We've been blighted and bitten

St Henri-Joel
Yesterday's weather: Started cloudy, ended clear and sunny - 23 deg.

The wettest spring on record here has, unfortunately, taken its toll on our tomato plants. The beautiful big tomatoes I've been nurturing have succombed to blight and I fear we are losing them all. The cherry tomatoes are prolific on the patio and seem to have escaped, although I am keeping a close eye on them. The plum tomatoes also seem to have escaped. Courgettes too, seem to have suffered from the excess rain and although they started well a few weeks ago, they have virtually stopped producing and their leaves are beginning to go yellow. So I will have to go to market this morning to stock up on vegetables.

Jon is taking advantage of a morning without rain to mow the lawn, which is looking very much greener than it has in previous years.

We took a day out yesterday and went to Figeac, a beautiful town to the east of here. We had a good lunch in the old covered market square and had a long time to wander around the narrow streets discovering all sorts of little shops tucked away. Figeac is one of the places we would love to live if we ever have to consider moving to a town in our dotage (some would say that has already come!). It is right on the River Lot and has everything we could need but it still retains a small town feel to it and doesn't seem quite as much of a holiday town as some of those nearer to us. This is probably because it is on the edge of the Auvergne region, one of the most remote areas of France, although it is still reasonably accessible by train, car and plane as good old RyanAir fly to Rodez.

We went to Figeac a couple of years ago for lunch with my mother. It was just a little pizzeria but they had tables set out in a pretty little courtyard and it looked very inviting. Jon and Mum received their meals but mine never turned up. After about half an hour of trying to find someone to bring my pizza, they had to relight the pizza oven and cook it for me as they had forgotten. Needless to say, we didn't go there yesterday!

Ankle biters
Mosquitos have arrived. We've not done too badly so far this year but we were sitting out yesterday evening listening to the radio and despite liberally spraying each other with repellant and burning a citronella candle we didn't escape. We've got a nice strong repellant which also works against ticks (ugh) but even though it is, allegedly, tropical strength, the mozzies don't seem to be averse to it. Avon Skin-so-Soft is the repellant I used to use before the threat of ticks, so maybe I should go back to that - or wear both.