Really in the Country Now

Staying on a farm in near Limoges in the middle of nowhere for the week. Out of contact, will write when I get back to civilization.

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Bowl of Corkscrews

Got this huge old bowl and a bunch of classic corkscrews made from grapevines. I think I'm gonna sell them on Ebay.

How to Open a Bottle of Wine with Your Shoe

Vieux Pont

This is the old bridge in La Roche Posay. It dates from 1175 (or Roman times), and is now a bicycle path, but the best view is from the new bridge or at sunset. Another pic here.

Tournesol

Tournesol is French for sunflower (literally "turn to the sun"). There are endless fields of these all over.

Making Hay

All around us they are harvesting the hay. Each stage is so beautiful and surreal.

Details

Just a cool detail from the decaying outbuilding at a chateau in Bonneuil-Matours.

Flower Pics

I'm really getting into photographing flowers. These are just snapshots of flowers as they bloom around the chateau property, but it's fun documenting the change in the grounds, as different flowers bloom. Pretty much chronological from May up 'til now.

Chateau d'Alogny on Facebook

Couldn't Sleep This Morning

and got a great pic of the sunrise from my window:

Creepy Pod Plant

Liz potted a little pink flower in this pot and left the weed because it looked cool and kinda creepy:

It is now called Audrey 2, after the plant in the Little Shop of Horrors, because it's getting a little out of control:

Will keep posting as it develops but I'm a little scared. Here's one growing in the driveway, it's about 5 feet tall:

Nighttime in St. Pierre

Here's the view from the house in St. Pierre after dark.

Hedgehog Alert!

Found this little guy swimming in the pool yesterday. He fell in and couldn't get out. Butterfly net to the rescue:

Un petit herisson!

This Doesn't Even Look Real, Does It?

I was just out for a drive and passed this. No retouching, and just snapped with my iPhone. Amazing.

Technology: Doors

Here's our back door, to the lower terrace, at the base of the tower:

Here's the lock:

Neolithic Funerary Dolmen

Not far from here, in Paulmy. A dolmen is a megalithic tomb, and they are all over the countryside here. This one, standing about 10 feet high, is from 3500 BC. From this next picture you can see how it's a little chamber...

Chateau de Boussay

Took some friends to see this:

And just outside the gates I found a lady, with an eye for the less obvious beauty, painting this (the back of the chapel in the hamlet):

 

I do love the French!

Castle Cooking

Gardens are blazing so I made zucchini fritters for dinner and cherry cobbler for dessert. Zukes from St Pierre garden and cherries picked by the pool here at the chateau. Not bad...