rain. Lucky that the roofers put a bache (tarpaulin) over the incomplete bits of the roof. It is supposed to continue raining all day today, which is a pity, as Barrou has its festival tonight, and Preuilly sur Claise has its €10 for Moules Frites night on the Plan d'Eau.
And finally: we don't usually mention other people's blogs if we haven't met them, but this one I do recommend. Use the translate button if necessary, the original language is Spanish.
Simon
The roofers have been here all week, but have been taking early afternoons off as it's been getting too hot up there. 30° in the shade equals about 50° in the sun sitting on a black slate roof (the alternative being to sit on a roof frame covered with aluminium sheeting designed to reflect heat). Work is progressing amazingly: the side of the back of the house is finished, the back of the front of the house is finished, and the front of the front of the house is well underway.
ref: Tennessee Williams
While the roof at the front of the house was off we took the opportunity to put the timber and placo for the bathroom (literally a room with a bath) in through the roof. The floor will be built on a torsion box frame, and the walls will be placoplatre hydrofuge. All this was delivered on Thursday and loaded into the attic on Friday. Everything else (flooring, insulation) we hope we can get up the staircase. We tested to make sure the bath will go up the staircase (which is does) so here's hoping.A bathroom gets delivered (in pieces)
and a day later is taken upstairs
Inside the house, we started work on running electricity lines for the salon, kitchen and dining areas. This involved drilling holes in ceilings and walls and disturbing dust that has been there since Moses was playing fullback for Jerusalem. (My only neo-World Cup reference, ever). Ceiling dust is nasty tasting stuff - you can't disturb it without it getting in your mouth, which is a bonus...On Thursday we went to visit the hardware shops to look for tiles for the steps up to the apéro terrasse. We want boldly coloured red tiles, but all the exterior tiles we can find are either beige or grey. When we came out of Leroy Merlin (disappointed at the rest of the world's lack of imagination) we got to the car to hear a hissing sound. Amazingly, the valve in one of the tyres had sprung a leak, but this must have happened only 30 seconds or so before we reached the car: by the time we had driven 500 metres to the Speedy tyre shop the tyre was all but flat. A change of tyre, and new valve stem (and €18 later) we were on our way again. Phew.
Running wires
Next week we hope to sand the floor of the guest bedroom and paint the walls. Then we can move some furniture in there. Of course, the main result of this will be us having to start work on another room, but we are hopeful that from now on we only have to move each piece of furniture twice, rather than relocating it all from room to room every week.Weatherwise, it's been hot and humid, well over 30° every day, and very humid. Last night we had the storm we have been promised just about every day: lots of thunder, plenty of lightning, and some rain. Then at about 4.00am this morning we had another storm with lots of thunder, but this time quite a bit of rain. Lucky that the roofers put a bache (tarpaulin) over the incomplete bits of the roof. It is supposed to continue raining all day today, which is a pity, as Barrou has its festival tonight, and Preuilly sur Claise has its €10 for Moules Frites night on the Plan d'Eau.
And finally: we don't usually mention other people's blogs if we haven't met them, but this one I do recommend. Use the translate button if necessary, the original language is Spanish.
Simon
Friday, 2 July 2010
Qu'est-ce que nous avons comme faune au verger ?
So, what have we got in the way of wildlife in the orchard?
Our potager / verger is run organically. It's mowed at times that respect wildflower seed development and insect life cycles. Weeds are only removed in the potager if the vegetables are in real danger of disappearing, otherwise they are allowed to act as green manure and soil stabilisation. To stop thistles getting out of hand they are chopped off occasionally.
This management system has proved its worth already with the appearance of 5 orchid species, but I am also very pleased that we have a high population of damselflies enjoying the long grass and several species of rare butterfly breeding.
Dragonflies (Les Libellules) recorded:
Butterflies (Les Papillons du Jour) recorded:
And that's without trying to sort out those tricky blues and darters seriously.
There is also a large population of European Wall Lizards, a large Western Whip Snake, along with many birds and dozens of species of bees, flies, beetles, bugs, moths and wasps.
Susan
Dad Update: I spoke to my father yesterday, for the first time in almost two weeks. We're not sure when he will be home, but probably next week if things continue the way they are.
Simon
Our potager / verger is run organically. It's mowed at times that respect wildflower seed development and insect life cycles. Weeds are only removed in the potager if the vegetables are in real danger of disappearing, otherwise they are allowed to act as green manure and soil stabilisation. To stop thistles getting out of hand they are chopped off occasionally.
The ethereal female Blue Featherleg, which drifts amongst
the long grass like a piece of straw being lifted by the wind.
