Bastille day

Nice walk with dogs at 6am, no new birds but really missing my field guides. Lots of  wild flowers I can’t identify. On our evening walk saw a flying beetle which I think was a rhinoceros beetle but couldn’t get close enough, but as with most large  beetles it flew like a brick.

Sunday in France can only mean one thing, Brocante, these are the French version of the car boot but tend to be organised by the village or town, Éguzon-Chantôme our nearest town jaws holding what was described as an art brocante, so I had to go. Having parked up I wandered into the town centre which was packed with people hunting bargains..

I very quickly realised that there wasn’t a lot of art related items on sale, but that didn’t mater. As a Brit wandering around every stand has something novel to look at  and it wasn’t long before I found something I liked.

It is the French game Les petites chevaux an early version of Ludo. It has a green beige surface in a folding wooden box, it was only €10 so I bought it.

I returned home to watch the most exciting cricket match I have every seen, and once it was over we sat in the garden and listen to the fireworks in the distance, nice of them to celebrate England’s win.

Can anyone identify this for me? The flower looks like borage but the leaves are wrong, I don’t have my books with me, the soil is acid.