Bugs, bugs!

 Tuesday 22/07/25

We arrived at this field after a long walk and sat for a while.
It was amazing to see the masses of insects buzzing around the plants.

We're having a break from the really hot weather with a spell of slightly less hot weather and it's a blessing.  

We're managing to get some nice long walks in, something that has been difficult with the very high temperatures of the past month.

What an impressive moustache

Lesser-spotted bookworm

The area we are in is blessed with a rich diversity of insect life; a combination of the forested mountain area and the warm, sunny climate.  It has been very noticeable for us, having lived in the UK for so long, we had become used to minimal insect interaction.  

The butterfly population here is amazing, luckily we don't have a fancy
garden so don't have to fight with the caterpillars too much.

The rather scary looking Olios argelasius

Quite well camouflaged, this Palpares was almost as big as my hand

The Provencal Cicada or Cigale, huge and noisy
And a face only a mother could love...

Here they are an integral part of life outside and we find them endlessly fascinating.  

We're doing quite well in keeping most of them out of the house, particularly the many scorpions in the area. 

Bonus video - a bush full of butterflies

Early summer heat in Provence

 Monday 14/07/25

We not only get treated to masses of sunshine here...

It's been a while since we posted!

We're settling in to Provencal life, the weather has been generally dry and hot with occasional storms when the heat gets too much.  

We've been lucky to have missed most of the more extreme weather France has been subjected to and the house seems to cope with the heat quite well if we remember to close and open windows and shutters at the appropriate times.  Thank goodness for robust, working shutters - now we know that the beautiful iconic shuttered houses of Provence is not just for show.

The sight, smell and sound of the lavender fields are amazing when walking.

We've also had our first visitors as Charmaine an Nathan spent a week with us.  We spent a night in Marseilles and then combined visiting local attractions with chilling in the garden and pool.  It was a lovely time.

Family time in Mareilles

Verdon Gorge

French school holidays have started and we can already see the area filling up, shuttered holiday houses opening up and pools filling with excited children.

We're getting a lot of walking in, exploring the masses of walking routes from the house every morning.

A brooding sky.

Not much else to report - we're settling into life here, and enjoying the slower summer-pace.  Any slower and we'd be stationary!!