When The Lord Gets Ready, You Gotta Move.....

Today is a bit of a strange day. Weather more like a Hebridean summer day than wot wun expects doon 'ere!  Clouds scudding around, windy but - and here's the difference twixt Scotland and France - no rain. Well, not yet. I expect it to fall later; invariably, if it comes, it comes just after I've watered the bleeding garden! Like it did yesterday evening. I'd just come back in, poured a glass of rouge when the thunder rolled, the lightening (again) flashed and the heavens opened.

Truth be told, the Lettuces are finding it hard going and I doubt many will survive the recent stormy weather. It is a common pattern hereabouts, and one we were well aware of. It begins by becoming (suddenly) very, oppressively hot, sultry and thick, and then cools a bit (significantly, at times)  prior to the wind picking up and giving us a bit of a blow!  Not a 'blow' in Hebridean terms, as Tony might dismissively say, in comparison with the Isle of Lewis: http://azgiles.blogspot.com/ .  But enough to count!

Back up in Fun City, our old stomping ground, they are still struggling with sub-zeros overnight, though it is appreciably warmer during daylight now:

Here's the current prognosis:

Idag 07 maj		Imorgon 08 maj		Måndag 09 maj		Tisdag 10 maj		Onsdag 11 maj		Torsdag 12 maj		Fredag 13 maj		Lördag 14 maj		Söndag 15 maj		Måndag 16 maj		Tisdag 17 maj		Onsdag 18 maj		Torsdag 19 maj		Fredag 20 maj
Max	Min													Max	Min
13°	-4°	19°	2°	22°	7°	21°	4°	19°	5°	17°	4°	11°	3°	8°	2°	13°	2°	13°	1°	10°	3°	14°	6°	15°	6°	15°	6°
Maxvind		Maxvind		Maxvind		Maxvind		Maxvind		Maxvind		Maxvind		Maxvind		Maxvind		Maxvind		Maxvind		Maxvind		Maxvind		Maxvind
4 m/s V		5 m/s S		5 m/s SV		5 m/s SO		4 m/s S		4 m/s NO		8 m/s O		5 m/s SO		5 m/s NO		6 m/s SV		5 m/s SO		5 m/s SO		4 m/s SV		5 m/s NV
Nederbörd		Nederbörd		Nederbörd		Nederbörd		Nederbörd		Nederbörd		Nederbörd		Nederbörd		Nederbörd		Nederbörd		Nederbörd		Nederbörd		Nederbörd		Nederbörd
0 mm		0 mm		0 mm		0 mm		0,2 mm		3,1 mm		1,7 mm		3,7 mm		7,9 mm		5,1 mm		4,5 mm		5,8 mm		0 mm		0 mm
Prognos		Prognos		Prognos		Prognos		Prognos		Prognos		Prognos		Prognos		Prognos		Prognos		Prognos		Prognos		Prognos		Prognos
08:00		08:00		08:00		08:00		08:00		08:00		08:00		08:00		08:00		08:00		14:00		14:00		14:00		14:00
4° Mest klart		9° Molnigt Känns som 7°		13° Mest klart		14° Klart		13° Mulet		10° Mulet och lätt regn		8° Mulet Känns som 6°		2° Mulet och regnskurar Känns som -2°		5° Mulet och regnskurar Känns som 2°		6° Växlande molnighet och någon lätt regnskur		Molnigt och lätt regn		Molnigt och regnskurar		Växlande molnighet		Mest klart
14:00		14:00		14:00		14:00		14:00		14:00		14:00		14:00		14:00		14:00		Solen 03:35 22:02		Solen 03:32 22:05		Solen 03:29 22:08		Solen 03:26 22:11
10° Mulet		19° Mulet		22° Mest klart		21° Mulet		19° Mulet		17° Växlande molnighet och någon lätt regnskur		10° Mulet och lätt regn Känns som 7°		6° Mulet och lätt regn Känns som 2°		7° Mulet och regnskurar Känns som 4°		11° Mulet och regnskurar
20:00		20:00		20:00		20:00		20:00		20:00		20:00		20:00		20:00		20:00
12° Växlande molnighet		16° Mulet Känns som 15°		18° Växlande molnighet		15° Mest klart		15° Mulet och lätt regn		14° Växlande molnighet och någon lätt regnskur		7° Mulet och lätt regn Känns som 5°		7° Mulet Känns som 4°		8° Molnigt och lätt regn		10° Växlande molnighet och regnskurar
Solen 04:07 21:30		Solen 04:03 21:33		Solen 04:00 21:37		Solen 03:57 21:40		Solen 03:54 21:43		Solen 03:50 21:46		Solen 03:47 21:49

Oops, sorry. Don't know how to make this fit!!!

