And here I go again - and, what a disgrace, I hadn't realised until I signed in that it's been almost a year since I put anything on here.
Too busy to blog - or maybe too lazy? I've composed an amazing number of items in my head, but they've never made it to the page here. I've also added many a comment or commentary on the dreaded Facebook - maybe it's quicker and easier when you type stuff in there. There's more urgency about it and no need to be so critical and review what you've written like on here. I'm not on Twitter and don't intend to go there, not just because my phone is ancient, but because I have a life! All too tempting to publish your thoughts for all to see.
So, rather than a review of the last year's events, just some of the latest. We are now all set for the winter. Winter and the weather are a serious matter here. It's a very rural area, with practically no public transport (near by anyway), quite high in altitude and quite hard winters, so watching the latest weather forecast is an important highlight of our evening! So, the wood for our ancient woodburner in the living room arrived about two months ago and that took a good day to barrow in to the woodstore, the chimney has now been swept, the oil is in the 4,000 litre tank in the cellar, candles and tinned food in the cupboard - oh, and wine in the cellar as well! The weather turned fiercely to winter a few days ago, with heavy snow over a few hours, but that has fortunately all melted here in the village, although you can see it all around on the high ground. It is however very cold, but we are prepared for the long haul ahead. It wasn't like this when we arrived two years ago. We were then lulled into a false sense of warmth and sunlight with good weather until the end of November when the curtain came down and winter came in.
So, apart from hauling wood and arranging cupboards, what have we been doing recently? Well, we are now members of four almost exclusively French associations - local community groups (plus a gardening group and we volunteer at an English library - quite a busman's holiday). The first association we joined was Les Collectionneurs de Treignac (Treignac Collectors' Club and more of that later), and two groups in our village here - Les Artistes Chambertois (Chambertois artists, even though I'm not an artist), and we were asked if we'd like to join and help set up another group Les Heures Musicales en Monedieres (Musical hours in the Monedieres - our local mountain area). We also joined a group in the next small hamlet Soudaine-Lavinadiere which has a vineyard and an fabulous archaeological dig going on on the site of a medieval abbey).
With my vast experience of community groups - friends will know what I mean by that - I was determined to be involved but not take on any more committee roles. Yesterday, Saturday, was the meeting to set up the music group and it was also Harry's birthday. The music group would organize the annual concerts of professional musicians which take place in the church or community centre every summer. The meeting was at 2.30 (to give everyone time to get over their two-hour lunch break which is practically sacrosanct in this rural area) in the Mairie. There were half a dozen people there - a couple we knew already, including one of the deputy mayors who had asked us to join - and we adopted a new constitution, with all the paperwork well organized and the meeting well conducted with no philosophical discussions or disruptive conversations. Then we were all invited to one of the local bars for a 'vin d'amitié' - literally a wine of friendship which is often offerred after meetings, official ceremonies such as the Remembrance Day parade, the New Year wishes meeting. Somebody pointed out that all the bars and cafes were closed (very rural France - not very commercially minded, especially once July and August are over) - but then two bottles of local Correzian wine were produced and a bottle of Chambertois cider. Harry's health was toasted and for the next good half hour we enjoyed sampling the local wine and listening to and trying to join in on a good bit crack. We have always been made very welcome and included and I think people appreciate you getting involved in local life in this way. But, so much for me refusing to take on any role! I was persuaded to become assistant treasurer, which I was assured would not be in the least bit onerous - I've heard that one before.
So, that's one meeting under our belt. On Tuesday we have another meeting of the artists group to form an association. The last meeting reminded me of many an experience in County Durham - a meeting of 12 or so people, with two or three people having their own separate conversations and meeting all the way through. I must make sure I get the right translation of 'Can we have one meeting please?' before Tuesday.
© Marie Tyler, 2013
Sunday, 24 November 2013
Wednesday, 5 December 2012
My old-fashioned Correzien Christmas cake
Well, there was a time . . .
when October came and I used to bake my Christmas cake to my old-fashioned Christmas cake recipe, then store it in a tin until Christmas. It would be wrapped in greaseproof paper, then tinfoil, then in a tin, and would be removed periodically so that brandy could poured into the cake via holes made with a knitting needle.
