What We Take for Granted.

We have just returned home. It is 11.15pm. We didnt start eating until almost 9.30pm. The locals were still on their feet dancing, others sitting and still eating and we felt the need to leave if we weren't going to join in the dancing. Over-full and under-exercised, we couldn't talk to our neighbors and very patient patron (who adopted us the moment we sought a seat near the bar, when we arrived at 7.30pm) over the top of the loud music.

Not knowing what to expect from the Fete de la Musique, which we booked and paid for two weeks ago, we turned up at the allotted time...well, that's not quite correct...you see, we did a 'dry run' last night. Actually, THATS not correct either, lol.
The REAL Story goes like this:
We had been anticipating this Fete de la Musique since we returned to France a month ago. It was advertised on the town notice board and our friend Bar owners were happy to sign us up and take our money for the festivities.
All over France people were gathering to enjoy music tonight, and through the weekend.

I digress...Waz had reset my watch date for New Zealand, and because the Fete de la Musique is on the 21st, my watch yesterday said...21st June!. We couldn't believe how fast the week had gone. Really? It was Thursday already? No? Yes! Merde!
So, 7pm we changed our clothes, sunscreen applied because at 7.30pm the sun is still out and very hot. We packed a bag with our sweaters (gets cooler around 10pm), a sun screen tube, and assorted other things and put them and us in the car. Not seeing many other cars on the road, we started questioning the date again. All dressed and nowhere to go? Yep! We pulled into the bar parking lot and nobody was there. So, reverse, and drive home. Big larf! It was Wednesday still! Ok, just checking and we know we can do this tomorrow, right?

So, tonight we did the same things at 7pm, and arrived to find no other cars, but we did see people standing on the road. Kick off time was supposed to be 7.30. We were some of the first to arrive.
An elderly woman came out of her centre-ville home to look at her lovely flowers. I said Bonsoir and how lovely her flowers were. She indicated that it was all the rain recently that made them flower so beautifully. We went towards her and engaged her further in conversation. I'm determined to speak to anyone who will be patient enough to converse with me:)
We introduced ourselves by name and said we were NZ'ers and speak English. She said her daughter lives in London, is married to a British man who speaks NO French. She complimented me on my French, which was very generous, and we talked about the lovely Siamese that was rolling on the ground at her feet. I turned and got a photo of this black moggy on top of the car, nearby.

 Bidding our new neighbor a good evening, we walked up to the main street and towards the Church square which is on a slight slope.

 My Goodness! So many chairs! We really didnt know what to expect but obviously this is an evening for the whole town to come out. Out they came...in droves! All of these chairs were booked, by the way. The white tent on the left is the bar!

 What a juxtaposition...at 50 something foot container trailer in front of a 12th century church in a 15th century town. I dont think anyone else at the Fete would have even thought about this. It looks rather incongruous.

They would have had fun positioning that large trailer in this town square!
The woman who lives in this house on the left of the town square has a lovely garden with HUGE tomatoes on the west side (from where I am taking the photo). She was out putting laundry on a dryer rack, so I didnt take photos.
There are hollyhocks blooming out of the cracks in the pavement in so many villages in these parts, and Im sure, all over France, right now.

 The large tent with windows is where the women were preparing the Paella for dinner. They were literally making it right there in the tent! This is a professional Paella making company who cater for Fetes, anniversaries and parties of any kind.

 He was instructed to smile!:) Waz is sitting next to our patron for the evening, Patrick. We didnt know him before being invited to sit alongside him at the bar. He rather adopted us:)

 I think Waz had finished his Sangria....nasty stuff if you drink more than 2 cups...as I said to Patrick, the head rather ends up with the birds, non? Oui! C'est Vrai! This is true, he replied, making circles over his head and whistling like a bird in agreement. We all laughed. He was patient with my French, gesticulated a lot to help my comprehension and we managed to converse for a considerable time. We learned a thing or two...or maybe four, about the area and people, so it was very instructional.
All these people live within perhaps a 6km radius of Lignieres. They are literally our neighbors. It was a comforting feeling to be welcomed thus.
People were open, friendly, kind and thoughtful. Delightful in fact. we felt quite relaxed and 'At Home'!

 As always, I find something out of the ordinary. The neighboring house has a wonderful downspout!

 The young liquidambar tree is glorious in the evening sun.

 Standing in line for our Paella, I looked up  as the last of the sun hit the top of the old church. Pigeons and Swallows flew overhead. The swallows zoomed past our heads, screeching as they went. They do this when we are eating on our terrace at home, too.

