The wild orchids with which La Chaise is plentifully endowed are tougher than their scarcity elswhere would lead the innocent to believe. The very earliest ones, the lazy purples that look like red clover from a distance, are trodden on and sat on by the sheep. I...
It is not even the end of the second week of May but April’s left over rain has been teasing Dordogne folk with its comings and goings. At present it is coming which is sad for holiday types but much needed to fill underground water reservoirs. My problem is...
The storms and rains of January through to March have brought dramas to the Perigord. Most were about trees nearly missing …(enter your favourite target here) as they fell, occasionally not missing. There was also heavy grumbling about the inevitable power cuts...
The First Born of 2017!! ROGER THE RAM; HIS STORY. This is the Firstborn of the 2017 millesime, my fourth year at La Chaise. It is a boy, a very large, very active boy. I am well pleased as is his mother, one of my senior women. A good beginning to the Chinese...
It is an unspoken truth in the Dordogne that its country dwelling places are biodegradable. This applies to farmhouses, the attendant barns, pig sheds and workers’ cottages. Obviously it is not true of chateaux, maisons de maître and the little shrines over springs... 
