Limousin Living
Life in the heart of France
8th October 2015
Page 1045
Gutter Hedgehog
It will also, we hope, deter the pine martens that currently reside in our roofspace and scamper around noisily in the middle of the night. This 'gutter hedgehog' is like a spiky bottle-brush, in two-metre lengths. Tony didn't complain at all, much, having to go up a ladder again, but hopefully this is not a job that'll need repeating. We even did the gite's gutters, while we were at it. Another one of those property maintenance jobs that pile up.
You may well ask. Well, it's that thing you put in your gutters to keep out the leaves so you don't have that disgusting job every autumn of dredging out slimy, wet, semi-decomposed leaves that bung up your downpipes.
Our annual blood-test check-ups came around. This means no breakfast, no cup of tea, nothing until after the blood sample is taken at the lab in Bellac.
...Which also means a much-enjoyed reward at our favourite patisserie-boulangerie, a 'grande crème' coffee and a buttery croissant with its little almondy biscuit. The camera was forgotten until I'd reduced the croissant to a few crumbs.
The onset of autumnal weather has drawn the cats indoors. Sometimes it's hard to find a small sliver of sofa to park your posterior on. They do this all day until their stomach-alarm wakes them for dinner. They haven't put their body-clocks back an hour though...now they sit and wait by the bowl at 5pm and can't understand why I make them wait till 6.
Ellie, Fido, Jasper, Cibie and Georgie.