L'Echiquier, Seth's Blog

08h30 – Weather 16°C, overnight low 16°C yesterday’s high 24°C.   A hard day working preparing the new drive for the garage.   The ground was hard despite the rain and flinty.  The moto-culture was next to useless, so it was down to the spade.  Spent some time in the garden with shears trimming back rampant brambles.  I was well and truly tired by the end of the afternoon, time to rest.   Just as well, the sun had just broken through and it was now getting warmer.

19h00 – Getting ready to go to the Chateau de Ratilly (another link) at Treigny, about 30 minutes drive through some very pleasant wooded countryside.  It’s a small human scale chateau which is holding a concert by a French woman playing Brazillian music, she calls herself Veroica.  Despite the fact that the chateau is small it it still a considerable sized place, but it feels cosy and not ostentatious.   It has a pottery shop on site and art exhibitions and concerts are held throughout the summer.

L’Echiquier web-site.

08h30 – Temperature now is 19°C, overnight low of 18°C, yesterday’s high was 32°C.  Complete cloud cover light rain and heavier showers.  The forecast is thunder this afternoon.  Méteo.  The harvesting has stopped.  Some carnage this morning with cats bringing in rodents.

Task for the day tidy up the yard a bit, some work on the roses and fish pond filter clean – it’ll be nice and cool.   There are some campers coming at the weekend, so I’ll make sure Mr Mole has not disturbed the pitches too much.

L’Echiquier web-site.

08h00 – Weather sunny and dry, some high cloud.  18°C at present, 15°C low overnight, 30°C daytime high yesterday.

Got home after midnight last night, some harvesting still going on, the wheat is still dry.   We’d been to Saint Brisson in the neighbouring department The Loiret to a performance by Johnny Clegg – Le Zoulou Blanc – The White Zulu.

• Wiki quote – At the height of the band’s success in 1988, Michael Jackson had to cancel his show in Lyon, France, as he attracted a smaller audience than Johnny Clegg and Savuka. A newspaper headline in France read “white man singing black music, out sells black man singing white music”.

Last nights show was by all accounts a brilliant show, P said it was the best she’d been to for years, just standing close up to the music and being swayed by the tightly fitting crowd (ah-well!).  For me it was quite different; I had been on my feet most of the day behind a grass cutter and my legs were tired, the event was open air (well under a huge canvas/plastic roof) and standing only.   French shows NEVER start on time and this was no exception, my legs got really tired just waiting and my back was uncomfortable, I need to lean or sit (age?). When the show did start man was it loud, I do like loud music and P often tells me to turn the hi-fi down but this was different (age?), the sound mix had huge volume on the bass and drums especially, each snare drum (not the bass drum) beat seemed distorted it had very sharp attack then I realized it was not distorted but it was my left ear.   I backed away from a fairly front position to the bar and it got no better.  P found me later and I could not hear her properly I had a loooong echo.   I decided to get further away and so heard the second part of the concert from the catering area on the far side of the moat.  This was fine, the volume was still loud but it did not hurt, by this time I also had indigestion, French fizzy beer,  so I went back to the car for some Rennies, they were not there. So back to the concert catering area where I sat and enjoyed what was left tired, aching legs and back plus indigestion.  I bought a piece of flan from the food wagon, the same caterer who was at Bonny on Friday, really nice.  I thought the egg/milk mixture might help.  So for me it was NOT the best thing.  I would not have bought the CD but I did for Les Doigts De L’Homme [The Fingers of Man](Links — Wiki — Amazon — YouTube).

Saint Brisson is a castle overlooking the Loire river, it has in its grounds a collection of medieval war-machines which are demonstrated regularly.

Jobs for today, water new trees and shrubs and prepare the workbench and drill for Christophe Deslignes‘s “14e Stage de Musiques et de Danses du Moyen-Age a Saint-Bris-le-Vineux (France, Yonne)”, Link. It is used as part of the course for making recorders (the wooden blowy things), run by Philippe Bolton.

