Catch up - overdue again!

Despite all my good intentions it's been a month again! I've finally given in to the hectoring by he who shall remain nameless - but we all know who he is!  We have been busy. The gite has been booked out for the last three weeks or so, and is full until the middle of September, which we are thrilled with. So far guests have been delightful and full of complements, even when the weather has been a little damp and thundery. (It has improved now - honest!) The Bed and Breakfast branch of Vue de Duras has also been busy, so there has been much laundering, cooking and cleaning going on, with not much time for blog writing. Nicole has been working hard, but has escaped back to the UK for a week. She will be back here for two weeks, and then back to Worcester permanently as she has landed what looks like a fantastic job, which apparently she is going to get paid for as well! On the subject of jobs, Ellen, lovely eldest daughter has also landed the job of her dreams this week too, clever girl ended up with a choice of two. Well done El!

So..news updates and photo's today.

A new fence around the pond for safety's sake.

It looks a little stark at the moment, but I see it as a  blank canvas begging for  plants to add colour and form!

Added at the same time as the fence, a bit of trellis to give a little privacy to the gite terrace 

Already planted with a beautiful bougainvillea.

A swing added to the tree - irresistible! 

I spotted a baby redstart outside the window - they are living in the fig tree, still being fed  by the adults.

The chickens have had an extension built, they now have three times the amount of room to scratch about in. Here they are heading through the hole in the fence into the extension for the first time.

One of our 'hens' - crowing! We still think there may be three or even four cockerels where there should only be one!

Basket of plums picked from the orchard next door. Unfortunately, it's been such an odd year weatherwise, that they are not big enough to be sold as Agen prunes, so many will be left to rot on the trees. They make lovely jam and desserts!

While I didn't get to make a vegetable garden this year, I did squeeze a couple of courgette plants in amongst the flowers.

and a butternut squash - I think!

 So, that's the news for now. I will try to do better!

Morning mist and baby redstarts

This morning, as I was on my way to let the chickens out, I noticed that the chateau at Duras was hovering in, and then disapppeared into the mist. It soon burned off to leave a bright and sunny day.

The second brood of redstart chicks are growing, making far more noise. They refuse to make an appearance for the camera though, obviously on strict instructions not to talk to strangers! I rush out every time I hear them, but they go completely silent when I approach.

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.

New arrivals

Lots of news to report in this blog, but I'll start with the promised pictures of our bargains from last weekend's vide grenier....

a treadle sewing machine - complete - to use as a dressing table in one of the guest bedrooms

a sweet little table for another room

the marble top for the table below, for one of the bathrooms

Lovely bargains, can't wait to get started on a wash and brush up to get them ready for public viewing.

But now, the really exciting news......the arrival of our new chicks.....
first... the erection of the fence to keep them in

Celebrating the completion of the fence - we're ready for the chicks!

And here they are - or at least some of them! We have five hens (we hope!) and one cockerel.

Examining her new (temporary) home

We picked up the chicks on Sunday morning, but we were not alone! We were accompanied by a film crew (the lovely Kate and Suzi) from ITV making a TV programme about Brits living in this part of France.

Us, Morgan in the middle, who did such a brilliant job of raising our chicks, Andrea and the two Jonathons from Domaine Gourdon, previous home of chicks and Kate and Suzi with the filming equipment.

A quick break in filming  - what to do next?!!

The coop has been painted and decorated, but is still a bit big and high for the little ones, so they are staying in the concrete hutch next door for the time being.

 

We have a couple more new arrivals too..in the bird box above the kitchen window (completely ignoring the new box with the infra red camera!) this little redstart is sitting on at least 4 eggs.....

 ... and these two chicks are the first brood of a pair of collared doves nesting in the palm tree in full view of one of the guest rooms. They are currently sitting on a second clutch of two eggs.

Another first today......the swimming pool is finally ready and we had our first dip

I almost forgot, the gite is looking good, the tiles are laid in one of the bedrooms and shower rooms, and looking great.

Hugh says he keeps on working because he thinks Nicole and I spend too much money when he's not here!........

I wish...........really a visit from Jerry, in his beautiful Rolls!
and this is what Hugh does when he's here anyway....

Only joking, his feet have hardly hit the ground while he's been here for the Easter holidays, and he's back to the UK tomorrow to earn some more pennies.