Only one of us! - Part 39

Strange morning today; instead of doing everything in twos or pairs, upon Nigel's return to the UK, I have to remember only to do 1 cup of tea, one breakfast, in fact only one of everything. Meanwhile Nigel is doing the same thing in the UK only under a lot more pressure, as he has to spend a full day (sometimes several hours more!) at work to bring in the pennies.

The weather today is the complete opposite of the weather report - it is meant to be grey, cloudy and raining, instead it is sunny with only a light wind.  There are a number of yellow butterflies flitting around; they are all so happy that they have no intentions of keeping still long enough for me to take any photos.  Nigel did predict that once he returned to the UK, I would get better weather!

I found this cowslip this morning, hiding away under one of our shrubs.

This picture was taken of a small island on Lake Lavaud when I was returning from the airport yesterday. The 'statue' only appears during winter when the grass is low; in summer it completely disappears. I have never discovered why it is there. It looks to me like a thirsty cow drinking water from the lake by means of a long straw!!

I managed to sift through 4 wheelbarrow loads of compost this morning, removing all the large and fat white-coloured grubs of the green fruit beetle, which I have discovered these are. Apparently they are supposed to be good guys for the most part. They are working hard to break down the compost and aereate it. They are identifiable from other destructive 'beasts', from their off white color, changing to a dark grey at the tail end with a reddish brown head. They are considerably larger than most grubs, up to 2" in some cases. I gather that they make good fish bait! You can also place them in a shallow pan or tray and lay them out as food for the birds as I have done.  I must have removed well over 100 from the compost so far,  I am wondering how fat my local birds are going to get. So long as they can still fly to get away from my neighbour's cat........  Another supply tomorrow.

  Yuck, they are not my favourite beasties!

A far prettier picture is this 'dandelion field' which I spotted on my way to the dentist this afternoon. My tooth is still not in 'happy mode' and I have to return on the 27th!!  I have not worked out why this tooth requires 3 visits (or more); my French is just not good enough.