You will all be happy that you have not been here over the last 2 weeks as the weather has been unbearable, the longest hottest period we have experienced in our 11 years on the lake.
You may remember from the last Catch Report that the weather was heating up towards the end of that session and the fish were all up for a sunbathe, well since then it has just got hotter and hotter, most afternoons the mercury was pushing over 40C and I did record 48C one afternoon on swim 5.
There were still jobs that had to be finished though and for the first time ever we have had to restrict outdoor manual labour to the early morning, by noon it was too hot to move and the day was not getting to its temperature peak until around 5-6pm.
The horses were all in their shelters, Murdoch would be sprawled out on his concrete slab in the shade just panting, and me, Helen and little Red were locked inside the house with all of the fans on as it was the coolest place we could find.
This is when you realise why French houses have shutters on the windows!!
It was even too hot to sit outside next to the pool !!!!!!!!!!!!
I was hoping to get the strimming of the dam finished but unfortunately not, dressed from head to toe in full protective equipment in these conditions limited me to around 1 hour of work before my sweat rate saturated me, anything more and it was making me feel ill.
And when I was not in the mood for more strimming there were always a few trees that needed to be extricated from the lake :
Cutting and dragging trees is hard work but at least I could manage it in little more that a pair of shorts, and the tractor provided the muscle.
The problem is it is a bit like playing a game of giant Jenga, these things rely on each other for support and when one bit is removed another bit falls. Beware, if you cut too much you end up just cutting more.
Roll on the winter when I can drop the water level and get at them a bit easier.
The whole year has been a bit weird in terms of weather but it has been perfect for growing stuff, especially stuff that I would prefer not to grow, such as grass, trees, brambles, etc.
We are used to having nice long summers here but normally at this time of the year everything is just parched and going brown, with very little growth. But the extra heat this year has generated additional storms which obviously produce loads of rain and consequently the plant life is loving it.
Thankfully all things changed on Thursday night into Friday morning, the air pressure started to drop and the next storm arrived, by Friday the temperature had dropped by 10-15 degrees and by Saturday the afternoon high had reduced to a very pleasant 25C, lovely, we could all breath.
All very fortuitous really as we had 3 new Boys arrive on Saturday for their first ever visit, and they thought 25 was hot.
The forecast for the next week is lows of 10-18C with highs of 21-28C, sounds almost perfect.
The fish may have to make a slight adjustment but hopefully as the new weather routine settles in so will the fish, watch this spot and I will let you know how The Boys get on next weekend.
Till then, take care, and keep cool.
Le Moulin de Graffeuil 