Rural Life

Going out and about, and the 5 stages of 'flu

On the 31st January, I was out and about doing stuff.  It was a Red Day, so not appealing to be at home.  Poirot needed a vet visit to see how her eye ulcer was getting on, which then meant a visit to the pharmacy for more eye antibiotics.  The race horse that my brother owns a small portion of was due to race at Pau, so we also needed to pop into our friendly PMU (bar with bookie facilities).  Then of course there was the Friday evening ritual of a beer or two at our local to say goodbye to the week.  Sometime, somewhere in that lot, a nasty little green and many tentacled virus decided that I was its next best friend, and started to do its worst.

This leads to my empirical observations of the five stages of 'flu.

Stage 1 - Denial

I'm fine - that slight tickle in my throat means nothing.  OK, so there is a bit of snot, but the hazel catkins are full of pollen - it's just an early allergy.

Stage 2 - Complacency

I've had one cold already this winter, how bad can this be?  Just carry on doing the stuff I need to do, like feeding and giving medicine to cats, and thinking about stuff for clients.  I'll be fine.  OK so my throat hurts and my sinuses are full, but it is JUST A HEADCOLD.

Stage 3 - Fear

Well this is it - I'm going to die!  I can only breathe when sitting up, at which point I start coughing and exuding phlegm from every orifice, including my eyes!  Why did I watch trash TV this evening?  I'm having to relive that dreadful, badly acted story every hour thanks to my fevered state, and when not doing that, my mind is saturated with the images of patients in intensive care during Covid on artificial respirators.  

Stage 4 - Submission 

OMG it's 'flu!  I've got a fever, I can't smell the Vicks that I put on myself - surely a quarter of a jar is enough to smell something?  Let me just recline here (no lying down or I will die), and watch that spool of 20 really awful pop videos, because changing channels is too much effort.  Are 8 mugs of tea in a day too many?  

Stage 5 - Resolve

I will live, and next autumn I WILL, by hook or by crook, get a 'flu jab, because I am not going through that again, ever. Any my goodness, look at what a quarter of a pot of Vicks does to a sweatshirt!  That's an expensive mistake I mustn't repeat.

I remember when working in an office how colleagues would say they had been off for a day or two with the 'flu - well you had to say that, to get it past HR or you had an interview for malingering.  This is I think the third time in my life I have had 'flu and as with the other two times, it hits hard and takes ages to recover from.  The epidemic is now getting less here in France, but it is not something to take lightly.

I do still have those moments when I think "I'll sort that out, collect those books together, sort through that hard drive and clear it when I have a cold and I'm not up to doing anything outside".  This is foolishness and self-deception.  Even when you have a cold, all you want to do is lie on a sofa and watch mind rot - not that carefully scripted box set you want an excuse to watch again (The West Wing), not that faintly educational set of DVDs you've been keeping for a rainy day (Coast), just drivel.

While I was still happily in Stage 2 (Complacency), I worked through more wildlife videos, taken looking up a path we punched through a major bank of brambles.  There are odd animal runs among the stalks, but otherwise it is of limited value and we will be reducing it to a tactical minimum when we can.  Some of them are not as good as I initially thought, but that is Stage 2 Complacency for you!

The hen pheasants walk through it like so many Hinge and Brackets (for those of us who remember those two fine musical dames), while the cock pheasant follows where they lead.  I like that they can't walk in a straight line.

 

The boar use the path we have made - it is better than many they make themselves!  In this batch, note the different ages of boar, including young.  Boar are now producing two litters a year, which means numbers are exploding, an annoying consequence of global warming.  Sadly the hunters aren't much good at controlling them either.  It looks as though one of these may have been injured but it isn't possible to tell if it is a hunting injury.

 

 

I had placed the trail camera here in part to see if the hares were around at all.  Sadly there was no footage of them, but it turned out the area was part of the badger patrol area, and these are some of the best video shorts I've managed to get of them.  I'm so chuffed!

 

Anyway, I need more tea, so that's me done for the day.

Have a good week!

 

Trying again!

New month, same old lies!