 Dinner! Paella with one leg of chicken, one shrimp and one Langoustine on top. Delish, and plenty of food. It contained Mussels, squid, sausage and peas as well.

 Dessert was 3 Churros coated in sugar.
Fuzzy pic...Low light and he moved! You get the idea.

The music had started before dinner was announced and we were all rubbing our tummies and looking famished. We were some of the first to get up and get our food. Perhaps that's why we were so ready to depart so early in the scheme of things?
We cant hear the music from our house...I dont think! We live 1.5kms from town, so we are grateful for that.

When we arrived there were a handful of folks standing around the bar chatting. We stood at the bar for a while waiting to be served. It looked like they were having some 'issues' with the beer machine, and it was warm when delivered to Waz (the beer, that is!) and I received a warm Lipton's Peach Iced tea. 3 euros thanks.
Looking at the few tables near the bar, we were beckoned by a single occupant of the closest one, to join him there. Conversation ensued, and I finally realized that we hadn't introduced ourselves. Our 'patron' has a slight hearing disorder because he mispronounced our names a half dozen times before getting it right, lol. He introduced himself as Patrick. Not Patrice, Patrick. He said that Patrick is such a common name in France, that when he was a child and someone called out "Patrick", a dozen kids would swivel at the neck in reply.
It appears that Patrick has been a resident of our village for the past 20 years, having come from Angouleme before that. We started talking about the weather in our little part of the world, and he said that we live in a 'sweet spot' in the Charente where the sun is out more and we get the breeze which is tolerable and it is less than where his mother lives in La Rochelle, on the Atlantic coast, north west of here. It is also dryer than Cognac to our west and Angouleme to the east.
A retired fellow, he spends the three months from January through March in Morocco. He can fly from Bordeaux to Agadir on the coast there for next to nothing, get around by inexpensive public transport, going great distances for less than 20 euros, and catch a cab anywhere in the city for around 2 euros...see...I was paying close attention!!!:) He said the weather was cooler on the coast there, of course, but also the mountain regions are warm enough in winter and very beautiful. He highly recommended escaping to that country for the winter. Him and a gazillion other English and French!
I asked if the South of Spain wasnt warm enough for him, and he replied that it can get very cold on the southern Spanish coast in Winter, so Morocco was the ideal place to be.
Patrick had an excellent sense of humour and we managed to get a lot of laughs in. His wild gesticulations at times meant we understood more than the words.

During the evening our conversation came around to his motorcycling from LA about 2 thousand km, and we didnt catch the name (American with a French accent? it could have been Houston, TX?) of his destination. He had rented a Harley Davidson...armchair model! you know the kind!! He was impressed that Waz used to ride a Honda 500/4, and I used to ride a Honda 250XL for transport. We also discussed our boating exploits with him. It appears he has also sailed. One trip from Bordeaux around the bottom of Spain to the Med. We had quite a lot in common:)

No point in talking when the music gets loud, so we enjoyed the spectacle of the easy and relaxed crowd dancing to English and French popular songs. It was a totally different experience for us, this rather 'canned' music. When they sang Country Roads by John Denver, we cringed! lol...Up-tempo and the singers were 'flat' most of the song. Not to worry, we sang along in English along with the rest of the crowd. The singer had told us she knows English...she sings it every day, lol, but she doesnt speak it much...you know how that would go!

We came away with a wonderful warm feeling of inclusion. We didnt stick out as foreigners. People were warm and friendly, and we recognized and greeted our Rugby viewing friend from last Saturday, and agreed that we would all meet again this Saturday, same place, last test match. I will have to give careful consideration to the snacks I take this Saturday...Scones for the first one, and muffins for the last...???

Yesterday was a work day per usual.

What this time? Well, we are trying to finish the laundry room so we can do the next load of laundry.
We had been into Chateaubernard, just this side of Cognac and our new favorite place to visit the Brico (hardware store). We learned that processes are pretty much the same here as in the US when you come to purchase things like lumber/timber/hardboard etc. Being large products, they are in the outside/undercover place across the parking lot, where you drive in and around and back up here and open the trunk there and in goes the half sheets of gib board for the ceiling. Our little car is pretty useful and those three independent seats in the back are perfect for tilting forward and putting the 2.5m sheets of Gib in. A little cement dust is easily vacuumed , Waz sat behind me in the one remaining seat because the front passenger seat was otherwise occupied, of course, and we drove home with the Mud and fixings, all of which were purchased at the 'other side' brico.

