A great relief, the storm last night, already the breeze was stronger and cooler but the horizon was clear with lightning very far away towards Bordeaux. So I was surprised when an hour or so later it all changed.
My occasional sleeping companion joined me as soon as I went to bed and for the first time stayed all night. He must have nudged the window almost closed but, even with his presence and the reduced ventilation it was a comfortable night.
This morning the water butt is overflowing and my first job outside will be pumping it into the bottom pond to bring it back once more from its marsh like appearance.
An even bigger storm tonight, just dying down at the moment, I think, with rapid and continuous lightning and thunder. The house is vibrating. I am thinking there will be another 500 litres to transfer from the butt to the pond again tomorrow.
Bad news is it cut out Sherwood, half way through.
Yeah it was a good 'un tonight here in the Medoc. We had the neighbours over for dinner. Météo France has said the storm would start around nine, so had planned to start off outside… But those plans quickly changed when the weather suddenly changed just before 8:00
A pretty wild storm last night. Thank goodness the big hailstorm missed us. That’s the second time in a couple of weeks there have been really violent hailstorms we have narrowly avoided.
I’m assuming there’s a France-wide shortage of bâches at the moment?
We too have had near-ish misses. Counting ourselves lucky that we have some kind of Batfink wings of steel (Google it) protecting us. Good thing too, the roof is decidedly suspect. That said, a nearby chateau had its new roof 3/4 destroyed… I digress.
As a result of the renovation work that we have done to our place, we have easy access to the entire roof from underneath (i.e. the attic space) I’m wondering if we ought stick supplies of temp repair stuff up there, and devise an emergency drill of some kind. Strikes me that you can limit significant water damage by acting quickly, and not having to wait for overstretched pompiers to bail you out (pun intended)
Last summer during a freakish storm in the middle of the night, quite a few roof tiles went flying off the roof.My husband (with my sort of help) managed to slide spare tiles we had in the loft back into place. I was terrified it would be like dominos and that the rest of the roof tiles would slide off, but that didn’t happen.
But to answer your question, I think it’s a good idea! Now every time there is a storm I do get quite nervous it will happen again. On a more positive note, whilst the whole village looked like a mess in the morning after the storm, by the afternoon pretty much everything had been fixed. No pompiers required.
I did too, very distant, last night as I sat here closing down the computer. Turning my head I saw a very red glow on the western hills and the odd, faint, flash of lightning. Within 20 minutes it was on us, very heavy rain but little other storm evidence. Once in bed I saw the occasional flash but the heavy rain must have been brief, not enough to have to bother to pump out the butt this morning.
However, I am certain now that, while he does not panic or appear disturbed, Jules does sense the early signs because he was lying on the floor beside me and then followed me into the bedroom rather than waiting till I was settled before joining me. Gave me a chance to direct him not to take more than his share of the bed for once.
This came up on Meteo France… just now…
Basically, don’t have chainsaws/machinery, bonfires, bbq’s or whatever might cause sparks/flames. The vegetation is tinder dry… be aware and take care… don’t throw cigarette stubs away… make sure they are safely disposed of … the wind will quickly whip a small fire into a destructive blaze…
Absolutely @Stella . I’m always acutely aware of fire risk when out and about in the wilds. Where I lived in the Pennines, there used to be moorland fires every year around us. It’s unbelievable how utterly stupid and thoughtless some people can be when it comes to fire.
Same here. I lived on the Côte d’Azur a long time ago now but still vividly remember how regularly we’d see the Canadairs out tackling the forest fires and how devastating the fires can be.
Here in the Médoc we have “attention au feu” signs all over the place. Not seen many fires in the 2 years we’ve been here, but perhaps that has more to do with reduced number of tourists due to Covid.
That’s where I come from, they are absolutely terrible, horrific and terrifying, the worst thing afterwards is the Paul Nash look of everything and the horrible smell of burnt flesh and fur.
When I worked for Radio Saint Tropez (101 mH!) I used to go out with the pompiers armed with transmitting kit so people could ring the radio to get news of family or friends rather than swamping the gendarmes or the pompiers or the hospital.
Yes I see unrelenting sun increasing to 38 on Sunday before cooling down a bit. I can see more time in and out of the pond in the shade of the trees up there.
Thank you Stella, as someone said on the radio this morning dogs can’t unzip a layer in the heat as we do. I took Jules shopping this morning, parked the back end of the car where he is in the shade and wound all the windows down.
On the way home, 10 minutes later we went to the river field for his walk and a bit of light training but, instead of covering the large un-shaded area to get to the cool of the river bank I took him sideways under the shade of the trees, where even the grass was still wet. He still wanted to run out into the sunlight though.
At home her he either chooses the shady terrasse 2 feet from me just inside here, or the open cage in the back of the car. Although the car is in sunlight now the hatch and the 2 side sliders are open, so quite a cool flow through of air. Nevertheless, he has chosen the shade. He loves that cage in the back of the car, it is his sentry box, facing as it does the gate just 2 metres away, and often stays there till well after dark, meaning that I have to go out with a torch to bring him in and close up.
Hello everyone, here in Toulouse no surprise same conditions. Probably also a factor is the associated poor air quality. June (dog) is sleeping in the corridor it’s about the coolest place at night. I’d leave her out but she’ll definitely bark at all hours. For zoid (cat…zoid) she does her own thing doesn’t bark much. Our vet suggested feeding her more pâté as higher water content than croquettes and there are some cat soups that are like a cold soup. So she has at least one of those a day. Apparently cats are less likely than dogs to drink freely when it’s hot. Probably I should mention the horses too. Basically out from 7am and if in the field back in before lunch. Hot in the stables but cooler than being out. Light riding only.
What I find interesting is how, at least within my limited experience, ordinary mediaeval French houses seem so well-equipped to deal with extremes of both heat and cold. Much can be learnt from the past!
