L'hiver est arrivé
February 2012
Well just when we thought we had escaped winter because it has been so mild. The winter arrived suddenly last week, with lot’s of snow and severe temperatures which we have had now for over a week. The temperatures have been extremely low overnight that on Monday we awoke to no water and frozen gas. A pipe somewhere in our very thick walls had frozen.
The road outside of our house is lethal so we are not attempting to go out in the car, so hope the store cupboard will last a few more day’s .
Quelle Surprise!!
June 2011
We had our first rain for weeks yesterday so thought I would check to see how much water we had in the water butt. Well when I lifted the lid what a surprise to see two baby frogs sitting there. They are European tree frogs and this is the first time we have seen them here in the garden.
Concert Eglise Notre-Dame
April 2011
Marie-Claire our near neighbour was once again performing in a concert to which we were invited.
This time it was held in a church in a nearby town. Two choirs took part and towards the end they got together to sing some of each others songs.
Being in a church the sound was excellent. It was a full house with people standing.
April 2011
We have hit a temperature of 37 today and it is only 7th Aprill !!! and it is only 11.30 in the morning.
Spring
April 2011
Well spring has well and truly sprung, we have had some lovely weather over the last few weeks. Temperatures in the twenties has felt like summer.
Been back to England for a short visit to see family and friends and was extremely lucky with the weather then as well, it was good to see everyone. Really noticed this time how busy the roads are in England compared to here in France.
Been busy planting up the veggie plot, the potatoes are already coming through.
It is also the time when the procession caterpillars start to leave last years nests and start the long journey of crossing to new trees.
This year we have seen some as long as 5 foot (they all join together) Not many make it as they are so slow moving they are squashed along the way. We know now not to touch them as they are extremely poisonous.
Leave a Message [1]
2011
February 2011
Well yes we are still here! Apologies to anyone who does look for updates on the website. we have been busy (don’t know where the time goes) and also we have changed our computer system so need to transfer photos etc from the old computer.
Winter is hopefully coming to end which has not been too bad here, we did not get the awful weather you had in England in December.
We are hoping that March arrives calmly this year as 1st of March last year was when we were hit by storm Xynthia which nearly blew us way and caused havoc in other regions.
As the day’s get longer and warmer it will soon be time to bring the veggie garden to life. We have increased this in size as there never seems to be enough room to grow everything you want. There is nothing better than your own fresh produce!!
Anyway let’s hope spring is just around the corner!!
Feu d'artifice et Bastille
July 2010
This year for the Bastille celebrations we went to Bauge which is much closer to us than Saumur.
We were surprised at just how many people had turned out for this occasion. It was equally as good a display than we have previously seen in Saumur considering Bauge is a much smaller town.
The display took place in front of the chateau unfortunately because of the dark the photos don’t do it justice.
Better than ever
July 2010
Due to lots of hot dry weather the Sunflowers in the field opposite our house are better than ever this year.
Catching up!
May 2010
Well it has been a while since the website was updated. So thought we had better do a little catching up.
During April we spent a week up in Normandy.We found the Pays d’Auge region to be very beautiful it is in the department of Calvados.
We stayed in a tiny little gite and explored the surrounding area. We found it to be much greener than where we are but we also found it a little colder! There were even bluebell woods just like England something we don’t have here as it is too dry.
There were some very pretty towns and houses, mostly colombage timber framed houses some thatched and painted lovely colors.
Since returning we have been busy planting up the veggie patch which is now growing very quickly. At the moment it needs lots of water as it is so hot and dry.
Storm Xynthia
March 2010
In the early hours of Sunday morning (1st March) we were awakened by the sound of hurricane winds battering the house.
We get quite a lot of high winds here so we are quite used to it but this was something different. It just seemed to get louder and louder and we thought the house was going to blow away! We could hear tiles coming of the roof and lots of crashing and banging. We were wondering what we were going to find when the morning came.
By early morning the electricity and phone were both down, thank goodness we have a gas hob at least we could have a cup of tea!
We were very lucky here as we only had a few tiles off the roofs and two trees uprooted. We believe the forest which is opposite us saved us from the full force of the wind. You can see from the photos below it just uprooted massive trees in the forest.
Further down in the Vendee region and in La Rochelle there was devastation. Boats were lifted out of the water in the harbour and roads and houses were destroyed. We consider ourselves quite lucky to have only been without electricity and phone for one day only as there were over a million homes without power.
Leave a Message [1]