Crusoe's Bucolic Constitutional

Every day here for the last few weeks has been lovely, almost too lovely!  I have been yearning for cold, crisp, misty autumnal days but it is not to be, all we have had is glorious sunshine and temperatures into the twenties an Indian Summer for sure, personally I think it's a bit eerie for November.   Every morning I take Crusoe out for his walk, today I thought, I would take you with me...

I know this herd is a happy herd, they belong to our neighbour Michel, he has a bit of knack when it comes to animals, he is dark and good looking our very own Heathcliffe, he rides his horses bareback and is always willing to lend a hand with his tractor in our garden and won't except payment. Every Christmas we buy him  a few of the finest bottles Bordeaux has to offer and I add add a few interesting home made chutneys, preserves and sometimes when I feel ambitious a special cake, I have learnt that's just the way things are done around here.

A view of the Château, I don't see it as a Château I see it as a Castle it dates from the twelfth century, it attracts droves of tourists and schoolchildren, inside its a museum, where they teach the history of Medieval France, most of the locals see it as a Walt Disney Castle it has been overly restored with the help of European grants and not necessarily remained true, most of the villagers tell me they preferred it as a ruin..they played amongst its crumbling walls as children, much more romantic but they admit it does bring much needed money into the local economy.

Ahhh Crusoe..."Come on, throw my stick"...

Proud dog, valiantly retrieving the stick

I am a clever dog!

Crusoe killing his stick

Eastern view of the Chateau

Can you see that egg shaped thing in the tree, what is it? A nest of some sort but what?

Autumn Colours

At the top of the hill you can see the highest peeks of the French Pyrenees and beyond those mountains lies Spain

The local Pyrneean goat herd, I love them Crusoe does not, I have to keep him on a tight leash when I speak to the goats in his presence, once he jumped into their enclosure, a battle ensued for hours, he would not come out and it resulted in this

After the Constitutional, Crusoe likes to relax in his favourite chair... and me... well this morning I made myself a large cup of coffee, changed the lens on my camera and practised some stylised shots of antique books of which there is more to come...