This weekend heralds the end of the official summer here in sunny France, as thousands of holidaymakers wend their way back home to prepare for ‘La Rentrée’ – the re-entering, literally, of work or school. over the next week to 10 days. The summer has been a disappointing one weatherwise, some sun to be sure but tempered by the aftermath of Hurricane Bertha we are already seeing evenings just a little too cool to spend entirely outdoors and temperatures far too nippy to encourage a bikini-clad day by the pool. There remain, however, a few happy reminders of the heat of summer and the colours of sunshine in the garden. The beautiful and wonderfully named giant cosmos and the vibrant orange marigolds (known in French as Indian Carnations, presumably for their hot and fiery colour ) which we grew from seed are defiantly shaking their heads at the whispers of oncoming Autumn…………
View from a French Hillside 
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! Every one of these are stunning!! …. and Don Quixote — one of my very favorites!!
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Hello west517 and Many thanks! Delighted you like them, poor little flowers are still bravely pretending it’s hot and summery even though it it feels like Autumn here now! Awful when we’re not even in September! I imagine the sun shines most of the time chez vous!? 🙂
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Oh yes — most of the year the sun shines here ~ even in winter and I love it!! It’s still quite warm but September should bring some cooler weather 🙂
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This region of France is normally one of the sunniest but not quite up to standard this year! Don’t mind if it’s not warm as long as the sun shines! 😦 🙂
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Have you ever heard of “heliophilia?” …I have it…. 🙂
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If it means you get very grumpy and horrible when the sun doesn’t shine I guess I have it too! 😦 🙂
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“…a desire to stay in the sun, have light…” lol– I wouldn’t say I get grumpy–just a little blue 🙂 🙂
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I think my case must be more severe, it definitely includes serious grumpiness!! 😀 PS How are you gettiing on with the ’emoticon’ alphabet?
🙂 ⭐
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🙂 I can also feel that way if it’s too gray to too long — I’m not a big fan of winter when it gets dark earlier in the day~ I love my summers!! I’m doing OK with it– I’ve not had much time to “play” and reach expert status though 😀
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No, me neither I seem to be stuck at
and ⭐ level at the moment! Need more time to absorb – going to try and learn a few more this week – well maybe one or two!! 😀
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PS That’s where my Englishness comes in – I actually really like winter – early evenings, log fires, a pile of books to read – all those cosy nest things!
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Beautiful photographs, Jane. (They always are!) Useless fact of the day: my godmother is called Marigold and she lives in France!
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I suspect Sarah, that she is a Fairy Godmother so I shall keep her location a secret! And thankyou for the compliment, much appreciated, Have a lovely sunny day 😉
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She certainly is.
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Hiya M de M..
Nice pics again….That wooden table of yours would make anything photogenic, but you really do have a compositional eye 🙂
I actually donned a fleece last night, by ten the temperature had slipped below 70f for the first time in weeks…..Brrrrrrrrr.
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Good morrow to you sh sir! I wondered if perhaps you had been detained following the shnudedude pics threats but I see all is well and we are saved! The ‘wooden table’ was custom made by Mr H from some old oak floor boards – it does make a good background! From autumn to the damp tropics here – well 24°C ish anyway but ‘umid and ‘orrible! I shall go and look in my reader to see if you have posted something! PS Actually I have two compositional eyes, I clarify this point because some of the folk round here only have the one (it is rather rural).
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I haven’t posted yet, your pages were my first port of call when firing up the laptop after almost a week off……..My UK return is getting closer (sob), and I seem to have developed motivational issues.
😥
I must take myself in hand……No-one likes a lazy blogger.
Lots of one eyed Frenchies eh? Are you sure they’re not just winking at you? I’ve been led to believe that winking and pinching pass for courtship over there……
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I am truly flattered sh, sorry to hear about the motivational flag though, mind you I was hoping to post 3 watsits per week but the time speeds away and work intrudes….. I misread your comment re winking and pinching pass, thought you’d added an extra p there by mistake – The French are actually most poetic, even their e-mails are literary works of art, why use one word when twelve will do?! 🙂
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I haven’t had 3 watsits a week since my twenties.
It pays to be realistic.
(Oh and you will never catch me Americanising a derriere…..)
(( Or does that mean something else?????))
😳
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Now that I find myself seeing double meanings everywhere after one of our previous correspondences – somewhere between Dick Emery and a seaside postcard factory – I suspect you have just written something quite frightful – but I refuse to be drawn…..:( I am thinking of literary things today – I am currently re-reading Winnie the Pooh….:)
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Frightful!!!????
Moi?????
Can I just point out that it was you that started this one by removing the ‘p’……..
You don’t fool me for a moment.
😎
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I think you may be taking the pass sir! 😦
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Enough of this!
I’ve posted a blog while you’ve been smuttering on..
🙂
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Blimey that was quick! Spooky oursine connection there! Poor old red, off his head, dead Ted! Crumbs my wit is slipping, better stop there… :o(
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Oooh I do like a woman with ‘oursine’ in her vocabulary.
😉
There are so few of you….
(ps Looks like your emoticon has slipped even further than your wit…….What can it possibly mean?)
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It was meant to be this :o( mainly ’cause it looks like a bear when you type it but it doesn’t transpose like that so it means absolutely nowt!
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Shame…I rather like it…
To me it looks like a sad piglet……
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Quite so but I think I invented it – supposed to be this
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You should try this
🐻
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Blimey where did he come from? is there a bearmoticon page?
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He’s somewhere down at the bottom of that link I sent you…
Cute ain’t he?
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🐻 so he is and so he is! ⭐ 🙂
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Bzzzz…….(snore)…
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Taken me all evening to do this post (new one) and now everyone else seems to be zzzzzing! All about timing they say, Hmmm… 😦
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Well…….With no further ado I will brush my teeth, put on some pants and, before greeting the dawn, pop over for a recce……..
🙂
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Don’t catch cold en route …… 😎
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Still no chance of that here……..We’ve just hit 36C even with a cloudy sky….
😮
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Ooer, sounds a bit trop chaud pour moi, 😳
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Now you sound like Plastique Bertrand…….
Never a good thing!
Don’t worry, though we can’t afford a pool, we do have a hose pipe.
😀
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Snap! But we have THREE watering cans as well – Haha!
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Flobberdobbalob….
😀
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😕
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