Mixed weather for the last few days, sometimes hot, often overcast or misty, a few storms at night. As always been keeping busy!

New photos of the gite for the website (last ones were in spring before the leaves came out). A visit to get the gite its "classement". We got 3 stars - "hébergement de très bon confort". There's a national rating system and (alas) to get the 3 stars we had to install a T.V. I suppose it useful for guests with small children when the weathers bad and in winter, but I have to say I did it somewhat grudgingly. TF1 and a couple of other minor channels have poor/no reception - but no-one checks that!

The field opposite the gite got completely topped, the "regaine" will please the sheep. They're currently in the two terrace field which scythed last week. All the sheep have now had their final F.C.O (blue tongue) inoculations. More sheep arrive in 3 weeks time.

The big field in front of the house had all the bracken scythed out of it this morning and the trees felled in the amphitheatre field have at last started to be split and stacked - better late than never. 

This afternoon I lost my trusty opinel which I've had for over 35 years (pictured below). I thought I'd lost it about 3 years ago, but miraculously it turned up a month later under the sofa. This time I realised I'd lost it in almost the exact same place I thought I'd lost it last time, only this time I know I DID have it with me. I retraced my steps to the last known place I had it, then retraced them again. The chances of finding a wooden opinel in a forest deep in leaf litter and branches under undergrowth, when you've not been following a path and it's been 1/2 km since you last knew you had it, are remote....but amazingly I found it!! Hurrah!

I also found a new path leading to an intact charcoal maker from the 1940's and eventually to the monster badger set I discovered maybe 3 years ago - Susie and I are going to go watch the badgers when she's back.

Plenty of mushrooms at the moment, having them at least once a day.