Whoever added these little rooms opposite each other, didnt do a very good job. Waz is inspecting the ceiling of the laundry room to see where we are going to position the lights. The ceiling creates a mezzanine in the 'pink room' which has a high pitch to the ceiling. We are using that space as outdoor cushion storage right now, and probably for winter storage later for the umbrella and terrace chairs.

 Holes drilled in the beams and now the threading of the wire.

 Et Voila!
Only one small piece of gib to put in.

I was roped in to hold that heavy Gib up while he screwed it to the floor joists above.

All this going on while it is HOT outside. To illustrate how hot it was, and how little wind there was on the terrace today, we had to install a fan to keep the air circulating out there. Normally we are blessed with a wind or breeze...not being the same thing, you understand!

Back to work!

My task has been to clean up the 'stuff' in the bedrooms upstairs. I also keep picking up the dead flies. I guess we will just have to accept that without screens on the windows and doors, this is a new reality. You just dont leave anything uncovered, and with all doors and windows wide open, you accept that they are part of the scenery, as it were.

Getting back to that heat...
We learn as we go. I guess it would be nice, some days, to be told what to do and when, but where is the fun in that? Takes some of the guess-work out of living, but experience is a wonderful teacher.
There is a good reason we have shutters on our windows! yep! those things aren't there just to make the house look pretty (well, that is debatable, and we wont have that one right now). The heat in the sun was such that I knew I had to close those babies to keep the heat out. First, our bedroom directly above the terrace, which, because it is currently dark because of the mold on the concrete, reflects a LOT of heat. We half closed the shutters on the doors to the terrace from the pink room, and that cut down SOME of the heat, but our bedroom was like an oven. Open the door at the far end of the 2nd story and the fresh air and breeze only go so far. Setting up fans to distribute the air into our bedroom, I was very aware of the electricity being expended (think euros!) and knew I would have to do something much smarter next time.  Studying airflow might take a while...another day.

Enlisting Waz's help, we moved the huge Chinese carpet from what is now our work room (was the master and largest bedroom) downstairs to the 2nd half of the large living room. Our big black sofas will go in here, so it will serve to lighten that area. I cant wait to get rid of the ghastly pink, which haunts my dreams now. Replacement color yet to be determined. Right now, I just want everything neutral, so white sounds wonderful, lol.

The carpet that was down here is now in the guest bedroom upstairs. My oh my! So many change arounds. At least that bedroom is now ready for a bed and other furniture when it arrives. The same cant be said for the other one which is still populated by suitcases half emptied....today's job for me.

The first coat of mud was applied to the ceiling and we went out for Music.
This morning, after such a hot day yesterday, there is a cold (arctic?) wind from the Nth west blowing through the house. Well, there WAS before I closed all the windows again. Having aired the place out in a hurry we secured the windows, having first found a way to keep them open...big smile!!!! Remember all those pool noodles we used to protect the glass table tops? Well, Waz got his pocket knife out and cut a few window stoppers . We jamb them into the bottom of the window at the hinge side and it stops them closing and most importantly for their delicate state, banging constantly. Phew!

So, Im just about to put my thinking cap on about where to store all these now empty suitcases. It will necessitate putting them in sealed plastic bags I think, as we have creepy crawlies in the house.
These creepy crawlies have double ends. They look like millipedes, and I know mother nature gave them two heads (not really...they just look like that to fool predators) but they are extremely fast movers and see me coming from a mile away. I have mastered the art of vacuuming them up, though they might run like the wind to escape. You will laugh at us stuffing a paper towel down the end of the vacuum tube to stop them escaping overnight. We felt a bit like scared kids to be honest. I have perhaps, a natural fear of crawlies, after living in Hawaii for 20 years and doing battle with huge cockroaches and centipedes 10 inches long that bite and cause maladies to young children. I even cut one in pieces and the pieces crawled away. Creeeepy! It had just bitten my 10 month old baby, and he came down with a fever soon after, and was quite sick for about three days as a result.

Ok, time for me to get going for the day. Waz is attempting to find something he has put away neatly somewhere. Dont we all know that one? This happens to be a pair of paper overalls we brought from Florida because they are less expensive there than here in France. He is about the sand the first mud layer on the ceiling before adding a second, and then the 1/4 round crown molding to make it all look beautiful and to cover the gaps between concrete walls and Gib. I will go in after the second coat of mud is dry and sanded, and do the finish painting. THEN we can do some laundry, once all the machines are back in place and the cupboards are installed. It is going to be so much more functional and easy to keep clean after this. Yay!