They had glorious weather over the Easter break, so much of the snow will have gone by now, I expect. It usually disappears around now, bringing with it soggy, muddy tracks and incoming, immigrant birdlife - Black-Throated Divers, Curlews, Canada Geese, Golden Plovers, Golden-Eye Duck, Slavonian Grebe, Greenfinch, Chafinch, Brambling, Fieldfare, Crossbill, and any number of other small summer migrants. The bears also begin to frolic with the young cubs and are most frequently seen locally around this time. Best not to disturb them. They're still a tad peckish after a winter holed up under the snow, deep in the forest.

Next month, they (the Sweedles, not the bears) go wild over the summer solstice. Well, as wild as Swede's can get. Pretty tame in reality. But they do celebrate the longest day as a major holiday and in many ways it is the most significant day on their otherwise at times sunless calendar. They have outdoor parties, get very drunk, eat too many Kottbuller (meatballs) and the Sweedle holiday standard/favourite, Ham. The seasons change so quickly up there once the snow has gone and above Zero temps set in. With almost 24 hours of daylight, everything grows incredibly fast, flowers bloom almost overnight. Trees green-up and the fishing season starts in ernest.

It will soon be like this at one of the nearby lakes:

This one is just below our house. The Daughter, JVP, is here admiring the view.

Much  although I do like France, and love its foods and, yes....even, its wines, it seems incredibly tame after living in the frozen North for so long!  Even Spain, in the Sierra Nevadas/Alpujarra, was more challenging - though I do find Spanish wines in general a bit too heavy for my refined Scottish palate.
(They do make a great local Morzilla/Black Pudding, though!)

In Sweden over winter, each day was a bit of a challenge, interesting and strikingly different. Certainly from the Herefordshire/Welsh Marches region where we had previously been based for many years/decades.

We are now thinking it might be a bit more interesting if we moved back North - to my birthplace, Scotland, not Sweden. I just couldn't cope or want to take those extreme temps again. We lived in Trotternish, near Duntulm, on the Isle of Skye for a while. This was way back in the mid-1970s when Slade were still popular and men knew how to dress sensibly:

Our daughter, LVP, was actually born while we were up there, though they were so paranoid about Island births, J was ferried off to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness for the delivery itself. A five hour, tortous drive. As J is a midwife, she knows this to have been unnecessary, and stupid as a policy. Hopefully, things have changed by now!

We lived in a small croft house,  in a place - what else could it be called? - a hamlet - named, Connista. Here's a house that was recently for sale there:





This was, in fact, our neighbours croft, we lived in the next-door house, out of picture to its right.  It would be a bit of an irony to return to the Isles after so many years away. Though my family is originally from Inverness-shire, The Black Isle region. Indeed there's a small town/village, Avoch, where almost everyone bears our surname. I'm probably related to many of 'em though we've never made contact!

At the moment, we're toying with the idea of a move to either Lewis, Harris or North Uist. I favour Lewis. It has a decent infrastructure with hospitals, medics, shops, libraries, schools etc. Almost everything one needs to survive, in fact.

Having discussed it in theory with LVP, she's also interested in maybe making a move up there with her family too. She would like to have a small tour/holiday visit first though. So a trip to the region might be on the cards in the nearish future!

Now I see the clouds have moved on and the sun is once more shining brightly, though the wind remains. So I'd best get a move on and get out to check the Chooks for eggs and the garden in general. A bientot!

We Can't Eat A Horse, Cos We don't Want to.....