This management system has proved its worth already with the appearance of 5 orchid species, but I am also very pleased that we have a high population of damselflies enjoying the long grass and several species of rare butterfly breeding.An unusually blue female Common Blue Butterfly.
Dragonflies (Les Libellules) recorded:
| English Name | French Name | Scientific Name |
| Banded Demoiselle | Le Caloptéryx eclatant | Calopteryx splendens |
| Migrant Spreadwing | Le Leste sauvage | Lestes barbarus |
| Western Willow Spreadwing | Le Leste vert | Lestes viridus |
| Common Winter Damsel | Le Leste brun | Sympecma fusca |
| Common Bluetail | L'Agrion élégant | Ischnura elegans |
| Azure Bluet | L'Agrion jouvencelle | Coneagrion puella |
| Blue Featherleg | L'Agrion à larges pattes | Platycnemis pennipes |
| Blue Hawker | L'Aeschne bleue | Aeshna cyanea |
| Blue Emperor | L'Anax empereur | Anax imperator |
| Common Clubtail | Le Gomphus très commun | Gomphus vulgatissimus |
| Western Clubtail | Le Gomphus gentil | Gomphus pulchellus |
| Small Pincertail | Le Gompus à pinces | Onychogomphus forcipatus |
| Common Goldenring | Le Cordulegastre annele | Cordulegaster boltonii |
| Orange-spotted Emerald | La Cordulie à corps fin | Oxygastra curtisii |
| Broad-bodied Chaser | La Libellule deprimée | Libellula depressa |
| Black-tailed Skimmer | L'Orthetrum reticule | Orthetrum cancellatum |
| White-tailed Skimmer | L'Orthetrum à cercoides blancs | Orthetrum albistylum |
Orange-spotted Emerald Dragonfly (which naturally disappeared,
presumed eaten, a couple of hours before I did a wildlife and
orchid walk with clients, so they didn't get to see it after
I told them about it).
presumed eaten, a couple of hours before I did a wildlife and
orchid walk with clients, so they didn't get to see it after
I told them about it).
Butterflies (Les Papillons du Jour) recorded:
| English Name | French Name | Scientific Name |
| Grizzled Skipper | Le Tacheté | Pyrgus malvae |
| Olive Skipper | L'Hespérie de l'alchémille | Pyrgus serratulae |
| Essex Skipper | L'Hespérie du dactyle | Thymelicus lineolus |
| Scarce Swallowtail | Le Flambé | Iphiclides podalirius |
| Swallowtail | Le Machaon | Papilio machaon |
| Wood White | La Piéride de la moutarde | Leptidia sinapis |
| Large White | La Piéride du chou | Pieris brassicae |
| Small White | La Piéride de la rave | Pieris rapae |
| Orange Tip | L'Aurore | Anthocharis cardamines |
| Clouded Yellow | Le Souci | Colias crocea |
| Brimstone | Le Citron | Gonepteryx rhamni |
| Small Copper | Le Bronzé | Lycaena phlaeas |
| Sooty Copper | L'Argus myope | Lycaena tityrus |
| Holly Blue | L'Azuré des nerpruns | Celastrina argiolus |
| Small Blue | L'Argus frêle | Cupido minimus |
| Common Blue | L'Argus bleu | Polyommatus icarus |
| Brown Argus | Le Collier-de-corail | Aricia agestis |
| Speckled Wood | Le Tircis | Parage aegeria |
| Wall Brown | La Mégère (f), Le Satyre (m) | Lasiommata megera |
| Small Heath | Le Procris | Coenonympha pamphilus |
| Gatekeeper | L'Amaryllis | Pyronia tithonus |
| Meadow Brown | Le Myrtil | Maniola jurtina |
| Marbled White | Le Demi-deuil | Melanargia galathea |
| Queen of Spain Fritillary | Le Petit Nacré | Issoria lathonia |
| Violet Fritillary | La Petite Violette | Clossiana dia |
| Southern White Admiral | Le Sylvain azuré | Limenitis reducta |
| Small Tortoiseshell | La Petite Tortue | Aglais urticae |
| Peacock | Le Paon-du-Jour | Inachis io |
| Red Admiral | Le Vulcain | Vanessa atalanta |
| Painted Lady | La Belle-Dame | Vanessa cardui |
| Glanville Fritillary | La Mélitée du plantain | Melitaea cinxia |
Marbled White Butterfly, a chalk downland specialist.
And that's without trying to sort out those tricky blues and darters seriously.There is also a large population of European Wall Lizards, a large Western Whip Snake, along with many birds and dozens of species of bees, flies, beetles, bugs, moths and wasps.