I will first go and empty the vase that is currently a dried arrangement, sitting on the dining table. It has been on my radar for a while now, but you know how these things drop down the list of priorities:)
Enjoy the lovely day. Winds gusting 30kph right now, so our doors are closed. Temps in the mid 20'sC. A good day to do things inside, methinx.

Au Revoir.

oh...and that taking things for granted title??
Well, imagine that you live in historic surrounds each day, and you dont notice them because they ARE YOUR NORM. THAT is what I'm talking about. We live in our surroundings often without noticing them. Notice what is around you and appreciate it for what it is!

Nothing a bit of paint wont fix.

Well, that's the theory! With this ghastly hot pink color predominating in our new home, it is time to get 'clean' as it were. I'm not usually a proponent of white, but in service rooms, I will go for any color as long as it looks clean and is easy to clean. That inevitably means using Satin or Gloss paint.

Satin is our choice this time around and it is indeed easier to apply and clean up.
Someone has used acrylic paint over oil based, everywhere, and we all know that you cant do that...dont we? Consequently the acrylic is peeling off.

Back to the hot pink...

Now that we have a clean and bright new pantry, it was time to get stuck in and do the Laundry room opposite. Not only did we have to paint, but Waz had to do some surgery to various items in the room to make sure it all functions the way it is meant to. Anytime you have water in a room, it pays to check the plumbing out first of all. That done, he set about prepping the room with a first coat of paint.

Before...
'Things' were previously hanging off the wall, so those places had to be spackled to cover up the HUGE holes someone had made. a quick sanding and they were ready for the first coat of white.

 Yes, someone did a rush job on the building of the pantry and the laundry. We still dont understand the thinking behind the two rooms, but they exist, and they are useful and so they stay. The alternative isnt very attractive and we need both rooms, so ...they stay.
After the room is painted we will install the ceiling board. Why not before? Because Mrs Perfectionist wanted it this way! I wanted to make sure there was good paint coverage on the walls before attacking the ceiling job. Not a biggy, it just means painting the ceiling, when it is installed. Easy!

 First coat finished.

Of course we decide to do this around 4pm. Nothing like being unmotivated to do anything all day, and then suddenly saying..."Let's paint the laundry!". Emptying the room took a bit of jockeying with the load cart, so I left Waz to it...mostly because he is quite capable of doing this on his own. Too many helpers??lol.

Yes, it really is a small room! 

So, in the meantime....It was all left to dry overnight.

We woke the first time this morning around 6am. Grey skies, go back to sleep.

2nd wake up was 7.20am Bright blue skies outside. Throw open the windows in the bedroom, breath the glorious fresh air, and survey our little kingdom. Yes, we do feel like King and Queen some days:)

The sun is just hitting the nearest vines and coming in the glass doors onto the terrace. I love going out there and surveying the scene, first thing.

 You can see the fog layer in the distance. This is 7.30am. How happy we were to wake to sunshine this morning, after a couple of weeks of almost constant rain or drizzle and grey skies. It really does affect your mood. While we liked living in almost eternal sunshine in Florida, it can get old too. No pleasing some people??:)

 Our grapevine is coming along nicely, and those grapes appear to be elongated. They may prove good eating!

 We have been selling some of our furniture and other items online in this area. This took some of the morning as local English folks turned up to take a look at the table tennis table. Lovely to meet some more locals from literally just down the road. Having been here for 17 years, they are not just fluent in French, but know who to ask for what! We are excited to make their acquaintance.

I decided to get going on the final paint coats just before lunch...around 11am. I like the detail bits on any project, so Waz left me to it. Four coats later, with lunch on the terrace in between coats, it is finished.
All washed up, we went outside to the north terrace for our afternoon coffee break.

 It is pretty warm today, so it was lovely sitting out there with a cooling breeze. Waz is going to power wash this terrace in the very near future. It will be the first of many such projects around the house.

In the meantime...or was it this morning? I had been informed that an English journalist wanted to telephone interview a non-EU resident in France who had just purchased their home. Silly me volunteered...and then she wanted me to send them a selfy in my PINK kitchen. Her comment upon receiving this photo was "WOW! It IS rather bright!" lol. I like the general pink glow, dont you?

So, back outside and I had been 'told' that the tomato plants needed staking. Yes boss!
Bamboo stakes were found, some new pots sorted out to transplant some of the smaller plants and repot them, and all were tied up.
I think I will need to transplant the trough tomatoes as the soil isnt deep enough for them. the ones in the pot at right are doing exceptionally well, after Waz fertilized them.