It's not unusual or uncommon to hear someone say:'I could eat a horse': here in France, of course, it can be meant literally. A few days ago, we came across this little delicacy at a local market:

Donkey sausage

And very good it was, too. Sweetish but most acceptable. The French, of course, love their chacuterie. And they eat horses, too. We also eat Cheval/horse from time to time; it's generally fine - and reasonably priced to boot. Many Brits seem a bit squeamish at the very thought of it. To some extent, I can understand their feelings. In general, I prefer my Donkey on the hoof:

A bit more like this one. She lives in a small paddock at the end of the road and is wonderfully noisy in that seemingly never-ending braying way, peculiar to the breed. I've oft been tempted to get one as a friend/pet rather than on a platter, but think it cruel to keep only one. I believe they are gregarious beasts and think it unfair to keep only one without another, or a pony or horse, for company.  In addition, I'm not really sure what I'd do with one - apart, that is, from eating it!  So, for the moment at least, as I don't want or have the land to support a couple of them, I'll have to forgo the pleasure of  Ane ownership.

The Hens seem to be thriving and we've been getting an egg a day recently,. A few days ago, we had a decidedly small egg and so assume that it was a first from whichever of the pair had yet to lay. Now, we hopefully expect a couple a day, though that's yet to happen with any regularity.  They could really do with better accommodation:

At the moment they're in a (badly) fenced off part of the garden with a Varikennel for shelter. The cage was in fact our means of transporting Charlie internationally. It's big enough to keep him secure, with a litter-tray at the back, a blanket/bedding and his food-bowl. It's a doggy-sized affair and is very secure, so the Chooks are fine inside it overnight for now. But I'll have to arrange something a bit better for them in the longer term.

J went back to England this morning, flying with FlyBe from Nantes to Gatwick. Yesterday she decided to add additional baggage to the booking. The website said this was easily done and cheaper than adding it at the airport itself. The FlyBe website, however, refused to cooperate. It simply wouldn't permit the alteration or addition of any baggage. At the airport itself, the staff - as usual - behaved like Ostriches, denying all knowledge of website difficulties and refusing to permit additional baggage at online/pre-booked prices. Instead they demanded an extra thirty-seven euros. We told them to stuff it and I brought the bag back with me in the car. When we complained to the airline itself, they responded in the usual anodyne way and failed to address the point that it is clearly - and greedily - in their interests to ensure that their website blocks these requests prior to flight but post booking online.  It drives me to distraction.  There seems to be no effective control over these businesses and their outrageously avaricious behaviour.  I used to think this lot were not too bad - a long way better than the awful Ryanair - but now I'm not so sure.

We have a guitarist friend coming over from Pittsburgh, PA, next week. He's coming over on holiday but will be doing one gig in a small venue near Bordeaux, followed by a guitar masterclass/workshop on the next day.  I'm really looking forward to seeing him, and his partner, Nancy, as it's been a few years since we last met. He did a similar type of gig up in Stockholm a few years ago. Luckily that coincided with our travelling down to Spain, so we stopped off in the Swedish capital for the evening and had a fine night out with Ernie and Nancy, though he was on stage for most of the time and selling CDs/DVDs and signing bits and bobs in between sets. Hopefully I'll have a better chance to spend a bit more time with him this time round. He is primarily an acoustic blues/ragtime-blues player and the French tend to prefer electric blues - generally of a poor standard:

Ernie is one of the leading players in the acoustic blues/ragtime/jazz genre in the USA - and elsewhere! A former guitar student of the late, great Rev Gary Davis, these days he is the backing guitarist of choice for Maria Mauldaur and often plays with Jefferson Airplane's former guitarist, Jorma Kaukonen. His repertoire is extensive and he often plays his own arrangements of Loiuis Armstrong classics from the 1930s. He is also a formidable guitar teacher and widely admired internationally. I expect to have a pleasant evening out though the three hour, each way, drive is not so appealing. J would have loved to go too, as she is a friend of Ernie's partner, Nancy, who will also be there at the gig.

Our French friend, Patrick, is likely to come down with me, as he also knows and likes Ernie's music. Our recent evening meal with him was much as expected: a just missed triumph of microwaveable grub featuring tepid pots, duck in a mushroom gloop and a number of other eccentric dishes. However, he did make a real effort to provide a four-course repas - of sorts!  

