65) Orchids galore

We met an orchid officionado the other day and he said that the orchids were all confused this year due to the awful weather we have had over the past month or so.  However, we do seem to be having a bumper crop.  All of these (7 different varieties) have been spied on our own land so far this year.  Last year we found 13 different varieties on our walks around the gite where we were staying, but we hope to find even more this year now we know a bit more about what we are looking for.

64) Wine tasting - a search for the wedding white

Living in an area renowned (or at least in the more erudite circles it is renowned) for its wine, we felt we ought to take on the somewhat onerous task of finding the wine for the up-coming wedding.  The red had already been selected, after a series of tastings, from our local very excellent vineyard  up the road.  However, white is harder to come by in this region.  It appears the main problem is that there is no recognised appellation for Cahors whites.  As a consequence many domaines feel it is not worth making, as presumably it is more difficult to market and you cannot ask as much for it.

Ironically (and confusingly) this actually seems to make it more expensive.  Those few places that do make a white tend to label it as a sort of specialist aperatif wine, and charge over the odds for it.  Not daunted, however, we set out on our quest with enthusiasm and delicious anticipation.  The weather was awful, but we supposed that by the end of our tour the weather would be of little consequence (and we saw a good rainbow).

Even before we had had a drop to drink, whilst merrily bowling along down a very minor country road we almost ran into this very strange, and rather haughty looking, chicken crossing the road.  We blinked.... it was a blinking peacock, in the middle of nowhere (and in the middle of the road).  Do they really have wild peacocks  in France?  Surely not.

Clearly it had suicidal tendencies because it just stood there, slowly turned its head and glaried at us in its supercilious manner, as if asking the question que faites-vous ici?  Actually, having paid our taxes, and it being a public highway, we felt we had a reasonable right of access, particularly in a left hand drive Renault with French plates.  We also knew it would make a particularly tasty roast Sunday lunch.  However, not knowing the penalties for abducting or running down a peacock in France, we waited until it had crossed the road and then continued on.

We found the domaine we'd been looking for but, like most of them at this time of year, it was all shut up.  Having rung the bell several times, somebody eventually appeared - the vigneron.  Steeling ourselves for the arduous task, we got thoroughly stuck in to our degustation.  Although we were looking for white, we were (reluctantly) persuaded to try some of the reds.  And, as well as two whites, we also found a delicious 2005 Prestige (red) which was really quite classy and at a very reasonable price (or so it seemed by taster number seven).

By the end  of our travels we had bought samples of five different whites, all from the immediate area or nearby.  Of course in order to compare them with each other, we had to open them all at once.  Memories of the rest of the evening are a bit blurry...........

63) First arrivals

A cuckoo (not my picture)

Friday the 13th and I heard our first cuckoo ............

A swallow (not my picture)

...........and the next day the swallows arrived.  Summer is on its way but the weather is still lagging behind (cool and windy here).

62) A very sad start to the day

When I looked out the window first thing this morning I saw what appeared to be a fox asleep on the lawn.  I fetched  my binoculars and very gingerly opened the window.  It looked very peaceful and fast asleep.  But there was no movement at all, it was dreadfully still and, it began to dawn on me, it was quite probably dead.

When I went out to see her (she was a beautiful little vixen with a magnificent grey brown brush) she had obviously just curled up, gone to sleep and died on our lawn.  She had been badly injured and presumably had wanted to find somewhere safe to rest.  Who knows what had happened to her.  Perhaps she had been hit by a car or perhaps she had been gored by a sanglier.  It's about now that wild boar are having their young and a mother would not take kindly to an inquisitive fox if she had piglets about.  Although we have not yet seen a wild boar around here there is plenty of evidence of  their foraging marks in the field and the woods.

It was horrible to think of this poor beautiful vixen dying of her catastrophic wounds outside our bedroom window while we slept warm and safe just a few metres away.  In a way it was good to think that she felt safe where she was, sheltered from the wind by our oversized and much despised lelandii hedge.  I wondered if foxes had a particular place where they went to die, like elephants are supposed to.  Could it be that our front lawn is just such a place.  I hope not, but in a way it would be rather wonderful if it was.

I took the little fox across the field and deep into the woods where I found a very quiet and remote sunlit glade where I laid her to rest.  A mythical little corner of the world where foxes can return to die in peace.

61) New growth

The new lettuce bed

Our new lettuce bed after just two weeks is already showing progress.............................

Rocket in the new bed

Basil

Basil seeds have been sown in pots and are just peeking through...................

Courgettes

Courgettes have come up and the next thing is a new bed to plant them out in....

...................and the later variety of daffs have now come into flower.

60) A migrant from Africa

An exotic little visitor from North Africa turned  up on good Friday.  M. Sarkozy would not be pleased.  He has been complaining loudly about too many migrants coming to France.  This is slightly worrying for us (also being migrants), but I fear it is more the North Africans he has in his sights such as our colourful little Hoopoe (Upupa Epops).  

I suspect it is just electioneering bluster on the part of the incumbent President, who would presumably like to stay in his job given the levels of unemployment at the moment.   The election is only a couple of weeks away and the far right seems to be more of a significant force in France, so a bit of xenophobia from Sarkozy is presumably just a tactic to win over votes from Marine Le Pen (daughter of Jean-Marie).  I notice that Marine Le Pen, leader of the far right party, is yet another lawyer - why are so many politicians lawyers?

We saw and heard Hoopoes last year, but they are very shy and, try as we might, we were unable to get any but the very fuzziest of photos. This one came quite close to the house, attracted I fear by my newly sown grass seed.  Wikipedia, though, says it mainly eats insects and larvae.  It has a very long and very sharp beak which  it was jabbing quite violently into the ground (perhaps it wasn't after my grass seed).  It was considered sacred in ancient Egypt, and you can see why, it is a most spectacular little creature to which, sadly, the photos do it no justice at all.

No matter what the politicians say, I think it is a very welcome addition to the la Communauté française.

59) Orchids are out.....

It's a bit early for orchids, but we noticed today several like this one have come into flower in the garden at the back of the little house.  We are hoping to better our tally of thirteen different kinds spotted last year, so counting starts here.