 The middle right tomato plant is dying, I think. I have been accused of being a 'killer'!. yes, well....I didnt mean to!

 The Mint, bottom left, and the Basil bottom right are the herbs I use the most. I do need to start some chives from seeds and some ordinary parsley...soon!

I have been informed that it is now 'Wine o'clock'. It is after 5pm, so I guess it is:) I will make some hamburgers for dinner from the 15% fat minced beef we bought last week. Some chopped bacon and eschalots and a little garlic, and they should be delicious.

We will go and relax for a bit now. Our new English friends are coming to collect the table at 6, so we can relax until then.

A bientot. Picking up the ceiling Gib in the morning. This should be fun:)

An Evening Stroll

In Search of the elusive Orchids that I have been told are all around the un-mown berms in the area and throughout France. There are apparently at least 50 native wild orchids in France!
I found one in the lawn upon our return to France and before I mowed it! Duh! I cannot even find a trace of the plant when I go looking, now.
Since then, I scour the berms everywhere in the hope that we will find another orchid. I thought to take my camera tonight...well, I should admit to stealing Waz's camera, as mine bit the dust the night before our container was due to arrive.
Tonight's stroll down the main road berms between the vines and the road yielded a coup. One problem...If we had come down this way even two days ago, we might have found this orchid in bloom. After so much rain in the last couple of weeks, it is no wonder that the blooms were trashed. I was very excited to have found this large two stem plant, nonetheless.
I dont include a scale for these little flowers, but lets estimate that each flower is less than the size of an American Penny. For those not familiar with those, lets say they are about 1 cm across/long, so they are fairly small.

 The two stems were a complete surprise and I almost dismissed them as something else.

Being a lovely evening and having sat outside for dinner today, we thought to enjoy a stroll in the cool and last of the sunshine.
We actually put the umbrella up and enjoyed our lunch and afternoon tea out there on the terrace. We have music again (stereo), so afternoon tea was accompanied by Dire Straits, which brought back memories for me of the first time I heard them, in Paris, 1981:) But I digress...

Ok, I will go back to dinner, perhaps. Those lamb chops we bought last week were looking like they were going to hoof it out of the fridge, so time to B-B-Q them. The last of the cole slaw was also in dire need of eating, but I did want to make some Pommes Parmentier, as I had some perfect potatoes for it and some Gran Padano cheese, instead of Parmesan. I prefer the taste of the former, frankly.
A rub of walnut oil and salt for the ripe meat, and they were slapped onto the grill at high heat, sealing in the juices. Perfect! Waz is an expert grillsman. It did get a little chilly out there once the sun left the terrace, but it is lovely to have music while we eat, and we didnt really want to leave, but a walk was in the scheme of things.

Such a lovely evening! We stood on the terrace looking up at the huge number of bees we have coming and going from our chimney. It is a disused one and I think it used to be the Kitchen chimney, but now it goes nowhere and is otherwise sealed. We will consult a bee-keeper I think. Perhaps they can entice them to go somewhere else?

Down the road is a Cognac storage facility belonging to one of the main Domaine in this area, Frapin.

 I have been intending to take photos of this glorious display of climbing roses since we returned, and now they are past their best. Too bad, you can imagine that they were 100% better than this?

 The former house inside the gates. I note that the grape vine is well manicured, but we have no idea what this place is now. I wonder if it was a school at one stage? I must visit the Mairie to find out more of the history of this area.

Moving right along down the road, camera at the ready, interrupting the walk of course, but this is the first time I have remembered the camera and I did want to share our gorgeous views with you all.
Being 7pm, the light was  nice and soft.
That little group of houses is in what is called a Lotissement (lot iss mong) or subdivision, just before the little town of Lignieres.

 One of our neighboring homes attached to a barn/storage facility which is referred to here as a Dependence (day pon donce). Homes are advertised as being a 'Maison avec Dependence (s)'. Meaning there is a house and out-buildings or attached barn, etc.

 A far view

 We can just see the town of Barbezieux (Bar bez yer) on the hill in the distance. The tower is attached to the Chateau on the top of the hill, there. This is where we normally do our food shopping, having several supermarkets, all of which have good selections. It is only 11kms away.

 There is a large forested area right next door to our house (well, next to our one neighbor) and we are free to walk in there and through the vines, as long as we dont destroy anyone else's property on the way. This is the same everywhere in France. Even though these lands are privately owned, the public can access them as long as there are no fences or signs prohibiting access.

 Roadside wild geranium.