O dear - does that sound bitter?!  The last week has been dominated by rain and floods, with a couple of fine interludes, but there has always been that promise that once we got to Saturday, the weather would change.  Yes, it would be cold at night, but the sun would shine, taking daytime temperatures up to a balmy 8 or 9ºC and there would be no rain for about 10 days or so.  The ground would dry out and we could look forward with a certain optimism.  To be fair, yesterday was rather lovely - it was cold, and a bit overcast in the morning, but the afternoon was lovely - just right for starting to sort out next year's firewood!

The dead tree came down with a satisfying thwunk, and we chopped up the top bits and either carried them away or stacked them for carrying away today.  The bird life in the One Acre Wood was giving it some, with great tits trying to out-do robins, who were trying to out-do nuthatches, and the woodpeckers were adding an unsubtle top note to the symphony of bird song.  The two clay pits/newt ponds were full to overflowing with water - I have high hopes of a good crop of tadpoles in the next few weeks, and all seemed right with the world.

Indeed up until 9:45am this morning, all seemed bright and glowing, albeit with a heavy hoare frost.  And then the fog rolled back in and we are back to dank gloom - I'm sure someone has seen Dementors knocking around!!  When we visited the Cats in the Country, it was difficult to make out the top of the Meadow from the Plantation, and that is barely 150 yards!  On a more positive note, I had to take Monsieur Clause to the vet yesterday, as he had a swollen paw - basically an abscess from a bite or cut of some kind.  Today, when I went to give him his drugs, he was waiting for me at the door, although as soon as I greeted him, his paw retreated in pain.  He inhaled his breakfast including the drugs, and then looked pathetic for treats, before I put my wellies on to top up the bird feeder.  While I was away doing that, he decided that the cabin roof was the place to be and jumped up.  Herumph!

On the other day we had sunshine, I got out for a walk around the village.  I went up to a high point I haven't visited for a while, and with the clear winter sun, it was possible to get a nice photo across the valley to an old manor house that was very important back in the day.

I also went down to our river to see how that was coping with the vast amounts of rain we have had.  It is rare that it floods by the village, and the sluice here does help to control the flow, although I think at the moment it is down flat to help evacuate the water away down towards the big rivers further south.

Tomorrow we have the last Red Day of the EDF winter 24/25 campaign, used to control peak load when generation capacity is low, or when the European spot price is high, or a combination of the two.  Last year, they held on to a few days for March, this year I think they will be struggling, as the freezing fog is due to continue for about 10 days as far as I can tell (I do so hope I am wrong though).  Once Red days are gone, I can spend a bit more time working through trail camera files and loading up interesting videos.  There are some nice ones of badgers knocking around, so perhaps next week?

Have a good week!  I'm full of cold and a hacking cough, so I hope things are going better for you!

 

Sunshine and optimism

Everything seems better with a bit of sunshine - so despite needing 15 minutes to chip ice off my car on Tuesday morning before an early site meeting, I still found it in me to be captivated by the gentle pinks of dawn on a bit of fading cloud.  With two sunny (and very cold) days during the week, we could muster a certain optimism and tolerate a lack of electric heat during the day (the whole week was Red, meaning hugely inflated electricity prices during the day for those of us with specific supply contracts).  Certainly this prolonged cold snap has to be good for all the fruit trees as it kills off dormant bugs and gives the trees a proper winter hibernation.

Such frosty starts are also a good excuse for taking arty farty photos of foliage with frost on it.  Everybody does it I'm sure and mine are no better than anyone else's, but this is my blog!

This week brought the first full moon of the year - someone told me it was the Wolf Moon.  Whatever its name, it was rarely visible due to the persistent fog we had for some of the week, but one evening just after 10pm, on my way back from turning on the bathroom heater, I was able to catch an image through the window.

The following day was dark and foggy and very atmospheric when we went to la Flèche for the weekly market.  They are removing all the car parking by the market area, apparently thanks to a consultation with the public who preferred a pedestrian area.  The market stall holders aren't happy, and I expect it won't be used that much other than by the stall holders for relieving bladders (as now) and the local winos (again as now).  Currently it is just a rather depressing and damp work in progress, as le Loir had broken its banks.  This was all a good excuse for another atmospheric photo!

