Summer has appeared

Summer arrived shortly after July started and we've been roasting in temperatures well above 30C (86F). This was OK when the nights stayed cool, but when the nights are above 25C (77F), it gets a bit uncomfy. We've also had two nights of violent thunderstorms and high winds with surprisingly little rain involved, and now it's cooled off just a bit. The storms caused a lot of damage all over the area, lost electricity, fallen trees, etc. We seem to have been lucky to escape any major damage.

The season for marchés des producteurs has begun. These are weeknight evening markets with food producers from the area. You can visit the stands, sample cheese and bread and wine, and buy bits of your dinner. Depending on the host town, you can grill your own food or someone will be there to do it for you. We went to the season opener at La Rochefoucauld, where we had chicken brochettes and took home some ostrich sausages for the freezer.

On the last Saturday in June, Ed's Montbron choir performed as part of a concert with three choirs. You can listen to a recording here if you're so inclined. There was a nice review in the Charente Libre.  Voces Concordiae were the best of the three, of course.

The next day Ed went to his first rehearsal with another choir in Rochechouart, followed by a choir lunch including spouses. We've heard this choir several times now and they are excellent. This is a larger choir with a more varied repertoire.

We've been to several concerts of late, including a piano recital by Claire Désert at the Montbron church and an organ and cello recital at a small church in Pranzac. The small organ there was completed at the end of 2011.

This month has been full of visitors. This area is a good stopping point for folks on their way further south from the Netherlands. Our friends Lino and Bart and their lovely girls spent a night nearby and we had them to dinner, eating outside in the shade of the house.

Five days later, our friend Jody from Houston days and her husband Steve arrived for a stay after three weeks in Spain. We took them on one of the local evening walks that includes a five-course dinner at stops along the way. Here are Steve and Jody with Ed in the blue shorts.

Another evening the four of us sat in the woods near a badger sett from dusk till well after dark. Unfortunately our position didn't allow a good view, but those of us with good hearing heard the snuffling and scuffling as the badgers left for the evening.

More friends (Tosca&Mike and Patrice&Wim) from the Netherlands were in the area so we had a backyard bbq one evening. The next day we all visited the cave at St Sornin and took a horse-drawn calèche ride into the vineyards. 

We had a little tour of the vineyards followed by a wine-tasting, then went off to a nearby restaurant to have some coffee and cakes for Tosca's birthday.

We attended another marché des producteurs, this time in Confolens where there was entertainment by a local Zumba group. We were exhausted watching. As we drove by on our way home, we saw people about to show an eagle owl and a barn owl for the crowd.

We waved fond good-byes to all our visitors last Friday and life is beginning to get back to normal. (Thursday and Friday nights were the big storms.) On Monday, Ed went to pick up the tiles for the kitchen floor. These are acclimating themselves now. The cabinets are all back in place on the newly insulated wall and we're starting to think what to do about the tiling for the wall above the sink that will be be installed in September. Before that, though, we'll be busy moving the cabinets and shelving that stand on the floor, along with their contents, into the living room so the new floor can be laid.