Au revoir juillet

I should have written my blog yesterday but I am finding it very difficult to make the time - what with looking after the horses - occasionally trying to help Paul - do all the usual housework stuff and now not watching copious amounts of Olympic hockey games on the dedicated BBC channel! Oh well as long as it gets done once a month ha - it will be up to every two months soon... but anyway we have had a good few weeks. Building wise Paul has finished the super deluxe horse shelter and thankfully it was just in time for some blisteringly hot weather and they do use it. We have finished the oak floor in one of the bedrooms which looks good. I also located some more oak parquet direct from a sawmill for a lot less money for the other bedroom which we will put in soon.

Paul has spent the last week or so doing lots of stonework out the front of the house - it now looks like we have a walls everywhere - some I have just uncovered that had been under the ivy. They all need to be jointed now which will be a good job for me and Gabs who we picked up from the train last Thursday night. She arrived with a bad head cold which it now appears she has shared with me as I have a very sore throat tonight. Not happy Jan!

Paul has also uncovered some old footings in the front yard along with lots of old bits and pieces. He has rebuilt part of the walls on top of the them. Would be so interesting to have more information about the building history.

A couple of weeks back we spent the day or some of it with Yves and some of his Belgian guests watching the Tour de France go past. It had a leg between Toulouse and Brive which passed only about 15km away from us so we couldn't not go and experience it. Most of the time it is just sitting around waiting but then the fun begins about an hour before the cyclists go through as lots of sponsors cars go past throwing out crap freebies/samples which we all had a lot of fun fighting over. Here is Paul and Yves in their free green lycra shirts and a couple of shots of the cyclists.

I have still been riding lots and have had a couple more dressage lessons - most recently this morning. I am starting to think I can't ride at all as I find it very difficult - there is just too many things to think about and Tolsan can be a bit on the lazy side so most of the time I have to be pushing him on at the same time as trying to adjust my seat and the reins - maintain my balance etc. I think I will be feeling the effects of attempting a rising trot without stirrups for weeks!! We went to the Cazal market on Sunday to pick up some fruit and vegies. I have to admit I feel so much more comfortable asking for things in French then I did even a few months back so hopefully the french lessons are starting to pay off. Here's Paul and Gabs wandering around.

It has been very warm here the last few weeks - and it is starting to really dry out. Some rain would be very welcome. We have had some hay delivered by one of our farmer neighbors ready for when our pastures have all been fed off which is getting to be very soon by the looks of it. The farmers are getting pretty desperate as a lot of their crops are mid season. We have a lovely field of sunflowers directly opposite our house. Harry decided to come with me when I walked down to photograph it.