In recent years, certainly the last two, I've neglected this tradition for one reason or another. But tonight, I have revived that tradition here in rural France. I've had to borrow a cake tin from a fellow ex-pat as my favourite large family size, old fashioned metal tin is nowhere to be found, and I've had to use French flour which comes in a bewildering variety of varieties, and French sugar, which seems to be ultra-sweet, so we will see what the result is like. I'll have to stay up until midnight of course to check that it's cooked, maybe one in the morning, but it should be worth it! And I love Christmas cake in all its varieties, and so does Harry.
Growing up in the North East, recipes for cakes, bread and other savouries would also come from the Be-ro book via my mam, and many a battered copy was always in the house (no pun intended, but even now I sometimes refer to the Yorkshire Pudding recipe, just to be sure!). My Christmas cake recipe is one I got from a magazine about 30 years ago, and the 'old-fashioned' bit is they say the inclusion of prunes, which it states were used many, many years ago in seasonal cake recipes.
So, off now to check the oven, as the oven is new as well, therefore strange to me, so fingers crossed for the cake-tasting in less than three weeks time, with Christopher and Jess here to join in the tasting.
© Marie Tyler, 2012
when October came and I used to bake my Christmas cake to my old-fashioned Christmas cake recipe, then store it in a tin until Christmas. It would be wrapped in greaseproof paper, then tinfoil, then in a tin, and would be removed periodically so that brandy could poured into the cake via holes made with a knitting needle.
In recent years, certainly the last two, I've neglected this tradition for one reason or another. But tonight, I have revived that tradition here in rural France. I've had to borrow a cake tin from a fellow ex-pat as my favourite large family size, old fashioned metal tin is nowhere to be found, and I've had to use French flour which comes in a bewildering variety of varieties, and French sugar, which seems to be ultra-sweet, so we will see what the result is like. I'll have to stay up until midnight of course to check that it's cooked, maybe one in the morning, but it should be worth it! And I love Christmas cake in all its varieties, and so does Harry.
Growing up in the North East, recipes for cakes, bread and other savouries would also come from the Be-ro book via my mam, and many a battered copy was always in the house (no pun intended, but even now I sometimes refer to the Yorkshire Pudding recipe, just to be sure!). My Christmas cake recipe is one I got from a magazine about 30 years ago, and the 'old-fashioned' bit is they say the inclusion of prunes, which it states were used many, many years ago in seasonal cake recipes.
So, off now to check the oven, as the oven is new as well, therefore strange to me, so fingers crossed for the cake-tasting in less than three weeks time, with Christopher and Jess here to join in the tasting.
© Marie Tyler, 2012
Sunday, 18 November 2012
Tylers Anniversary Time!
Bon soir a tous!
Long time no write, or add to my blog - lots of time spent in the garden before winter arrives, painting shutters and window frames before winter arrives and just daily living before winter arrives, so I've neglected my blog!
The Tyler household likes to mark family birthdays, so we always have a busy run up to Christmas - tomorrow Christopher's birthday (30th), Friday 23 November will be Harry's 60th birthday, and 8 December will be my 65th - an impossible thought! Poor old Jess with all those birthdays, and her out on a limb in May!
Harry had the idea of doing some kind of short film/video/show for Christopher's birthday and you can see the result at http://www.bricabracabroc.co.uk/Birthday.html (not available on mobile phones I'm advised).
This involved me, looking through hundreds of photos and digital images, to find favourite photos of Christopher over the years. I then learned the art of scanning, then Harry spending time doing his graphic magic to put them into the show, along with the mad images of us two. Lots of manipulation there! The photo sorting was a nostalgic trip I must say, time-consuming as we have lots and lots of photos and duplicates of photos and even duplicates of duplicates it seems. Still, it was a pleasant trip and has left me with another sort-out project to add to my long 'To do' list.
We would love to have joined Christopher and Jess for a birthday extravaganza to celebrate all the numbers, but big bills are looming for the oil for our heating, new kitchen ceiling (water-leak) and new kitchen (Ikea's best), so the celebration will be delayed until Christmas when we'll all be together here in Chamberet. Harry and I will however be popping a bottle of some kind of fizz tomorrow on the 19th and possibly also on the 23rd and 8th! Well, we do live in the land of champagne so it's readily available here with lots of choice and not too expensive.
So, regards to all - please feel free to send messages via Facebook, email or even Royal Mail - it's great to receive news from home.
(Still trying to work out how to upload images here - might have sorted for next time)
© Marie Tyler, 2012
Long time no write, or add to my blog - lots of time spent in the garden before winter arrives, painting shutters and window frames before winter arrives and just daily living before winter arrives, so I've neglected my blog!
