Wednesday, 27 April 2011

Lightening Strike

On Sunday evening we had a small storm, lots of wind, dark sky and rumbles of thunder. We saw just one flash of lightening in the distance. It all lasted about 30 minutes.
Look at what happened with the one lightening flash.....

This is the hundred year old sequoia in the Jardin Botanique in Loches
It took the full force of the lightening strike
The area looked just like a bomb had gone off ..
 
 


It's a good job that it was raining heavily at the time, so there were not many people in the park!!!!

Thursday, 21 April 2011

Evening Walk

Yesterday evening MOH and I dropped our youngest son - nearly 17, off in the middle of nowhere for a party.
He was meeting up with some friends whohad organised a party in a 'field'. Well that was what he told us. We dropped at the place where he was told to go, then he walked to where he thought they were. When I called him 10 minutes later he had not found them, then said he had just seen them in the distance. I called him again later and he had found them - I could hear them all talking so I know he was OK!!

So, MOH and I decided to go for a wander around Loches, our nearest town. 
The weather was beautiful and really warm.

This is the entrance to the medieval part of the town where the chateau is.

This is one of the views from the top of the city. You can just see a large white marquee in the distance. this is for the Foire de Paques  ( Easter Fair) next weekend.

The next two pictures are of a lovely new shop that sells all nic nacs and expensive ones too!



Then to finish off our walk, MOH decided he wanted a kebab. there is only one kebab shop in Loches and it has a good reputation.

Here is our ekbab and chips. It cost 4.50€ and was very nice. We sat and ate it on a bench enjoying the sunshine.


This is just on our way to the car, so it is a bit darker than the others and this of one of the towers around Loches, with the river by the side.


Hope you enjoyed our evening walk.

Wednesday, 20 April 2011

Lazing by the pool

This is a picture of Max, lazing by the pool at the weekend.


His nose was almost touching the water and when he was thirsty he just reached down for a drink.
He was also very interested by the swallows that swoop down to the pool to get a drink. He did not move but just sat there watching them.
 They are like airplanes, they chose the best way to approach, maybe take a couple of tries, then swoop down into the water for a drink. The young birds sometimes end up actually in the water and have to work really hard to fly out again.
It is lovely to watch them every year.
He was also studying some turtle doves that decided to be very brave and come for a drink. They tried to sit on the edge and lean in but it was too far, so they left without a drink.The only birds I have seen who can do that are the chickens. I have got a picture somewhere but I can't find it at the moment.

While I was lying in the sun reading, I heard this almighty splashing and guess what - he had fallen in the pool.

He was trying to swim but was not at all happy, so I scooped him up by his collar and dumped him on the side.

MOH asked why I had not stopped to take a picture, I said I thought it was more important to get him out!!

Tuesday, 19 April 2011

Weekly shop

I thoughtI would show you my shopping from last weekend.
I am interested to compare the prices you pay around the world, so I hope you are too.
I do most of my shopping in LIDL but I always look for reductions on meat in the large supermarkets. I often buy shin beef at 30% or 50% off, great in the slow cooker, and in LIDL they also reduce their meat by 30% as it comes to the sell by date.


I looked at the exchange rates today so you can do the calculations
€ to the £ = 0.8775 
€ to the US$ =  1.4275
€to the NZ$ =   1.813  
€ to the Aus€ =   1.3575 




Here is some of what I bought 
:
Dove Cream soap - 2 bars 1.39€
Fabric softener - 1.29€
Plain Flour - 0.35€
Eggs 12 - 0.95€
Single cream x 3 20ml - 1.29€
Butter 500g - 2.39€
Cooking chocolate - 0.65€
Vine tomatoes large - 1.79€ kg
Bananas - 1.25€kg
Tuna in oil - 0.99€
Cucumber - 0.49€
Chicken escalopes 400g - 3.19€

I would be interested to hear how your prices compare to these.

Thank You

I have just found out that I have won 2 awards.



The same award from two different people

Thank you both very much. 

My blogging has been very sparse lately, I can't believe it has been nearly three weeks since my last post, so Thank You again.

I have to award this blog to a few of my favourite blogs with less than 300 members
so here you are:


Hope you all have a nice day.
It looks like it will be a hot one again here



I have to pass this a