16h00 – 30°C outside in the shade, time to come in.  P just said she thinks she’ll buy every recording Johnny Clegg ever made, WOW.

L’Echiquier web-site.

09h00 – 15°C now and down to 12°C overnight, cool again, sunny and no cloud. Central

The wild part of the garden.

heating pump has packed up, we only use it in the summer for the heated towel rails.  Bother – the heating has been loads of trouble this year with 4 call-outs to the plumber for the boiler alone, at least I can fix/change the pump myself.  It’ll be a good chance to drain the system, P wants to paint behind the towel radiators and I want to connect up the under-floor pipes on the mezzanine.

Cats all fed and watered, Calico is approachable to day and can be picked up, good news.

Little more grass cutting today, middle and short cuts.

Fish Pond in Japanese Garden.

14h00 – 27°C and hot, just stopped cutting grass and had a word the the neighbouring farmer.  They are cutting their wheat, I was after some barley straw to use in the fish ponds as an algae deterrent.  He said that they would  be starting on their barley in the next 3-4 days, so just to help myself when they were harvesting.

17h45 – Did the cutting at the bottom of the garden.   Had the boiler off for a few hours to let the water cool, the pump and pipes were very hot.  I am able to loosen the pump fixing, so am satisfied I can change it if required.   I was able to turn it but not freely, maybe just a bit of crud in there.   I have fired the boiler up and will see if the pump clears itself, if not I’ll take it part and clean it, failing that I’ll but a new one.   Jeton has been busy playing with moles.

The 8HP machine.

Ran the moto-culteur engine for a while, the carburettor gets clogged with gel, its needs to be used more often.  Time for a shower then a look at Le Tour.

L’Echiquier web-site.

08h15 – Ahhh Sunday – grass cutting. No not normally but it has not been cut for a long while and does need a trim.   Luckily it’s been hot so it hasn’t grown that much.  It was quite a cool night, down to 12°C, we had to shut the balcony door.

09h45 – Flies, summer flies, I dislike them intensely.  There’s not many things I don’t like.  These are those small files that don’t buzz as they fly, just rest on surfaces and only fly when disturbed.  Their flight and movement seems so slow and yet they are difficult to swat, being so light any air movement pushed them away from danger.  We don’t want to use sprays or chemicals, I have tried to attract them as one would wasps with sweet things but to no avail.  They do seem to go for my beer glass though so I’ll try a beer trap next.  They also like just resting on the tiled floors, may be they enjoy the coolness.  We have checked all manner of places for the remains of rodents that the cats may have had and found nothing.  Cressida the latest cat tries her best to help catch them as well, hopefully not like Simon’s cat though. Where do all these flies they come from?

Our cat Calico.

Calico is missing this morning, that’s very unusual P said that Calico was not there when she came home past midnight last night.

12h30 – Still no Calico worrying.  Grass cut, well some of it, it is getting hot out there so I’ve done some of the middle height cut.  It’s 21°C on he mezzanine, that’s nice.

14h15 – Went into the neighbour’s garden to take some pictures of the garage and have  look for Calico, no Calico.  P joined me so we both took different routes and started a cursory search, to no avail.  Then on going back to the house P found her under one of the oak trees.  I had not seen her when cutting the grass earlier.   She was very frightened. P eventually encouraged her inside where she was given some food but she was not really interested.   Well at least she was home and hopefully safe, sometimes the neighbours dogs visit and this may have been the case here, I heard them in the garden the night before last.

17h00 – Been out to Béon to cut some grass.  Calico seems to have settled down, all cats present and correct.  Time for a beer.

18h30 – Johnny Clegg ? – Le Zoulou Blanc – The White Zulu – he’s here nearby in Val de Jazz, coming your way on Monday, let’s hope he’s as good as Les Doigts De L’homme (Links — Wiki — Amazon — YouTube) see Sat 16th’s entry.   All expectations are high.

L’Echiquier web-site.