Currently four of the five and a half chickens think that it is the right time to lay eggs, many eggs.  I ought not to bake cakes, but I think I am going to have to, in order to reduce the surplus.  They are also very hungry - here they are finishing off what Bridie didn't eat before they were released (if the bantam wants the pick of any feed, she has to have hers separately or she gets bullied).

Friday was another stunning day, and while cold, it was particularly nice to go out for a stroll and take in the scenery.  It also set me wondering how the old centre of our village had changed, and what someone teleported in from 1925 would see as different (ignoring cars and tarmac).  Sadly my conclusion was that such a visitor would be shocked by the lack of shops and commerce and the lack of children, but would be pleased that there wasn't much mud.

The week ended with the annual ceremony of the local mayor wishing the population a Happy New Year and telling them about what has happened in 2024, and what is likely to happen in 2025.  This is always an interesting occasion, and in years when there aren't local elections, the chance for a bit of bashing of national politics (which is entirely correct this year).  The impact on local life of a bunch of far right and far left politicians being incapable of seeing what is in the nation's interest has cost something like 15 billion euros!  The local knock on effect is to delay a number of projects, including a centralised kitchen to produce the meals for all of the local schools, and determining the level of support for the clubs and societies that help to combat rural isolation.

It was also a chance to celebrate a young man from the village who had taken part in the Best Apprentice competitions and won at Department and Regional level, so got to the nationals (which he didn't win).  His specialism was welding I think and the shiny object was his competition piece.  He received the medal of Vieil Baugé for his achievements.

Because of the cold, I haven't had the inclination to sit with the computer in a freezing room and load videos onto YouTube, so you will have to be content with a picture of a badger this week, in the knowledge that I have nice badger footage to load up during the week, if it isn't all Red!

Have a good week!

 

It's that Christmas time of year

2024 is crawling towards its damp and muddy end - today adding strong winds to the mix.  Given the vile weather today, we took the advice of the television weather presenters and found fun indoors, going to the Baugé Christmas market.

For a small town, it packs above its weight in this regard.  Over three days, the cultural centre is taken over by craftspeople, food producers, wine makers, charities and Radio Parcay for a high quality event.  We spent a happy hour going round all the stalls.  We bought nougat from our favourite honey producer, an air plant for the bathroom, because it seemed a nice idea, and were tempted by a book by a local author.  He had a sculpture that visually described his profession in a bad French pun, which he happily explained to us as we were foreign, before telling us about his books. 

People were spending money which has to be good for the local economy, and we managed to miss any of the "special" events that were being put on by local music groups and musicians.  Indoors is too enclosed for a brass ensemble!

The village is nicely adorned with relatively low wattage Christmas lights, while town is festooned with them, as befits a Petit Cité de Charactere d'Anjou.  We can see a few from the house, but they are more in evidence when we walk to and from the pub on a Friday night.

This weekend, the hunters have been out, doing their best to bag a festive deer or boar for Christmas Day, although I'm not sure how lucky they have been.  There were a few fresh tracks in the Meadow and Orchard, as well as some festively coloured poo down by the ponds.  I'm not sure who the culprit is, possibly the pine martens.

A sure sign that winter is with us, is that the bird feeder is starting to get visited.  We put out fat balls from December to mid March for blue tits and great tits, and I think the long-tailed variety and tree creepers like them too.  We aim to attract tits as they will also attack the few nests of pine processionary caterpillars that we have in the pine trees.  Once they get into their stride, I will need to add four fat balls a week to the feeder, at the moment, it is just two every 10 days.

A gleam of brightness in the gardens is nice at this time of year, and some of the roses are putting out odd flowers.  The Silver Wedding rose we were given over 9 years ago has decided to bloom for Christmas, as it often does.  The white flowers are delicately scented and a joy when not much else natural is looking pretty.

So, not much more to be said today other than:

• Pay homage to your household gods
• Eat too much
• Drink too much (and DON'T drive)
• Count your blessings
• Spend time outdoors
• And have a lovely Christmas!

Until next week!