The Tyler household likes to mark family birthdays, so we always have a busy run up to Christmas - tomorrow Christopher's birthday (30th), Friday 23 November will be Harry's 60th birthday, and 8 December will be my 65th - an impossible thought! Poor old Jess with all those birthdays, and her out on a limb in May!
Harry had the idea of doing some kind of short film/video/show for Christopher's birthday and you can see the result at http://www.bricabracabroc.co.uk/Birthday.html (not available on mobile phones I'm advised).
This involved me, looking through hundreds of photos and digital images, to find favourite photos of Christopher over the years. I then learned the art of scanning, then Harry spending time doing his graphic magic to put them into the show, along with the mad images of us two. Lots of manipulation there! The photo sorting was a nostalgic trip I must say, time-consuming as we have lots and lots of photos and duplicates of photos and even duplicates of duplicates it seems. Still, it was a pleasant trip and has left me with another sort-out project to add to my long 'To do' list.
We would love to have joined Christopher and Jess for a birthday extravaganza to celebrate all the numbers, but big bills are looming for the oil for our heating, new kitchen ceiling (water-leak) and new kitchen (Ikea's best), so the celebration will be delayed until Christmas when we'll all be together here in Chamberet. Harry and I will however be popping a bottle of some kind of fizz tomorrow on the 19th and possibly also on the 23rd and 8th! Well, we do live in the land of champagne so it's readily available here with lots of choice and not too expensive.
So, regards to all - please feel free to send messages via Facebook, email or even Royal Mail - it's great to receive news from home.
(Still trying to work out how to upload images here - might have sorted for next time)
© Marie Tyler, 2012
Monday, 27 August 2012
Canny cool after the canicule
Yes - we recently experienced the canicule here in Chamberet. Le canicule is probably best translated as a heatwave and we had that heatwave from what I now remember for at least a week. The heat does befuddle your head! The calculation of the canicule is apparently calculated differently in different parts of France, but the definition is based on day and night temperatures when they both exceed a certain temperature for a defined period. Certainly here it was in the low to mid 30s for a few days, with the night temperatures being very uncomfortable for sleep. We didn't allow ourselves to utter a word of complaint though, since we came here among other things for the heat, as well as the more relaxed lifestyle, wine, cheese, etc.
So, on Saturday gone, we were a bit miffed to experience cool temperatures, grey skies and driving rain. This was the day we had decided to do a 'Vide Grenier' - 'Empty your attic', ie the English equivalent of a car boot sale - at our neighbouring village or hamlet named Soudaine-Lavinadiere. As family and friends know, we have a lot of 'stuff', some of it very interesting, unusual 'stuff', as well as new, interesting, French stuff found in the house here. Soudaine-Lavinadiere is a very pretty hamlet, with a large archaeological dig going on at the moment with a whole team of archaeology students. We didn't notice them flagging in the rain and descending temperatures, but they are probably well used to everything that nature throws at them on their digs.
We arrived at the Vide Grenier at 8.00, which isn't bad for the Tylers on a Saturday morning. We set up everything but the books and postcards which were wisely left on display in the back of the car. As the morning wore on, our lovely ceramics, the fox hunting teapot set (which my mother once won at the bingo - honest!) and remaining royal souvenirs from 1977 and 1981 were suffering, and the showers became more prolonged, colder and heavier. We are just off 'the mountain' around here and the clouds seemed to be clinging everywhere. I must say that the punters kept coming - maybe they hoped for sunnier skies as well - and were all very sympathetic to us and the community association which had organized as whole day of activities. But sympathy didn't keep the cold or wet away, or encourage the punters to by, so we reluctantly packed up all the sodden articles, including ourselves and were back here by 12 noon. (I should add I was also getting over bronchitis - the first time in my life that that was ever diagnosed! So much for our new warmer life!)
Other stallholders kept saying how the weather would improve in the afternoon, but we were too cold, wet and miserable to wait that long. Sure enough it did improve in the afternoon, with April type skies and showers - too late for us to muster up the enthusiasm to venture forth anew and display our soggy items for sale.
So, now it's Monday. Yesterday, Sunday, turned out lovely as well, and today it has been about 29 degrees! Cool in the morning and now in the evening, so no longer a canicule, but another scorcher during the day! Our friends arrive tomorrow from sunny Kenton Bank Foot, near Newcastle Airport, so we hope they experience some canicular weather as a change from back home.
