Rémuzat Etc

Rémuzat

It didn’t take me long to lose my «crown» at the Rémuzat boules tournament. I lost my first game and to win the tournament you have to win every game and by a larger margin than anybody else. In retrospect I’m slightly amazed that I managed it last year. But the few days there were enjoyable nonetheless. On a free day friends Michel and Chantal took me up to a point 2500 metres in the hills where we could see the eagles and vultures at close hand (photo below). Vultures really are huge birds and I hadn’t realised that they can’t get airborne without some assistance from warm updrafts of air. So they don’t appear in the sky until around midday in the autumn. I’ve no idea what they do in winter; presumably they just scramble around.

Gardening

The autumn weather has been very good so far, sunshine for most of the day and cool but not cold evenings. We’ve had no rain so I’ve had to continue watering although the daytime heat is not enough for the ground to lose much water. The pots front and back still have some colour, a bit more than usual as I’ve favoured plants this year that don’t require too much water and continue blooming later. So I still have oleanders, sages and the ageranthemum by my front door that the postmistress has to peer through to see my letter box in bloom (photo).

The allotment has been a bit disappointing in terms of volume as the other gardeners have found so at least I know it’s not just me. However I have had sweet corn, onions, aubergines, chillies and beetroot and the tomatoes and French beans have been prolific and still are. I’ve sown some turnip seed and planted cabbages and leeks so there will be something to come through the winter.

Scotland

At the end of the week I’m off to spend my birthday in Scotland with Natalie and family. Friends Claudine and Jacques have kindly offered to take me to and from Marseilles airport. I’ll take olives, olive oil and a donkey or boar sausage for Natalie and “langues de chat” biscuits for Eilidh, which she loves, plus some lavender essence for presents for whoever. On leaving Scotland I’ll go down to see lifelong friends Steve and Jo who have now moved back to the UK permanently. And then I shall go further down to Reading to see friend Mairwen and do some shopping to bring back. My friend Margaret can’t put me up in London this year and London hotel prices require a bank loan so I’ll skip London. It’s a trip that I am very much looking forward to. All the logistics along the way are pre-booked but “man proposes and….”.

 

Immigration

A little while ago I did a post on immigration. The result was hundreds of hits on this blog. The hits were obviously bots looking for mentions off immigration. Why? The most obvious reason would be to gather evidence to refine messages on the subject. But who was issuing the bots? Since Google stats no longer gives the geographical region from which hits come it’s impossible for me to say. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the UK government.