So, where was Clause the giant lump of a cat hiding? In the walnut tree of course - here he is hiding his face in shame at running away from one of his co-locs. It's a bit grainy as he was a distance away.
Some things and not a lot change tomorrow - we can go further for exercise and all shops and other retail outlets are open again, but we will still need an attestation and we aren't really supposed to cross regional boundaries, and there are no restaurants or pubs open other than for takeaways, and we aren't supposed to meet people socially, and we still have to wear facemasks. However there is growing evidence that curfew and lockdown do work. While the UK is glowing in an R number of less than 1 today, we are well below that. These stats are on a screen shot from the #TousAntiCovid application on my phone just an hour ago.
I went out for a walk and to check on a chum's maison secondaire this afternoon. It was quite mild but not as sunny as promised, so my laundry is about as wet as when I put it out, just less wrinkled. At the chum's garden, I noticed an interesting phenomenon on their magnolia grandiflora. They produce these dramatic seed husks which rarely ripen here in France. In Australia they seem to be prevented from ripening as they get to a certain point and then become irresistible to cockatoos who go nuts over them and seem to become more than mildly intoxicated. I have a photo of one lying on its back cradling a nut in a public park - a nicer class of vagrant than in some areas, although they can also do a lot of damage when they put their beaks to it. Anyway, this seed pod is now producing enticing looking seeds - I may have to gather a few to see if I can get them to grow!
I carried on from that garden and found a point on the hill with a rather pleasing panorama over to the south. The hills are the last bastion before the flood plain of la Loire.
Finally, we are getting a bit better at this "keeping a fire in" lark, mainly due to having some nice big lumps of cherry wood, which burn slowly overnight. Tonight we won't be keeping it in however, as we need to remove ash, and hot ash isn't fun to deal with and can burn through what you put it in. Still, this was a cheery sight this morning.
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