Weather and wildlife update

St Benôit

It has been odd weather recently. We had a hot couple of weeks (during which I had a spell in a cooler UK), then two days of rain.

On Tuesday we were enjoying lunch in a friend's garden as the weather improved once again. Wednesday was warmer. Yesterday we were sweltering and the pool was very well used, it was lovely in the shade. Last night we had supper with friends some way south of here where we were enjoying the sunset but still sweltering.

We had coffee by their pool watching a very distant lightning show but the storm was obviously a long way south and moved on eastwards. The friends' dogs and cats were enjoying the garden wildlife; frogs were hopping along the side of the swimming pool, a stag beetle went for a swim and was hastily fished out in a net and left to dry off, and bats were whizzing through under their abri. We'd never come across bats getting quite so close to people before but as soon as we noticed one heading our way it was gone again and we lost sight of it.

On the way home, as I was distracted by more lightning, one of our friends noticed a barn owl sitting by the side of the road, we must have passed within feet of it and I was so sorry to have missed seeing it.

Today has been different once again. We had lunch with family who are staying in a nearby gite. The temperature has been fluctuating one minute to the next by up to 10 degrees and the sun has been fighting to come out and sadly lost the battle most of the time. We were hounded by flies all through lunch which was a real nuisance. We don't seem to have a problem down here but up on the hill at the gite there are hundreds of the blighters who, throughout lunch, were intent on eating not only our delicious trout, but also the tomatoes, cucumber and even the lettuce - they must be starving!

Eventually with the aid of a flyswat or two we managed to see most of them off and enjoyed our coffee in relative peace.

It does surprise us how we can travel just a few kilometres in any direction and find completely different flora. Up at the gite there are wild yellow brooms, wild thyme and orchids are still flowering. Down here we never see wild broom, only gorse and our orchids are long gone.

A couple of weeks ago we were plagued with nasty green-faced horseflies which give a very nasty bite. They would come swimming with us dive-bombing us all the time and at night would dive in on their own and eventually drown in the pool. They have all disappeared now but the waterboatmen who were around in April and hadn't been seen for a couple of months are back again, skimming over the top of the pool.

Trevor and Tina Toad haven't been seen for a month or so but we hope they have just moved on and have a new home.

Those who haven't moved on are the two little cats from next door but since I have been leaving biscuits out for them on a regular basis, they are looking much better and aren't hanging around the kitchen door quite so persistently as they were.