© Marie Tyler, 2012
So, on Saturday gone, we were a bit miffed to experience cool temperatures, grey skies and driving rain. This was the day we had decided to do a 'Vide Grenier' - 'Empty your attic', ie the English equivalent of a car boot sale - at our neighbouring village or hamlet named Soudaine-Lavinadiere. As family and friends know, we have a lot of 'stuff', some of it very interesting, unusual 'stuff', as well as new, interesting, French stuff found in the house here. Soudaine-Lavinadiere is a very pretty hamlet, with a large archaeological dig going on at the moment with a whole team of archaeology students. We didn't notice them flagging in the rain and descending temperatures, but they are probably well used to everything that nature throws at them on their digs.
We arrived at the Vide Grenier at 8.00, which isn't bad for the Tylers on a Saturday morning. We set up everything but the books and postcards which were wisely left on display in the back of the car. As the morning wore on, our lovely ceramics, the fox hunting teapot set (which my mother once won at the bingo - honest!) and remaining royal souvenirs from 1977 and 1981 were suffering, and the showers became more prolonged, colder and heavier. We are just off 'the mountain' around here and the clouds seemed to be clinging everywhere. I must say that the punters kept coming - maybe they hoped for sunnier skies as well - and were all very sympathetic to us and the community association which had organized as whole day of activities. But sympathy didn't keep the cold or wet away, or encourage the punters to by, so we reluctantly packed up all the sodden articles, including ourselves and were back here by 12 noon. (I should add I was also getting over bronchitis - the first time in my life that that was ever diagnosed! So much for our new warmer life!)
Other stallholders kept saying how the weather would improve in the afternoon, but we were too cold, wet and miserable to wait that long. Sure enough it did improve in the afternoon, with April type skies and showers - too late for us to muster up the enthusiasm to venture forth anew and display our soggy items for sale.
So, now it's Monday. Yesterday, Sunday, turned out lovely as well, and today it has been about 29 degrees! Cool in the morning and now in the evening, so no longer a canicule, but another scorcher during the day! Our friends arrive tomorrow from sunny Kenton Bank Foot, near Newcastle Airport, so we hope they experience some canicular weather as a change from back home.
© Marie Tyler, 2012
Wednesday, 8 August 2012
Chamberet Journée du Livre, jeudi le 9 août 2012
La commune de Chamberet a organisé sa traditionelle journée du livre le jeudi 9 août 2012, avec la participation d'auteurs de la région, éditeurs et lecteurs.
Je suis maintenant une chambertoise, donc j'essaye à participer dans les animations variés et divers dans notre village. Avec une autre residente gauloise, j'ai décidé de participer, et d'expliquer que j'ai un blog - qu'est-ce que ça veut dire, pourquoi je l'ai fait et comment on fait un blog.
Qu'est-ce que c'est un blog?
Blog veut dire web-log - un type de journal qu'on peut écrire et n'importe qui peut lire sur l'internet ou sur leur portable.
Pourquoi j'ai écrit un blog?
Nous avons acheté notre maison ici à Chamberet dans le mois d'août l'année dernière et nous avons déménagée le 1 octobre. Notre famille et nos amis en Angleterre s'intéressaient dans notre nouvelle vie en France et voulaient savoir tous les détails. D'abord j'ai écrit beaucoup de lettres, puis mails. J'aimais bien ça mais ça a pris beaucoup de temps, donc j'ai décidé de faire un blog sur l'internet. Comme ça notre famille et nos amis pourraient suivre notre vie en France!
Comment on fait un blog?
Il y a quelques sites, mais le mien j'ai fait par le site http://www.blogger.com. C'est facile à faire si on suit les instructions.
Bonne chance avec votre blog!
Merci à mon mari, nouveau artiste chambertois, Harry Tyler, pour son assistance avec mon blog!
© Marie Tyler, 2012
Je suis maintenant une chambertoise, donc j'essaye à participer dans les animations variés et divers dans notre village. Avec une autre residente gauloise, j'ai décidé de participer, et d'expliquer que j'ai un blog - qu'est-ce que ça veut dire, pourquoi je l'ai fait et comment on fait un blog.
Qu'est-ce que c'est un blog?
Blog veut dire web-log - un type de journal qu'on peut écrire et n'importe qui peut lire sur l'internet ou sur leur portable.
Pourquoi j'ai écrit un blog?
