Birdies on the wing

The goldfinch fledglings have left their nest - we caught them just as they flew off.  You can see them perched on branches just to the side of the nest, looking a bit bemused.  Just as the photo was taken they flew off, at some alarming angles, skimming the ground and up and down, then they seemed to get the hang of it without any accidents.  Apparently the nest in the cafe is a pied wagtail, and way up on a metal beam in the open barn there is a pigeon nest - if you can call it that as its just a very loose pile of sticks.  They were in the same spot last year and the eggs fell out, splat.  Bean plants that were doing really well are disappearing - we planted 24 good sized plants and now there are 19!  Definately those pesky rabbits so I am going to put up a keep out sign. 

Chenevaux Golf Day

Many thanks to everybody who came along to take part in the Chenevaux Golf Tournament on Saturday 25th June.  It was great to see you all and everybody had a round despite the heat.  I think its safe to say that everybody enjoyed the food and wine too and if there had been a competition for the person who talked the most it would have been impossible to decide on a winner!   Mike, who won the lst tournament, kindly handed back the trophy to Mark for the presentation. Winner of the longest ball competition was Roy, and the overall winner was Dave.  Hurrah!

 

Goldfinches

This nest is tucked down between the branches of a conifer that is just in front of the open barn that we use for parking and storing wood.  The first photo was taken about 3 weeks ago and you can hardly see the chicks - there are actually 5.  The second photo was taken today and you can clearly see the colours on the feathers.  Either the chicks are getting too big for the nest or the parents have had enough as the nest( beautifullymade ) has been tipped over as if to encourage the chicks to start fledging.   In the winter we put out sunflower seed and mixed seed and get lots of goldfinches on the bird table as well as on the plants that have gone to seed.  The hoopoes have gone, hope they come back next year.  There's something going on in the cafe too, a very messy nest - will find out and let you know soon.

Porcelain pots - now with picture attached!

A while ago we met a man called Lionel.  He is a member of the Mayor's team, a local fireman and also works for an organisation called Imerys.  His actual workplace is at Tournon St Martin and he is involved in excavating Ball Clay whch is used in the production of tableware, sanitaryware and tiles.  Basically this is porcelain which has different things added to it according to the final result that is required. When we first moved here and had the pool put in we found a seam of red earthenware clay which Mark got really excited about and before he bought his kiln he found a local potter who did a test firing for him.  The result was OK, if not tremendous as clay has to be refined before it is really usable.  Anyway, one day, completely out of the blue Lionel turned up in his van and produced a huge bag of Tournon St Martin porcelain for him to try.  How kind, and Mark was over the moon especially as porcelain is usually the most expensive clay to buy and our nearest supplier of ceramics materials is in Limoges, a 120km round trip!  So in the photo you can see two dishes which Mark has made with the porcelain and on the paler of the two you might be able to pick out a brown area - this is where Mark has impressed our own Chenevaux clay into the porcelain body at the first firing stage to 1260C which is a higher temperature than normal for earthenware so it over-fires and this makes it gel to the porcelain resulting in a pleasing textural and tonal effect.  The tall vase is stoneware and was thrown in three sections before being joined and fired twice - its nothing to do with the porcelain but I thought the height of it looked good with the dishes.  I guess its about 60 cm high.
For those of you who are interested in finding out about Imerys and clay from Tournon St Martin here is a link to a pdf file on their web site,  you need page 8 of the document.  Find out more about clay

Free sweets

We've just had an afternoon snack from the sweet shop in the front garden - lovely Mirabelle plums.  They are gorgeous, quite small but very sweet.  I just stand under a branch and eat them until I get to the point when I think I had better stop!  Mark was mowing earlier and kept being bombarded as the breeze blew the fruit off the trees - and they were falling down his back and getting stuck on the mower seat and then they were getting all squashed under his bum!  We didn't eat those ones.  These trees self seed prolifically and we have transplanted several to fill in gaps.  Of course they are all fruiting at the same time, so for the next few days we will be scoffing them like lunatics and (with equal lunacy) collecting them in buckets to make jam.  I say with lunacy as there are still at least a couple of dozen jars left in the pantry from last year when I got really carried away and made about 70 pots!  Bit daft really but I will still do it as one year we had a late frost and didn't have any fruit at all, and you never know if there might be a sugar shortage at some point and jam making will have to stop!  Oh no, what will we put on our toast?

All a bit fishy

Bonjour Chenevaux Blogreaders!
Today it is the Fete de la Gartempe - which is the river that our village, St Pierre de Maille is on.  It is also Fete des Peres today so lots of activities to attract the men!  Of particular note, the selection of vintage tractors, the fishing competition and a beer tent.  There is also a display of model ships, a blacksmith making wrought metal work, goats (2), and Mark with his pots and an easel!  I must remember to get him a beret and stripey t-shirt to complete the look.

Cool and zingy

This is the first of what looks like a bumper crop of cucumbers.  Luckily these ones aren't sour and spiky like some outdoor varieties so we are actually going to be able to eat them!  I wasn't sure as the seeds were just ones that were reduced at the end of last summer and came along with all sorts of other things with the packets stapled together in the corner - zinnias, sweet peas, pumpkin, passion flower, you name it!  The passion flowers didn't germinate which is a shame - but there's not much about them that inspires passion anyway.  Zinnias are far more passionate with their zingy coloured flowers ranging from puce through to burnt orange.   I like that - zingy zinnias!  We have finally had some good rain, lots of it, just falling out of the sky in great big bucket loads.  So Mark has been emptying the water butts into a big tank that is next to the well.  We picked raspberries yesterday and there are loads so more jam to make and it will be yummy.