May 2014

We have enjoyed some beautiful sunny days again this month - and with the cooler spring temperatures its a perfect time for walking.

Spring in the Ariege can also be very wet...but as a result it is very green and beautiful at this time of year. 
We have had a bumper crop of strawberries this year and bowls full of cherries from the farm. The potatoes and onions are happily growing away - and all the other veggies are settling in and enjoying some days of warm sunshine...and and others of heavy rain!!

Our goose eggs sadly didn't hatch - which is often the way in the first year. So it is particularly surprising that the one egg that our neighbours at the farm put in their duck nest did hatch!! That goose is now much bigger than his mummy duck - and its very funny to see him (or her!) waddle down into our garden each day with his duck family! 

We decided to buy some more baby geese to fatten up for Christmas, and to eat the grass!! Its taking a while for our 3 existing geese to accept them, but the babies seem quite happy and are growing very quickly.

Here are our photos for this month

Dave's album

Lesley's album

April 2014

We have had a busy month with guests, another walk in the snow and a few local outings. The weather has been typical of April with some glorious sunny days and some cold, wet and windy ones!
Our female geese are still patiently sitting on the eggs - taking it in turns in fact, which appears to be very organised of them! We will find out in the next week or so if the eggs are fertile and will hatch.

Here are our albums of the month

Dave's album

Lesley's album

March 2014

This month we enjoyed a couple of weeks of wonderful sunny and warm weather.
The mountains are still covered in snow so we decided to do something that we have been considering for some time - we bought some snow shoes!
Contrary to our expectations, they were very easy to get used to and we managed a climb to the top of Mont Fourcat with friends. It was a slightly hazy day and very cold in the wind, but still a great experience - you can see some photos in our albums.
We enjoyed the experience so much that we tried another walk a couple of days later - this was in much warmer sunshine and our legs were still quite tired so we didn't get as high or as far, but enjoyed some more fantastic views.

Our other main news this month is that the geese are sitting on their eggs, so with any luck we might get some little goslings in a few weeks time. In fact one has already hatched - but from one of the goose eggs which we gave to our neighbours at the farm - they put them in their ducks' nest, and one has hatched. The mother duck and baby ducklings seem quite happy with the intruder and the gosling has settled in happily.

Here are our albums for the month

Lesley's album

Dave's album

February 2014

This month began with a lovely week skiing at Morillon in the French Alps. There is no lack of snow this year and we had a few fresh falls while we were there, so with a bit of sunshine as well, conditions were perfect.
We also had a superb day in Andorra with friends from England who were staying there - again, the snow is not in short supply this year.
The clay soil in the Ariege is still very wet from Winter rainfall and it is astonishing to see how the land is slipping away on some of the steeper slopes. However it has been a very mild winter, the only really cold and snowy spell being in November.
This is a quiet time of year for us workwise, so we have been able to get out and about and enjoy the clear air on sunny days. The mountains really do look wonderful at the moment.

The geese have been laying eggs! We have eaten a few but hope they will soon start sitting on them so we get a few baby goslings in a month or so.

Lesley's album

Dave's album

January 2013

Another mixed month of weather - some Winter sunshine but lots of rain as well. Our photos probably give the wrong impression of much more sun than rain, but in fact the wet days are not very inspiring for taking photos!
The clay soil here in the Ariege is completely waterlogged so every new rainfall has no-where to go and the rivers are as high as we have ever seen them. However the sunny days have been beautiful, and it has been a real treat to get out in the countryside and feel the warmth in the sun. Alongside that, the snowy mountains look beautiful and very inviting.
We have been busy - we (well, mostly Dave!) have dug over the vegetable patches, I have had some watercolour commissions and we even had a visitor in the suite for a week.
We have also enjoyed some lovely evenings with friends and been out for a few walks and bike rides.
Tomorrow we set off to Morillon in the Alps for some skiing - so are looking forward to that.
Here are our albums for the month
Dave's album
Lesley's album

December 2013

Empty ski slopes, frosty mornings and Christmas!
A very Happy New Year to all our blog readers

Here are our albums for December
Dave's album
Lesley's album

November 2013

Well Dave wins the 'most interesting photos' competition for this month!! 
Its not been an easy month for taking photos - the first two weeks of November were wet, windy and cold!
I have been busy with watercolour comissions and Dave has been keeping busy with anything that doesn't involve gardening!!

The sun returned last week with some very cold temperatures as well. We had a drive up to Andorra on Friday and were amazed how much snow there is in the mountains already. If it stays cold it will be a fantastic ski season

We have just had a very enjoyable craft weekend here. 14 of us exhibited different crafts and we had a reasonable number of visitors which made for a really sociable and fun weekend.

We are already late in uploading our albums - so here they are...
Dave's album
Lesley's album