Monday, August 22, 2011

A Nocturnal Encounter


We were five and now we are six. I cut these beautiful roses for Mrs. H Sr's arrival to the chateau (here) yesterday. The fragrance is intoxicating and I am feeling a bit delirious...but not from the roses.

We had what I call a 'scorcher' yesterday and today...temperatures into high 30C/90F. I opened all the windows in the chateau last night to catch a breeze. Around 4:00am, a storm came through with intense lightening and rain. I awoke and lay in bed thinking of all the windows that were wide open throughout the chateau (no screens) and made a frantic move around the house to close them all. No small feat. I am sure I looked and sounded like a crazed woman, running around in the dark, bumping into strange objects and cursing myself for not closing them earlier in the evening.

Surprise, surprise, I slipped into one empty bedroom at the far end of the chateau, turned on the lights and was greeted by a gathering of bats, flying in a circle around the chandelier. It felt like a scene out of a Daphne du Maurier novel. I half expected Mrs. Danvers to pop out of the corner of the room. 




I did what any smart woman would do, I turned off the lights, closed the door, made a mad dash back to bed and decided to think about it in the morning.

Tick, tock went the clock as I lay in bed thinking of how I was going to explain bedroom bats to the owner of the chateau. I needed a plan to catch them and felt the pool leaf scooper was my best bet. Scoop and toss was my one and only strategy.  Luckily, when I peeked in after breakfast they had departed.



Note to self....close all windows in chateau this evening and dream of the sweet sounds of nightingale birds. No bats allowed. :)  Bonne Nuit to one and all!

top and bottom images~me


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