Cold spell

The first cold spell of winter has passed. We had snow, but compared to other parts of Europe it was not much. The change in the weather gave a spectacular sunrise.

November snow

Winter is starting early in the south of France as well. We are experiencing cold nights, something quite unusual for the time of year. By midday the snow had melted, but there is more on the way.

The Dordogne valley in the morning

Every morning our view is different. I must have made a thousand pictures already. These 3 are a combination of 3 pictures each, one underexposed, one properly exposed and one overexposed, and then combined by software. (HDR)

Autumn colours in Dordogne

The colours are just amazing. And.....

we think the castle looks better in autumn colours

The oak is just east of the castle. In real life it is even better.

Caterpillars and other bugs

Fire bug, scientific name Phyrrhocoris Apterus. (Apterus means "without wings". Although they can't fly they do have wings.)

This caterpillar is Calliteara Pudibunda, Pale Tussock in English, or "Meriansborstel" in Dutch
The butterfly is active at night and is a dull grey.

This bug is a Graphosoma Lineatum, or a pyjama bug.

All these insects are abundant now, preparing for winter.

Relief

After nearly 2 months without rain, relief finally arrived this week with spectacular skies. We had 50mm of rain in 3 days. Not nearly enough, but the grass is already recovering.

Pub

Pub, French, short for publicité. Since we have the privilige to live in such a nice (touristic) area, we might as well make some "publicité" or advertisement. This medieval castle, Chateau de Fenelon, is just around the corner of where we live. The setting is just great. Come and see for yourselves!

A little anecdote: When we first arrived here we saw a sign just in front of the local watering hole: "pas de pub". We thought: the French don't know how to write English and we both wondered why we had to pass the pub. But it simply means, please no advertisement leaflets in my letterbox. (pas de publicité)

More butterflies

This year there seem to be many of the rather rare "papilio machaon". These large butterflies are not very approachable and have to be photographed with a telelens (300mm). Another challenge is to find an undamaged one, most of them have something missing from their delicate wings.

They are attracted by the fragrant lavender, which is in full bloom now.

Jayden on the mountain

Granny Janny and me are enjoying the company of our grandson Jayden and his parents, who are on a holiday at Les Catalpas.

Butterflies of 2010

The lavender and the butlea are attracting all sorts of butterflies: Hemaris Fuciformis

maniola jortina

ochlodes faunus

papilio machaon

Meanwhile, back at the FunnyFarm

A couple of months ago our chickens were killed again, this time we think it was a fox.
But yesterday we got 2 new ones, Piaf and Binoche. They are ready to lay eggs and indeed, yesterday we already had 2 small eggs.
Poor Sacha does not know where to go first, the cats or the chicks.

And then there is Boy, a female Dachshund who is visiting with his "parents". She got bitten by the german shephard from the neighbours.

With Sacha, Boy, Minoes, Miepje, Piaf and Binoche it looks like the FunnyFarm here.

Miepje, daughter of Minoes

The daughter of Minoes, our stray cat, has been christened Miepje. She had sort of been adopted, but the adoption was cancelled because of a cat-unfriendly husband.
So, she will probably stay on Les Catalpas.
She is growing well.

Cèpes / Porcini / Eekhoorntjesbrood

The cèpes are very early this year, after a very wet and thundery week. We had about 130mm of rain! The Dordogne, normally crystal clear, is now a river of mud.

Tonight we will enjoy the cèpes with fried new potatoes and a nice piece of Quercy lamb.

After the birds, the bees

Some of our roses flower abundantly now and attrack many honey bees. A feast for the eye, and a challenge to make some good pictures.

Minoes

Minoes, our stray cat, gave birth underneath a garden shed. Although she looks docile in the picture, she is a fierce mother. She attacks our dog to protect her young. We don't know how many there are. We will have to have her sterilized, but how to catch her.

How many mouths to feed?

Waiting for the other parent to leave.

Off for another caterpillar, now it's the other parents' turn

The chicks most probably hatched. Mom and dad are queing up to feed their offspring. We hope they all survive as the temperatures are way below normal. We will keep you updated.

Birds in spring

The blue tits (mésange bleue en Francais, pimpelmees in het Nederlands) are having a ball. Dad is flying in the goodies.......

Feeding mummy.......

And off he goes for another insect......

(the result of my new toy, a pentax k-x dslr, 55-300mm zoom)

Spring is here

The past couple of days we had the cranes migrating north. It's the talk of the village, "Spring is here". When you are at the bakery everybody talks about it and asks one another if they saw or heard them. It really is a warming sight.

Tens of thousands of these large birds migrate from the south of Spain to Scandinavia. They make a stopover near an artificial lake east of Paris where they get fed (not that the French are birdlovers, they rather shoot them, but to avoid damage to farms). For birdwatchers a real treat.

Another sign of spring

The salamander are getting out of hibernation This type (salamandra salamandra) becomes active over 10c.

(In Dutch: vuursalamander)

Has spring arrived?

The daffodils (above) and the irisses (below)are starting to sprout. We hope this means winter has ended and spring has arrived. It's about time.