21 octobre 2007
Plants for our Future
Je suis comme toujours trop débordée pour m'occuper de mon blog. Pourtant j'aurais bien aimé faire un petit album de photos de vacances (un mariage en Picardie, puis 10 jours en Angleterre). Les photos sont toujours sur le portable de Ian et n'ont pas encore été triées.
La raison de tout ça se nomme Plants for our Future. Un projet de création d'entreprise dans lequel j'ai été happée. D'ici un mois, le site devrait ouvrir avec une boutique de vente en ligne et un pôle éditorial, le tout basé sur le développement durable, le respect de l'environnement et de la personne humaine.
Je m'occupe donc de la partie graphique du projet, tout en m'occupant de Joe qui lui aimerait bien être à l'ordi à ma place. Pas toujours facile.
Sur ce je vous laisse, j'ai du pain sur la planche.
14 mai 2007
Visitors
It took some time, but we finally did get visitors from Finland. A nice big house in the south of France just wasn't the right incentive. I know people would have come to our wedding, but since we could not yet afford it, the big party is still to come, along with a church wedding. However, it now seems like a cute baby is enough to lure you down here.
Anna-Liisa was the first, then Tuomas and family, and a week ago, it was Tao's turn. I don't count Andrey in this, since we didn't have the house at the time he popped up in town. Anyway, maybe the word will spread that the trip is worth it? Of course this area is not as known as the Riviera, but it's a nice place anyway.
The sea water may not be as blue as in Nice, but the sand is nicer. We also have rivers with clear water to swim in or canoe on; a number of hiking trails in the mountainous region; an array of medieval villages; caves with impressing concretions (and one of them in our own village). Lots of things to see. Montpellier is a beautiful city, with a large pedestrian area in the old town, lots of shops of all kinds, restaurants for all tastes, cafés with big terrasses open all year long, and a lively night life (which I am not acquainted with anymore).
You have to know that we live about 40 km from Montpellier. It's close enough to be able to enjoy the city life from time to time, while living in a (mostly) peaceful environment. Since I stopped working, I've been embrassing this countryside life. Everyday I go for a walk along the river and fields, with Joe in the pushcar. I feed the ducks while he tries charming every old ladies that pass. I haven't had the guts to try and pick dandelion and other wilds salads on my own, although I've been shown once how to recognise them, but I have brought home feral asparagus, black locust flowers for deep frying (a local delicacy that Tao had the honour to try ;) ), and elder flowers to make syrup. I'm now waiting for the elder berries, to make jam with, as well as blackberries.
Anna-Liisa was here a couple of days, but it was raining. She did manage to go for a sightseeing tour in the village, including the caves, all by foot. And the rest of the time, she was playing mom with apparent delight. Tuomas and co did a lot with Senja's relatives in and about Montpellier. They spent half a day with us, and we took them to another river than the one crossing our village, our usual swimming spot, complete with waterfalls and old stone bridge. The weather was warm enough to dip our feet in the water. Later we went back and strolled along our river. With Tao, staying less than 24h, we had a marathon day. From the station, we walked across the main square to the old town, through the most typical small streets to my favourite restaurant where we had a nice meal in the sunshine. We took the tram back to where the car was parked, then drove to a small shopping mall. The boys went their own way, and we went looking for clothes (THAT was good, long time no shopping with girl friends!). Then home for a tour of the house, and a relaxing drink. Finally the compulsory tour of the village/duck feeding :). 
You see, whether you want to play tourist, or just relax, there is something for every taste. And I do miss you all, especially after those visits, when all the fond memories have been brought back to mind. But but I can't afford to visit you at the moment, and anyway, it's your time to travel a bit :) So see you soon!
19 juin 2006
local wildlife (continued)
In the hectic time surrounding our wedding, I forgot to keep you updated on the fate of our small redstarts (yeah, they're actually black redstarts, and not redtails, sorry for the mistake in the previous entry).
The first days they seemed so frail, I thought they would not survive long as the nights were still cool. But they endured, day after day. It became a game to try to find them among the junk scattered in our courtyard. Their favourite spot after the skimboard was under the barbecue (do you know little bird, what was grilled on that thing last weekend?).
They stayed quiet most of the day, except when being fed, but mornings and evenings, the parents pushed them into some activity. Little by little they were jump-flying higher, the stone steps, the lowest branches on the hortensia bush, and farther, a few centimetres, a step, half the courtyard, the whole nine yards (or twelve). They also started to loose their plush aspect, as real feathers replaced the baby down.
They stayed almost a week, during which we tried to avoid going out in the garden. We still had to water the plants once in while, but kept it at a minimum. The last few days, the birds could hide high (eye level with me -and don't say it's not so high!-) in the hortensia bushes. Then they disappeared.
Ian saw one of them again, a week or two later. It looked more like an adult with shorter red tail feathers. The mother was still feeding it.
29 mai 2006
local wild life
Last year a couple of black redstarts chose a hole in our courtyard wall as a home. We spent the whole spring watching half a dozen beaks appear in the nest. That's all we could see without disturbing the little birds. Those huge beaks streching up to the sky everytime one of the parents was flying back with a piece of worm. Then we left for a week and returned to find an empty nest. We had missed the first flight out of the nest.
Of course we closely watched the hole this year, after a winter of carefully feeding the birds with seeds and fat, but no luck. They had probably decided that it was too close to man height for safety.
Then yesterday morning as I went into the kitchen, I found my man closely watching something in the courtyard. The thing was not moving and had the same hue as the stones it was sitting on. But suddenly you notice the fluffy aspect, two shiny beads looking at you and that yellow beak, not so much visible once it's closed. So the nest was not that far after all, and one chick had some trouble starting to fly. The mum was perched on the balcony fence one floor up, screaming at us.
We had planned to have breakfast on the first floor balcony anyway. We'd leave the small bird alone. Ian went up first, and I thought I'd find him sitting comfortably outside by the time I came up. But no, he was lying on the bed, closely watching something just outside the french windows. Another one! What's the matter with them? I thought they didn't leave the nest until they could actually fly!
We finally took our breakfast to the living room and I almost expected to find another little redtail on the terrasse, but that was probably too high up. And by the time we went down again, both siblings were reunited in the courtyard. First they went their own way, exploring all the corners, painstakingly flying/climbing the one small step. With the parents making lots of noise above them and occasionally feeding them. After some observation time, Ian realised what they were doing: the dad was feeding the babies, while the mom was creating a diversion by singing loudly over our heads.
In the evening, the two small ones decided to regroup. They spent the night cuddling against a styrofoam skimboard, and they were still there and alive in the morning. We still don't understand what they are doing out of the nest. And what happened to the others? Did they manage to fly, while the two weakest are having problems? Or was it too hot for the whole bunch in the nest, and the strongest were thrown down, to try and survive in our cat-free zone? Are the others still in the nest, or did they fall on the otherside of the wall in our neighbour's garden? I can't imagine that this is the normal course of learning how to fly. How long would you expect them too last, if grounded for more than a day in the wilderness?