Susan
Dad Update: I spoke to my father yesterday, for the first time in almost two weeks. We're not sure when he will be home, but probably next week if things continue the way they are.
Simon
Thursday, 1 July 2010
Things to Look Out for Around Preuilly in July
Serious cyclists: The Tour de France is on in July. Fired up by this, all the local teams will also be out enthusiastically practising in groups of 5 - 10, urged on by their coach. Motorists respect them and give them a comfortable space.
Fields of sunflowers: Lots of opportunities for classic French countryside photos.
Convoi Agricole: Sometimes Convoi Exceptionnel. It's harvest time in the French countryside. Chill and enjoy the scenery (and freshly cut hay smells) at 70km / hour or less with an enormous tractor or a truck loaded with harvesting machinery bouncing along in front of you.
Susan
Happy Birthday JB
Fields of sunflowers: Lots of opportunities for classic French countryside photos.
Convoi Agricole: Sometimes Convoi Exceptionnel. It's harvest time in the French countryside. Chill and enjoy the scenery (and freshly cut hay smells) at 70km / hour or less with an enormous tractor or a truck loaded with harvesting machinery bouncing along in front of you.Susan
Happy Birthday JB
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Weeding, Watering and Waiting
The weather here has only now warmed up enough for vegetable seedlings sown in the early spring to start to really put on some growth. All our tomatoes and aubergines are tiny plants, some with barely more than their dicotyledons (their first pair of leaves straight out of the seed).
A cherry tomato with our first tomatoes for the year (below). This was grown from seed I saved from last year. This plant has been in the garden about a month, much longer than all the other tomatoes.
I've now planted out all our vegetable seedlings, no matter how tiny they are. Some of them were so desperate they were flowering, even though they only had two or three mature leaves and were yellow and sickly from the cold and being stuck in a plastic cell (aka a reused individual yoghurt pot).
This zucchini has been in a week. Before it was planted out it looked like the cucumbers below.
The broad beans and mangetout which were planted direct back in April are producing top quality peas and beans, with enough surplus to freeze. The regular peas are giving me quite a good crop too. The lettuce has been delicious and crispy in the cool weather but is now starting to get a bit sunburnt. I've left in all the chard that's gone to seed as it is giving the little lettuces a bit of shade.
Tiny Lebanese cucumber plants which started flowering in the coldframe before they were big enough to have full sized leaves (below). They were planted out 3 days ago and already look better for it.
I've been told that this year the season started so badly that even some professional gardeners lost all of their first plantings - seedlings simply disappeared after being put in the cold damp soil. The earth has taken ages to warm up and because it has quite a high clay content, plants haven't been able to thrive. Hopefully now it will all change. Now all I have to do is keep the water up to things and wait.
Susan
A cherry tomato with our first tomatoes for the year (below). This was grown from seed I saved from last year. This plant has been in the garden about a month, much longer than all the other tomatoes.
I've now planted out all our vegetable seedlings, no matter how tiny they are. Some of them were so desperate they were flowering, even though they only had two or three mature leaves and were yellow and sickly from the cold and being stuck in a plastic cell (aka a reused individual yoghurt pot).This zucchini has been in a week. Before it was planted out it looked like the cucumbers below.
The broad beans and mangetout which were planted direct back in April are producing top quality peas and beans, with enough surplus to freeze. The regular peas are giving me quite a good crop too. The lettuce has been delicious and crispy in the cool weather but is now starting to get a bit sunburnt. I've left in all the chard that's gone to seed as it is giving the little lettuces a bit of shade.Tiny Lebanese cucumber plants which started flowering in the coldframe before they were big enough to have full sized leaves (below). They were planted out 3 days ago and already look better for it.
I've been told that this year the season started so badly that even some professional gardeners lost all of their first plantings - seedlings simply disappeared after being put in the cold damp soil. The earth has taken ages to warm up and because it has quite a high clay content, plants haven't been able to thrive. Hopefully now it will all change. Now all I have to do is keep the water up to things and wait.Susan
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Crocusbank
Saffron Crocus sativus has been cultivated since the Bronze Age but it does not exist in the wild. The bulb is grown from southern Europe to Kashmir, mostly by small producers, but the plant is sterile and does not set seed. It reproduces by multiplying bulbs (very rapidly, if the saffron in our potager is anything to go by) but its genetic variability is therefore very low.
Crocusbank, a project funded by the European Union and headed by a Spanish scientist, has been set up to conserve the saffron crocus and allied species. This includes trying to identify the wild ancestors of saffron to recreate the sequence of hybridisation that resulted in this valuable spice, then increase the genetic variability by making new crosses to increase disease resistance and yields.
