Dead squirrels

It looked like rain this morning, so John got out again to try to clear the brambles down the road-side of our hedge. We've had the house 7 years and never yet cleared the pathway down there, so it's no wonder that there's a mess. The picture here is what it used to look like when Steve & Ruby first bought the house. We had the equivalent of the Irish navvies who are 'just in the area' offering not to tarmac the drive (we used that when we lived in south London, and it lasted for a couple of years before beginning to break up, so not bad really). No, in France they offer to chop down trees.

Now, if you've seen our house, there are trees up on the cliff behind us, but they paled at the thought of clearing those - which is a shame because they are so large now they shade the garden until the sun moves round to the east. But there had been about half a dozen saplings self plant in front of the hedge which they got rid of for us, so we could get at all the blackberry and cotoneaster.

Anyway, John went out this morning to continue hacking through the jungle, and found a dead red squirrel in the hedge. Such a shame. Don't know whether it was killed by a car, or just ran out of breath, but it looked so cute. Yes, we have red squirrels here. See if you can find one in the picture above. There is one, I promise! Why they have been overrun by the grey squirrels just 100 miles north, but not here I don't know. You'd have thought they had made their way across La Manche on boats or through the tunnel by now.

Time for me to start work - yet more washing, ironing, gardening - oh, what a hard life we lead!!