Owl Rescue and Other News
Hello from the Tarn
I hope you have all had a good few weeks? It has been eventful here – when is it not? We have covered many more kilometres than usual however!
But first gorgeous news. Our little owls have nested in one of our attics. They usually nest in the tower but were clearly ejected from this spot last year and picked a spot under the apex of the highest roof. Two babies did not make it, perhaps forced out of the nest as happens sometimes, perhaps due to a fall from a great height. The attic they are now in is our storage attic so generally peaceful and undisturbed. However occasionally we do need to venture up to retrieve further paint supplies or some other stored item. We heard rustling and scratching on the floorboards and discovered two babies, understandably a little terrified by our presence. We beat a hasty retreat, but were thrilled to have seen them from afar. These little owls are so sweet, flying day and night and often around just watching what we humans are getting up to! Since then we have had to rescue a Little Owl from our utility room – an adventure in itself as you can imagine and have listened to them fledging at night-time – quite noisy. On the subject of owl rescue, whilst trying to coax the Little Owl from the utility room by leaving doors and windows open, watching from outside, we got to see a magnificent Barn Owl flying out of the little lucarne (opening in the tower roof), huge wings outstretched, a pale shadowy presence in the night sky.
Back to the kilometres we have travelled this month. We had an impromptu trip to Toulouse to meet up with my niece and her friends who were on a short European holiday from Australia. A hot day, an early start as I had my second eye operation, then on to Toulouse. We found a shady spot by the river for a picnic and spent a lovely couple of hours catching up and hearing all about the trip so far – London and Paris. They were off to Nice after that and then on to Italy – very jealous!
Hot on the heels of that (literally the next day) we had to go to Bordeaux, a 3 ½ hour drive from us. My son’s passport had not arrived, and as we were due to travel to the UK he had had to apply for an emergency passport. I have never visited Bordeaux before. What a beautiful city, so airy, wide promenades and open spaces and a sea breeze blowing along the river. The emergency passport collection went like a dream and we than had a wander around the centre of the city. The architecture is beautiful, terraces of impressive white stoned buildings face the river, interspersed with archways or squares boasting fountains or sculptures. This is definitely somewhere I would like to spend some time.
In my last post I mentioned that I had been tempted by some friends to go to a local vide grenier – oops I didn’t resist – a village affair with tables set out in their central square. I wish I could say I bought nothing but non! I came away with a mouli (always wanted one and this one is as new for 5€), an alabaster table lamp with a dodgy shade, now cleaned and sporting a new shade, some garlic from a local farm and a pretty oil on canvas for my lovely husband – terrible frame but colourful picture. All this for less than the price of the new lampshade – I do love a vide grenier, vide maison, brocante market, etc.
In other news, I have just returned from a very brief trip to the UK. My son came too so I had some company on the journey and it was a good challenge for him. Given the escalation in Covid cases (1 in 15 in England) he took the heart-breaking decision to miss his graduation. Being packed into a space with hundreds of people just did not seem the right thing to do. I am not going to go on about this, but people going about their business with Covid is something I fail to understand. What about those around you? Why is mask-wearing so challenging in the face of a virus we do not really understand?
Moving swiftly on, whilst in the UK I was able to go for early morning walks to the beach. Being by the sea really is my happy place – so why I hear you ask am I living in the middle of the French countryside 3 hours from the coast? Well money played a large role – coastal properties are much more expensive, but also we fell in love with the area and our petit château. One day perhaps we will head to somewhere nearer the coast, but not yet. I really enjoyed the calm of the quiet beach, very few out so early, just some intrepid swimmers and a few dog walkers. Each trip yielded some sea glass – I cannot leave a beach without finding some, beautiful hues of green, frosted by sand and sea. However each walk also showed the scar that some humans leave on the beach. The rubbish is awful and a real threat to sea life. What a collection of items that are either left or wash up on the shore. In another world each would have story to tell, but drinks cans and disposable bbqs just tell of thoughtless people leaving the remnants of their fun for others to deal with.
Wow I think I am being a bit ranty. As I age I seem to worry more about our impact on our beautiful planet, and not before time too really. The heatwave across Europe tells us we need to act, but will we?
More bird sagas. Whilst I was away Max had to deal with a bird strike. A Jay flew through one of our wafer thin panes of glass in the old French doors in the kitchen. Amazingly having destroyed the window the bird was unharmed, just a bit stunned. After a couple of minutes it took off around the room, eventually shepherded out of the double French doors by Max. The big clean up ensued along with boarding up the lost pane until we can get a new piece of glass cut. As I have said before, never a dull moment!
Anyway I am now back in France, sitting at my kitchen table, the windows and French doors all open to catch the early morning breeze, before the heat sets in and everything is closed tight again. With the early summer heatwaves (normally 38-40°C in August not June onwards) the garden is struggling to survive, the grass golden and crispy. Weeds seem to manage no matter what! In spite of watering, my new blackberry bushes are very unhappy. Even some of my new lavender plants have given up the ghost – perhaps too new and not well enough established before our long hot summer set in.
I also seem to be struggling to get back into my routine! But I must as there is, as ever, so much to do. A positive from the hot weather is that we are making time to swim almost every day, always lovely and a great way to feel so much better. Another hot day ahead, but the promise of perhaps a little rain at the end of the week!
A bientôt
Ali xx