Cold, dull days

There is a German word, Dunkelflaute, which describes a gloomy, windless weather system, that is cold.  We have had that here for the past couple of months, interspersed with periods of just wet, windy and nasty.  Germany is currently suffering a major bout of Dunkelflaute, and that is placing a really heavy strain on the European electricity network.  Germany's electricity generation includes some 20GW wind capacity, and currently the turbines are not turning.  The knock on effect, combined with two country interconnectors being down, is that the power grids are doing all they can to reduce peak electricity use.  In the UK, you might spot a slight fluctuation down in power.  Here in France, if you are on the extremely interesting Tempo electricity contract, it translates into Red Days.  Days when daytime electricity is 3 times the unit price of the regulated tariff.  Tuesday to Friday was like that, and tomorrow will be too.  It is rather constraining!

The run into Christmas isn't totally fun when your feet and hands are always cold, and you are keeping the lights off as long as possible!  There are odd rays of joy - the very last cyclamen flowers are still going in the One Acre Wood for example.

There is little to photograph at the moment, as nothing much changes with the dull weather, and when you do take a photo, such as of a small amount of water in the lower pond in the Wood, it is singularly underwhelming.

I have had to resort to searching trail camera archives to find pretty photos.

The jay is handsome, although not as handsome as the male pheasant (who knows it too!).

However today, my spirit bird is this rather hacked off female pheasant.  I can feel my blood pressure boiling over the stupidity of HMRC and the unfairness of the amount of tax they suddenly feel I need to pay every month.  This is not good for me, so I need to go and find somewhere warm and cosy and try to forget about it all.  Being near computers only makes it worse!

Isn't she splendid?  Actually, just looking at her makes me feel better!

Anyway, I hope your week is not affected by Dunkelflaute, and now I had better get back to writing Christmas cards!

 

Half full or half empty?

While last week I showed a photo of a sunny day and a cat in a hammock, I had hoped for much more sunshine this week.  Indeed every day the forecast was for sunshine "tomorrow" or "the day after tomorrow" and today even "this afternoon".  But it hasn't happened - the high pressure and sodden ground has kept fog and low cloud in place all week with no respite at all.  The ground hasn't dried out at all, making lifting potatoes unnecessarily hard work, while the lack of light saps the spirit.  I think the constant broken promise of sun tomorrow has made it all the harder to bear and I am sick of it.

There are odd chinks of colour to look out for.  I have always been a fan of nerines, and sometimes they flower for me, but mostly they don't.  This year I have been lucky and one has flowered and I have been able to admire the circle of bright pink flowers each day for a couple of weeks as I go to feed the chickens.

The trees haven't done much by way of autumn colour - we haven't had much of a cold snap, just constant, bone aching dank.  It is possible there will be a late flush of colour but I'm not holding my breath.  However there is another plant that provides a pretty reliable splash of colour in the autumn, and because I grow it in hanging baskets, I get to admire it rather than having it covered in dead tree leaves.  The strawberry leaves are quite spectacular this year, with odd fruits hidden away.  The fruit isn't interesting as it needs sunlight to produce a bit of sweetness and flavour, and we haven't had any of that for a while (see above), but you can't have everything.

I had to visit a house and garden during the week and was stunned by the display of dramatic flower heads on the yucca plants there.  Mine have done nothing this year, and of course indoor ones don't get the conditions to do this.  For me there is no rhyme or reason to when yuccas flower, but I am grateful to see them doing their thing this year.

As the leaves fall, it becomes obvious where Asian hornets have been building nests.  While I've not spotted any in our area, not least due to the successful trapping and destroying campaigns in Baugé en Anjou, I did see this one when visiting the house and garden with the yuccas.  The nest had been breached as I saw a bird or two flying in and out - perhaps the amazing tit family have decided they like to eat them, much as they do with pine processionary grubs?

It's not all gloom I guess.  The lack of frost and the moist conditions mean that the cristophine vine goes from strength to strength, with leaves the size of dinner plates and hidden fruits.  In the gloom it looks a bit like a hut or shelter, and actually it does do a good job when it rains.  Assuming no prolonged period of intense frost this winter (unlikely given global warming, although it would be good), this brute will be back next year!

Most of the garlic we planted last year was not worth lifting, so I didn't.  But I noticed today that those bulbs are pushing back up and will provide tasty scallion style garlic "spring onions" through the winter.  It might be worth planning next year's potager plots after all!

With that in mind, I am now off to cook chicken Béarnaise, otherwise known as garlic chicken. 

