Whatever happened to August?!

Another month has whizzed by, sorry to those of you who have been badgering me for an update.
So ....what has happened over the past month...? Well, we've had visits from friends...

Phil and Liz

The little Jacksons

Enjoying pony rides in Savignac.

Visits from family....

Susie and .....

Rob....enjoying the pool and the sunshine.....

...together.

Hugh was here for half of August....

..master of all he surveys (he thinks!)

He was very busy......

Trimming the palm trees...

and sticking loose tiles back in the pool.

Some jobs are trickier than others - securing umbrellas for instance!

We have also enjoyed the night markets in Duras, Monsegur and other local villages.

Hugh and Rob....

and Nicole, enjoying Duras night market.

Other visitors have included plenty of paying guests - thank you to everyone who spent a little time with us over the summer. I'm pleased to say that all our guests have been delightful, and we look forward to meeting many of them again.

Other guests, uninvited, but mostly welcome have included...

a heath bee fly - friendlier than it looks, I believe

Hoopoes, that I thought were long gone, but are just not calling any more.

 A partidge, one of a large group that roam through the garden, orchards and vines.

One of the toads enjoying his daytime retreat. They spend their evenings roaming the terrace eating all sorts of bugs.

The roses have been flowering all summer.

The grapes have been ripening.

These are merlot grapes, in the vineyard at the bottom of our garden.

Some pictures of the vendange at Domaine Gourdon. OK, so mostly pictures of everyone having a lovely  lunch provided by Lesley, for everyone who had helped pick, firstly the Sauvignon and then the merlot grapes. 

Just to prove that some work was done!

Coffee time!

This area of France is in the middle of the vendange now, the harvesting of the grapes that make the wonderful wine of the Duras appellation - come and try some!

So, a very busy month and a fantastic first season for the Vue de Duras chambres d'hotes and gite. 

We couldn't have done it - certainly in the style we managed - without Nicole, who has now returned to the UK ready to start her new job next week. So thank you Nicki, for all your hard work, your inspiration, for keeping me going, for feeding me when I didn't want to cook (often!) and just for the unexpected pleasure of your company for the best part of a year. Thank you!

Thank you.

Finally, good luck to both my lovely daughters, who are starting new jobs this week, Nicole, for an interior design company in Worcestershire and Ellen, for the National Trust in Gloucestershire. Enjoy!

Jim the Digger

Jim the Digger was here today, Filling in the old pond (nice and level - so perfect for camping on!) and digging a channel for the electrics to run a UV filter and pump, to keep the new pond clean and the water fresh to water my plants. The fence around the new pond is going up later in the week, so all will be safe in the Vue de Duras garden.

Who is that lurking in the sunflowers?!

Hugh was here at the weekend, and trying to relax a bit more than of late. We still managed to pack a fair bit in though. New tyres for the car, house full of guests, meals to cook, tv to buy and set up in the gite. Still time for a fantastic meal at Famille Moutier (look at the menu - well worth a visit if you are staying at Vue de Duras), and for some lurking in the sunflowers! 

The weather has been great, the pool is at a fairly constant 30 degrees, all meals have been taken outside and we had a lovely weekend with Chris and Sarah. 

Bookings for our lovely chambre d'hote and gite are coming in thick and fast - Hugh WILL be able to retire soon! Roll on the day....

Chicks......

The chicks are growing, day by day. They now sleep in the big coop, although they haven't progressed onto the perches yet. It took a couple of days for them to put themselves to bed in their new accommodation.

Our other chicks have hatched, four baby redsarts in the box, getting louder and more demanding every day. The adults are very brave, totally ignoring all human activity going on around them.

The garage is now complete, which means we can start to clear other areas of the house.

Just needs the doors painted now!

Hugh and Tom are taking over for the weekend, while Nicole and I have a weekend off! 

Me, Tom and Nicole

Tom in the pool and Nicole thinking about it!

Filming the preparations for a visit to the Maire, me clutching my trusty dictionary, just in case!

They also filmed us putting these coins back in the wall, where they were found.

The kitchen cabinets, made up in preparation to be fitted at the weekend when the tiling is finished.

The beautiful tilleul, or linden tree, in full bloom.

And finally, this amazing moon rise last night, which we watched while sitting on the terrace.

Another step forward...

It's been a while - I don't quite know what happens to time out here! More changes to report - I'm looking forward to a time when the only changes are the seasons. So, where to start.....
The gite - still not ready, but looking great, the builders are doing a great job, and the shower rooms have had the walls tiled and are ready for the floor tiles..

The bedrooms are plastered, painted and the floors will be tiled in a few days time...

The outside furniture has all been treated and looks fantastic - just begging for meals to be eaten outside (already happens on a daily basis!)

The pool has been cleaned, is warming up nicely and is almost ready for a dip (just a bit more adjusting on the chlorine.)

The chickens have a home, ready for the weekend. The permanent one will be ready soon - just a little adjustment of the legs to take account of the slope (we built it like that on purpose, I swear!) the roof added, a bit more work on the walls and voila! as we like to say!

I'm hoping the fence will keep them in until they're ready to be really free-range - they're a bit on the small side at the moment...

but growing quickly, like everything else around here!

Tiny buds on the vines. They look great, but apparently they are suffering from a shortage of rain following the driest April in years. We did have an amazing thunder storm the other night, but not enough rain to satisfy the farmers and vignerons. 

The vide greniers have started again (flea market/car boot sales) with one virtually every weekend all summer in one or other of the local villages. These plants were from the one in Duras a couple of weeks ago. 

 Last weekend there was one at St Sernin, where we found some great bargains, which I am off to photograph now, and will add to the blog later, as we are about to go out to dinner - a treat for all the hard work we have done this week - so far!