A bird in the hand.............

We were just watching TV when we heard noises coming from the wood burner(now not in use thankfully). Taking a closer look we found this little chap behind the glass door. He left us fit and well flying off into the trees.

Another day another fete...............

Today we had the Fete des Fleurs et du Cheval in Cazals. We missed this last year as we were back in the UK. As it turned out the fete was not just a celebration of the flowers but also a horse show.......

We arrived just as the action was about to start in the horse training ring and in typical fashion the compere was loudly telling everyone to get close and come out of the shady areas...."what's the worst that can happen...........you get a sun tan", he said. A bloke with a nice red cape rode into the ring and proceeded to ride very fast round the ring while blowing his own trumpet, well horn.

He then got some beautiful black horses to run very fast round the ring while he rode alongside. Then he really started to show off by riding one of these horses bareback and jumping on and off the horses as it was moving.........he'd obviously done this sort of thing before. The show finished with him running around playing "catch me if you can" with a white horse and making it sit up for applause.

We found that there were also stalls selling locally produced cheeses and charcuterie. They had some wonderfully original decorations to go with the produce on the stalls.........mmm, I'm not sure...............

The sanglier looks a bit too real...............

On the way to see the flowers we met this horse trainer trying to get his pal to have a nice cool drink from the stream, he seemed to be content to soak his feet...............

The flowers at last. Today was also our son Adam's Birthday, he would have been 26 ...........We bought him a nice lavender that will sit in front of the small walled garden at the side of the house.

As you can see the flowers were beautiful and numerous and again it was a pleasure just to take your time, walking amongst the displays looking and making the occasional purchase.........

You have to allow plenty of time to get around these local events, not just to see all the flowers but to chat and meet friends on the way. It took us about half an hour to travel one stretch of about ten meters, without seeing any flowers! We had bought so much that we had to take it back to the car in two goes, stopping for a drink in Francette's in between trips.......it has to be done! Local economy and all that.

Fete des fleurs at L' Abbaye Nouvelle.........

Another fete today, May is full of them, this one was at the old abbey on the way to Gourdon. Specialist growers from around the region fill the grassed areas around the abbey with their plants......

roses , lavenders, herbs, vegetables, shrubs, climbing plants, plants for shade, plants for sun, plants for fun, they where all there.

We bought some Lavenders and a Salvia 'Royal Bumble' and some Begonias.

This is one way to get your plants back to the car!

Pizza night in Cazals.........

On Wednesday evening the takaway pizza van is in the square in Cazals.........order your pizza and take it to Francette's- sit outside with a drink..........what could be better!

La fete de la Victoire

Today is Victory Day in France when each village celebrates the end of World War Two and families visit the graves of relatives who lost their lives during the war. We were in our garden this afternoon and there was a stream of cars visiting the cemetery which lies about 100 meters from the house.

At midi in our local village there was a ceremony to remember those who lost their lives in World War Two. The Marseillaise was played with fervour by the local band and traffic was halted in the village square.

After lunch we travelled to another local village to visit an exhibition remembering the activities of the French Resistance. The exhibition was in two parts, one about the activities of the resistance in south west of France and the other part about Gilbert Renault, who was known during the french resistance as Colonel Remy and one of the most famous secret agents of occupied France during World War Two. We timed our visit perfectly and were very lucky to be shown around the exhibition by Gilbert Renault's son, who explained with obvious pride and emotion, the stories behind the photographs and other exhibits. A truly memorable afternoon. He asked us if we would sign and leave a comment in his visitors' book and we did so with pleasure.

Vive la fete du muguet......................

We returned from sunny UK on Sunday, mission accomplished- wedding outfit found and purchased, to torrential rain and the potager once again under much water- hope the pommes de terre that I planted a few weeks ago can swim. I also found that my laptop had passed away in my absence, hence the blog delay. I have had to wind up my old desk top and sort out problems with internet security! But what a difference a few days make, the sun shines again and the waters recede enough for a few tentative steps into the garden. And -yes it's good to be back home.

Today is 'la fete du travail' (workers day) and a public holiday here in France, and the sun has shone all day. It is also 'la fete du muguet'and the tradition is that people present loved ones and friends with a small posy of lily of the valley for happiness and good luck. This is a photograph of the posy that our neighbour Bernadette gave us this afternoon. It looks and smells wonderful.

The blossom is looking beautiful everywhere just now, and none more so than the lilac tree at the side of our house. Last year it produced very little in the way of flowers but this year it is superb, and smells wonderful, especially in the early evening.