I am minded to bring in a trail camera during the week, as there is one that has been in place for a couple of months now and probably needs to be checked over.  All things being equal, there could be much more exciting things to write about next week than autumnal murk!

Have a good week!

 

Storm Kirk and other local events

OK, last weekend I promised more wildlife videos, and maybe I will include a couple at the end, but this week has been quite a busy one, and for a number of reasons.

Last week I wrote this blog early, before dashing off to the photo competition exhibition, hoping I had at least one of my photos printed and therefore in the top 30.  Well, my hopes were dashed, but to be fair to those that were printed, there were only 2 that I would have said weren't worth printing.  One was out of focus, and perhaps I am old fashioned, but I don't think that is good photography.  The other one looked to me more like an advert for Legal and General (other financial services companies are available but have different advertising and logos) than an entry in a provincial photography competition, and in my view would have been barred on that basis in a similar competition in the UK.  It won the adult section.

Of the two printed ones I liked the best, one got a prize for the popular vote done over the two days of the exhibition, and is shown here the furthest left, modelled by a member of the Society running the competition, the next one along won the popular vote, probably as it had a bird in it, the other two were the winners in the Junior section.  Well done all!

The next big excitement of the week was Storm Kirk.  He didn't bring much wind, but he brought a shed-load of rain with him.  It started raining before dawn on Wednesday and carried on with varying levels of intensity until just after 6pm.  Overall we had 59mm of rain or 2 3/8 inches - however you count it, it was a lot!  For the main rain gauge in our garden by the house, we had to empty it twice during the day, taking readings each time.  At 10am when I went to feed the chickens it was like this!

Fortunately around us there is enough of a gradient to ensure that house, garden and cellars don't flood, and that was the case for most around here, although some low roads became impassable as water came off the fields, and the Couasnon broke its banks.  But the main flooding was in low lying fields.  Others were not so lucky in other parts of France and I feel for them.  Occasionally however field banks were not up to the task and ceded with the weight of water, particularly if the field above had been harvested or ploughed recently so the soil was compacted.  This slip was near our country retreat.

The ponds are now nicely full and since Kirk did his worst, the weather has improved and blue sky has been seen!

The other excitement during the week was round two of the Challenge Communale in boule de forte.  My team had won our first round match, so on Thursday evening we were pitted against the team from one of the boule de forte clubs, the Esperance, and weren't totally hopeful.  I was instantly depressed when I revealed my antique boules, which were denounced as disgusting.  However it turned out that the Esperance team were unavailable to play the semi-final on Saturday, so forfeited the game when they were leading 8 - 2.  Once that was sorted, they told me the product I needed to get to make my boules beautiful and shiny once again, so I sort of forgave them.

Saturday morning, 10am, I was back at the boule de fort club with my "disgusting" boules for the semi-final against another boule de forte society, la Paix.  Despite hangovers and lack of sleep on both sides (not me, obviously), once we got going, the game was quickly lost by us 10 - 1, so I didn't have to worry about the final.  To be fair, we would have forfeited if we had won as one of our team couldn't be there for the final.  Anyway, by 11am, hair of the dog was being taken by those that needed it, and I was drinking a glass of chilled sauvignon blanc, knowing that I wouldn't have to play again for another year!

The only ones of these boules that are ours are the red ones!

As I mentioned, it rained all day on Wednesday, so one thing I could do to pass the time was to load up a few more wildlife videos on YouTube so I can share them here (you can also find my YouTube channel and subscribe or follow to see more of what is there).  I found another amusing woodpecker video - I am very fond of the Woodies!

There is a fair amount of mouse or rat activity down by the ponds - that's fair, as it's a wild place and they are wild animals.  I have no issues with them living as nature intended.

In the same way, I am fascinated to watch "our" fox as he goes about his business.  He is in the wild, away from domestic gardens and chicken runs, fending for himself, and not relying on dustbins either.  I've no idea what he is eating!

 

 

I have looked to see if there are nests or fungus or fruit around there, but I can't spot anything.  If he is eating slugs or snails, good luck to him, but I would be a bit less happy if it was frogs and toads.  Whatever, it is nature doing its thing.

