Prieuré saint-Léonard de l'Ile-Bouchard (15kms from Braye)

We have always liked l'Ile-Bouchard ever since we first went there when we were on holiday a few years ago. We now go quite regularly both to enjoy the river and  pick up shopping at the Super-U. Until this morning we had never been to the ruin of the priory church of St Leonard.

The construction of the priory church of St Leonard dates back to the eleventh century. There is not a great deal of the church left but what remains is stunning. The last photograph gives a complete description in English. (like all our photographs if you click on it to enlarge it you can read it).

 

 

You have got to admire the skill of the stone carvers from all those years ago whose work still remains today..

 

 

There are six capitals all intricately carved with religious themes. A description of each is given at the left hand side of the photograph below.

The priory is open all year round and it is free to visit.

We have the Technology - sort of!

Never let the heat of the sun get in the way of mowing the lawn, even in yesterday's temperatures in excess of 30C in the shade and relatively high humidity....

Plan A - The Parasol

Plan A proved too cumbersome but not to be defeated, Plan B was implemented...

Plan B - The Umbrella

Success was somewhat short-lived.... as the sun then went in!

 

 

It was good whilst it lasted!

Comice Rural; Preuilly sur Claise.

Last weekend the Comice Rural was held in Preuilly sur Claise.about 60kms from Braye. We went along with friends on the Sunday for the Défilé Folklorique: a procession of various groups in period costumes dancing and playing a variety of musical instruments. The temperature was about 35°C in the mid afternoon and how the people taking part managed in the heat wearing thick period dress was beyond belief...

The pictures show a selection of those braving the heat..

This last photograph was taken towards the end of the route and the gentleman on the right is showing signs of the heat!! It was about the only concession to the heat that we witnessed all afternoon. Incredible...

 As usual in France the show was tremendous and all for free.

Stone polishing

On our visit to the coast I collected my usual quota of pebbles from the beach. This is usually determined by the weight on the back axle!

I put them in my stone polisher and today they reached the end of Stage 2, having had two weeks in the polisher with carbide grit to grind them.

Opening the drum is a very messy business! I have ruined more tops than I care to mention.

However once the stones have been carefully rinsed you can begin to see their potential.

Bear in mind that these stones have only undergone two of the three stages of grinding and have then to be polished.

Already they are looking good. I'll just have to be patient for a couple of weeks to see the finished result!

If you'd like to see more on stone-polishing go to my page Art and All that Stuff

A study of Maps

The Butterfly variety.....

In April this year we had the spring brood of  Maps (Araschnia levana) in the garden.

Today we spotted the first of  the later brood and, like it's forerunner, this one was quite happy to pose for me on the flowers by the side of the patio.

 

Whilst the spring Map resembles a Fritillary, the summer Map bears more resemblance to a smaller version of the White Admiral.

And how kind of it to position itself at a convenient height and on such a colourful bloom, long enough for me to get the camera!

For better or for worse... the car that lasts a lifetime...

We've seen it driving around the area between Braye and Richelieu on several occasions but today we were lucky enough to get a photo of this wonder on wheels; this mobile roll of Duct tape. 

In fact, to call it a 'car' would be an insult to duct tape. If the manufacturers of Duct tape are searching for a new advertising campaign, they need look no further!

And just to prove it's the same all the way round, here's a photo of the passenger side (apologies for the photo quality - it was taken in a state of disbelief from the passenger seat of our car.) 

I feel I ought to point out, here, that the vehicle was NOT overtaking us; we had parked up to seize a photo opportunity!

There's an old saying: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"  However, there comes a time when even old sayings just don't go quite far enough...... And that time has come!


Postscript:
 Maybe I've been a little dismissive here. After all, 3M, one of the largest manufacturers of Duct tape advertises the following on it's website http://solutions.3m.co.uk/wps/portal/3M/en_GB/3M-/vehicle-wrapping/

Vehicle Wrapping

Professional looking vehicles make for a professional looking business! Transform your vehicles into head-turning visual advertising for your business and your brand with 3M™ vehicle wrapping vinyl solutions.

Perhaps the driver is just one step ahead of us all!

French Apple Tart - with an English twist!

We had visitors yesterday so there were ten of us for the evening meal....

an ideal opportunity to reduce our produce mountain!

We thought of serving tomato soup followed by tomato and green pepper salad, topped off with tomato and green bean sorbet, but.....

In the event Colin cooked a tasty selection of meats on the barbecue to serve with salad and I used some of our fruit to make pear sorbet and a French Apple Tart - with a difference.

As it went down well, I thought I'd pass on the recipe. I used a combination of two recipes; the pastry from one and the filling from another - with a couple of additions of my own.

The pastry
Ingredients
250g plain flour
125g chilled butter
125g sugar
4 egg yolks*

Method
Put the flour in a bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles bread crumbs (I used the food mixer). Stir in the sugar and egg yolks and add a little cold water to make a stiff dough. Roll out on a floured board and use to line a 10" flan dish. Chill in the fridge for 30 mins.

Flan topping
Ingredients
6-8 eating apples (depending on size), peeled and sliced
60g sugar
50g ground almonds
100g chilled butter, sliced thinly
4 tablespoons apricot jam, warmed

Method
When pastry case has chilled, brush base with a little of the apricot jam and sprinkle with ground almonds. Layer with apple slices decoratively. Sprinkle the sugar on top of the apples and dot with the slices of butter.

Bake for 45 mins at 180C or until the crust is cooked through and the apples are golden. Brush with the warmed apricot jam whilst the flan is still hot.
Serve with crème fraîche, ice-cream or pouring cream.

Mine didn't last long.......

 so even though I couldn't eat it because I didn't use gluten free flour, I'm confident I can recommend it!

*This didn't work out wasteful because the pear sorbet had conveniently used four egg whites!