Nous avons acheté notre maison ici à Chamberet dans le mois d'août l'année dernière et nous avons déménagée le 1 octobre. Notre famille et nos amis en Angleterre s'intéressaient dans notre nouvelle vie en France et voulaient savoir tous les détails. D'abord j'ai écrit beaucoup de lettres, puis mails. J'aimais bien ça mais ça a pris beaucoup de temps, donc j'ai décidé de faire un blog sur l'internet. Comme ça notre famille et nos amis pourraient suivre notre vie en France!
Comment on fait un blog?
Il y a quelques sites, mais le mien j'ai fait par le site http://www.blogger.com. C'est facile à faire si on suit les instructions.
Bonne chance avec votre blog!
Merci à mon mari, nouveau artiste chambertois, Harry Tyler, pour son assistance avec mon blog!
© Marie Tyler, 2012
Tuesday, 7 August 2012
Journée du Livre, Book Day, Chamberet, Thurs 9 August 2012
As part of our continuing immersion in community life here in our new home in Chamberet, I have volunteered to take part in the annual Journée du Livre (Book Day) this Thursday 9 August 2012. About 30-odd regional authors take part on the day and there are children's activities and this year presentations on bookbinding, French songs and novels, and the experiences of a French chef.
Last year's Journée du Livre took place when we were here in Chamberet to sign for our house. We were surprised at the number of local authors who were there with their published works. It was a very friendly event and we had an interesting conversation with one of the author's of lovely children's books, who had been a clown in a former life!
I offerred to take part and decided to present something about my blog 'Busy Days in Chamberet' and decided to explain how I have created my blog, how easy it is to set up, and how to go about setting one up on here on blogger.com.
The information I intend to present is:
What is a blog?
A blog is a web-log - a type of personal journal, which anyone can set up on the internet and can be accessed by all.
Why did I start doing a blog?
We bought our house here in Chamberet last August (2011) and moved here permanently on 1 October 2011. Friends and family were keen to know all about our new life here in France, and in the first few weeks when we had no internet, I spent a lot of time sending personal letters. Then when we were originally set up with the internet, a lot of time sending emails which again I personalised. Although I have always enjoyed writing and have been a great letter writer (something I inherited from my mother) it meant I was spending a lot of time repeating the same information, so to save time, I thought I would write a blog!
How to create your own blog?
Creating a blog is easy - all you need is a computer and internet access. Go to this site: http://www.blogger.com and follow the instructions.
I've just recently noticed there are all sorts of features, most of which I haven't used yet, but hope to use them in future postings. One feature is that your blog can be viewed on a mobile phone.
The Journée du Livre takes place in the Salle de Fetes, Chamberet, this Thursday 9 August 2012, from 10 h to 19 h, entry is free and all are welcome.
Thanks to my husband, Harry Tyler, now a Chambertois artist with paintings in the current exhibition in the village, for his help with presenting this blog.
© Marie Tyler, 2012
Last year's Journée du Livre took place when we were here in Chamberet to sign for our house. We were surprised at the number of local authors who were there with their published works. It was a very friendly event and we had an interesting conversation with one of the author's of lovely children's books, who had been a clown in a former life!
I offerred to take part and decided to present something about my blog 'Busy Days in Chamberet' and decided to explain how I have created my blog, how easy it is to set up, and how to go about setting one up on here on blogger.com.
The information I intend to present is:
What is a blog?
A blog is a web-log - a type of personal journal, which anyone can set up on the internet and can be accessed by all.
Why did I start doing a blog?
We bought our house here in Chamberet last August (2011) and moved here permanently on 1 October 2011. Friends and family were keen to know all about our new life here in France, and in the first few weeks when we had no internet, I spent a lot of time sending personal letters. Then when we were originally set up with the internet, a lot of time sending emails which again I personalised. Although I have always enjoyed writing and have been a great letter writer (something I inherited from my mother) it meant I was spending a lot of time repeating the same information, so to save time, I thought I would write a blog!
How to create your own blog?
Creating a blog is easy - all you need is a computer and internet access. Go to this site: http://www.blogger.com and follow the instructions.
I've just recently noticed there are all sorts of features, most of which I haven't used yet, but hope to use them in future postings. One feature is that your blog can be viewed on a mobile phone.
The Journée du Livre takes place in the Salle de Fetes, Chamberet, this Thursday 9 August 2012, from 10 h to 19 h, entry is free and all are welcome.
Thanks to my husband, Harry Tyler, now a Chambertois artist with paintings in the current exhibition in the village, for his help with presenting this blog.
© Marie Tyler, 2012
Monday, 18 June 2012
Wildlife in our Chamberet garden
Just to make it clear - the title might suggest we have more than one garden, but we have only one garden and that is here in Chamberet!
