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Spring is springing!

It's our last day at the current sit in Bussières-Badil, a small village on the northwestern edge of the Dordogne, just a few kilometres from the Charente. Tomorrow we head south again, this time to a small hamlet about an hour north of Toulouse. Hopefully, it will be as springlike there as it has been here the last couple of days.

Both yesterday and today have been fabulous - in the 17-18C range. The hills are greening up like mad, the crocuses are popping up all over the lawns, and the birds are singing their little hearts out. We heard a weird but neat hootling noise today and were puzzled as to which birds it might be (crows? jackdaws?) and what it might be that was getting them all excited. And then, when the noise moved overhead, we looked up and saw that it was coming from migrating cranes. They flew in loose upside-down, overlapping Ws of a few hundred birds, calling all the while. Then on a sandy hillside facing southwest, we were surprised to see scurrying lizards. Wow. This is wonderful. All of this while back home they're just getting over two months of snow and have segued right into four inches of rain. I almost feel guilty. Almost. But I figure the best and most sane approach is to simpy enjoy these days to the max and store up delightful memories for the future.

For our last evening, we've been invited down for drinks with the English-speaking expat community who have been very good to us, telling us about local trails, suggesting good markets and villages to visit, and babysitting the dog so we have time to go exploring. We'll be heading down to Chez Lola, whose Irish 'parents' have been particularly great.