Next week you can see coypu, plus I'm going to bring in another camera which has been at a point where I used to see hares and deer, so hope to have news of them.  I fear there will be a lot of John and I strimming however!

Have a good week!

 

A week that ends in a feast!

Last Saturday's storm is being claimed as a natural catastrophe as numerous buildings were damaged, though fortunately not ours.  I was in a shop this morning that had been affected.  It is all very well having a foot of insulation in the roof, but when it gets wet, it becomes very heavy and brings down an awful lot of stuff with it!  Not pretty and not good for the shop keeper! 

If you track down WIRED you will find an article about the increasing cost of lightening to buildings and insurance across the world, using the marvellous example of Mutton's Mill in the Norfolk Broads, which has had lightening conductors fitted to all four sails to prevent significant damage in a storm (perhaps try googling Farrell of the Broads Authority to find the story).

[Mutton's Mill, photo credit, Andrew Farrell]

Since the storm, temperatures have got steadily colder, although there are nice sunny days.  Rebus has spotted that the best autumn billet is on top of the beer fridge, as there is no heating on anywhere else and his fur coat is quite thin!

This cold autumnal weather means good sunsets in general, and also nice evenings to stand out and watch bats flitting around, hoovering up all the flies and other winged nasties that come out after dark.  We have at least two types that zoom around our house and garden, and actually the area is well known for its significant bat colonies, with protected caves where they overwinter.

Today (Saturday - I am writing this in advance - see below for why) was the annual Societé de la Paix Mechoui or animal roast, but in practice it is always a pig roast.  Festivities start from midday with people turning up for the aperitif and to admire lunch cooking.

Then everyone gets herded onto two long tables for more aperitifs, starters, the main event of spit roast pork with beans and ratatouille, rounding off the meal with cheese and apple tart.  We generally get home at about 6pm after coffee.  It is a wonderful way to meet people, to share village life and gossip and to feel part of something.  Every year is a bit different, even if the menu doesn't change, and we wouldn't miss it for the world.

Tomorrow I head for England, to see chums and family, and possibly even Mutton's Mill, so next week's story will be very different.  Have a good week!

 

Dog days of August

Interestingly (well I think it is interesting anyway), the French word for heatwave is canicule, from the Latin canus and something else, but implying our dog days of high summer.  Anyway, we are slap bang in the middle of another bout of high heat, which is quite restricting.  This morning we thought we might go to the Festival of the Giant Croissant - it is an annual thing around here.  I thought I might have written about it one year, but looking back, I haven't.  The giant croissants are over a foot long and would feed a family of four for two breakfasts.  I digress - everyone seemed to have the same idea and with a wait of 15 minutes to get into a car park, a couple of hours slogging around a hot village surrounded by fragrant and sweaty people lost all appeal.  We diverted to see the cats in the country and slop a bit of water around new crops and came home.  When I checked the Weather App, this is what I was promised.

While the sun is at its most intense at midday, the hottest time of the day is generally between 5pm and 7pm, by which time it was due to be about 35ºC.  We have decided to spend the day defrosting the small freezer instead.

With hot periods like this, there isn't much you can do really.  You have to go with the flow and try to keep as cool as possible (it is only 29ºC in my office currently).  This week we did decide to try out a new restaurant nearby.  The Bistrot 1813 has only been open perhaps 3 months, and is doing well, although from adverts on social media, when the schools and colleges go back, they could be struggling for waiting and kitchen staff.  We had a very enjoyable lunch there - 16,90€ a head for three courses, plus drinks on top (a very good Côtes de Rhône by the glass - not cheap, but if you are only having one glass, make it a good one!).  Fontaine Guerin is just down the road from us and has a church with a twisted spire - there are a few of them around here!

Yesterday morning was overcast and sticky.  Sunny and 36ºC is distinctly unpleasant but 28ºC and muggy is possibly worse.  To make the small and bijou market at Baugé that much more pleasant, there is often musical entertainment.  Some can be a bit trying - some Frenchman trying to croon "It's now or never" and imitating Elvis is the nadir, but recently there was a trad jazz clarinettist who was fab.  Yesterday we had a couple on guitar and fiddle doing Celtic sea shanty type music which was enchanting.  I hope they come again.

