With just a couple of days of summer left, the weather decided to go out with a bang, by giving us a very hot night, which made it difficult to sleep without the fan on in the bedroom. But not being on shorepower, I woke several times to turn it off, only to have to turn it on again when it got too hot again. But by morning, the weather had exhausted itself and it was once again a cooler morning.

Since we had been off shorepower for a day, we faced a critical challenge when I tried to start the generator. Will it work, won’t it work? Stuart, you’re a genius! It worked and I was very happy to see a message on the control panel that I had not seen for a while, indicating that all was well (even though the voltage was just on the threshold voltage of 205V to get it to start).

With the generator happily running, Rita took the opportunity to cycle to Meilhan for a swim at the piscine, and to do a bit of shopping.

While she was away, I sat on the back deck and did a bit of websiting, and just watched the passing parade near the boat. The first thing I noticed was a largish fish (about 30cm) swimming near the barge - now I know why we have fishermen down here every morning and evening.

I then heard some noise near the bridge, and closer inspection showed 4 or 5 teenage boys doing a bit of bridge-bombing. The static shot shows one of them in mid-flight, and later I realised that I still had the iPhone set to “live” photos, so I was able to capture them in action as well!

A little while later, I heard a quiet sound near the barge, and on looking out I saw a young guy on a standup board going past with a fishing rod. He just stood there casting from side to side, and every time he reeled in, the board swivelled a bit and he was pulled marginally up the canal. After about an hour, he was halfway to the next bridge, but (to my eyes) had yet to catch a fish.

After Rita returned from Meilhan, she reported that the port at Meilhan was full of dead fish. They must have been killed in the thunderstorm a couple of nights ago, when perhaps something toxic (pesticide?) was washed into the canal. She also said that they were drifting down the canal towards us!

After dinner, we went up to play petanque near the old church (with the bells) and the chateau with the long external walls (probably stables). The petanque playing surface was just a gravelled road and was very rough, which may have explained why Rita won 9-11, to level the series 3-all.