The weather has been a bit variable over the past few days, with cloud and lower temps than we're getting used to. Today has been splendid, however, with temps in the mid-twenties and wall to wall sunshine, though we had a fair bit of mist in the early morning when Charlie woke us by breeping and  jumping onto his blankety thing at the foot of the bed at about 06:15.  He has already got used to the fact that the Grandsprog and daughter have departed and spent much of yesterday nearby with frequent in-house visits for tucker and affection. Back to normal, in fact.

Jack was taken to the vet yesterday for his Rabies, and other general, vaccination updates. Whereas in the UK and in Sweden, the anti-rabies updates are only needed on a three-yearly basis, the French have opted for an annual regime!! God knows why!

Ooby-Doo, I Want To Be Like You-hoo, hoo.....

Weather still holding up nicely although we've had a couple of heavy storms over the weekend, with flashing lightening, thunder and heavy rainfall; fortunately not until evening, so no great hardship.

To our surprise, not to say amazement, the French televised the bleeding wedding live on a link from the Beeb on TF1. J went up to the boulangerie for bread and was met with frank astonishment by the staff who assumed she would be glued to the box, and assured her it was on Froggovision that morning. The commentary was enjoyable. They just don't know what to make of the British class system and the royals, in general. They were on safer ground with the outfits and hats.  Though Queenie's canary look caused some surprise, it seemed. Maybe she'd worn it before!

The hens  - or rather, a hen - has started to lay. We are averaging an egg every other day. Not too bad, and to be expected as they come on to lay for the first time:

The First Ouef:

It will be better when they both come on to lay - more equitable, I expect. Probably a week or so from now. Fingers crossed.

The garden is doing nicely, too: the lettuce looks a bit flattened after the storms but seems fine; ditto the celery which is now out in a raised sort of bed. The chillis have their first few flowers and they also look about to bud on the peppers. The peas are good although the beans - which took a battering from the mulets - are also showing some purpose. I cleared the final strip/patch of ground for sowing the remainder of the beans today. Just in time, I think, cos the clouds are again gathering and it looks like another storm is on the way overnight.

The rest of the gang are off swimming today at the local pool.  Hamish has apparently overcome his initial fears and is now extremely enthusiastic and virtually swimming unaided. So it's been a fruitful ten days for him, if nothing else.

We all went off for a day out to a nearby attraction - http://www.la-vallee-des-singes.fr/ - a rambling, open park-like affair with a marvellous number (about 20)  of different species of monkey, all running fairly freely in the parkland. It makes a great difference to see these creatures up close - eg almost alongside you much of the time - and their agility and curiosity was great fun. I'm not keen on zoos in general, but this is a completely differnent ball-game. Excellently arranged, informative and interesting. A place where our primate cousins take precedence, and warnings are doled out to beware they might touch you and/or try to nick anything - food, bags etc - that you might have on you while visiting.

A Barbary Ape (I think!!)

A Bonobo - 98% shared genetic material - makes you think! - who is watching who?

And in the words of that old French favourite, Georges Brassens - Brother Gorilla:

It was extraordinary just how close they were at times, with no real fencing or separation - save for the Chimps, Gorillas and a few others, which were in areas separated and contained by either water channels or electric fencing strips.

A decidedly laid-back Lemur

All in all, it made for an enjoyable outing and the Grandsprog loved it - we all did!

On the way back home, we passed this beautiful building. Typically French, elegant and of an era clearly pre-revolution - an Orangerie designed and built by one of Richelieu's master masons:

And it wouldn't be complete without the formal gardens, of course!:

The chateau to which it was originally attached, is long gone. It went the way of much of France during the revolution; the orangerie, however, managed, at least, to keep its head!

Charlie is just beginning to accept the presence of our daughter, LVP, and Hamish. He even ventures indoors for tucker at times, and spent much of last night on his blanketty-thingy at the foot of our bed. A marked improvement and change in his behaviour. And one that is likely to be short-lived; the daughter and Grandsprog return to Wales tomorrow afternoon, flying from Limoges to Bristol. We are then off to visit an old French friend for the evening in the Limousin.  'Twill be interesting to see what food he has on offer. He's not a typical Frog; food is of little interest to him, and he lives mostly on noodles and Vietnamese-type meals. So, it should be interestingly different. Whatever, it will be enjoyable!