So what has been happening in the last 4 ½ months?

In April we flew to England to see family and friends. Went with Easy Jet from Bordeaux to Southend, as obviously very convenient for Nick in Leigh on Sea. OK flight, and great to see everyone at the Essex branch. From there to Kingston for the South London Cliftons (and Bourne). Next day to Marlborough to stay with Dave Lockie, then Dorset with Posy Clayton, Fossebridge with Rennie and Peter Thompson and finally North Leigh with Jim and Angela Wiggle. We had a great time, and are very thankful to have such nice friends and relations!

I'm still doing my before and after photography of local villages – see

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZBhxMvmggatemcb9tN16sw

At a cattle show in Objat I took a picture of a little girl sitting by the animals – it won a prize and was published in the French Property News magazine!

Just a couple of kilometres from us is the hamlet of Ceyrat. There is a large quarry there, and looking at the map I found some ruins marked in the hills behind the quarry. The dogs and I went to investigate and found “Les Ruines de Patel” - the remains of a chapel built around 800, and demolished in 1745.

I had rather let our garden go – I say garden but when I got a chap in to cut it all down I advised him to bring a machete! It wasn't quite that bad – he did a good job and we can actually see the garden now – pity it's still on a 30 degree slope....

Still going out for our picnics. One of the best places we have found is above the Viaduc des Rochers – where an old train line crossed a valley. The picnic tables are on platforms overlooking the depths. Nearby is the Garden of Sothys – they are a big cosmetics company and here they have herb and flower gardens and a very nice looking restaurant – almost sorry we had had our picnic!

We got to see Rachel for the first time in almost two years. She was with friends in San Sebastien just over the border in Spain. We drove down, stayed in a nice hotel in a lovely Basque village on the French side then picked her up. Great to see her – if only for a few days. She took us to our favourite chocolate shop and made drink their diet busting hot chocolate...

After finding the ancient chapel ruins near Ceyrat I had another look at the map, and Finn and I found a menhir near the village of Espartignac.

At the start of July I had to travel to England again – for the funeral of my cousin Linda. Thanks again to Dave Lockie for putting me up for a couple of nights. I was glad that I could be there for Keith, Lin's husband – just sorry we hadn't seen each other for so long.

I still play bowls every Wednesday, I'd like to say it keeps me fit but that would be a bit of a fib. Anyway the couple who mainly ran the club have sold there house and moved to Britanny – so I was elected as the new club secretary – such an honour. Actually I haven't had much to do yet – hope it stays that way!

I won't talk about the weather – we've had just about everything! Love the sun – but 40 Celsius is just a tad too warm.

Another picnic day out took us to the hamlet of Sarran. We found a nice picnic place on the top of a hill where three crosses have been erected – a Calvary. In Sarran

itself is the museum containing all (?) the gifts given to former President Chirac. It's a big place – didn't visit it this time I'm afraid.

A few days ago was our annual visit to the opera at the Chateau du Saillant with Rhonda and David Lush. This year it was Madam Butterfly, and it was excellent. A very enjoyable evening.