Just had the four yearly fosse septique inspection and passed with flying colours 
It works well and havenāt had any issues with it, but you never know what may come from an inspection, so very pleased and a good start to the day 
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Todayās cheerful news is that my orange cake is delicious when washed down with a large glass of chilled Monbazillacā¦ hicā¦ 
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Make Monbazillac slushpuppy to go with it or sorbet 
(whizz white peaches or those flat ones, mix with Monbazillac to taste, freeze).
Or freeze the skinned peaches in chunks chill the Monbaz, put together and whizz.
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We are working our way through our last few bottles of the 2003 vintageā¦ absolutely deliciousā¦ the American pals who dined with us today were with us when we visited the Chateauā¦ so it all brought back some very happy memoriesā¦ hicā¦ hicā¦
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Iām beginning to take a rather sceptical view of your claims to abstemiousness 
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The fact that we still have bottles leftā¦ 19 years laterā¦ surely tells you that we donāt āgo madā very oftenā¦ 
Depends how big your cellar is Stella!
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Itās certainly not tall enough.
Impossible to stand up properly, in one half ā¦ and the other half is crawling-room-onlyā¦ aargh.
But, the cheerful news is that itās lovely and cool down thereā¦
But surely, all you really need to do is crawl .
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I somehow knew that someone would come up with just that sort of commentā¦
Itās a dratted nuisance actually, since much of the plumbing runs through that lowest section of the cellar and OH has a terrible time trying to mend/change/whatever needs doing in such unhelpful surroundingsā¦
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Good news @Bonzocat , I hate the idea of terrorising a bull then to kill it with all the odds stacked against it, no way could that be described as sport.
I seem to remember that in the south of France they have fights that do not end in a kill, and the best bulls fight again and are treated with respect. When we were down in the Carmargue many years ago I think there was a statue to a particularly famous bull.
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I have the same issue. I have a modern single story house, which is raised above ground by 1m. All water and drainage is under the house in the 1m high crawl space. All electrics go up into the attic, where lots of wiring goes into the roof eaves, where you have about 30cm height to squeeze your head and arms into to access wiring. Pain in the ars*
Bullfighting in the Roman amphitheatre in Arles, which is on the edge of the Camargue, is still very popular. Although some fights do not end in the death of the bull, many do. Itās the younger bulls that are not killed, the older ones are.
Oh, glad I didnāt go then, although it was never going to happen anyway.
Todayās cheerful newsā¦
Our Heron is alive and wellā¦ (OK it might not be Our Heron, but any Heron will do )
Persuaded OH to come for a little stroll to frogpondā¦ just as the sun is settingā¦ and there he wasā¦ our Heronā¦ first sighting this year since he presumably went to warmer climes during the winterā¦
He flapped majestically in the direction of the lower pond, did a few turns around the willows and finally (presumably) landed onto one of their limbsā¦
and Iām wondering if he/she will settle there.
Last year we would see him/her every evening, but leaving the pond at sunset and heading northwards towards the far woodlandsā¦
Itās been a boiling hot dayā¦ mostly spent indoors dealing with queriesā¦
So finally escaping and enjoying one of natureās special momentsā¦ really calms the mindā¦
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The only ābullfightā I was ever at was in the Carmargue in 1976. There was no violence, it was all about jumping into the ring and trying to grab a ribbon from between the bullās horns. Whenever anyone did get one the Tannoy announced that they had won 500 francs (about fifty quid). As an impoverished, grape picking student I though it was worth a bash. Luckily someone informed me that they were talking old, pre revaluation, francs which were worth 100 times less. So I decided risking getting gored for fifty pence wasnāt a good bet.
I hope it is our heron you saw and glad to be rid of it, as are the fish in our pond.
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Oh dear, it must be galling to watch a heron decimate your fish stocks.
Are you able to net the pond, at least around the edges to stop the heron walking into the water ā¦ that would definitely send the marauder looking elsewhereā¦
Must confess, the ponds around here are more like lakesā¦ so the herons can only walk-in for a certain distance anyway, thus allowing some fish to hide in the deeper waters.
All stacked away and ready for winter.
Given the rise in fuel prices our annual delivery has increased by 60 euros this year so I recon 9 euros per month increase for all our heat and hot water from October to April is a result.
Before:
After:
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I love a neat wood store. 
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