 One of those nasty American weeds! We hardly ever find litter, but it usually consists of American brand fast food wrappers.

 You cant beat Mother Nature's arrangements:)

 I think you can see how hard it would be to identify an orchid in this mass of vegetation.

 One of my favorite scenes is actually coming this way from up there on the forested hill. That big building on the left is the quintessential Cognac Chateau, surrounded by the vines and gently undulating hills. There is nowhere to park to take a photo, though. One day I will brave the traffic and stop on the hill and take the photo! It might be through the car window, however:)

 Coquillecot (co keel ko) or poppy. These wild poppies are everywhere right now. Sometimes whole fields of red, and sometimes you see patches in the wheat or barley fields. They never cease to bring a smile. These are the poppies referred to in the poem 'On Flanders Fields'!
 https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/flanders-fields  (Highlight the link and copy and past to your browser for the full poem.

 In times gone by it was common to plant a rose bush at the end of each row of vines. Two reasons, according to many sources: If the rose shows signs of disease, then the viticulturalist has time to spray so that the vines dont contract it. Secondly, so that the plough horses (they plough the soil between rows) would take a wide berth when rounding the corner, not wanting to get the rose thorns in them, and lastly (I know, I said two...but I lied!) to make sure the horses or tractor didnt hit the guy wire or straining post at the end of the row. Take your pick.
These days you rarely see a rose bush at the ends of rows of vines, and this one below is the ONLY one we have seen in these parts. It is here for no apparent reason, as there are no others to be seen nearby.
Nowadays viticulturalists monitor satellite images of weather to warn them of unfavorable conditions that might affect their vines, and also the color of the vines as seen from space and you would think that if the rose is showing signs of disease, it will be way too late to stop it affecting the vines.

We see activity in the vine rows almost daily. If there isnt someone walking and pruning, there is a tractor spraying or trimming sides and tops, and then the mowers and the ploughs...no horses to be seen! it is very high tech these days. We marvel at the amount of equipment...some of it very strange looking, but clearly with a purpose... that passes our gate every day. Its also kind of fun to speculate what torture device it might be:)

These folks need to mow between their vines! tsk!

 This is a common sight in these here parts. Tanks for cognac! It is a process...you can find out more here...
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-6/Cognac.html
Again, highlight the link, copy and paste to your browser. It is worth knowing this!

 The water tower on the right was the source of one of our afternoon quests. What, if anything, is there, said Waz?? It took us up hill and down dale and some pretty skinny roads to find out there is nothing else 'there', per se.lol.

 Arent they lovely? dont know what they are, but they sure are decorative. Lots of them out, this evening, and lots of other orange and red bugs. We didnt touch!

 Look at that lovely arrangement around the flower. It is almost woven. It looks like an Allium, but I cant be sure.

This is another Cognac Chateau and Dependences. The white things on the far right are plastic sleeves on the new vines. There is a constant process of regeneration going on, of course. We came across a field growing the new vine slips. They were literally stuck in the ground at 2 inch intervals. Funny, because we had just be speculating on how they grow their root stock, and voila!:) The answer was right there for us to see.

 The roof of our house from down the road.
You can see our orange roof and white house from a long way off, sitting on top of it's hill.... I had to laugh out loud...I was giving someone directions to our house, and I said..."It's the white house with the orange tile roof"...but all the houses around here are white with orange tile roofs! Silly wench! No wonder they couldn't find us! lol

 A closer look at that lovely Chateau up the road that I want to photograph from the other direction. The view is to die for! You will see.

 Isnt it funny. I have seen this tower in the distance every day. Only just now when I enlarged the photo did I see that it is in fact an ancient one! lol

 This stunning flower stalk is from the Dock plant. The evening light helps!

 On the homeward leg....looking through the vines.

 Cow slip?

 There's that house again. Very photogenic!

 I will watch these blackberries!!! I know where they are now:) I see some future dessert feasts at the side of the road.

One of the neighboring houses. This bell fascinates me. There appears to be no reason to have the bell outside this window, and so high of the ground.

 Some of the neighboring buildings are very photogenic, dont you think? There are wells like this one everywhere. you are most fortunate to have a well on your property...Free Water!

 Some of the neighbors are a bit loud...and furry!:) these ones need attention. They appear to be confined most of the time.

 The stone has been 're-pointed' at some stage as it is in reasonable shape. Again, neighbors!

 The view of that house from next to ours.

 The clematis is going for it's life over the front gate.

It's going on 10pm, but it is still light outside.  Time to do some reading.

Night night.