The weather has turned quite hot and the snow is melting fast.  The “torrents” are full of water, rushing down into the Guisaine.  My hyacinths, daffs and forsythia have blossomed and the wild crocus are out on the mountainsides.  We are surprised that the lifts are still open, although at least half of them are now closed, as all the lower slopes now have no snow at all.  We did venture up the mountain the last couple of mornings but it’s either too icy or too slushy and just not enjoyable so decided today would probably be our last ski of the season.  Incidentally, Chris is now wearing pop socks when wearing his ski boots as all other socks are too thick and his feet get crushed.  What would his friends think if they knew!

Madame Potager caught me in the garden.  Did I have a good winter, she asked?  Monsieur is now back on his allotment so I asked what did he do during the winter.  Read and played cards she answered.  Does he not get bored?  Oh no, she replied, he plays soduko! 

I popped into see Denise on Monday as it was her birthday.  They take Cora to the shop with them, unless Michael is at home, and Michel was just off home with her for lunch.  She has to be carried at the moment – good job she is only small – until she has completed her vaccinations.   Like Chelsea, she is a very licky dog but Denise says Cora also bites which is something she knows will need to be knocked on the head.

The good weather has prompted me to begin work in the garden.  I have filled several boxes with wood – winter debris fallen from the trees – and tidied up our new “canal” which we dug to incorporate our new spring, although Chris thinks this may dry up when the travellers have gone as it may be due to the “potable eau” being turned off in the village.  Incidentally, about half of the travellers have now left but some gypsies have arrived and are selling wicker chairs and baskets by the side of the road.  We heard some music last evening but presumably the new arrivals will not put up with that going on all night!

We have discovered the crows are nesting this in one of our pine trees right near the compost, so much nearer than last year.  So they don’t use the same nest as the previous year.  So that is why we have only seen one crow about and why he has been fighting the magpies and jays in the trees nearby.  Today he was chasing 3 magpies at the same time this afternoon – he’s about twice the size of them.  I also saw him chasing the black squirrel that comes occasionally into our garden.  So poor Mr Crow spends a busy times feeding himself, feeding Mrs Crow, who only occasionally comes down from the nest, and chasing potential egg stealers.  We feel quite sorry for him.  We can just see Mrs Crow sitting on her nest from the corner of the house, but a round trip revealed that one cannot see her from any other angle and if Chris had not spotted Mr Crow flying up there, we would never have discovered the nest at all – it’s very well camouflaged.

Other bird incidences:

We think the nuthatches are also nesting which they do so in the big old tree at the end of the garden, although when they come to pick up peanuts in the mornings, we notice they fly back different ways, presumably in order to confuse any watching predators.  Ordinarily they would come down say 3 or 4 times to collect a peanut, but this morning, each nuthatch visited twelve times.  They must be building up quite a store of food!   Both nuthatches now pick and choose which peanut they want, perhaps the female is more relaxed this year, picking them up to weigh them perhaps and not choosing them by size.
I had been told that birds have a siesta at lunchtimes which is why one does not see so many at that time of day, although we haven’t noticed this so much in our garden.  But today, as we sat on the patio eating lunch, one of our resident blue tits came down into the small larch, just 10 feet away and appeared to have a doze right in front of us, eventually ‘sitting down’ on the branch.  He stayed in this manner until another bird flew down and ‘woke him up’.
Chaffy seems not quite so obsessed with the patio doors, only occasionally sitting on the handle now.  But he does now come down to see us when we are on the patio, chirping at us loudly until we throw him a peanut.  

The jays are now back for the summer.  We have no idea where they go in winter, presumably to warmer climes further south.  The baby from last year who had become quite tame, came straight down one morning to eat peanuts.   Chris is trying to tame him further and as we sat watching him, he flew straight at me and then veered off at the last moment.   Also, whilst I was in the kitchen, he came hopping round the corner, jumped up onto my pile of kindling which is window height, and looked straight in the window at me.  I kept very still but they usually are off the moment they see your eyes moving.  
The blackbirds are also very noisy.  Mrs Blackbird is less afraid and will come down for peanuts but Mr Blackbird stays well away.  They have also been chasing and mobbing the jays so perhaps they too thinking of starting their family.