The dog days of summer

We are just finishing up with the fifth "canicule" (heatwave) of the summer here in France. The north of France has fared better than much of the country, but this has been the hottest summer on record. It has also been very dry. I'm seeing shrubs wilted in the heat. I've also encountered numerous tree branches or even entire trees breaking off and falling, apparently from just being so dry that they've become brittle. The heat is subsiding slightly, but we really need rain.

The country is still in vacation mode, so there are fewer people around and some places are closed or operating under limited hours, but that doesn't really affect us much. Fewer people and less traffic are good things. 

Here's a few random pictures.

Taking a break on one of our walks.

My orchid's third bloom.

This is a ringed necked parakeet living wild in Lille. They are a non-native species of parrots, released or escaped from pet owners that have formed colonies in lots of European cities, including Lille. I would often see them in a field at the Citadel where there are apple trees, but in this instance I was just walking through the woods and disturbed a large group of them. 

This machine is harvesting (cleaning up) an overgrowth of duckweed on one of the inner canals or ditches at the Citadel. 

It's so dry that I'm not sure how this mushroom managed to do this. 

My hand for size comparison.

I really like this new harness, but she pulls so hard with it that I've recently gone back to using the Halti or Gentle Leader.

Harry the heron at the lock on the Deule. 

Bailey doesn't usually care much about toys, but her friend Marie gave her this and she played with it appreciatively. 

Lille was in the 90% range for the eclipse but we couldn't manage to get any of the viewing glasses, so this is it captured through a colander. 

One of our recent walks. This one was 9.15 km.