There are 5 reasons the project was set up:
1. Saffron is very valuable and the harvest very small with high labour costs. This means it is commonly adulterated and other substances fraudulently sold as saffron.
2. Saffron as a crop in Europe is in danger of extinction (it is no longer grown in England, where it was once grown in great quantities in Essex). About 20 countries worldwide now grow saffron commercially, including France and Australia. Spain was traditionally the world leader, but in recent years about 80% of the 205 tonnes produced annually comes from Iran. Spain's output has dropped to a mere half a tonne. By comparison France, which is currently experiencing a revival after centuries of no production, harvests about 5kg a year and all the European countries put together only contribute 3% of the annual crop.
3. There are about 80 other crocus species, many of which are economically important, particularly as desirable garden plants.
4. Saffron consumption is increasing faster than production, and users do not always understand the differences between saffron of different sources. At the moment the ISO (International Standard) only measures the strength of colour, but ignores aroma and flavour. This is currently under review.
5. Because saffron is disappearing as a crop its gene pool is getting smaller and smaller. Methods of increasing genetic variability and developing new propogation techiques will be a very large part of the project.
I am happy to say that Preuilly is doing its bit to ensure that saffron does not die out in France. Every year in February there is a Saffron Fair here, and on the first Saturday in July the bulbs can be purchased from the main producer, Paul Meriguet in Preuilly's market place.
Susan
Part of last autumn's saffron crop on the outskirts of Preuilly.
Crocusbank, a project funded by the European Union and headed by a Spanish scientist, has been set up to conserve the saffron crocus and allied species. This includes trying to identify the wild ancestors of saffron to recreate the sequence of hybridisation that resulted in this valuable spice, then increase the genetic variability by making new crosses to increase disease resistance and yields.The beautiful saffron flower with its precious red
stigmae, which form the spice.
stigmae, which form the spice.
There are 5 reasons the project was set up:1. Saffron is very valuable and the harvest very small with high labour costs. This means it is commonly adulterated and other substances fraudulently sold as saffron.
The backbreaking harvesting.
2. Saffron as a crop in Europe is in danger of extinction (it is no longer grown in England, where it was once grown in great quantities in Essex). About 20 countries worldwide now grow saffron commercially, including France and Australia. Spain was traditionally the world leader, but in recent years about 80% of the 205 tonnes produced annually comes from Iran. Spain's output has dropped to a mere half a tonne. By comparison France, which is currently experiencing a revival after centuries of no production, harvests about 5kg a year and all the European countries put together only contribute 3% of the annual crop.Saffron flowers in a traditional basket with recurved
sides so that the feather light produce does not fly out.
sides so that the feather light produce does not fly out.
3. There are about 80 other crocus species, many of which are economically important, particularly as desirable garden plants.4. Saffron consumption is increasing faster than production, and users do not always understand the differences between saffron of different sources. At the moment the ISO (International Standard) only measures the strength of colour, but ignores aroma and flavour. This is currently under review.
Part of last year's saffron harvest drying on
Paul Meriguet's mantlepiece.
Paul Meriguet's mantlepiece.
5. Because saffron is disappearing as a crop its gene pool is getting smaller and smaller. Methods of increasing genetic variability and developing new propogation techiques will be a very large part of the project.I am happy to say that Preuilly is doing its bit to ensure that saffron does not die out in France. Every year in February there is a Saffron Fair here, and on the first Saturday in July the bulbs can be purchased from the main producer, Paul Meriguet in Preuilly's market place.
Susan
Monday, 28 June 2010
St Melaine
We wrote about the collegiate church of St Mélaine quite some time ago.
Since then we have learned very little more about it, but I do have a new photo. This was taken on my expedition to find a place to photograph the work in progress on our roof. This is a long shot, taken from about 500 metres away.
It was really hot yesterday, and we had warning about storms in the evening. This was slightly worrying, because the slates are off part of the roof, and we have no tarpaulins over the spaces. Needless to say, the forecast was wrong. More rain is forecast for today, with storms forecast for tonight and tomorrow night, complete with local weather warnings, so with any luck (as far as the roof goes) or with bad luck(for the garden) we won't get any rain.
Simon
Since then we have learned very little more about it, but I do have a new photo. This was taken on my expedition to find a place to photograph the work in progress on our roof. This is a long shot, taken from about 500 metres away.
It was really hot yesterday, and we had warning about storms in the evening. This was slightly worrying, because the slates are off part of the roof, and we have no tarpaulins over the spaces. Needless to say, the forecast was wrong. More rain is forecast for today, with storms forecast for tonight and tomorrow night, complete with local weather warnings, so with any luck (as far as the roof goes) or with bad luck(for the garden) we won't get any rain.Simon
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