chicks

They arrived exactly on time, starting late last night. We went to check her when we got home after the Rock Moelou concert last night, about 1.30am.
So far this afternoon Mrs Broody has had six hatch out - five yellow and one black. There are quite a few eggs to go yet. Because she brooded in the top of an oil drum, with nothing to stop the other hens laying a sly egg every now and again for her to incorporate in her brood, she started with about ten and ended up with nearly twenty. Not all these will have developed enough to hatch and we don't have another broody to put them under. Watch this space for the final tally.

musical season....

loads of musical stuff happening around now - next Saturday is le fête de la musique and there will be Rock Moelou down the road in St Lubin. This is preceded by a balade à moto - a 50 kilometer ride round the countryside for all who have motorbikes.
Pete & I will be serving food and washing up for most of the evening, but I expect it will count as one of the most enjoyable days in the year, as it was last year.

The Friday night before (june 20th), we are once more giving a concert of traditional song in three languages, but this time they are breton, czech, and english.

This is in the tiny chapel at St Lubin - amazing acoustics and terrible, agonising bench seats! Bring a cushion.


A couple of sundays ago we were asked to sing at the opening of a four à pain (bread oven) in Ploufragon, near St Brieuc. The day started with une balade chantée - all singing as we walked through the forest. Personally I prefer orienteering at a faster pace and I also prefer the sound of birdsong in a forest, but there are lots of these singing walks, so we had to see what they were about....











On Friday 13th June we sang at a concert in the port de Legué in St Brieuc - a spin-off from the chant de marin sessions we have been going to for the last year or so. The boat behind us is a reproduction gaff rig lugger, built a few years ago by a association (club) in St Brieuc, from the plans of an old fishing vessel from the same port. As you can see we tried to help the chorus singing by holding up some words - got a giggle!




Fran & Jen made it over for a few days, and Fran immediately wanted a go on the tractor now called 'Bessie' by default (no other suggestions - does ANYONE read my blog I wonder?). He also enjoyed a bit of pyromania - the field loooks much better now we have got rid of the pile of dead brambles and hedge trimmings.



Some pictures here of the 'chaos' at Huelgoat, where we all went yesterday.
This is yet another extraordinary river bed full of huge boulders - there are quite a few round here, some more frequented than others.
They make for a fun walk with a bit of optional scrambling on a fine afternoon.