Christmas walks 2011

A little hamlet of Limousin granite cottages and barns, with the red Roman tiled roofs we have here, sitting in the winter sunshine.



Some bullrushes - one or two have 'popped' their seedheads. This little pond near us is spring fed and very seldom runs dry - it did this year though!




Sunset over Le Lac, St Mathieu - pretty isn't it - and getting quite cold as soon as the sun disappeared.



Just 20 minutes before - the kids, with Charlie, the Amazing Climbing Poodle...



One of the 20 or so exercise stations dotted about the lake. Charlie trying to climb again...



A couple of young Limousin cows - rather anxiously watching us walk on by



Another shot of the sun just starting to go down - already the temperature is falling fast in the shadows, but still plenty of light on the other side of the lake.



It is one of our favourite places to go - but you should see it in summer - packed with people swimming, sunning themselves, boating...we were the only people there on Boxing day.



Long shadows - the black blob is Charlie, yet again. He never goes far, always likes to be one of the gang - speaks fluent English and French!



These whitish blobs are nests of processional caterpillars - horrid, nasty things, dangerous to lifestock and pets. In the last ten years, we have seen nests appearing like this more and more - the caterpillars apparently moving up from the south, each year another mile or two north, all due to global warming.


We are determined that Christmas excess will be walked off and surprisingly for us, have managed a long walk - a least an hour - every day since. How long it will last, I don't know, but I'm going to keep on looking at the photos to get us to go out every day - my first New Year Resolution!