It’s 37º in the shade, time for another dip in the pool.
That’s how two weeks passed at my friends house in The Lot valley this June.
It was too hot for any serious walking but I managed a short walk in the shelter of the woods most mornings. That’s probably where I picked up my third tick of the year, I always have my ‘tick remover’ in hand as the little blighters seem to like me. This is a previous picture as the latest tick had reached and embedded itself in a far too private area to photograph.
There are many deer in the surroundings so one expects the ticks to thrive. Talking of deer I experienced a wonderful sighting of a young calf lying in the long grass in the garden, it remained motionless for minutes before being startled and rushing off. I believe the doe often leaves her calf like this in the daytime. Of course I didn’t have my camera with me!
I did have my phone trying to catch a photo of the Swallow Tails that landed by the pool for water but wasn’t very successful.
Buzzards and kites seemed scarce this year but a pair of great tits nesting in the bowl of a tree on the terrace were busy feeding all day, unfortunately we left before the young emerged.
The various orchids in the garden were all past their best but the roses were putting on a good show.
All in all a lazy time.
Following on from a comment I’ve added a couple of pictures to demonstrate my tick remover…
How does your tick remover work? I caught lime disease of the blighters while walking the Cape Wrath Trail a few years back.
Alen
Its bad news catching Lyme Disease, I’m a bit paranoid about ticks now. Never picked one up in Spain as far as I know though.
I’ve two different types of remover. Will add photos to my post later to illustrate. I prefer the one that works like a ‘prize grabber’ you used to see in fairs. A plunger opens the grabber and once seated around the tick it is released and the device grips the tick which can be lifted out. The idea is not to annoy it.
The other sort is like a comb which is slid under the tick to lift it but I find it doesn’t work so well until the tick is swelling with your blood. I prefer to get rid as soon as possible!
Thanks for that. I hadn’t heard of Lyme disease (sorry about the bad spelling earlier) until I got into conversation about it in the Oykel Bridge Hotel, and later discovered several ticks on my legs and a big red patch on my left calf. A few days later my joints ached like hell and I had flu-like symptoms, but luckily I was back home at that point. Now I spray my legs with repellent and keep covered up as much as possible.
Alen
The dreaded red patch.
Yes I spray my legs also but I do like walking in shorts.
I’ve added a couple of photos of the ‘plunger’ tick remover. I can’t find the other sort.