Update

Last week my dad and his partner Jane came to stay. We went for a few walks and visited Foix. The weather was a bit poor but fortunately they got to the mountain view.

On the last night of their stay, Susie and I were awoken at a quarter to five in the morning by the chickens squawking. Susie was first on the scene and found a badger in the hen house! We had forgotten to close it before bed. The badger made a break for the hole in the fence it had made, but got stuck allowing Susie to give it a bit of a kick up the arse!! The cockerel was crowing but the hens had scattered. I quickly found Shelley in the grass but we feared the worst for Nutmeg and Zsa-zsa. Fortunately an hour so later they returned and all was well.

This week we have had hot weather in the mornings and storms in the late afternoon. Two sheep have been sheared but one of Susie's dancers is an ex-sheep shearer, so professional help maybe at hand for the others.

Orchids

There was snow almost down to the level of the house this morning. Although it snowed a few times here, it only settled above 950m, so fortunately it wasn't a repeat of the catastrophic snows of May 2010.

I managed to protect some of the less hardy plants so no damage was done.

It remained cold all day but I ventured out to photograph some of the orchids in the meadow.

Tongue Orchid

Green veined orchid

Loose flowered orchid

Birdsnest orchid (a parasitic plant)

Oyster mushrooms

The weather remains unseasonably cold, but a "find" today to cheer things up - 2 kgs of oyster mushrooms!

I'll cook them in wine, vinegar and herbs then store them in olive oil.

Wild

Wilded boar in our wild, wild wood! from Lee Sharp on Vimeo.

last lamb

Hopi gives birth to lamb no.8

Cascade d'Ars

After some fresh snow in the mountains the day before yesterday, Susie and I decided to venture out. The cascade was in full flow and the fresh snow on the pines made for some pictures.

Near the falls in the early morning the rocks were still verglassed and I took a little fall - no damage done.

The snow on the ground started just below the head of the falls but we found a sunny place to lunch surrounded by wild daffodils and with views to Pic Puntussan.

The onward path towards the Etang de Guzet required crossing some névés, steep in places, with traces of old avalanches.

An easy descent through fields and woods.

Back home the eggs Shelley has been sitting on didn't hatch - either they weren't fertilised or she let them go cold. We may have to get some new hens from another source!