Visitors, new hens and more iris

I had visitors for five days at the beginning of June.  My son, Matthew, his partner, Tom and a friend, Georgina came over.  I acquired another bicycle and they all cycled into St Nicolas du Pélem one evening for Pizza - I was back up vehicle in the Discovery in case of punctures, rain or tired legs.

The weather couldn't have been better on Friday, 1 June, with wall to wall sunshine and reaching temperatures well into the 30s. 

The pool got it's first use this year and so did the jacuzzi.

Sunbathing was on the menu for virtually all the day and it was a great start to the visit.

The same day, Matthew treated us all to dinner at Le Pelinec, a favourite restaurant,

and the next evening they went to see friends at Huelgoat and I took this ahh photo of swans and cygnets on the lake there and one of a window with planter.

Through a restaurant window I spotted these scales and had to snap them too.

My new hens arrived just before my guests did and have settled in well.  Here are the two the Orpingtons and three of the six new Coucou de Rennes with other hens and my goats, Basil and Betsy.

The irises continue to flower on my neighbours' verge and I can't resist taking photos of them.

I bought a passion flower for training up the pergola and several buds fell off in transportation.  I pulled the petals off one side and took a photograph.

Three things I like:

1.   Clotted cream - brought from England by a friend.

2.   Holding my new light, fluffy chicks.

3.   Being able to bend to plant, weed and sow in the veggie beds.

Animals in the wrong places and carnival events

Last night while I was photographing irises in the lane a motorcyclist stopped. 

He parked his bike by the calvaire and walked towards me whilst removing his helmet.  Then he said that there were three horses across the lane just after my field.  I think he was too worried about them to drive past, so he went the long way round.   I telephoned J-L, the owner, but as there was no reply I left a message.  Half an hour later I went up to the field to put the animals away for the night and the horses were still there.  I drove to his house to find tarpaulins on the roof and a crane in the driveway and no sign of people.  They have friends whose land backs on to them, so I drove up the railway track heading for their house.  On the way there is a derelict house also owned by J-L and luckily his daughter was in their collecting wood, so I was able to pass the message on to her. 

This morning, when I was feeding the animals I heard clip-clopping down the lane coming towards my field entrance.

The horses are lovely and all very docile.  The one on the right wasn't even on a halter, but just walked calmly down the lane without problem.

Yesterday afternoon we went to an event at Guéméné-sur-Scorff with the town closed off for a procession of floats, bands, dancers, clowns, etc. etc.  It was very, very hot.   The pompiers had to stretcher off someone from the pavement opposite who had collapsed in the heat.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it and the atmosphere was good.

There were huge crowds - somewhere between 1500 and 2000 people I should think and everyone was very well behaved.

Some of the floats had difficulty in  getting around the corner of the road and people had to move back while the tractor drivers reversed and tried again.  It was all very good humoured with very little interference in the way of health and safety, which hardly seems to exist in France.

Afterwards we went back to friends whose family were over from Wales, and  we all sat in the sunshine while eating strawberry tart celebrating Josh's eleventh birthday. 

After supper we walked round the lake at Langoelan serenaded by the toads in the drained wetland at the end of the lake.

These toads were where they should be.  Daisy, however, was sunning herself in the bird bath this morning and looked a little out of place.

Three things I like:

1.   This lovely sunshine we've been having.

2.   Having all the leaves hoovered out of the swimming pool.

3.   Getting new hens - more about that next time!

Village flowers - mostly wild

I wandered round the village yesterday morning after doing the animals and was amazed by the amount of beautiful flowers in two little lanes.

The ubiquitous Mysotis, forget-me-nots, are everywhere.  It doesn't seem to matter how many plants I pull up there are more again the following year.

These are more iris from my neighbour's verge.

 Common cow parsley in the lane, but it's really lovely when you look closely at the little florets.

And unfolding bracken fronds - I love the curls of the "buds".

This pink flowered plant is Crane's-bill alongside the buttercups.

This is one of the many horses belonging to a neighbour.  Who is in a field opposite my hay field . 

Here you can see the hay field and behind it the sheds which house my animals, barn and polytunnel.

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The hawthorn is in bloom and it is so pretty especially when you look closely.

Another of my neighbour's horses which he keeps for endurance competitions.

This clump of iris are in another neighbour's garden.  They are smaller than the ones on my other neighbour's verge and very sweet.  

I'm not sure what this plant is, but I really like the way the stamens are held proud of the bloom.

Below is another neighbour's pond which is full from the tremendous amount of rain we had in April.

Periwinkle, Vinca major, is all over the place too and I love the way it spreads and covers the ground.

Another wild flower which I don't recognise, but in drifts it gives a red-pink tinge to the tops of the verges.

This is another of my neighbour's irises.

And lastly an iris bud, promising a beautiful flower.

Three things I like:

1.   The soaring temperatures and sunshine we've been enjoying these last few days.

2.   My village.

3.   My current Book Club book - Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.

Animals and a Beautiful Iris

The first photo is of Daisy and Alfie on the windowsill.  They love this position, which takes them away from the extreme heat of the woodburner but they have the warmth of the fleece that they lie on in the sun, and if they turn round they can watch the small feathered fliers on the bird table.

The next is of Purrdy mid yawn.

My neighbours have the most wonderful iris which flower on the verge around their garden wall.  The colour of this photo isn't absolutely true; it actually has more red in the real flower.  This is the first one out and when they are all flowering it is really something.

The Cream Legbars, the ones who lay blue eggs, are becoming much less shy now and I can begin to approach them without them skidaddling across the run.

Here are Betsy and Basil cuddled up together, sunbathing on the old pig shed corrugated roof.  It really retains the heat this metal roof and they spend a good part of every day lying here.

I have several new fish and this peculiar example is one of them.  The toad tadpoles are following very  closely. It's a very strange fish and I have no idea what is. 

It came from the garden of people who had moved in to a house with a pond they didn't want, so they knew nothing of the fish.

This is one of my favourite places to sit and read, particularly from about 17.00 hrs when the sun is beating down onto my back as I try to get through my Book Club book in time for the next meeting. 

This year there is a wisteria just starting to flower and  there is also a vine growing across the pergola so I might be able to pick grapes without much effort while I'm relaxing there.  We built it after I admired a friend's pergola, and I spend many early evening sitting there.

Three things I like:

1.   Panfried trout fillets with new potatoes and greenhouse salad.

2.   Having logs ready in the trolley on the terrace - easy to fetch into the house.

3.   Finally planting some twisted hazel twigs I brought back from Cornwall.