Well, it’s been some week – a week of firsts on many counts…..

Tuesday evening saw Emma singing at someone else’s gites – that was a first. She had been “spotted” singing at the Feu de St Jean in June and they had asked her to sing at a meal they were having.

Emma

It was while we were there that the storm brewed. At first it was quite a pleasing show – our own private fireworks set to music. Then it got serious. I can honestly say I have never seen anything like it. Definitely a first.

Massive claps of thunder and  forked lightning from all directions – a 360° light show extravganza. I have never been so capitvated or petrified in such equal measures. Neither my camera nor my nerves were capable of taking worthy photos but I swear it was exactly like the photo below and then some, and it went on for hours.

Forked lightning

Photograph courtesy of American Red Cross ( some interesting information on this link!)

With Emma surrounded by electrical gadgets and singing beside the swimming pool, neither a brilliant idea when the air is charged with millions of angry volts looking for a way to vent their frustration,  we were glad to call it a day and set off home. The hair raising 10 minute journey seemed to take forever – no idea why but maybe we were thinking that driving slowly was a better way to negotiate the lightning forks. Once home we drove straight across the pitch & putt course to close up the henhouse then back up to the safety of the house, forgetting completely that we hadn’t dismantled the parasols at the pool. By now, as well as the thunder & lightning, Amar’s much coveted rain was bouncing off the ground at huge speed – never was the phrase “Be careful what you wish for” as apt as now. No way were we going back out and as we feared, we ended up in the early hours of the morning fishing sunbeds & parasols out of the pool.

Broken Sharron Fruit tree

In the middle of all of this the power went off – and didn’t come back on again for 36 hours. Another first and very frustrating for everyone. With the whole region affected EDF were stretched – all we could do was wait it out and hand out emergency candle supplies. Thank goodness for all our lovely guests who took it all in their stride including the children who were only mildly put out when the chargers on their electronic gizmos started to run dry!

We got off lightly compared to some , with only a broken Sharon Fruit tree to mourn. The surrounding fallen walnut trees, flattened corn fields and battered fences were a bigger testament to Nature’s cruelty.

But onwards & upwards and with 5 of this week’s 7 families here for at least the second time, Thursday saw us planning another communal event.

This time , instead of a BBQ we decided to try an outside caterer to deliver the eats ( another first!) leaving time for Les Crouquets’ first golf tournament! A hearty congratulations to the well deserved winner Olivier Delmoy ! ( A tall chap who had the good grace to bend down to Amar’s level to receive his winner’s certificate & bottle of fizz!!)

Golf tournament winner 2013 -Olivier Delmoy!!

Now we are looking forward to Monday’s meteor shower and hopefully a good display of shooting stars…..all of the pleasure of another fantastic light show but this time with none of the inconvieniences of Tuesday night’s spectacular display!!

The thing about living the country life is that you really have to be self sufficient – it’s not always easy to find help for all the things that need doing. And that includes shearing sheep!

Outsize clippers & a lot of TLC - sheep shearing initiation way back in 2008!

We inherited 3 sheep when we bought Les Crouquets and the first time they needed shearing way back in 2008 we couldn’t find anyone to do it,so nothing else for it but to learn how to do it ourselves – with a bit of a helping hand from a pair of outsized hair clippers.

Amar had the daunting task of the actual wool cutting while Alistair and I administered some TLC to the poor sheep, who were no doubt well aware that we were approaching the task with more than a little trepidation.

Buff's impressive horns

Emma was nowhere to be seen, unable to face witnessing the potential onslaught!  Given Buff’s rather impressive horns, I could see where she was coming from. A few guests, obviously braver than she was, gathered round to watch, so the pressure was on to do at least a half decent job!

Give or take a couple of minor nicks and a “missing ” tail which was eventually found after a frantic 10 minute search, still attached (thank goodness!) in its rightful position, we reckon we didn’t do too badly! Roll on, next year we thought!!

Maybe it was just beginner’s luck as the second time wasn’t quite as straight forward! The sheep, obviously not blessed with short memories,were now well aware of their waiting fate & were agitated.

Our sheep are Ouessons with short legs and trying to immobilise them was no easy task! When the clippers broke down halfway through the shearing, Biff took her opportunity to break free and run off down the field, half shorn & way off balance resembling the proverbial haggis loupin’ oe’er the hills ( nice to get back to my Scottish roots again!). We eventually finished the job off with a lot of patience and my good sewing scissors , which of course were completely useless for cutting paper afterwards, never mind material.

A good use of wool for the follically challenged!

Two years ago, Biff was the only sheep left at Les Crouquets and we accepted that some things just simply need to be delegated so she got the luxury of being driven in a straw filled van to Saint Genies where a friend gets a professional shearer in to trim his little flock ( Mary, Buff -now renamed Mouloud- & Bojangles originally came from here) so she no longer had the worry of how competent we would be – a bit like dreading the trainee hairdresser 😉

Last year though we couldn’t fnd anyone to shear her and it got too late to do it ourselves so she has had a year’s extra coat to deal with. This was fine in the Winter and during the horrible Spring we had this year but with the recent heatwave she didn’t do too well and was looking decidedly unattractive ,uncomfortable and close to spending the rest of the season in an state of aestivation.* I even overheard one little boy telling his Mum that he wanted to go to look at the scary sheep.

Luckily this week we found someone in the next village who said he would shear her. We loaded Biff, & Alistair for moral support,unceremoniously into the boot of the car and set off to La Cassagne.

off to the ovine hairdressers in the boot of the Passat!

Two year’s worth of heavy matted wool was never going to be easy but the shearer did a good job and Biff got off lightly with one small nick – actually it looked huge to me and Alistair’s expression must have looked as if she might bleed to death right there in front of us but the ones in the know just smirked at us, sprayed the cut with some cauterizing aluminium and of course she was right as rain. We try to give the impression of being countryfied but occasionally the townie genes will out!

Nearly there - 3 men and a scary sheep!

Back home Susie and Laphroaig were wary of the new addition to the enclosure – they had no idea it was Biff, now less than half the size and looking more like a little black dog than the rotund brown sheep who had left just half an hour ago! They both became very protective of their patch and tried to chase this intruder off their territory, Susie heehawing at the top of her lungs and Laphroaig,a born hunter, itching to hunt her down but just stopping short, probably realizing that yes, he did sort of recognise her after all.

Biff before with two year's worth of heavy matted wool

Biff After - complete with aluminium covered nick

Now I’m thinking that we really should be planning next year’s shearing session way ahead!

* Aestivation 

A big thanks to Carol from Whichwaynow101 for adding this marvellous word to my vocabulary – it’s right up there with two of my favourites, crepuscular and serendipity !!