Spring has sprung

We’ve often been told that February is a magical month in Daglan. It’s still winter, of course, and we can probably expect a few more spells of cold weather before March arrives. But February can also have many days with sunny skies and relatively warm, shirt-sleeves-and-shorts weather.

Today became one of those days. Although the day started off gray and a bit wet, after a couple of rainy days, the sky was clearing by noon. And when we drove off to Gourdon this afternoon for an errand, things were looking good — as if the very start of spring has sprung. For instance, here’s the road out of Daglan, heading towards Bouzic. You can see the leaves are still off the trees, but there are hints of green:

Heading towards Bouzic.

The Céou River, which runs through Daglan, is bubbling along nicely, since it’s been well fed by rain over the past few days. Here’s the river as we near Bouzic, looking through the trees towards a meadow:

It's not Niagara Falls, but it's pretty.

What else is going on? Well, the farmers have been very busy lately. Manure and straw from barns has been piled up in the fields, and now is being turned into the soil. More and more, we see fields plowed and ready for seeding, like this one:

The soil is plowed, and ready to go.

Cyclists are out on the roads, of course — like this group, from the Velo Club de Domme, proudly sporting jerseys sponsored by the Shopi supermarket in Cénac:

The peloton passes by.

We also came upon a handsome male pheasant strutting along in the sunshine, and not at all spooked when we stopped the car for a photo opp:

Enjoying the February sunshine.

Once our errand was done in Gourdon, we headed back to Daglan. And here is the view we enjoyed as we started down the hill into our valley.

A house on a hill, on the way back into Daglan.