Rebus is no longer officially a kitten, he is now a cat.  He thinks this is a bit unfair, but once you hit one year old, you are a grown up in cat world.  But as he is now considered a cat, he has adopted one of the best loved cat perches around our garden.  Not our gutter, but definitely our cat!

He is well camouflaged in there!

The Marx Sisters have taken to garden life well and Harpo has started to lay eggs, but Chico and Groucho are being threatened with being part of the poule au pot served by the village at Telethon time.  I don't really need 3 freeloading chickens!  

We are in the final countdown to the Comice, at Vaulandry this year.  The last time it was there was 2011 and it was very hot (bit of a theme there).  On the Saturday a bunch of us performed Old MacDonald a une Ferme - there are photos here but fortunately no video!  Reading through the rest of the story, Pauline is now in the caring profession, Florian is married with one child, and Valentin has a degree in Engineering - how things move on!  The second day was the usual mayors' ploughing match and parade of floats, as is shown here.  I had nothing to do with the lovely float for le Vieil Baugé, which paid homage to the village's past as a wine producing area.

I've just heard a noise like a large lump of ice falling off the freezer, so I must go and tend to the ice removal process, which will be nice and cool - have I mentioned that it is 29ºC around my computer?  Have a good week!

 

 

 

It's all about weather, and the Olympics

After years of planning and months of the Olympic Torch passing through as much of France as possible, and people trying to get enthused about it all, last week it started!  Opinions are divided over the opening ceremony, ranging from censorship, through moans about it being boring and taking too long, being bitty and strange, to out and out adoration.  It seems to depend on how well you know French history and culture and whether you can be bothered to dredge your memory for interminable teams with flags parading into tight capacity Olympic stadia in previous iterations.

I can see both sides - from my academic and intellectual perspective, it was an interesting take on how to parade sportspeople from over 200 nations into a holding area where they can observe the Olympic oath being taken by representatives.  The logistics are always challenging, so to take to the water adds another dimension and a different way of doing it.  I suspect Los Angeles won't try to imitate that!  On the detail of some of the tableau, well, if you don't know French history or popular culture, many things will go over your head and the always quirky Philippe Katerine may well be a long way outside your comfort zone.

Some have said it was too inclusive - but working to the French moto of Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, I don't think you can overdo the inclusiveness, including a 100 year old Olympic Gold medal holder being the third last link in the torch relay.  There were moments that had me teared up (French boat going under the bridge), or held in wonder (the horse charging up the Seine), or just downright proud to live in France (the light show around the Tour Eiffel), but people will never agree.  I liked it, you may not have done, but as always I found something else to do while the teams were on the move.

I've not included a picture - there are many in the public domain.

In the run up to Friday, all the discussion was about the weather - would it stay dry?  Would the front pass through beforehand?  Would it just be a bit of cloud and the odd drop of rain?  At no time did the forecasters say, "It will pee it down like you haven't seen in Paris in July without thunder for years".  O well!  The week was so mixed with hot sun on Wednesday and Thursday, and now again on Sunday.  It just goes to show you can't rely on the weather behaving itself.  But today things are looking lovely.

The sky last evening did actually presage a change in weather, with a wonderful, luminous pink effect across high clouds heading away to the east.  Today is the transition from something akin to October to high summer, which is due to last three or four days I gather!

Yesterday I dug up a load of potatoes for the week - they are looking good, but aren't really interesting to photograph.  While I worked I was whistled at a lot by a golden oriole, so I replied, imitating its call.  We kept up our conversation for a good quarter of an hour - I wonder what we said!

A final item from yesterday, was that the usual Saturday market in Baugé was augmented by the monthly display of classic, vintage and collectable cars and vans.  Some are quite magnificent, while others make me feel old as they were normal when I was growing up.  To add to the display this month, they brought along entertainment - a clarinettist playing jazz standards to a backing track.  He was very good and it was a delight.  I hope he comes back again soon!

Anyway, for a Sunday, we have a very busy end of the day (annoying as I would quite like to vegetate in front of the TV watching the cross country bit of the Olympic 3 day event from Versailles, but they keep cutting away to basketball or table tennis, so I guess I'm not missing much).  I had better go and do "stuff", and wish you a good week!