I don’t know a lot about clouds but I recognise an exciting bit of texture when I see it… Further inspiration from French skies.
I don’t do a lot of cute, but these squirrels in Taunton’s splendid Vivary Park last week were pretty irresistible! Not proper Alison Uttley colouring – but actually not totally grey either.
These terrible headings are getting to be a very bad habit…. enough, enough!
The last few weeks are receding fast. They did involve more music and more cathedrals – French ones this time, Rouen and Lyon:
Fabulous, despite all the construction work going on in Rouen.
But don’t let the current (building site) views from BRASSERIE PAUL put you off – even in France you could travel some distance to find a casual restaurant this good. It’s just outside the cathedral and I really recommend it.
Mixed feelings about the above rather sad photos though. When we arrived at the house we found trees down and branches snapped all over the place. The ancient oak on the left WAS an absolutely perfect shape…. and the mixed foliage on the right is typical of the weird arrangements that had been created. The house is on the northern edge of the Auvergne and there had been a freak weather event just after we left in October – 20 cm of snow overnight. The trees were still in leaf and could not take the weight…. So we spent most of our time sawing and chopping!
The lizard was fun though. I lifted a pillow and found it motionless. I took a photo because it is so hard to get close to a live one. Then I called for the Chief Corpse Remover (we do usually find something in the house) who picked it up – at which point it leapt into the air….only hibernating! Not sure who was the more shocked.
And how about that frog for camouflage?
Got to start with the blossom: blackthorn, plum, peach, rosemary – and the tiniest glimpse of the stunning pink quince we won’t actually get to see:
Wild orchids, violets and cowslips:
Plenty of these little fellows scuttling around:
The best wood burner ever (came from the Far East!):
Bitter black coffee in my favourite china…
And finally can’t resist this picture:
Because it is so crazy – it’s the reflection of a tree in a muddy puddle. (Yes, there was a LOT of water around). I am working out how to get those colours together…I feel another dyeing session coming on as soon as I get home – maybe silk and alpaca for that one?
SpinningStreak 