June 17, 2007
- I’ve not had a good week after my visit to the dentist
I’ve not had a good week after my visit to the dentist. The swelling has gone down considerably but I am still unable to chew on that side of my mouth. I’ve felt quite rotten from the effects of the abscess and the side effects of the antibiotics. But today I felt much better and actually did some gardening and tidied the garage. The weather has been fine during the daytime with heavy rain early evening. That’s good as it means I do not have to water my allotment which I planted with veg last week. I have covered the whole patch up with some “voile” to stop the grasshoppers eating everything. Due to the plague we had last year, there are millions of them everywhere but they are much smaller this year and all this heavy rain should kill some off, I hope.
Most of our [tag-tec]garden birds[/tag-tec] seem to have deserted us. Food is plentiful and they are probably up the mountain nesting. We have a couple of sparrows (the rest of the group must be up in the village having families), 3 jays one of whom is very tame now, chaffy of cos, and the two baby crows. We have to shut the shutters in the computer room and the downstairs back bedroom as they were waking us up really early pecking on the glass. They still visit in the mornings but are not quite so noisy, and it seems they are venturing further afield each day. Although one is grey and other black, we believe they are both males, according to their behaviour. It seems strange that the parents seem to have just deserted them, especially as this is usually their patch, although I did see a third one in the garden the other day. Had mum come back to check up on them? (…)
April 29, 2007
- The mineral baths at Monêtier
We spend the morning mostly on the patio. There are still the few travellers left down the road and some strains of ‘music’ can be heard, but nowhere near as bad as before. We have planned an easy day today after yesterday’s frantic activities. So we marvel at Chris as he works on taming the jay. It is definitely getting bolder. I saw it this morning through my bedroom window, sitting in the middle of the patio and staring up at me. I rushed outside and distributed some peanuts, rushing back in to grab camera. However when I look out again the jay has gone, and so have all the peanuts. At one point after a Chris whistle, a blue tit flies boldly on to Chris’s outstretched hand and takes a peanut from his fingers. A typical friendly French bird! But again the blue tit obviously knows I don’t have my camera handy.
After delicious lunchtime nibbles J, L and I set off for a little walk along the lane, with Chelsea in the pushchair, as we have a window before departing for the mineral baths. I am so out of suitable adjectives to describe this place. The lane has blossom trees on either side, and the sun is smiling on us. Here and there the little road is crossed by gurgling mountain brooks. On one side of the road there is valley leading down to the road. On the other are the mountains and high villages, including an unused mine. Heaven?
At one point Chelsea starts to wriggle and decides she wants to get out of the pushchair and go for a swim in one of the streams. Nearby there is a chap busy digging his patch out in the field, ready for growing. He has surrounded it by unsightly corrugated iron sheeting, some of which is rusty. But it will serve very well to protect his crops from some of the wildlife we suppose. (…)
April 18, 2007
- The snow is melting fast
The weather has turned quite hot and the snow is melting fast. The “torrents” are full of water, rushing down into the Guisaine. My hyacinths, daffs and forsythia have blossomed and the wild crocus are out on the mountainsides. We are surprised that the lifts are still open, although at least half of them are now closed, as all the lower slopes now have no snow at all. We did venture up the mountain the last couple of mornings but it’s either too icy or too slushy and just not enjoyable so decided today would probably be our last ski of the season. Incidentally, Chris is now wearing pop socks when wearing his ski boots as all other socks are too thick and his feet get crushed. What would his friends think if they knew! (…)
April 11, 2007
- Lovely spring weather
We have been experiencing lovely spring weather and my daffs are nearly out. Skiing has to be in the morning now as the pistes have turned to slush by lunchtime. It will not be long I think before some of them are closed as they are turning to mud and stones, but other slopes still have plenty of snow. This morning I attempted a long, steep mogul black and was quite puffed out by the time I made it to the bottom. This was a piste I have only ever done once before on my old Head skis 3 years ago and is one Chris won’t attempt because of his fear of heights. But one morning we did do part of the off piste section I skied with Graham, John and Terry. It was the final bit actually, where I had fallen every turn. This time there were no tumbles but the conditions were improved. Chris was well chuffed he had accomplished this and felt it was the highlight of this winter’s skiing. (…)
March 24, 2007
- a food package from Peeks
Saturday 24th March
We received a food package from Peeks, the guy who bought the Jeep, as a thank you for putting him and his friend Andy up when they flew over last month. We found it on our doorstep in a bad state and think that the authorities must have opened it to confirm there were no illegal substances inside. This was a shame as Les had sent us chilli powder, curry paste and a fahitas pack. All had been opened, even the jar of paste and there was chilli powder everywhere!
We have a bird who we think may be one shilling short of a pound. For the past two days this male chaffinch has been sitting on the door handle of the patio doors in the computer room, pecking incessantly at the window pane chirping intermittently and occasionally jumping onto the bird table for some food. We are able to walk right up to him behind the glass and observe him behaving in this unusual manner. We have no idea why he is acting in this way. Does he see his reflection and think there is another bird there, rather like budgies that play with themselves in a mirror? Does he think his reflection is a rival – we have noticed that chaffinches are very territorial. Chris had to get up at 6.30 this morning and close the shutters as the bird’s continuous tapping was keeping him awake, but as soon as we rose this morning and re-opened them, there he was back again. We are even able to go out onto the balcony from the other direction and stand and watch him, and still he does not fly away. There is now a large pile of bird droppings on the stoep as he sits and poops to his hearts content.
February 28, 2007
- More Than Monkey
Jerry decided to take a mid-week day off and we walked to Briancon along the top path from St Chaffrey, bird watching along the way. It had been raining to start with, but by 12.30 the sun was out and we sat on the terrace of a restaurant opposite Champ du Mars by the old town where we consumed the “menu du jour” for 14 euros. This consisted of a “crepe Bretonne” which was two flat pancakes filled with fried eggs and bacon. Dessert was a choice of sweet pancakes and we chose the “sucre”. This was all washed down with a carafe of rosé. (…)
February 5, 2007
- The last few days have been gorgeous
The last few days have been gorgeous – warm enough to sit outside in the middle of the day with no coat. The birds think its spring and are singing away in the trees. Due to this warmer winter, we have had much less birds visit this season than last, even Splodge only make occasional visits, but we still have our family of great tits, pair of coal tits, marsh tits, blue tits and nuthatches, Mrs blackbird and the troop of magpies who come regularly to feed. In fact one morning, when the male nuthatch came down to feed first thing from the peanuts we put out on the veranda banisters upstairs, doing his normal routine of trying them all out until he finds the largest, he dropped the first one down onto the floor, jumped down and picked it up, flew back up onto the banisters, put the peanut down and tried several others before deciding on the best! (…)
April 17, 2003
- The lovely view over Briançon
Last night we went down the Yeti to watch Man U play Arsenal. Chris was the only United supporter in the whole pub. It was packed with Arsenal supporters. (…)
April 16, 2003
- Black Redstarts, Pied Flycatcher and Redbreasted Flycatcher
The snow on the slopes is now very slushy and probably the best time to go up would be first thing in the morning. (…)
April 14, 2003
- Le Col du Granon by Bike
Lack of the new installed hard drive has meant I have not been able to keep up to date with my journal. (…)
February 5, 2003
- The main road into Briançon is clear
The main road into Briançon is clear but as we drove through the middle of town today, we were surprised how bad the roads were there. We had taken the Mini so had to be extra careful. (…)
