Stunning Autumn Colours

Autumn colours are everywhere and I’ve taken so many photos that it’s been difficult to select for this posting.  Don't forget you can see them in a larger format if you click on any photograph.  The change has been later this year, perhaps because November was mild, but when it arrived it took my breath away.  Mostly pictures of Corlay lake and castle but some of my lane and the field next to mine too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above is the field on the corner of my lane in the early morning sunshine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In my polytunnel I have Ruby Chard growing which is doing a pretty good job of competing with the countryside hues.  To the right are three of my Muscovy ducks who have started roosting on the gate tops and also on the barn roof.

 

 A bit of home baking which fills the house with such a lovely aroma and makes it almost impossible to wait until the loaf and rolls have cooled before thickly spreading butter and eating.

 

Now the winter is coming in I have pulled out the various scarves, hats and fleeces that are hidden away through the warmer months.  Here is the first of several winter looks.  When I turned up at Bowls yesterday wearing my cap I was called "Farmer Giles"!

 

Three things I like:

1.   Collecting 6 eggs from the newest henhouse instead of the 1 or 2 per day recently.

2.   Doing an UK Asda order with a charge of only £5 for delivery to Brittany next week.

3.   Buying a very, very large old pine box for storing my spare duvets.

 

Fish in my local supermarket today

I really like shopping for fish in my local supermarket and these photos show just some of the shellfish they had today.  There is always a really big choice of fresh produce and the prices reflect the season and the weather it brings.  Every week I buy white fish, sometimes dos de cabillaud, which is cod back and completely boneless, or haddock fillets, but usually plaice fillets – three small fillets packed in three bags so I can eat one immediately and fridge or freeze the other two packs for later in the week.  I just flour them and fry them in oil and butter for a few moments, season and eat without any accompaniment.



 

 

I also buy shell-on prawns and mussels regularly, I love shell fish.  Sometime I buy spider or brown crabs when I feel like spending more than a few minutes extracting all the meat.

 

 

 

 

I love oysters but I’m unable to eat them because of the severe reaction I have afterwards.  This breaks my heart because here they are so cheap compared with England.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bulots are, I think, whelks and I don't fancy them at all; they look too much like snails but they are very popular with the French shoppers and usually feature in the massive shellfish dishes which are ordered in the shop and eaten on Christmas Eve en famille.

 

 

The choice of fish is so good, for a relatively small supermarket branch, that I think I probably eat as much fish as meat now, if not more.  It's very hard to resist such good quality fish and the staff on the counter are very friendly too. 

Three things I like:
 
1.   Christmas cards starting to arrive in my postbox in the wall.
2.   Clearing up the log area, splitting and cutting the logs which are too big for the woodburner and stacking them in old slate crates for neatness.
3.   Going out walking and taking photographs of the Autumn colours.

This is of the lake at Corlay next to the castle.