We have gardens on all sides, and a couple of small fields out the back, so plenty of space for wildlife and pleny of space to hear and be aware of the wildlife. Also in this area there is an amazing amount of birdlife - lots of birds of prey - buzzards, eagles, kites - which can regularly be seen gliding up high.
As for our garden wildlife - there are lots of ants, some spectacular beetles and all sorts of bees, including huge black bees and lots of birds, which grace us with their morning chorus long before it's light at this time of year. Lots of sparrow-type little birds, blue tits, some amazingly fast swifts at the moment, the occasional robin, a lot of noisy magpies and something we think is a black redstart. There's also a recent visitor, not at all shy, with some sort of a crest. A couple of blackbirds made their nest in an orange box which was on a ladder in the woodstore. Unfortunately, one of the local cats must have climbed up the pile of wood as we noticed the box was all askew. We noticed a lack of blackbird activity and when Harry looked, they had abandoned the nest leaving three lovely eggs behind. They seem to be active again around the garden, so we hope they might nest again, though doubt that they'd return to the same place. There are some other small birds, some kind of pippit or lark maybe that is nesting in the back of an old satellite dish!
The other bird which is a resident or lodger of ours is a barn owl! We often sit in the garden in the evening and as it gets dark, often saw an owl or two flying around outside, then noticed screeching kind of noises from one of our chimneys. We are now sure that there are chicks in there and think it might soon be time for them to leave (hoping there's not much damage left behind!). Watching and listening to the owls in the evening is great, and having an owl watching you is even more interesting, as they often perch around and check us out!
We have quite a few lizards, which appear when the weather is warm from various hidey-holes, including in a rose bush near the front door. It's often debatable who gets the bigger fright when I water the rose bush and see something darting out at high speed. Our latest discovery is a toad, or a couple of toads which come out now every night. There has been a bit of a chorus recently so there are obviously quite a few around in our garden and neighbours' gardens. The other nighttime noise apart from croaking and screeching, are the crickets who are actually noisy during the day as well pn warm days and all through the warm nights.
Watching and waiting for the owl is the highlight at the moment - what a simple life we lead! Off now to observe as it's dark here and a lovely soft evening.
© Marie Tyler, 2012
We have gardens on all sides, and a couple of small fields out the back, so plenty of space for wildlife and pleny of space to hear and be aware of the wildlife. Also in this area there is an amazing amount of birdlife - lots of birds of prey - buzzards, eagles, kites - which can regularly be seen gliding up high.
As for our garden wildlife - there are lots of ants, some spectacular beetles and all sorts of bees, including huge black bees and lots of birds, which grace us with their morning chorus long before it's light at this time of year. Lots of sparrow-type little birds, blue tits, some amazingly fast swifts at the moment, the occasional robin, a lot of noisy magpies and something we think is a black redstart. There's also a recent visitor, not at all shy, with some sort of a crest. A couple of blackbirds made their nest in an orange box which was on a ladder in the woodstore. Unfortunately, one of the local cats must have climbed up the pile of wood as we noticed the box was all askew. We noticed a lack of blackbird activity and when Harry looked, they had abandoned the nest leaving three lovely eggs behind. They seem to be active again around the garden, so we hope they might nest again, though doubt that they'd return to the same place. There are some other small birds, some kind of pippit or lark maybe that is nesting in the back of an old satellite dish!
The other bird which is a resident or lodger of ours is a barn owl! We often sit in the garden in the evening and as it gets dark, often saw an owl or two flying around outside, then noticed screeching kind of noises from one of our chimneys. We are now sure that there are chicks in there and think it might soon be time for them to leave (hoping there's not much damage left behind!). Watching and listening to the owls in the evening is great, and having an owl watching you is even more interesting, as they often perch around and check us out!
We have quite a few lizards, which appear when the weather is warm from various hidey-holes, including in a rose bush near the front door. It's often debatable who gets the bigger fright when I water the rose bush and see something darting out at high speed. Our latest discovery is a toad, or a couple of toads which come out now every night. There has been a bit of a chorus recently so there are obviously quite a few around in our garden and neighbours' gardens. The other nighttime noise apart from croaking and screeching, are the crickets who are actually noisy during the day as well pn warm days and all through the warm nights.
Watching and waiting for the owl is the highlight at the moment - what a simple life we lead! Off now to observe as it's dark here and a lovely soft evening.
© Marie Tyler, 2012
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